Time for Baseball!!!

It's baseball season!  Collin is playing on the Seminoles baseball team.  The uniforms are maroon shirts with white pants (here we go with the white pants again...and the dirt and mud).  He is #1 which he really likes.  "Hey look, I am #1!"  His team mates are in 1st or 2nd grade which puts him on the younger, and smaller side.  However, he is one of the consistent catchers and hitters on the team.  The coach has had him in the outfield during practice which I am not surprised by because the older boys do typically play infield because they are more experienced and better.

I asked Collin if he was excited about playing baseball again and he said, "No, I really like playing soccer".  We all know that.  I asked him what he did not like about baseball thinking of several reasons that he might give: not running enough, boring, doesn't want to play in the outfield.  He said, "I don't know where to throw".  Oh....we can fix that!  He went on to explain that he gets confused if he needs to throw the ball to 2nd base or the pitcher.  I can see that this would cause him concern so much that he would rather not play than to embarrass himself or let the team down if he threw the ball to the wrong place.  I told him that Dad or I would be standing off field and help to help him know where to throw the ball.  Each time he heads to the outfield, Dad will remind him where to throw.  He thought this was a good solution and was excited about the first game.

Collin's first game with the Seminoles was tonight.  They lost 0-16 but played well as a team for the first game. Collin was 3rd in the batting order and got on base with his first hit. He did not make it home because the next boys up to bat got out. The first time in the field, he played left field. The first batter hit the ball to him but he missed it because he was not paying attention. He did not realize the inning had even started. He did make up for it the next time he was in the outfield when he caught a pop fly into right field as he dove for it. That caught was the third out too. The team and coaches were all cheering for him which he REALLY liked.  After that, the coach had him play catcher the next two times.  Walking out the first time, he told Dad, "This is my 8th time to play catcher".  I had to laugh at that knowing that he did not really like to play catcher so much so that he has kept up the number of times he has ever played that position.  I am not sure that the count is correct but I did not argue with him.  :) 

Despite the loss, the boys were not upset and were excited about playing the next game. Collin was not ready to go and wanted to throw the ball more. We would have stayed but it was time to have dinner and get home.

We have another game tomorrow night.  Dad said that coach might have Collin play 2nd base.  Again, he was not interested only because he did not know how to play that position and where to throw the ball.  Let's see if he pushes back when coach wants to send him out to 2nd base.