K & K Meador (+2): the shockers

Our Brooke Girl started a new sport!! She had never really expressed an interest in playing softball, but one Sunday evening, after playing baseball in Papa's backyard, Kevin made a comment about how good Brooke was doing. I was in the house helping with dinner, but Kevin was going on and on about how Brooke was just crushing the balls as he pitched them. I nonchalantly asked her if she'd like to play softball, and she said yes. I was kind of surprised, but started searching right away for leagues in Mansfiled. I found one, and the deadline to register was that day! I couldn't believe the odds. I texted my friend Rheta to see if her daughter Claire was interested in playing. I forgot that we had this conversation weeks ago when we discussed fall soccer, but I found out that Claire was already registered for the same league. I signed Brooke up and made a friend request, but they were very clear that it wasn't a guaranteed thing.

She didn't get on the team with Claire, but she still seemed excited. Brooke missed the first three practices due to Covid at our house, but they also chose Wednesday night and Sunday afternoon for practices, so she would have missed the Sunday practices regardless.

She was a little nervous heading over since she didn't know anybody, but I tried to boost her confidence that this was a great opportunity to make new friends, which is something she's always been good at.

Well, she was at least a head taller than everyone on her team, but all the girls seemed super nice and were very welcoming to her. I loved seeing her out there chatting with the other girls, joking with the coach, and running her little heart out as she rounded those bases.

The first few weeks were practice-only, which was good since Brooke had never played before. A few girls on the team had played before, but overall, the girls were new to the sport. This particular team was 8U (8 and Under) and was coach-pitch, which was perfect for beginners.

She really hated that I took so many pictures, but I know she'll thank me later :) Just so proud of my girl for putting herself out there and trying something new. That's not an easy thing to do!

Brooke had her first two games on a Saturday in mid-October and the uniforms arrived just in time. (Like, the day before, haha.) I didn't realize that her name would be on it as well, which was just the icing on the cake. She was SO excited and didn't really seem nervous at all. She had some great hits, awesome stops at third base, and even played catcher for an inning.

She's also a total ring-leader in the dugout, constantly getting the girls to do chants and cheers. I love this girl so much!

Brooke and her friend Madison :)

Go Shockers!! They lost their first game to a team that has played together for 3 years (The Heat), but won the second game.

Another weekend of games...

Brooke is so consistent with her hitting, and although her stance isn't perfect and her swing is less than traditional, she gets great hits and has moved up the batting order!

Colby kept himself entertained by sketching Brooke, complete with tiny cleats and a face guard :)

She played pitcher for the first time, which just meant that she stood on the mound by the coach that was pitching. Her teammates needed to get the ball to her to stop the play, and overall, Brooke did well. She played against her friends, Claire and Zalaya, which added a whole new element of fun.

All the littles, just hanging out :)

Game Two was another good one. Brooke was especially pumped about the under-eye stickers her friend Autumn brought for everyone. Her enthusiasm for the details is pretty dang cute.

I wish I could edit my voice out of all the videos where I'm yelling "Run, run, run" and "Run Hard" but I just can't help myself, haha.

She played catcher again and seemed to really enjoy that position...

Showing good sportsmanship at the end of the game...

The Brookie fan club...

We sure love watching her play!!

The tournament was delayed several weeks due to the "fields not being ready," which seemed like a big joke to me, but we finally played on Thursday night. It was a tough loss, but not totally surprising because we hadn't had practice for a few weeks. The girls still had fun, but I wasn't feeling very confident going into the double-elimination tournament.

Coach Tim wasn't going to make Friday's game, so we snagged a picture that night. He was such a great coach for Brooke and always very encouraging to the girls.

Friday night was COLD, but we had a solid win!! Totally boosted their confidence again. Brooke loved playing on the pitcher's mound, had a solid hit, struck out once (unusual for her), and is ALWAYS the first one back to the dugout when it's time to switch out, haha.

Trying to stay warm with Colby!

Colby made a "tiny cemetery" so apparently the game wasn't exciting enough for him.

We played again Saturday morning, which was the start of four back-to-back games! The Shockers were on a roll.

The weather couldn't have been more perfect, and since they were only playing with 8 girls, Brooke was up to bat numerous times. Needless to say, I have a lot of videos of that sweet girl.

We beat the Heat, which everyone dubbed the best team in the league. That definitely felt good!!

The Diamonds also beat them that morning, and some of the players even came to watch our game and cheer us on! (The parents commented to me that they didn't care for the way the Heat coach ran his team, so they were definitely wanting us to win.) Since that was their second loss, they were out of the tournament and we needed to play against the Diamonds. This was the team Brooke's friends were on, so it was an exciting game to watch. I of course cheered for her friends as well, and Colby was a little confused about why I would be cheering for the opposing team. I tried to explain that it's all part of good sportsmanship, but I obviously still wanted to win, haha!

We beat them, but since it was a double elimination tournament and they only had one loss, we had to beat them again. Brooke was pretty mad and didn't quite understand why we had to do that, but we later showed her the bracket and that helped a bit.

It was our fourth game in a row, the girls were tired, and we lost 7-5. Tensions were high and we were all disappointed. But, they showed good sportsmanship and were excited to get their plaques.

So proud of this girl!! It was a great season and she definitely wants to play again in the Fall. The coach talked to us about Brooke playing on a select team with him, but we're just not sure if we're ready to commit to that yet. It would involve multiple practices a week and a minimum of two tournaments a month, so it's definitely a family commitment. Oh, and they would practice and play out in Venus, so that's definitely not convenient. I would be fine playing with the Mansfield Girl's Softball Association again, although I wasn't super impressed with their ability to maintain the fields and stick to the original schedule.