James' Mother's Day Gift

This is James first year playing on the Minor As.  He tried out and was one of the very few 8 year olds to make the cut.  We are so proud of how much James has practiced and worked and progressed this year playing with the older kids (9-11 years old).

The transition from Coach Pitch to Kid Pitch has had a learning curve though.  After being hit by a some wild pitches early on, you could see his batting stance change because he was afraid.  He would do great at practices when the coaches would pitch, but didn't trust the kids pitching.  But as the season has gone on, his confidence is increasing.  At Wednesdays practice, he even challenged a kid to a pitching match.  James bet that the kid couldn't get a hit off of his pitching.  Pretty gutsy for being the youngest, smallest kid on the team.

Yesterday, I told him, "James, it's almost Mother's Day.  When you get up to bat, tell yourself, 'This is for my MOM!' and smack it outta there!"  AND HE DID!!! Woo hoo!  Took half the season to find his groove in the new level, but Stella got her groove back. baby!  He scored two runs for his team.  They ended up winning 12-4.  I am a proud mama!