We went to the softball state tournament in Crossville this weekend with Kelsey's 10U fastpitch team. There were 14 teams in the tourney from all over the state and Joe just really wasn't sure how the Explosion was going to do. Last year, the 8u coach pitch tourney was stacked and we came home 0-2 in that double elimination tourney. It was a short (and not so sweet) trip.
This year, Joe had higher hopes. In the week leading up to the tourney, the girls had done great in practice, looked very polished and ready to compete. He felt we might actually show up. Well, the first game was bright and early (8:00 a.m.) Saturday morning. The girls were sluggish and unmotivated. Some had driven from K-town early in the a.m., opting not to stay over at the luxurious Holiday Inn Express we bedded down in the previous night. So our play was definitely NOT polished and we lost 8-0. Fortunately for us, that game was just a pool game. So we dusted ourselves off and proceeded to the double elimination part of the tourney.
We won the first game handily, playing against a little team out of Macon County, TN. After an hour and a half rain delay, we came out Saturday night for our second game in the double elimination round. We lost and dropped to the losers' bracket. On Sunday morning we knew that any loss would send us packing back home, so we were hopeful we could pull out just one win at least. Going to the finals of the tourney would mean winning 7 games in a row and we weren't sure there were any miracles that big, so we were taking baby steps, thinking small.
Our first game Sunday started out to look like another train wreck. We were down 8-3 and things weren't looking good. Then things took a turn and we were tied late in the game. The opposing team went up by 1 going into the last inning and things were a little tense in the stands. We tied the game up in the top of the last inning and held them scoreless, so we headed into extra innings.
Many times in softball, extra innings means going into international rules. That means the team batting places a runner on second base to start the inning, thus expediting the scoring process and (hopefully) ending the game as quickly as possible. So we went to international rules as the storm clouds rolled in. We scored pretty quickly to start off the inning and then something weird happened. We started to hit and hit and hit and hit and hit. It was like the dam broke loose and all of these hits that we had not been able to squeeze out in days past all came rushing out at once.
I would also like to say that the same could be said of Kelsey's bat. All year she has shown great potential at the plate, strong as an ox and a quick bat. But she has never really connected well enough to show just how strong she really is. However, this past weekend, it was like her bat decided it was going to come alive. She hit and hit and hit. The only time she didn't hit was when she walked. She was really on her game.
So when her turn to bat came during the international rules part of the game, I was hoping she would grab the opportunity to add a couple of RBIs to her stats in the scorebook. There were runners at second and third when she came up. She got set in the box, crouched position, hands back. The pitcher threw the ball and Kelsey hit a shot down the third base line, past the third baseman, past the left fielder, to the fence. When the realization hit me that maybe, just maybe she had hit it far enough to go all the way, my heart started pumping and my mouth started cheering, "Go, go, go!" She was running and running as fast as her big ol' feet could take her, picking up speed as she rounded second (Those of you that know her know I am exaggerating the speed part of it, but she was moving pretty well!). She was coming up on third and I saw the left fielder come up with the ball and I thought, "She's gonna get a triple." Then I saw Joe make that big ol' "Head For Home" circular motion with his arm and start to skip toward home, leading her down the line. She rounded third and Joe was hollering, "Get Down!" as she neared the catcher, but the play wasn't as close as he thought and she crossed the plate standing up. HOMERUN!!!!!
I'm not sure if I jumped up and down or if I screamed or if I just ran wildly toward the dugout to greet her, but I saw her teammates come, all 11 of them, and make a circle around her, squealing and giggling and high-fiving her. She came rushing in to the dugout, a big grin plastered on her mouth with her face all flushed and her humidity-enhanced curls hanging out of her ponytail. I gave her a big ol' hug and said, "Kelsey, you did it!" She said, "Yeah, but I was so mad when I got up there and the bases weren't loaded! It coulda been a grand slam!" That's my girl!
We went on to win that game, but we lost the next one. So we handed out medals, packed up the gear, took the team to Dairy Queen for a promised ice cream treat from the coach and watched as the girls giggled and laughed and shoved each other's faces into ice cream sundaes. We took pictures, hugged and said the end-of-the-season good-byes. We ended up 7th out of 14 teams, a big accomplishment for our mostly 9 year old team. Not a bad way to go out. And it ended with ice cream. What more could you ask for?
If you're wondering if I had any documentation of the big hit, I didn't. I had packed up my camera earlier in the day because we were not doing well and, being a former softballer myself, I do have some superstitions about stuff. I put away the camera and we started doing better. So I left it in the bag. I had the camera and the video camera with me, but both were sound asleep in their carriers during the big event. But in my mind, I have it tucked away securely under "Mom's Proud Moments" right next to first words, walking, learning to ride a bike, learning to read and all the other milestones I have witnessed. It is a moment that she will not forget and one that I will cherish being a part of forever. There aren't a whole lot of times where you get to experience pure joy or witness it on the face of your child, but, lucky for me, I was there to see it. It was a blessing.
Till next time...
~Peace
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