We were very excited and proud of Jake and his Cub's little league team for winning their minor league division championship over five other minor league teams. This qualified them for the Divisional Tournament of Champions which encompassed a good part of the Southeast Valley. All of the Little League teams sent their best team to compete for the title of "Champion of Champions." So out of a pool of about 60-70 teams, about 8 were sent to represent their respective areas.
The Cubs had to face a very good undefeated team to start the tournament. Their starting pitcher looked to be in his late teens and had a wicked fast ball that almost none of the kids could come close to even making contact with. They made quick work of the Cubs handing them their worst loss of the season. This was a double elimination tournament, so they were down, but not out. They, one game at a time, fought their way back through the "losers bracket" to earn the right to play the still undefeated D-Backs team that had beaten them so handily in the first game. The problem with being in the losers bracket is that you have to play a lot of games in a row. They played 5 games in 8 days. That creates a huge problem with pitchers. Most teams have one ace, and another one or two good pitchers, and that is usually all you need during the regular season. It tends to get dicey after that at this age, and our team was no exception. Little League Baseball has this elaborate formula for how many pitches a kid is allowed to throw in a game based on his age and then specifies how many days rest they are required to have before they can take to the mound again. Long story short, we burned through all our regular pitchers in order to win games. Using a Survivor analogy, we didn't want to go home with an idol in our pocket, holding out for the next game.
Jake has never pitched in a real game at any level. He has thrown hundreds of pitches to me, Wes, and DB but he quickly realized how different the real thing is. He had pitched fairly well in practice, so his coach turned to him in the middle of a game when our Number 4 pitcher ran out of his allotted pitches. We had a good lead, but the bases were loaded which makes it so much more difficult, due to the constant threat of base runners stealing home on an errant pitch. It seems like everyone decided to show up at the game for family night (for which we were grateful). Both sets of grandparents were there, as well as aunts and cousins and us of course. It could not have been a more pressure packed situation for the poor kid, being a do or die championship playoff game. Jake is a confident kid who usually thrives under pressure, but I could tell he was tense and somewhat intimidated. As a mom, it was difficult to watch him struggle, but I could not have been more proud to see his willingness to try. He lasted nine pitches throwing only one strike, walking two batters before the coach (justifiably) pulled the plug on his pitching debut. They pulled out the victory and went on to finish second only to the undefeated D-Backs.
What a great experience to have at nine years old. Some argue that sports are a waste of time, but I say that there are invaluable life lessons to be learned if these kids are handled with coaches and parents who are in it for the right reasons and are willing to teach them skills like winning and losing gracefully, encouraging teammates when they are excelling and when they are struggling, and most importantly teaching integrity and character. Jake's amazing coaches did all of these things.
I'm not sure he'll appreciate the analogy yet, but I think it's safe to assume, his time to fully blossom is forthcoming.
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