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Well, I know Little League is pretty common. But for a kid who never picked up a bat before last year, I'm pretty darned proud of Miss Dallas. She played last year in the local little league and liked it enough to come back for more.
She's not a "natural athlete" and, frankly, she often spends more time in her own little world than on Planet Earth (a trait she shares with, and no doubt inherited from, her father). But she came into her own this year. She spent most of her time in the outfield, and while she never had the opportunity to make a miraculous catch in the air, she almost always got the ball back to the infield quickly to hold the batter to 1 or 2 bases.
And I said "most" of her time--she also made regular appearances as catcher, did some time at third base, and even pitched several innings, including one scoreless one--no mean feat in a league where, with 6-inning games and scoring capped at 6 runs per inning by rule, scores in excess of 20 runs are not unheard of.
On the hitting side, she overcame a tendency to swing three times and strike out quickly and got to the point where she was pretty good at earning walks. But she also found her bat near the end of the season. In the last inning of the second playoff game she hit hard toward first and got out, but moved the runners at first and second ahead, where they both scored on the next hit to take the lead. In the next to last playoff she hit a pop fly and got on base, sending home the run that locked up the win.
Her 5-team league held a double-elimination post-season tournament. Her team dropped the first game 21-19 and then proceeded to dominate the loser's bracket, sending three different teams to their reward. The final game was tonight and they lost 8-5, failing to force the team that survived the winner's bracket to a final deciding game. Of course it was disappointing to fall short, but it was a damned impressive season and it was really good for my daughter in a lot of ways.
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