Candystick was all ready and couldn't get started quick enough. She and I threw the ball for about 20 minutes before we left the house. With her socks pulled high and her hair pulled back, she was looking the part.
What would be normally a 30 minute ride took a little longer. I knew this so we left early. We needed to replace a lost chin strap for her helmet. 2 stops later - we still had no chin strap. All was saved when we arrived at the ballpark. A mom gave us the one she had picked up off the dugout floor at our previous game.
The tournament started out with 2 pool games to decide the tournament brackets. As it turned out, the team we were to play at 11:45AM didn't show up for the tournament. It gave us that time to take some batting practice and do some fielding. One win easy enough.
The 2nd game was a different story. This team had lost their first match and came to our game ready to play. Like normal, it took us a few innings to get the girls warmed up and playing good softball. It was a tug of war with our Mighty Vipers losing in the end 16 to 19. A couple of bright spots were all the girls got hits. They were making good decisions on the bases. A couple of position misplacements by us coaches allowed a few hits to get past the outfield - thus, scoring a couple extra runs that shouldn't have. That team had some hitters. Candystick and coaches oldest daughter both hit in the park home runs. They both were solid hits that rolled to the 198ft left field fence.
We had a long break after the pool games. We ate lunch and watched other teams play. The 13 and up was playing near the pavilion. They are something to watch. I am glad our girls got to see some older girls playing and some of the things they were doing.
Our first tournament game was against the only team we have lost to in our regular season. It was also the team that had beat the team we lost to in pool game #2. I was a little apprehensive going into this game. However, our girls showed they were up to the challenge and defeated them. Our pitcher was the only hitter to get a home run in that game. It was another game where the girls really did a good job of hitting and moving runners around the bases. They played good defense.
Our fourth game of the tournament was disappointing. We lost. 13 to 0. I thought our girls played extremely well. They hit the ball well. They fielded well. However, we were well out skilled.
We left the ballpark after 6:30PM. We were all exhausted and a little sunburned. We had applied sunscreen. But, we could tell the places we had missed. Candystick seemed to really enjoy herself and I think is getting more excited about softball with each passing game.
We stopped off a Mexican restaurant on the way home. We filled up on chips and salsa and cheese dip. We enjoyed our entrees and soon were headed home.
Rake is feeling the burn
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