Little League World Series

Jack's travel baseball team is playing Little League World Series games. At his age level (10) they won't actually advance to the World Series, but by winning enough games they could win the District we represent, in Eastern New York. For us it means he gets to wear an official Little League World Series patch on one sleeve, there are a number of rules and restrictions (most notably for me, a limited number of coaches in the dugout, so I'm in the stands like the common folk!), and there's a lot more intensity at the field and from the coaches, who really want to win these games.

(After the game Jack told me at one point he sat down next to another coach, bending over the scorebook I normally keep, and kind of leaned against him, thinking it was me. The coach looked at him, Jack looked over, said, "Uh, Oh." And straightened up in embarrassment. I mentioned it to the coach afterward, and he laughed and said, tell him not to worry. We all need to adjust to these Little League World Series differences.)

Our first game was at 5:45 last night, at home, and the coach said to be there by 5 p.m. Which he later amended to 4:45 p.m.! After telling kids to get plenty of rest and not eat a lot of sugar or spend the day outside in the sun and whatnot. Jack and I went outside for about a half hour to practice hitting, and I told him to always be alert, hustle, and try to make a play on any ball near him -- work hard, trust your backups, hustle. Do your best out there, and I'll be proud of you no matter what.

Watching from the stands, it was clear things were a little different. Kids were hustling a little more during warmups. I saw Jack backing up throws to first from right field in pre-game drills, jogging back to his spot. Making a catch, throwing it in, jogging off. Maybe it was the same as always, maybe just I thought it was different.

Game started, and Jack was the starting right fielder. Right off the bat a hard ground single went to him. He fielded it cleanly and threw a strike to first; almost got the out. If he'd charged it, probably would have; personally I was just glad he fielded it quickly, cleanly, and made a strong, accurate throw (sometimes you won't even see kids try to get that out, or they'll throw wildly). Guy didn't score, no one did the first two innings. Best part was after that play, we heard the opposing coach tell his players, "Make sure you hustle to first, 'cause their right fielder can throw you out!" Yeah, that's right!

Jack led off the third, drew a walk, went to third on a hit to right center. Nice slide, ended up scoring on a hit to center. Rally starter! Next at bat, he hit a line drive to first; out. But the ball was well hit and I know he was pleased (and told me so afterward). We won, 12-2.

After the game, it was all smiles, from a tired but happy looking Jack and the various coaches, parents, and players. That's what you play for; winning games like that. It was a beautiful, perfect night for baseball, the field was great, team played well, and we won.

I told Jack I was proud of him. Said it was great to see his hustle, his backup, his readiness to play. He nodded; think he knew he'd done well. We piled into the car, went to get some food. Tired and happy.

We play again Sunday. More pressure, more intensity. You know eventually things won't go your way, so you have to savor the moments when they do.