It’s over. It finished with a 16-8 loss and seeing my son swing and miss at the last pitch of the season…and I am so dang proud! To be clear, I was really hoping he would get a hit and was very sad that he didn’t. In fact it was the disappointment and sadness I saw on his face that caused my voice to quiver as the emotions began to flow. And for both of us, I believe, the disappointment and sadness was less about the strikeout and much more about the fact that we were done, and we couldn’t keep playing baseball with our incredibly fun team.

It was awesome! Our season began with practices at the end of March and continued 2-3 times a week with practices and/or games up until the first weekend in July! This was quite a bit more than I think any of us anticipated when we signed up, coaches, parents and kids alike. It started with a lot of silliness and goofing off and ended with…a lot of silliness and goofing off still (they are 8 and 9 years old!), but also a lot of progress.

From our first scrimmage to our final game there was A TON of improvement from our players and our team. We first scrimmaged against a team in a league above us, and while we had a very nice start with our hitting, we quickly showed how far we had to go as most of that scrimmage we failed to accurately toss the ball back to our pitcher. Our final game was the second game of day 2 of our time in the District Tournament. We had not played a doubleheader all season! We came off a crazy and up and down, emotional game just before that we won to earn us the right to play one more. The team that ultimately ended our season was 10-1 during the regular season and won 3 games in the district tournament. They were very good! However, unlike our first game of the tournament where we nervous and not ready for how good these district teams were (we lost game one 15-0!), we kept fighting against this team and kept bouncing back. We didn’t even give up after they made an unassisted triple play on us to quickly end a promising inning! We fought back and fought back and kept hitting and pitching and trying and never gave up…and that is why I was super proud of my team after a 16-8 loss.

In between these first and last games we had a lot of ups and downs and a lot of fun. We won our first 3 games in a row, then lost 2. We beat one of the best teams in our division 2 out of 3 times and lost to a team that hadn’t won a game all season. We had a tough battle with the other team in our division, winning 2 and losing 2. We even played our last game of the regular season at a field an hour away from home with only 8 players…one of whom could barely move…and we found a way to win! This last victory coupled with the other top team in our division’s loss secured both of us with a 7-4 record to end the regular season. But, thanks to our winning 2 out of 3 games head to head…we were the division winners who got an automatic district playoff spot!

Even more important than all of this was the fact that the kids improved in every facet of the game. They got much better at playing catch. They improved their pitching. They improved at throwing the ball back to the pitcher! They improved in hitting and fielding. They especially improved in supporting and encouraging each other and playing together as a team. And most importantly…they had FUN! It was a joy to watch these kids have success and smile. It was a joy to watch them get their first hits after struggling, or strike guys out or make a big catch after they had failed to do so the time before. They had a blast out on the field and I had a blast watching them.

What was even more special for me with this group was getting to see and experience all of this with my son. I had believed that my passion and love for baseball was mostly gone after I stopped playing in college. But, when I saw my son out there working and improving, succeeding and having fun…and getting to be his coach through all of it…it became a special bonding opportunity that he and I thoroughly enjoyed and really connected over. I’m so grateful to him for signing up, allowing me to coach him, being the best coach’s son ever, and reawakening a joy in me that I thought had long since passed.

No mention of this incredible baseball season would be complete without acknowledging our biggest fans and supporters. My wife was incredibly encouraging, supportive and patient as a coach’s wife, and absolutely loved watching us have fun. My daughter diligently attended each game and gave lots of waves and hugs from the sideline. My Mom and Dad and siblings drove multiple hours to see games and cheered us on through the family text thread. It was an amazing season that I am so sad had to come to an end. But I am so grateful and happy that we had it and that I got to be a part of something so special for all these kids.

And…you can bet…I am already thinking and planning and preparing for how we can make the next one even better!

This is the love of baseball…

This is fatherhood…