postseason baseball

Jack and Kate's spring little league baseball teams finished up play Wednesday night. Both lost in the championship game, but it wasn't as depressing as you might think. Kate's team, which I coach, had won the championship a year ago, and Jack was one of the stars of that team. Considering the players we lost, and how bad we seemed during a midseason losing streak, it was pretty impressive to battle back and win two playoff games to get to the title game. There, against a favored opponent, we lost a tight 10-9 contest, battling back twice from deficits, including tying it up with 2 outs in the 9th. The postgame huddle speech of being proud of everyone was the easiest speech ever.

As I've written before, at times the game was a little too much for Kate. She struggled to hit at times. The fielding pace was too much for her for much of. The team was comprised of 8-10 year olds, and she's 8, so even if she was one of the best 8 year-olds, it would be hard for her to keep up.

But the moments when she did make plays -- part of a relay to cut down a kid at home, once, and throwing home for another out after a grounder to her in the infield -- were particularly enjoyable, for her and for me. I was happy for her. And when she had a big hit in the semifinal to start a rally in our 11-7 win, she stood on first base smiling about it. Afterward one of the other coaches said to me, "I was so happy for her. She'll remember that hit for a long time." It was just nice to hear.

As for Jack, he had a great season, emerging as the best outfielder on his new team (comprised of mostly 12-year-olds) and a steady, every-inning performer. His spring included a breakout travel tournament on Memorial Day weekend where he hit as well as anyone on the team and made play after play in the outfield, surprising even us with his level of play. All weekend I had people coming up to me talking about Jack. It was remarkable and unexpected and I barely knew how to respond, beyond, Thank you. He's worked hard on his game for years. It's paying off, and all I can say is, I'm really happy for him. He loves to play.

But the season ended, and the next night the fields, where we'd spent so much of our spring, would be quiet.

Then I got a text from a friend and fellow coach on Jack's summer travel team. "Dan and I are going to the park for some batting practice." See you there, I said.

It was a peaceful, warm and slightly humid evening. Fields were empty, except for us. My friend pitching, Jack and the other kid taking turns hitting, me and the other kid shagging hits. Crack, crack, crack. Before I knew it, we'd been out there for more than an hour; sky was getting darker, it was time to go. We packed up our stuff and walked back home.

Baseball season was over, and it was starting up again.