The thrill of my son's Pony League season came tonight in a rematch game with a team that beat us 15-0 in the first meeting. This is a team made up of a bunch of kids that my son has played with and against for years. I'm friendly with all the coaches and was a little surprised they didn't call to recruit him. I've got to admit I wanted to beat these guys badly and of course I wanted my son to show them what a mistake they had made. My son has been pitching and playing center field and third base but we've been working hard at shortstop as our team was really hurting there until we got our freshman high school player last Saturday. We started the high schooler on the mound tonight and I was surprised that the manager put my son out there to start at shortstop. Surprised and nervous as hell. In the second inning with runners on 1st and 2nd and one out he leaped up and caught a line drive and doubled the guy off 2nd to end the inning. He only got one other chance on defense and handled it well.
It was back and forth all game. We'd go up by one then they'd tie it. My son struck out and hit into a double play. Going into the bottom of the 7th (that's it for Pony) we were down 4-3 but our 2,3& 4 hitters were coming to bat. First the high school kid lines a shot to third which was dropped. #3 hitter slams a double into the gap to tie it up. #4 moves him over to 3rd on a grounder. So here comes #5 to the plate with one out and a runner on third. My son is on deck. What do these guys do?
Intentional walk.
You're kidding me right? I'm already a little pissed at these coaches on the other team for passing up my son. I really don't know if they could have drafted him or if they even had a slot left to recruit him but I was feeling slighted regardless. Now here's the ballgame on the line and they just walked the guy ahead of him to get to my son. I'm taking this personal now!
Uh oh, here comes a new pitcher. Their 14-year old ace takes the mound. This kid is huge and throws some serious heat.
Now we've got speed on 3rd and our manager calls a delayed steal on the first pitch. My son takes the strike as we're trying to draw the throw down to second hoping to score on any weak throw or error. They let him walk to second. I thought they were going for a double play? What the heck? Next pitch is a low inside strike and my son looks at it for strike two.
0-2 count and I'm about losing it now. I'm figuring these guys all know my son is a sucker for the outside curve. I'm seeing the weak falling down swing in my mind as I pace in front of the dugout. Nope, the kid rears back for everything and challenges him with his best fastball high and outside. Big mistake as my son slammed that pitch down the right field line for a stand-up triple.
Game over, it's all worthwhile and life is good.
God Bless America
