Baseball - The Seadogs

Thatcher has moved up to playing Pony Baseball in the Shetland league! This is a very welcome step from the YMCA T-ball which I found painful, PAINFUL to watch ;) This is the same league that Samantha played in last year however this year she decided she is retiring her pink baseball helmet for good.

We lucked out and know several families on the team Thatcher was put on which makes it more fun for us parents.

Opening day!

Here comes the SeaDogs!

We've got quite the age range of players from 4 to 8-year-olds all at various levels.  

Todd is assistant coaching and doing a great job! At the games he has been the dugout coach which may be the worse job but we are all thankful for him doing it. Trying to get the kids organized in their batting order, gear on, sitting on the bench, paying attention to the game, etc. is at times stressful just to watch.

Here's Thatcher at his first practice. He did really great with Coach Todd (a different Todd) making contact with the ball and showing some promising signs of having a pretty decent season. Last year they only hit it off the tee while this year they have four chances to hit it from the machine before they bring out the tee. Just like the YMCA, Every. Single. Player. gets to bat each inning which frankly is kind of boring but at this level of play it gives everyone a chance. I will say though that our team seems to have a lot less players than the other teams we've played so far so patience is definitely being tested in the outfield for the SeaDogs. 

And then this happened at his first two games. He was a bit of a disaster each time he got up to bat. I love how the coaches kept so positive, "good try!" "almost!" "a little high!" Honestly, he wasn't even close! He ended up hitting it off the tee each time he batted and I chalked it up to maybe baseball won't be his thing. Todd, on the other hand, kept telling me to just wait. 

Fast forward to this past week and I get a big "I TOLD YOU SO" because out of nowhere Thatcher did a complete 180 on both his fielding and batting. He paid attention, hit the ball off the machine each time he was up to bat and was making great plays in the outfield. 

What clicked?! Could it be this?

Yes, awful AWFUL skateboarding accident. Before you wonder if he had a helmet on I will come out and say right away that he didn't. BUT, he wasn't actually riding the skateboard. He was laying on flat ground with his belly on the board and basically dipped forward and caught himself on his nose and teeth. A helmet wouldn't have done much here. The good news is that his lip is back to normal, no broken jaw, nose or chin. The bad news is, he knocked the two front teeth loose and they are on the way out, one of which has already begun to turn a lovely shade of grey. Boo. This is the 3rd time he has injured his teeth so when the permanent teeth come in, you better believe he will have to start wearing a mouth guard or better yet, helmet with full face mask. 

So, he has this awful fall and is out of commission for a few days including missing baseball practice and then shows up to his game this past Sunday and has his best game yet! 

Our Coach was in the way but I did get one of his hits on video. 

We've got a long season to go but things are looking up! And fingers crossed, we finish the season with his remaining teeth.