The Fallons: Softball and Baseball: Poison, Whitecaps, Padres and Pony All Stars

Spring means baseball and softball and that is exactly what we did!

Samantha moved up to 10U in softball and was drafted onto the Purple Poison.

Kick-off pizza party with the new team!

There were a few girls Samantha had never played with but for the most part, she has played with this team of girls in other sports and in softball.

Thatcher's first practice with the GVSLL Padres.

Thatcher had a VERY long basketball season since his team went all the way to the championship so when it was time to practice baseball, it was hit or miss. And by miss, what I mean is that we missed quite a bit in those overlapping weeks of both sports.

Samantha started the season out wanting to pitch. She attended extra pitching clinics but it became too taxing on all of us with soccer, basketball and two baseball teams for Thatcher (yep, TWO!), that we couldn't continue the clinics on top of everything else.

Thatcher's first Whitecaps practice with the SB Pony league.

So long story short, we have always played Pony. Thatcher was drafted on to the Whitecaps and prior to that we had waffled a bit about trying out the other league in town. We have a lot of friends playing at both leagues and all the friends have formed opinions on why one is better than the other. We ended up being able to register for GVSLL right before the season started. He wasn't drafted, they just put him on the next team in line that could use another player and just like that, Thatcher had a uniform for the Padres.

Here's our take on the two leagues: they both can be competitive but that depends on your coach, not one seemed more organized over the other, GVSLL definitely has nicer fields and everything else that goes along with that (WiFi, live web cam, someone on the mic announcing the game, music playing, nicer snack shack, electronic score board, shaded stands, overall it's more comfortable/nicer over there), no umps in Mini-Minor little league until play-offs and Pony always had them, GVSLL played six innings which could be an over two hour game (too long!) while Pony was a time limit that seemed to only last about an hour and 15 minutes (too short!).

We also weren't the only crazy people playing both leagues, we met a few others. Would we do it again? Maybe. We had very few scheudling conflicts between the two teams and both of the coaches were totally fine with Thatcher missing a practice here and there because it wasn't like he was home watching TV, he was playing baseball!

Field practice for the Padres.

Samantha and Rio were ball girls.

Thatcher was one of the first basemen for the Padres.

Opening Day for Pony!

Picture Day!

Base running competition.

The Whitecaps ended up coming in first place out of all the Pinto teams. Their prize.... a piece of bazooka bubble gum, yay!

Little Sky playing Shetland!

Brophy's date after Opening Day!

Samantha and Todd were out at DP playing softball so it was just this guy and me.

Picture day for Poison!

Classmates!

Samantha playing short stop at her first game.

Sam's fan club.

Pep talk from Coach Jules

Not the greatest food at Chili's but easy when you are out at DP to satisfy the kids with games at the table and dinner.

All normal rules out the door here including soda and....

what surely is Kraft boxed mac and cheese.

Coach Jules likes to practice. A lot.

Her bag is bigger than her.

First game of the Whitecaps season.

I bought this umbrella on the way to the game because it started to sprinkle and then it started to rain and then the game was called off....

Thatch still gave a thumbs up for almost playing his first game.

There was a lot of sibling baseball while the girls played softball into the evening hours.

Amazing sky!

Samantha vs. Vienna's team. Vienna's team came out on top, a lot! ;)

Changing out of basketball clothes at the PYC into Padres gear for opening day at GVSLL.

Love these two both in their uniforms!

One thing is for sure, playing on multiple teams sometimes left Thatcher half-dressed, missing items or wearing items from the wrong uniform.

Lots of familiar faces at GVSLL including Connor!

Getting ready to run onto the field!

Each kid was announced and they waved their hats on and off.

Samantha was lead off batter for the season. Coach Jules liked to throw the pitcher off with a lefty batter right at the start.

We met a lot of new families on the Padres team.

Coach Brian was VERY busy because he was also coaching his daughter's softball team.

See, even the dugouts are nice with shelves.

There was a whole lot of snack shackin' going on during the season.

And then more sugar when we'd have breakfast/lunch celebrations after games.

Thatcher really improved this year in baseball. Defensively he had several catches that we couldn't believe. I don't think he ever struck out on the Whitecaps, he did a few times on the Padres but he also had some amazing hits including a home run.

Side by side photos of both teams. This also shows just how much better Todd's iPhone is at taking pictures. Hurry up iPhone 8!

We lucked out to get Coach Jules for Samantha's coach again. Here she is with her suburban loaded to the max taking the girls out to the UCSB softball game all by herself! Super mom/coach!

Thatcher running to third.

Loved that my parents got to watch Thatcher each time he played at GVSLL because of the live web cam.

GVSLL doesn't require a face guard on their helmets so we always knew which one Thatcher was since he was the only baseball player out there looking like a football player.

Playing catcher.

Thatcher vs. Jack at Pony.

Which means these two got to be together.

This was probably a day where he had a double hitter.

Vienna up to bat. Samantha playing short.

We all know how this game ended.

Sibling baseball on the open field.

Back to being friends after the game ;)

Loving the purple eye black. Or is it called eye purple?

After softball dinner at Rose Cafe with the Mochi family.

Boston and Sam get along just as well as Vienna and Sam.

Which sometimes leads to some hurt feelings....

Friday night softball batting practice which turned into football.

Then soccer.

Kids are allowed to work the GVGSA snack shack along with their parents.

Here's Boston and Sam. Again.

Sam's school friends were ALWAYS at GVSLL tagging along with their brothers which made it more palatable for Sam to have to tag along with Thatcher.

Todd kept score for Poison and it was not unusual to find Todd chatting up the ump after a game confirming plays.

Thatcher playing first base on the major field at GV which is a much larger field.

You are supposed to be 14 before you can be the announcer but combined these two are 18 so I felt it was okay.

Video: Announcing the Padres

Mateo supporting his buddy!

Mateo sat and watched Thatcher's entire game. I am trying to coax his parents to sign him up next year and they keep ignoring me ;)

Not a bad reward for sticking it out for the entire game.

We arrived early to one of Thatcher's Padres games and he was the only one from his team there.

The other team warming up noticed him and called him over to warm up with them.

How sweet was that?

Later in that game, when Thatcher was playing first, the coach on the opposing team noticed the sun was in Thatcher's eyes and he couldn't really see so he brought him over some sunglasses.

Looking good in his shades!

Basketball ended up conflicting with Padre picture day so we did makeup photos.

Team Poison ended up coming in 4th place out of seven teams in the regular season and I think made it one game into the post-season. All the teams came out on the last day to attend closing ceremonies and cheer on their friends in the championship game. Vienna's team took first place!

My attempt at french braids in the stands, not bad.

GVGSA closing ceremonies.

Autographing shirts.

Team party at Yogurtland!

And that was a wrap for Sam and softball this year. She opted not to try out for all All Stars which was very VERY welcomed by us. Next year may be a different story when Samantha will be one of the older girls on 10U but this year she was on the younger side and the jump from 8U to 10U was a big one.

Thatcher's baseball battle wounds. The one above his lip is still a little scar. One of his Pony coaches accidentally hit him with the ball. Not sure what happened to his forehead.

We went out to watch the All Star team play their tournament at DP.

The Whitecaps came in 4th out of 10 teams in the regular season and made it to the championship game in the post-season.

While they took second place, all the kids felt like winners. They improved so much over the season and there was a lot of talent on the team. Coach Luke was an excellent and patient coach. He is calm yet competitive, is always teaching and making things fun.

Pizza and awards after the last game.

The parent involvement on this team was really great. Lots of communication, photos, follow-up, extra practices and a team full of both boys and girls that had some of the best sportsmanship I have ever seen. It was really a great group of kids and a fun season.

Video: Whitecaps award ceremony

End of season pizza party for the Padres. The Padres came in 4th place out of seven teams in the regular season and didn't make it far in the post-season.

And then came All Stars. Thatcher was selected to try out for Pony All Stars before the regular season ended. He tried out and made it. Then we got an email from GVSLL asking Thatcher to try out for their All Stars. We decided to decline the invitation because surely an All Star schedule would have to be hard to manage for both leagues (turns out it wouldn't have been) but we got the nicest email from the GVSLL All Star coach:

I am disappointed that Thatcher will not be trying out. :( He was one of my selections as I remembered him being a great player from each of our games against the Padres. Thatcher sounds like a perfect fit for All-Stars because he is a kid who loves baseball. (and happens to be good at it too) I'm sorry to not have notified you sooner but the Little League rules do not allow the formation or tryouts for All-Stars until very specific dates. I was just given the list of names Weds. night. Best of luck to Thatcher in All-Stars this year, he will be missed at GV! If I decide to form a club team in the future you can count on a call.

Then about a week later we got this (looks like he got Thatcher's name mixed up so not sure how well he actually knew him, lol):

After asking around there might be a chance Fallon could play on both teams. I am sure there would be some conflicts but if he was really interested we can investigate our options further. I don't believe Pony will be playing in the same tournament because they are not part of the Little League affiliation. There is no pressure on my end just wanted to extend the invitation if you think Fallon and your family were interested. Let me know your thoughts.

We still declined because we didn't think it would be fair to either team should we have to choose one over the other. I actually do not know for a fact yet but I am not sure the 7U GVSLL All Star team ever got off the ground so probably best we declined.

Moving on to Pony All Stars....7U All Stars would not be machine pitch. So the SB Pony team was already a bit behind the curve compared to other teams who had been playing kid-pitch all season or even more behind than the club teams who were playing all year.

First game! A scrimmage with the DPLL team.

These two, together again!

We didn't win the scrimmage but they were an 8U team and we didn't do too bad.

Warming up at at their first tournament in Simi Valley.

Snack shack for all heights.

Close proximity for Grandma to come watch!

Day one: Won one. Lost one.

Early morning game the next day.

Another loss but these boys were just getting the hang of pitching, hitting off a pitcher and stealing bases.

Last tournament of the season. It was HOT in Simi Valley. A lot of the kids were melting. They got beat pretty badly but going back to the hotel to swim and having dinner out with the team definitely brought spirits up.

Then the final game.

It was so SO close! We played an evenly matched team and all of the kids were doing really well! Thatcher FINALLY was taken off the bench and had a catch in the outfield that saved an inning from getting out of control and then a single and a triple that tied the game up! Unfortunately, we ended up losing and that was the end of All Stars. Great to go out on that note but disappointing that the boys were just getting the hang of it and it was over.

It was definitely an interesting season. They selected 14 kids on the team which seemed to be a few too many especially if you are only playing a handful of games and having parents pay for a full uniform, backpacks and tournaments. Thatcher had missed the first two practices due to a school field trip and then playing in the championship game and basically the infield was solidified and so was the batting order. We were told we were playing in more tournaments and having more scrimmages but none were scheduled. Oh well, they are seven. It sounds like improvements are already in the works for next year.

Video: Thatcher's All Star Catch from the Game Cam

Video: Thatcher's All Star Hit from the Game Cam

100 degree weather and tired boys that played their hearts out on that last game.

Coach Arnold gave a sweet talk to the boys and singled out Thatcher's catch in the outfield which was really nice because Coach Arnold mostly kept Thatcher on the bench. lol