Bingham Baseball

Baseball for the big boys has been in full swing for well over a month now.  We've got over a month to go.  Baseball season is exhausting.  Elliott plays, mostly, Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays.  Wyatt plays a lot of Tuesdays, Thursdays, and some Fridays.  On our busier weeks, each boy has had two or three games.  On the days Elliott doesn't have a game, he generally has practice either at a local park, empty field, or a close by batting cage.

It's hard to keep the calendars straight.  All the games have been color coded.  We've had a lot of rain outs, make-up games, but so far, only one night where both boys had games on the same night, with a little bit of overlap.

Elliott was drafted onto a kid pitch "competition" team and his coaches are intense.  So much practice this kid has, and long ones at that.  As a mom, I really struggle with the idea of my kid playing a sport, and the amount of time a coach thinks an 8 year old needs to practice.  But, Elliott seems to be having fun.  He plays a lot of center field and first base.  He's had some great plays on first base, a few really good hits (it's hard for a lefty to get a hit in a kid pitch league) and has been hit in the back once with a pitch, that left a welt for a day or so.  He's having fun, and is doing well, but he's already told both Ross and me, that next year, he thinks he wants to play spring soccer instead of baseball.

Baseball is really tough for a kid like Elliott because it just isn't fast paced.  He needs to be running and moving and strategizing constantly, and I'm not sure he's at a level where that can happen, and I'm not sure he is willing to stick it out a couple more years to get to that point.  It's okay though.

Wyatt is playing his first year of machine pitch.  He has a really kind and positive coach, some good dad helpers, his included, and seems to be having a great time.  Unlike his brother, Wyatt likes a little bit slower paced activity where he can "River dance" in the field, pick a little grass, and chant funny cheers in the dugout with his team.  He's struggled to hit so far this season, he's on a team where he is one of only two kindergartners, everyone else is in first grade, but on Monday night, he cranked a double, got two RBI's and his team treat was a twinkie.  Winner winner chicken dinner!  Wyatt is still really learning the game, but he has fun.  He loves the uniform and has a great hit.

Last week, he got to be the catcher for the first time this season.  He did really well until the last pitch of the game hit him on the leg, in the only spot the armour wasn't protecting him.  He screamed his "broken arm scream" and was frozen, unable to move.  The inning was over, and his coach carried him off the field, to me waiting patiently in the dugout.  Ross was out of town so it was my job to talk him of a ledge (threaten him to stop crying), mostly because regardless of how bad it hurt, he was second in the order up to bat.

It's fun to watch my boys.  I like to watch them be involved and have fun.  As the parent, it is completely and totally exhausting to get two boys everywhere they need to be, often at the same time.  I know that Ross and I both feel like we are stretched a bit too thin from March through June, but giving our kids the experience of being on a team, listening to a coach, and being outside of their family in a more real world/competitive experience that will help to shape their life, I suppose outweighs the stresses.