MacDaddy Provincials and What I LEARNED

Well, summer has finally come to an end and for ONE day we will relax. It was a very cool and rainy summer. I feel a little cheated... School starts on Tuesday. A-mac has try outs Tuesday night. MacDaddy has tryouts next Sunday and Monday. This past weekend was all about MacDaddy. He just finished his provincial tournament. The Oakville A's AA Rookieball Rep team finished 3rd in the province.

I suspect if at the beginning of the season you would have asked anyone where the A's would finish, they would not have guessed 3rd. Each individual worked hard at being the best they could be and really came together as a team. The whole family attended and cheered on MacDaddy and the A's. The provincial games were hosted by Richmond Hill, a town north of Toronto. MacDaddy played a total of 5 games... one Friday night, two games on Saturday and two games on Sunday.

MacDaddy did very well. He got on base almost everytime. He batted and scored a lot runs. His best at bats were his last two times up where he stretched a single into a double with a great slide at second.

I have learned a lot this year. I learned that even between games the team is not too busy to get their face painted... especially with the symbol "A's".

I have learned that if you bring a firetruck to the ballpark and the team has time between games, they will definitely want to talk to the firemen and sit in the firetruck.

I have learned that win, or loose, kids want to go to the park after the game.

I have learned that even a Rookieball game can be on the 6pm News (CityTV News). MacDaddy had 5 seconds of air time, but he was still really excited to watch and see himself on TV... I assume the other 5 million people in Toronto were watching the same newscast.

I definately learned the most important thing this past baseball season... When I asked my 7 year son, MacDaddy, if he had "fun" playing ball this year... he said "yes" -and that is what it is all about...FUN!

A True Fan Wears Black Lipstick

A-mac was a great supporter all weekend at Lil Lefty's tournament. The same can be said of Lil Lefty at A-mac's tournament the weekend before. MacDaddy has been to every tournament. Parents just drive the bus...

You will notice the "32 = Heart" on A-mac's arm. Lil Lefty is #32. A-mac was an emotional supporter of Lil Lefty through the successes and failures of the last weekend... We all support each other...

But only a true fan wears black lipstick on her arms and face...

Dirt In My Eye....

Two weekends ago we were in Napanee for A-mac's Provincial Champioships. This past weekend we were in Brampton for Lil Lefty's Provincial Championship Tournament. Lil Lefty started practicing with her team of 9 -10 year old girls 11 months ago. The Ontaio Provincial Softball Association (PWSA) holds their championship tournaments for all age groups at the end of the year. According to their website the PWSA has been promoting female softball in Ontario since 1931.

The Angels were scheduled to play Friday night at 8:30pm. Rain pushed the start time back to 9:45pm with a hard stop at 10:55pm because the lights must be shut off. Games must be finished in an hour and three quarters. It was strange to me that they would even start a game between girls this late knowing they couldn't finish. Lil lefty pitched very well Friday night not allowing a hit and striking out 14 in 5 innings. After not getting to sleep until midnight she had to be up early the next morning to complete the game. She allowed two hits in the morning completion but was able to strike out the last batter with the tieing run on third. Her effort earned her the game MVP and an autographed softball from the Canadian Women's softball team.

They continued play in their double elimination tournament. Lil Lefty played third and scored 3 times in her next game. She was hot at the plate...

Lil lefty pitched the next game (same day) and was ruffed up for a loss against seaon long arch-rivals. By getting to this game the Angels had earned a Bronze medal in the tournament.

Lil lefty does not like to loose.

On Sunday morning we had a "cleat malfunction" that caused me, Big D, to set the land speed record from our home to the field (an hour drive). The Angels won advancing to the Gold Medal game. Lil lefty started the game catching. Lil lefty pitched the last two innings striking out all she faced... had a home run and triple at the plate... in a 9 -5 victory.

Our team made it to the gold medal game. Becuase the tournament was a double elimination the Angels had to win two games for a gold medal. The team they played was the host team of the tournament and the crowd was tough. Lil Lefty pitched the gold medal game. She had great stuff... but the other team had live bats and was able to beat our hero (Lil Lefty) and the Angels. Lil Lefty was tough on the mound... overwhelmed at times... threw the hardest I have evr seen her throw... was a bulldog... showed amazing heart... is 9 years old... and as you can see from the picture to the left would have rather won the gold than the silver medal...

I am a believer in setting goals and after the first few tournaments Lil Lefty and I talked about her earning the "Top Pitcher" honor in the Provincial tournament.

After the team medals were awarded they began the individual award presentation. First they awarded the Top Batter. I had been keeping my own stats for most of the tournament scribbled on a notecard. They announce the Top Batter stats and they sounded very close to Lil Lefty's... but it was not her (I actually thought she scored more runs)... they then read off the stats for the Top Pitcher and the stats sounded very close to Lil Lefty's but the name was not hers (I thought she had more strike outs)... Then the read the stats for the "MVP" of the Tournament... and announed that it was Lil Lefty (They actually used her real name :-) )

Lil lefty earned the MVP of the Ontario Provincial Women's Softball Association championship tournament. She received a congratulation letter, an embroidered "PWSA MVP" hoodie and an invitation to the awards banquet in October.

I was very fortunate that I had my sunglasses on... otherwise I would have had to explain that at that moment I got some dirt in my eyes...

A friend of ours explained to me that I should expect to have a lot of dirt in my eyes over the next several years...

MacDaddy's Sunflower

Mac Daddy's favorite flower is a sunflower. This past spring while at a local garden center, Mac Daddy asked if we could plant sunflowers. We purchased a pack of seeds, went home and planted the seeds in a bed in our backyard. MacDaddy patiently watched his seeds sprout and a sunflower plant grow taller and taller each week,quickly surpassing him in height. His first sunflower bloomed today. He asked, "Mom, can be put a bucket under the plant so when the seeds fall they don't land in the dirt? I don't want to eat dirty seeds."

Proud Dad

Lil lefty's team finished with a Bronze medal in the Peel Halton Girls Softball Association playoffs. This is the league that both Lil lefty and A-mac play in during their year and between travel tournaments. The objective of the league games is to improve. Lil lefty had a blast with the girls (and the coaches) on the team. She doesn't quite understand it ,but she has become more of a pitcher this year than just a thrower... she is starting to understand the game. Still, the most important event is to go to the swings & the park with your friends after the game... win or lose...

No Jays This Year

We lived at the Rogers Centre (Skydome to the purest) last year. We bought season tickets to the Blue Jays and went to about 40+ games. We took the train and drove... learned all the quick parking and traffic patterns... learned how to quickly get to our seats and, don't tell Ted Rogers, but actually initialed the wall in front of our seats... made it feel like ours.

This year we haven't been to a single game... not a one... I look back at the calendar above my desk and notice we haven't had a free weekend the entire summer... I only recall a couple free nights, mostly when practice was rained out...

I think, based on the Blue Jays record, you could say we "traded up" to watch better ball this year...

A-mac Wraps Up a Great Season

Big D here... just spent a wonderful weekend with A-mac and Lil Lefty in Napanee, Ontario. I dare you to google Napanee, Onatrio... you will probably find nothing more than the childhood home of pop singer Avril Lavigne. This weekend, it was host to 11 teams from across Ontario for the Novice II Provincial Women's Softball Association championship tournament.

Lil Lefty practiced pitching to me and enjoyed the comforts of our over priced Best Western. She was fantastic the entire weekend... great support for her sis'.

The imbedded video shows A-mac ripping a double over the center fielder's head in their Saturday morning game. (The team lost 2 - 1... A-mac drove in their only run) A-mac played the entire tournament in left field and batted third. She was 5 for 13... a 385 average (her hits came against the better pitchers) . Her team, the 14U Oakville Angels finished 5th in this tournament. The tournament was held over two weekends and had over 30 teams from across the province of Ontario. The team did well.

A-mac played on the same team last year. During her introduction to Rep Fastpitch she struggled. There was a streak where she was over-matched and struck out 15-20 times in a row. A-mac decided that she wanted to get better. Over the next year she worked in our basement, at local ball diamonds, at the batting cages in the winter and listened to me explain the intricacies of the rotational swing. She took a lot of swings and got better.

A-mac played "up" this year with girls 2 and 3 years older than her. She held her own and batted 2nd and 3rd the entire season. She had some great hits... some great at-bats.

Now for the REALLY NEAT PART!!!

On the three hour drive to Napanee Friday afternoon A-mac told me she deserved to play on her team and hit where she batted because she had worked hard. This didn't come with fanfair, pomp or ceremony, just a simple conversation in the car. See the opportunities that sports provides to the parenting adventure... she got it... she understands that if you work hard you can do anything...

A great season... but even a more important lesson... :-)

Bullet Bob

A-mac and MacDaddy meet and get a baseball authographed by Baseball Hall of Famer, Bob "Bullet" Feller. Bullet Bob pitched for the Indians Cleveland Indians from 1936 to 1956.

He remains the Indians all-time leader in shutouts (46), strikeouts (2,581), innings (3,828) and All-Star appearances (8).

Play Ball MacDaddy!

7 year old MacDaddy (nicknamed by his coach) is playing rep baseball for the first time this year for the Oakville A's. He is one of 13 on a team of 8 and 9 year olds. He plays Rookieball. In Rookieball, a pitching machine pitches a ball at 40 mph @ 46 ft from homeplate. Each batter gets 4 pitches or 3 strikes. Needless to say it is a hitters game with lots of balls going to the green! Bases are at a distance of 60 ft, making even the best hit usually only a double . It is amazing to watch these boys in the outfield catch/field and throw a ball to first base. We have seen a couple double plays made this season. MacDaddy has played 24 league games and has participated in 4 weekend tournaments. The A's will finish off the season with playoffs over Labor Day Weekend.

Back in the USA

A-mac had an 8 game softball tournament in PA over 4th of July weekend. We celebrated Independence Day watching ball, picnicing with our Canadian team "family" and seeing an awesome fireworks display. The Angels only won 2 games, but A-mac had a great "personal" tournament and even received MVP of a game.

After the tourney was over, we headed to D.C. and back through NYC upon our return to CA.

Lil Lefty

Lil Lefty has been having an amazing softball season on the mound. Here is the lastest blurb about the Angels in the local paper.
http://www.oakvillebeaver.com/sports/article/195851