It was the GREATEST game ever played...

by Hunter and Kadan. Tonight was an AWESOME game for our boys as players for the Devil Rays. I am sad to mention that this was also there last game due to our move to Arizona but am happy that they left with this amazing game.

We have a very young team (maybe even the youngest in the league) where we had to pull 3 boys up from the 5 and under team to fill our roster. We knew that winning would not be easy but wanted our boys to learn the fundamentals and learn to love the game. I must say that they mastered both areas. They intently watch all the kids play, help each other out and cheer for the batter for encouragement. Never once were they too sad for losing -- they just loved being together and playing the ball. One mom from the other team even came up to me tonight and told me how she admired our coaching and how we rotated the boys infield and outfield positions so that everyone could play a great position at least once in the game.

Well tonight, everything came together. Hunter was an amazing 1st baseman catching all grounders that came is way and having no errors (I think that it got 7 boys out). Kadan did great at 2nd base with scooping up ground balls and throwing them to Hunter for an out at first.

Hitting was a little bit of a challenge for Kadan (he got 2 strike outs this game). He had never struck out this year but after a hand full of sunflower seeds (his "good luck food") and some cheers from the bench; he came back with 2 solid hits with 1 RBI. I just have to share a story about my funny kid. He was up to bat, swung and missed 2 times then took a "time" to get a sunflower seed out of his pocket -- he then pounded the base, took a couple practice swings and got into his hitting stance with all the parents laughing at how crazy he is.

Hunter rocked the batting tonight. Smashing all 4 of them perfecting past the shortstop and into the infield. He also had 2 RBIs. It was a joy to see his confidence as he batted.

The most glorious part of the game was Hunter's final hit the was crushed into the outfield bringing in the winning run. We all SCREAMED, jumping up and down. My mom was there to cheer the boys on and even started tearing with excitement. It was AWESOME. I am so proud of the team and proud of my boys.