We got to Los Osos and my parents new vacation home in time for dinner Friday night and got Rabbit into to bed by 9. This was key since we needed to leave the house at 6:30 to be at the fields by 7:15. A good nights sleep was appreciated, and cut short by the alarms.
When we pulled into the fields complex it was 33 degrees outside. Fahrenheit! Yikes. We found our teammates and waited for the snack bar coffee to be ready. It was alarmingly cold. The boys were at least able to run a bit and warm up. By game time (8am) it was a blistering 40 degrees. Eeep. Rabbit started game 1 at first base. Their first two games were being played against teams from the 11U bracket. His first at bat, he was 5th in the line up, he was quickly down 0-2 before battling back 2-2. A swinging third strike left two runners on, but Rabbit knew what the pitcher had going. Boy did he ever. A 3 run second inning and we were ahead 3-0 after two. Rabbit led off the third and on the first pitch drilled a ball to center. If it had been 10 degrees warmer the ball would have skipped to the fence for an easy homerun. Instead it "lawn darted" and he was thrown out at 2nd on a questionable call. It was the hardest hit ball of the day and a great swing.
Before the bottom of the third Rabbit ran to RF and another boy went to the mound. A third boy, who had been warming up was sent to the outfield. The coaches then called Rabbit in to pitch. It was confusing and Rabbit never quite got his brain together before the inning started. Add in the fact he was again throwing from a 50 foot mound (46 is normal for 10U) and it went bad. Quickly. First play to him was a comebacker to the pitcher that he butchered, throwing the ball into the opposing dugout allowing a run. From there it got worse. In the third he gave up 5 runs, 4 earned with 1 k and 4 BB, including two on full counts. Starting the fourth it continued to spiral. Another earned run, another full count walk and after two outs the coaches took him out. A game that was easily winnable, against a team in a higher division, ended up a 5-3 loss.
Game 2 was against a much better team and we struggled early. Rabbit alternated between first and RF. His first AB was a 5 pitch walk from which he stole second and third and scored on a passed ball. His next AB was a sharp single and another stolen base. He came around to score as well. The game, which had been 11-2 at one point, ended up 13-9 with Bluewave putting the tying run on deck. Everyone was hitting and the team had a great final two innings in that game. It was now noon and we were done with games until 3PM Sunday. One of the families had brought an RV and the boys had hot dogs and chips together and then went to run around the park for a bit. After a while we headed back to Los Osos for naps and to get ready.
That afternoon we met several teammates at the beach in Morrow Bay for an impromptu whiffle ball game. A difficult task in 60 MPH winds, but a great time was had. Afterward we gathered at the house for burgers and movies. It was a great turnout and the boys really had a good time. As bedtime approached we were relishing the chance to sleep in on a game day for once!
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