End of the road

Last night was the end of our tournament. It was a tough game; we were at the end of our pitching roster and had to use boys with next-to-no pitching experience. We were on our 4th straight day of games; our opponents had a 2-day rest and a fresh pitching lineup. You can guess the outcome. However, that doesn't change how incredibly proud the parents and coaches were of our kids. Last night marked a first in the history of our base's Little League program. No team from our base has ever made it that far (2nd place) in the district championships. This, from a team with several kids new to the game... playing against teams whose kids have been playing ball together since they were old enough to grab a bat. I never stopped to realize the inherent disadvantages our teams have; with our kids being part of a transient population, we don't have the longevity and continuity on our teams that the surrounding towns have. So this defeat was still a victory for us.

The kids were great sports about the outcome. Many were more upset that last night marked their last game to play together than that they lost the game. We have 5 boys moving on to the All Stars season. Noah wants to go to the games to cheer them on, and I imagine we will. It sure will feel nice not to have to rush off to a game tonight though. We'll even get a homecooked meal, a real rarity in our house these days!