Fall Ball Ends...

Well, our Fall Ball Little League experience ended last night. My son's team, which was the only team that had more than one quality pitcher, ended up being 11-1. Most pitchers in the league walked most everyone and the teams would quickly reach their five run maximum per inning. We were fortunate to have five quality pitchers (Gabe, Jonathan, David, Noah and Mitchell).

Gabe up to bat in the last game.

Gabe and I had some very specific goals this fall ball, to make consistent solid contact when hitting and to throw consistent strikes as a pitcher. He was able to get better with each game and we ended up achieving both.

One of the hardest things to teach a young batter is to wait on slow pitches. What usually happens is the batter's bat speed matches the incoming pitch speed. If the pitch is slow, the bat swing is slow. If the pitch is fast, the bat speed is fast.

Teaching a kid to wait on the slow pitch and then swing fast is difficult. Gabe still hasn't mastered it yet, but he has improved. During the game the best player on the other team, Andrew, waited on a slow pitch and knocked it into center field.

After the hit, in between innings, Gabe and I talked and I asked him if he was capable of doing the same. Gabe is extremely competitive and he always seeks out the best player on the other team and wants to do better. He said he could hit it as far.

So, his next at bat Andrew is pitching and Gabe is hitting. The pitch count goes to 3-0 and Gabe steps out of the batters box and yells out to Andrew (who had hit Gabe twice in two previous games and walked him almost every time before as well) and said "you're not going to hit me again or walk me, are you?" Gabe's tactic worked and Andrew's next pitch was right over the plate, which Gabe knocked it to the base of the center field fence. After sliding safely into third, Gabe popped up and gave me a thumbs up.

He's better than I ever imagined and he's only ten. Granted, he's still just a kid and has a lot to learn, but his approach and talent compared to others of his age is pretty amazing to me. I take very little credit for it. He works hard, loves to play and is always thinking ahead. When I was his age I was the kid in right field wondering if I could convince my Mom to buy me bubble gum from the concession stand after the game.

Despite all that, the greatest compliment he gets from his coaches is that he's a very good leader and a very good sportsman. I feel very blessed.

Gabe ended up closing the game, walking one, striking out three. We're anxiously looking forward to moving up to the next level where he'll be pushed by kids much better than he is and where we can set higher goals.

There's talk about throwing together a tournament next week between the four teams, but we're kind of burnt out and could use a few weeks just focusing on football. If they have the tournament, I'll take pics and let you know how it turns out.