It's Outta Here...

As you all know, I LOVE baseball. LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it - especially when my boys are playing. It's hard to believe that Blake is playing his final year of Little League.

I remember when he started teeball and how excited he was to be on a team. Even though they didn't have full uniforms that year like most of the other teams (they just had t-shirts and "trucker" hats), Blake wore his with pride. His only problem really was that he wanted a home run with every hit and would often keep running to get a home run when his coach was yelling for him to stop.

His second year of teeball he did hit a few "home runs" but they didn't leave the park. The ball was just thrown around a lot.

When he moved up to Rookie league, he had two great years playing against the pitching machine. He was a great 2nd baseman. He made all-stars both years. His second year of Rookie, he even hit the ball out of the park on field one. I was so excited about getting my hands on the ball, that I jumped up and ran off to grab it while Blake was running the bases. I do remember him extending his arms out to the side like he was flying as he rounded first base.

Minor league brought some challenges as he moved up to kid-pitch. He struggled with pitching his first year, but became an excellent catcher. His second year, he eased in to pitching a little more. He still needed to work on his patience. As a 10 year old, he made the all-star team.

Last year, Blake moved up to Major League. He continued to catch some and play 2nd base. He pitched a few games and did much better than the previous year. Last fall, he really worked on pitching and we could tell he had matured a lot as a baseball player.

This year Blake has become a true team leader. He is one of our two main catchers and also pitches and has played 1st base and short stop for our team. During our opening weekend tournament, he hit the ball so far, he had an in-the-park homerun. Go Blake!

Then on May 19, while playing on the largest field in our league, Blake hit the ball right over the fence in centerfield. HOMERUN WHEELER!!! (Yes, I have the ball to prove it!) It was all I could do to keep from crying. I was so proud of Blake!

In our very next game four days later, Blake hit the ball out of the park on Field 2!

I feel like he hit the trifecta! I don't think there are many kids who can say they've hit the baseball out of the park on all the fields in their league.

I'm so proud of this kid that I just had to brag. Love him!

Speaking of proud...I'm proud of the whole team for winning their game tonight. It was a close one. I'm also proud of our high school baseball team for winning the region tournament tonight. We get to advance to the State Tournament now. Luckily we were able to catch the last two innings tonight. I hope that some day my boys will get to experience that same success.

:)