My Little Pirates – T-Ball!

Bret and I signed Brody, Baxlyn, Kylee & Korbin up for t-ball! Based on their personalities and interests so far, I don’t think they’re all made out to be long term athletes. That being said, I really wanted them to experience being on a team and playing a sport, just one time. Although their team is coed, Kylee & Baxlyn are the only girls among 8 little 4 and 5 year old boys! In fact of the hundreds of kids we saw this weekend, I only saw a total of 4 little girls! We had their first practice last week and their first official game on “Opening Day” this past Saturday. Let me start by saying if you haven’t ever been to a t-ball game – GO! It’s some GOOD entertainment, that’s for sure!

Our Little Pirates L-R Brody, Kylee, Korbin & Baxlyn

I am SO happy with the league and team they were placed with. I had this silly fear that we would be placed on a team with kids who knew what they were doing, whose parents wanted to “win” and were there to succeed and compete. I was happy to learn that their team doesn’t keep score, everybody gets equal chances and not one kid knew what they were doing – whew! They are numbers 2,3,5&6 – ironically #4 was given to another kiddo!

 

We were there bright and early so the quads could join in a little parade with all of the other teams. After the opening ceremony which included the national anthem, prayer & first pitch, they noticed the Mckinney Rough Riders mascot from afar and HAD to go see the “harry orange guy”. Although Kylee agreed to high five the big orange guy, she couldn’t quite get herself to turn her back on him for a picture…

 That afternoon they played their first game. Like I mentioned before they had had just one practice the week before which didn’t include the actual field with bases. Their whole little team was CLUELESS which made it that much more fun to watch. Coach Z would take a minute to tell each one what to do after hitting the ball, of course, none remembered and usually stood there with a big smile after their big hit!

Each kid gets to swing as many times as needed until they hit the ball and they always get on base no matter what! 5 kids bat and then they run them all in and switch to the out field. Below is Kylee up to bat. With prompting, she did good at using her left hand to help swing and had a good hit!

 After standing for a few seconds, she took off towards 1st base! Run, Kylee, ruuunnnn!

Wearing her glove on her left hand is pretty difficult for her so she just held on to it while out in the “out field”. Here she is (3rd from the right) proudly showing one of her team mates how she can balance it on her head while the other team bats!

 ….and here she is with another little boy playing in the sand! Not a care in the world :)

 Baxlyn was the one I thought may be the least excited about playing. She wasn’t too excited when I told them they were going to play on a team. I’m pretty sure that ultimately she was in it for the juice boxes I told her would be there after each game. She would MUCH rather be organizing things or coloring a picture than getting dirty. Not to mention she’s only a fan of the outdoors when it’s a perfect 72 degrees out. Saturday morning was a bit chilly so she thought she was going to freeze to death and then by afternoon we hit nearly 80 degrees in which she thought she was gonna melt. Once the game got started I was happy to see she really enjoyed playing! She was ready to leave about half way through the game but held out until the end! Here she is taking a swing at the ball…

She was a little bummed she didn’t hit it over the fence like she had been hoping she would for a few weeks. We assured her if she keeps practicing as she grows up, she can do it one day ;)

Miss B looking ready while covering first!

  Sweet Blade enjoyed watching his brothers and sisters play while he proudly yelled “Daa! Daa!” The boys really enjoyed playing too! Brody was great at hitting the ball! Once hitting, like the other kids, he wasn’t too sure what to do next. You could almost see his little mind racing as he heard half the parents saying “RUN RUN!” while the parents of the other team yelled “GET THE BALL! GET THE BALL!”. He would stop, run towards the ball, then run towards third base only to be redirected back over to first! He’s a little sluggish getting from base to base, usually stopping to take a breather about half way and continuing to walk to the next base. I’m pretty sure he was lapped by several players throughout the game but that’s ok :)

 Korbin did great and is probably the one most likely to go on to play sports. He enjoys playing and has always had quite an arm when it comes to throwing. Here he is ready to take a big swing…

 Love this shot of both teams as they go slap hands at the end of the game!

 

 Although they’re having a great time, I think I’m enjoying them playing even more ;) I love watching them thrive and enjoy things in life with no worries and I look forward to the rest of the season! GO PIRATES!