Brooke was super excited to be on the Lady Diamonds with her friends, Claire and Zalaya. The team has been together for several seasons and has a bit of a reputation for being intense, so I was a little worried for how the season would play out. We started practicing with them in January and everything was actually going really well, but I wasn't sure if that would change once we were actually playing games.
At the practice before the first game, Samantha (Paisley's mom and Coach John's daughter) gave the girls these cute visors to go with their uniforms. Can you tell that Brooke was a little excited about it??
Opening Day for Mansfield Girl's Softball Association...
Claire, Brooke, and Clark
Kevin was given a fancy jersey as well since he's the team's "designated pitcher." In 10U, the girls pitch, but once the count reaches 4 balls, the coach can step in and resume the pitch count to 3 strikes. I love that he gets to be more involved this season, and I especially love that he found this purple diamond hat on Amazon :)
I was only able to watch the first 15 minutes of Brooke's game because I had to get Colby to his game, but I was SO glad that she was second in the batting order. She hit a pop fly, but unfortunately, they caught the ball. They lost the first game 5-6, but won the second game 9-7.
The school counselor and one of the 4th grade teachers came to watch these cute girls play!! I was super impressed that they would dedicate part of their Saturday to watch their students.
An unofficial team pic of the Lady Diamonds...
Brooke was so excited to give me all the details from the games, but was most excited to recount the story of how she stole multiple bases, was tagged near home, but then the girl dropped the ball and she managed to quickly tag home base for the run! (Note: Samantha also made the girls these cute headbands. Brooke wore hers until bedtime!)
I wore purple and gray to the next game to support my girl! She is loving her season, which makes me so happy.
The girls all have a walk-up song, and after way too many hours searching for the perfect song, we finally settled on "Confident" by Demi Lovato. It's the perfect song for my girl and I hope she can truly feel confident this season. The girls are all nervous about hitting off the 10U pitchers, but I know they can do it if they just swing those bats!
Brooke had two strikes, which meant that Kevin could only throw one pitch. Luckily, she smacked that ball and it sailed clear into the outfield. I thought she was gonna run home, but we'll take the triple.
The end of the game was super stressful, but the Lady Diamonds pulled through with a win!!
The next Saturday started out with a solid win against the Rebels! We had a few issues with the dude keeping the scoreboard, but thankfully nobody had to forfeit. Long story short, he thought Kevin came out to pitch too soon (which he didn't because I have everything on video) so he wouldn't put the run up on the board. Then he wouldn't put the next out on the board. But it all worked itself out, thankfully. I could feel my blood boiling and one of the other dads said something to him and it turned into a whole thing of parents yelling stuff to each other. Definitely not what we are trying to teach our girls about good sportsmanship, right??
Game #2 against the Pistols was another win!! It was an intense game towards the end and I wasn't sure if they'd pull it off, but they did it! These girls are on fire and it's SO fun to watch.
I missed Brooke's next game since I was with Colby, but her teacher (Ms. Gutierrez) came to cheer these girls on! She has been blessed with the BEST teachers. She dedicates her whole week to her students, then shows up on her day off. Seriously, the best!!
They lost both of their games and Brooke was sad about striking out when her teacher was there, but when you play the #1 team in the league and a team with an amazing pitcher, it's tough. I was especially sad/mad about how some of the parents reacted. There was absolutely no need to make the girls feel awful about themselves. One mom (Gabby) was stomping around like a crazy person because she was so upset. Even Coach John, who is pretty even-tempered, was getting all riled up.
The highlight of the day was definitely the goody bags Mack's mom made for everyone. They were customized with their name in silver vinyl with a silver glittery diamond on the front. Inside was a purple gatorade, purple candy, and a pen with a diamond on the end. These girls are spoiled!! Oh, and you can also see the new slides Brooke is wearing. Coach John ordered custom slides for each girl with their number on one sandal and Lady Diamonds on the other.
Sunday afternoon we received a message with an online photo gallery of our girls. Coach John had hired a professional photographer to come to the second game. He really puts his whole heart into these girls and it shows. (He also apologized for being a bit intense at Saturday's game, which I appreciated.) I LOVE these pictures of my girl.
She stole the rest of the bases and made it safely home. All her running at school has been super beneficial to her softball game.
He even snapped a picture of them in the infield...
A little mid-week practice at DBat...
Warming up before the game...
Sweet Paisley made sure to give Brooke, Kevin, and I all hugs before we headed home. New friendships are definitely one of the perks of team sports.
Day two of the tournament started with some purple hair. They won their first game after going into an extra inning, which was both incredibly stressful and exciting.
Brooke struck out once (or maybe twice), but got a hit at the very end of the game. Although they tagged her at first, she got an RBI which gave their team the winning run.
Grandma was there to watch the game, and Papa watched via the GameChanger app since he couldn't get out and about.
She came out of the dugout and gave me the biggest hug!! Just love this girl to pieces.
Gabby (Jocelyn's mom) made the girls the cutest customized softball ornaments for each girl. Even though I felt like Gabby was too intense for most of the season, she really loved these girls and was invested in them.
The girls played their second game immediately after the first, and although they lost, they fought hard. During that last game, we had one of the most exciting moments of the entire season. Moving up to 10U Fastpitch was a huge adjustment, especially when some of the teams have VERY good pitchers, but Brooke surprised me with her courage and grit. She committed to Kevin that she would swing at the first few pitches and after watching the first pitch, she swung at pitch #2 and had a great hit. (I'm pretty sure someone caught it, but it's hard to tell in the video.) It was such a proud moment for Kevin and I! It's amazing to see your daughter push past her fear and be rewarded with a confidence-boosting experience.
I'm so grateful that Kevin had a chance to be so involved this season. He's had some pretty special moments with Brookie, which I know he's grateful for.
A few weeks later, the team had an end-of-season party at Dbat. Jordan's dad owns the place, and while I don't really care for him (super negative and always picking on his daughter), I was grateful that he would allow us to use his facility. The kids all played kickball, ate pizza and cupcakes, and then John had prepared something positive to say about each girl. It was making him emotional, so his daughter (Gabby) read them all.
"Brooke, I love your positivity and how you bring the energy to the field and the dugout."
Then John presented each girl with a yellow leather rose with softball stitching. It was incredibly thoughtful and just another example of his kindness this season.
I'm not sure if Brooke will continue with softball, but this was definitely a positive learning and growing experience for her in so many ways!
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