1st Game

1st Softball Game last night.  A relatively easy victory at 17-10 after 5 innings.  Starting to get dark and it was clear that we were going to win, so the coaches agreed to stop after the 5th.  Opposing team is mainly 3rd graders, so it was a mis-match.  We'll have a tougher challenge on Friday night.

K was cleared to play sports again, so she jumped right in.  She's shown improvement in all sports during the past year, so hopefully, she continues to improve her confidence this season, like she did with basketball.  She struck out once, but did make good contact at her other attempts and made plays in the field.

S had a good night. Started with a triple (again, it could have been a round-trip, but we held her).  Had one ball hit the 1st baseman, which allowed them to get her out, but generally, they were all backing up for safety when she came to the plate.  She liked that.  On defense, she made a bunch of plays, but did make a small mental error (didn't get the lead runner) on one play.  During her time in the outfield, she played behind some lesser experienced girls at 3rd and SS.  She made a few plays that should have been outs at 3rd, but that girl never went to cover the bag.  The glare she gave her was evil.  Had to speak to her a little about understanding that the team isn't as good as she is.  She needs to adjust.  Next ball hit to that side split the SS and 3rd baseman (who didn't move again), S ran in, scooped the ball just inside the grass and fired to 1st, just a bit too late to get the out.  It still made the crowd let out a little gasp of surprise to realize that it was possible to make an out at 1st from LF.  I heard the coaches telling their team to "run hard, you never know when they'll throw you out".

New rule change this year for this age group relating to kids pitching (we are a 'coach-pitch' league).  Not a great start, but I'm willing to withhold judgement for now.