I used to say that Pete had two pitches: a bullet right down the middle and a wild pitch. He's getting a little more consistent in that department, but I still think he's either "on" or "off." He has games where it all just comes together for him—pitching, hitting, running, stealing sliding, catching, throwing. And other nights? I want to go in and take his place (and you know I don't have an athletic bone in my body). Thursday night was the last game of the playoffs, and Pete was "on"—and then some—so that helped put them in the World Series! After the game, Pete said to me with a tired grin, "I love this sport!"
Today was the first of the three-game series. But last night Pete slept at a friend's house for a birthday party, along with about ten others. I begged him to get some sleep but wasn't too surprised to learn this morning that he was pretty sure he'd dozed off at some point between 2am and 4am. He could barely keep his eyes open to lace up his cleats. I was prepared for the worst, but what a game! It was scoreless until the 5th (next-to-last) inning, when Pete whacked the ball and got on base, and we subsequently scored two runs. We were the home team, so we just needed to not let them tie (or beat) us in the top of the 6th.
Our league has strict regulations about how much kids can pitch. It depends on how old they are, how many days since they last pitched, and how many pitches they threw. We had no one left but Pete, but we were hoping to save him for Game 2 tomorrow. The coach put him in anyhow, planning to let him throw only 20 pitches. You guessed it, the 20th pitch was the 3rd strike of the 3rd out! What a great moment! Pete was delighted to see his pal watching in the stands (the one who had hosted the all-night party); I jokingly said that it would have been on his head if we'd lost!
From there, Pete went home and, instead of collapsing, changed from his baseball gear into his soccer gear for his tryouts for next fall's travel soccer team. Honestly, I don't know how he was even standing up at this point. I didn't go, but Andy said he did well, and now that's over with too. I'm writing this now at 8:15, and I'm guessing Pete will be sound asleep in his bed by 8:30.
loved this! great athletic fun!
Posted by: jude | June 19, 2010 at 10:24 PM