Softball finale

Rachel played softball again this season. The season finished up this Friday with the tournament. Every team makes the tournament, regardless of their record. Good thing, because our record was, shall we say, unspectacular. The team failed to notch a victory all season.

The teams usually play one base to a hit, maybe stretching it to a double if it's a really good hit. Nobody got more than a double all season. Rachel did better this year than last. She was a more aggressive batter and she got a few hits. Our first tournament game went into extra innings and we lost a heartbreaker. During our next tournament game we were the home team. The opposing coach was playing to win in the top of the first by sending his players on the basepaths, taking the extra base. Our coach decided to match his intensity by having our girls run aggressively during the bottom of the first . Rachel's first at bat was with the bases loaded.

I told her to be swinging up there and she did. She sent a hard liner down the first baseline all the way to the outfield grass.

She was very excited to find herself standing on third base after a bases-clearing triple!

The other coach's aggressive style came back to bite him in the end. Our bats woke up and we ended up with a victory! The tournament is all about momentum. Of course, our momentum stalled in the next game. Oh well. Rachel tried hard, had fun, and showed improvement. I would call that a successful season.

Just wait 'til next year!