smashing sweethearts

Brooke chose to play softball again and had her first practice the night before school started!!  Her coach, Kassie Rutherford, was great and her teammates seemed really sweet.  A few of them have been together the last few seasons, but they were very welcoming of Brooke. 

Brooke received her jersey at the practice before her first game, and informed me that it was the cutest jersey she had ever seen in her life, haha.  I completely agreed :)  

It was such a great game for the Smashing Sweethearts!  They won, but more importantly, they had so much fun.  The opposing team's coach was pretty high strung and kept huffing when her girls struck out, so it made me grateful for our coach and the kindness with which she led the team.  

Brooke struck out on her first at-bat, which kind of surprised me, but had solid hits the next two times she was up.  And she made two runs, so she was doing great!

Grandma and Papa came to support Brooke!

At the next game, Brooke played first and "pitcher" (they stand on the mound with the coach who's actually pitching) most of the game and had two amazing outs at third.  Those long legs came in handy as she fielded the ball and outran the runner to third base!

She was disappointed to strike out a few times, but her last hit was great and she scored the winning run for the game.  Score: 6-5 

Then it was on to the parade of teams...

They also scheduled our team pictures for after the parade, which was less than ideal because everyone had messy hair, but we made the most of it :)

Back: Taylor, Reagan, Brooke, Coach Kassie, Kaylynn, Emmy, Kennedy

Front: Molly, Sage, Ellie, Sophia

They took individual shots as well, but the photographer had the girls looking directing into the sun, so I wasn't feeling confident in the final outcome. So, naturally, I took my own...

Game 2 for the day was another win (13-1) for the Smashing Sweethearts. Brooke was frustrated again with her hitting, but overall, the team played really well together. 

We were on snack duty for that game, and Brooke was all over it!

The next Saturday was another double header, and Brooke got a hit every time she went to bat!!

They tied the first game, and lost the second, but the coach gave them a great pep talk when it was all over.  We love Coach Kassie!!

Her primary teacher, Mandy Funderburk, asked for Brooke's schedule and showed up with her daughter Evie, so that made Brooke feel really special.  We are so blessed with the love and support our friends and family show to our kids!

They had a random Tuesday night game and loved playing under the stadium lights!  Especially since they squeaked out a win against the Bomb Pops :)

At the Saturday game, Brooke had some great hits and was thrilled to finally play catcher.  

Father/Daughter love :)

Warming up for Friday night's tournament game...

This was by FAR the most exciting game we've had all season!  The girls played hard against the Diamonds (#1 in the league), but lost by three runs due to their coach unintentionally being in the way on the last few plays of the game.  We tend to be a fairly mellow bunch, but this definitely ruffled some feathers. 

I wanted them to win so badly because one of Brooke's friends on the other team was talking about how "easy" it was going to be to beat them!  They have a very cocky vibe, so I'm slightly ashamed to admit that I was happy whenever their girls struck out or missed a play.  But I was especially excited when our girls had amazing plays or hits.  Molly played first during one inning, and got all three outs!! She was definitely on fire, as was the "pitcher" that assisted in those outs :)

Coach Kassie gave the sweetest pep talk after the game and you could tell that the girls were proud of themselves!

Grandma and Papa were there to witness it all, but somehow Papa missed the photo op!

The Smashing Sweethearts played again Saturday morning and beat the Fighting Unicorns!  Brooke played catcher again (which she was excited about) and had several good hits. 

She was especially excited that her cousins, aunt, and uncle showed up to cheer her on. 

I was back and forth between games for Brooke and Colby, but I was able to catch the second half of Brooke's second game.  The girls were dying in the heat, but played hard against the Purple Thunder.  They were pretty bummed about the loss since that meant they were out of the tournament, but it was still such a great season!  Brooke LOVED her team and especially her coach.  She was so positive and encouraging with the girls!  Just wish she was moving up to 10U with Brooke!!

We are SO proud of this girl!! She's improved so much this season and seeing that boost in confidence has been amazing. 

We celebrated the end of the season at In-N-Out with cousins...

Note:  The Diamonds Coach approached Kassie at the end of the season and expressed interest in getting Brooke and Kaylynn on their team for the Spring.  Brooke was excited, but I had my reservations.  Although we originally wanted her to be on the Diamonds with her friends, Claire and Zalaya, I was less keen after seeing how intense the team was and after Brooke was dealing with drama at school with those girls.  We still have a few months before we'll need to make a decision, but it won't be an easy one!