Going Batty

Tonight was the first game of the first tournament of the new baseball season. You can tell some of the kids got new bats this year because they're hanging up in the bat rack rather than lying on the ground.

Soft Toss, Hard Hit

I was working with Amber on her swing tonight while we were waiting for Andrew's game to start. She gave it a hard shot...so hard that it stuck in the fence WAY over my head. The girl's gonna be a monster on the softball field.

The Waiting is the Hardest Part

Tonight was Andrew's first night ever to umpire a ball game. He had to start with a T-ball game before he can move up to machine pitch. So, we got there a bit early to make sure we had the right kind of balls for that level, something for him to drink, and a comfortable place for me to sit and watch him ump games for teams I care nothing about. He did a great job. He held a coaches meeting before each game, introduced himself, briefly covered the rules with both coaches, and let the kids play ball. He ran a pretty tight ship and didn't even have to eject anyone!

Spinning the Twine

One of the things Andrew has always wanted to do finally happened tonight. He got to be the starting pitcher in tonight's game. He pitched a pretty good game for his first time out. He played great defense and showed that he is really thinking when he's on the mound. A nice showing by the boy. Too bad some of the other guys on the team didn't come to play. A lot of errors tonight. We could've easily won this one but gave up the victory 9-10. We meet back up with the same team later this week. Watch out, Bandits!

Playoff Baseball

I was nowhere near a baseball diamond tonight, yet this was on the kitchen table. I can't escape from it. It's following me! But, I prefer this version of the game because you can play it in the A/C. Play ball!

Shower on the Shox

I wasn't sure we'd get tonight's game in with all of the rain building back our way. We were delayed by about 30 minutes but we got the game in. We beat the other guys 13-7 in a muddy battle. Got another one tomorrow night. Let's go SHOX!

Banged Up Bats

The way these bats look is obviously a good thing. It means we're finally hitting the baseball. A1 wins tonight against the Bulldogs 12-10.

The Power of 10

Game tonight. We sucked. We lost. But I still believe in the power of 10. Not just because that's Andrew's number, but because there's always the next game.

Shocker Baseball at the Eck

Our office sponsored today's baseball game between the Wichita State University Shockers and Dallas Baptist University Patriots. A little windy but a great day for a baseball game. Our seats were in the shade which was a bonus above and beyond the free tickets. We had some extra free tickets so we stood out front and gave them out to people walking up to the ticket booth to purchase tix for the game. Doing nice stuff is cool. The Shockers won 2-0 and also secured a 1 seed in the MVC tournament.

Scoreboard

Spending the evening out in right field shagging bad throws and missed catches from the boys in the infield. Not too many made it out my way. That's a good thing, because I was able to take a moment to snap this one off.

Playing Catch

Although the mist was falling on us, Andrew wanted to practice his pitching. So, I pulled up a bucket, we grabbed all of the baseballs we have and out back we went. The kid can throw some heat! Most of the time, he actually threw it to me. Hey, pitching ain't easy. If it were, everyone would be doing it. He's got skills and my hand is feeling it even as I type this. Ouch.

Having A Ball

The storms this week finally gave us enough of a break to work in a ball game. We beat the Sluggers 14 - 4. Shox are now 2-0.

Coaching Bucket

Tonight was Andrew's first game of the regular season. We won 4-3...barely. We should've won by more but we had a lot of errors that we have to get ironed out before next week. The picture above is our head coach. He's sitting on his coaching bucket. That's where the magic happens. I sit behind him and keep the scorebook and rattle off stats. It's a good system.

Misfit Trophies

I announced the game for the 10-under baseball championship tonight at the tournament. Andrew ran the scoreboard for me while I also kept a score book and played music from the Zune in-between innings. These are trophies on a shelf just to my left in the press box. They're old trophies that have never been awarded to anyone. How sad is that? It's like the island of misfit toys up there.

Keeping Score

Baseball tournament. Day 2. Marginal performance tonight. Half the team was in it. The other half's mental errors killed us. But, it's only the second game of the season. And we were playing a team who's already played 20+ games this season. More fun tomorrow.

Diamond Days

Baseball season started tonight with a tournament we're hosting. Our team didn't play, but Sara and I were scheduled to work the grill. We fed the masses hamburgers, hotdogs, and mighty delicious brats. Mmmmm. You can expect to see many baseball and softball related photos over the next month because I'll be living here.

Gone Batty

Andrew's team had their first scrimmage tonight. On top of that, it was their first practice, too. It was a rough start, but by the end of the game, things started to click for the boys and they performed pretty well. I'm thinking that we could be something to talk about this season.

Board Meeting

Talkin' baseball at the monthly board meeting for the youth program. Here we are listening to a presentation from a photographer who wants to be the official guy for our league. Tonight we also firmed up registration dates and tournament dates for the new season.