Baseball Season 2015

Brody in Minors

     Brody's team had a tough Baseball season this year. haha. First of all, all the kids (except) Brody were first year minors and very new to the game. As a team we won 1 game, tied 1 game and lost the rest of them. This was tough for Brody because when he played minors last year we didn't loose a game all year. It didn't help things that right before the first game of the season, one of our best players broke his foot long jumping in gym class. He wasn't able to play the whole season.


     In some ways this was good for Brody because he had to be the "Stud" of the team. He was one of my main pitchers and played some of the most important positions in the infield (1st, Short and Catch). He had a few inside the park Home Runs this year. He hit the ball really well and rarely struck out. He improved so much during the baseball season. He was always willing to work hard and listen to advice on how to get better.

     He tried out for the South Chief All Star team last week, but we still haven't heard back from the coach on whether he made the team or not. Brody loves to play and is always asking me to go in the back yard and play catch. He will be a great ball playing as he grows older.

     Brody has another try out for the All Star team this week, so we will update what happens.

Haydn in Majors

     Haydn had a great Majors team this year. We only had 1 team so I didn't have to split up any of the good players this year. We had a great regular season, winning 6 and loosing 2. We went into playoffs as the #1 team in the league, and the team everyone wanted to beat. Haydn had a great season this year at the plate. He hardly ever struck out and always seemed to get his bat on the ball. He played 1st base most of the season and really seemed to shine there.




   We had a Crazy semi-final game against one of the Magrath teams. Magrath was pitching there best pitcher (who was one of the best pitchers in the league as well). We gave up 3 runs in the top of the first, but then battled back in the bottom of the first and scored 3 runs. We gave up 2 more runs the next inning so the score was 5-3. The score stayed this way until the 6th inning. In the top of the 6th, Magrath had the top of their order and their 3 best hitters. We were able to get them out 1,2,3 and had the bottom of the last inning to score 2 and tie or score 3 and win.

      We had the top of our order starting off our last at bat. Graedon Woodward was able to get on and came around to score on a wild pitch. The next 2 batters got out. So we had 2 outs, no one on base and we were down by 1 run. The next batter was McCoy Duce and he was able to hit a single and get on base. He was able to steal 2nd and 3rd base. Then Haydn was up. Magrath had to go to a new pitcher because he had reached his pitch count. At first I told Haydn to look for a ball right down the middle, but then as I was watching the new pitcher warm up you could tell that he was very nervous to be pitvhing in such a big moment. I told Haydn not to swing until he was thrown a strike. Haydn took 4 straight balls and walked to first. So, we had the tying run on 3rd and the winning run on 1st base. Levi Bennett was up next and he took the first pitch he saw and crushed it over the center fielders head and Haydn came all the way around from first to win the game.

     The championship did not have such a great ending. We took an early 3-0 lead, but then couldn't stop them from hitting the gaps and we lost 8-3. The boys played hard and were all upset to loose the big game. I was very proud of the boys and how well they played all season.

   

Tyson and Tball

     Tyson had his 2nd year of Tball this year, and it was just as exciting as last year!!! Keeping these kids focused on baseball was almost impossible, especially when we played on a diamond with an all shale infield. He had a lot of fun teaching Tyson the game and seeing his eyes light up when he would hit the ball.

Ladies Tourney and Cranbrook

     Kristi had her final tourney in her women's softball league on the weekend and they won the whole thing. They had to beat won of the best teams in the league in the championship. Kristi said the team played well and that she hit the ball well and played a mean 1st base.

     I had a tourney in Cranbrook the same weekend so I was not able to watch Kristi play. I took Brody with me to Cranbrook. We had a great tourney and we ended up winning the Intermediate "B" side championship. We had one game that we had to play at midnight and it was a blast. We had to go into extra innings and we won 12-10. I only went out 3 times in all our games and I hit great all tourney.

Calgary Trip

     We don't get to see Ryan and Brandi all the time so we decided to meet in Calgary for the weekend so we could all hang out together. The kids love to play together and we thought staying in a hotel with a waterslide would be fun for them. The kids had a blast and they spent hours swimming at the hotel with each other.

     We love spending time with the Harris's and wished they lived closer so we could do it more often. Our kids play great together and always have a good time when they are around each other.

     The kids loved the hotel and I am sure we were the loudest 2 rooms together in the hotel that weekend. Sorry to those who were next to us. haha.

 

















    One of the days we were in Calgary we went to a new indoor trampoline place. The kids were so excited to go and so were we until we saw how many people were in the building at the same time. I am pretty sure the building was going against some kind of fire code with how many people they had in there at the same time. The kids did seem to have fun though. One of my favorite ones was the basketball hoops. I (A 35 year old man) was getting high fived by all the little kids because of my serious dunk ball skills hahahaha. Except I walked out of there with some serious scratches and bruises on my arms from slamming on the rim.









Track and Field

     The boys had Track and Field over the last couple of weeks and they both did well in all of their events that they participated in. Haydn got 1st in relay, 3rd in triple jump, 3rd in high jump and was 5th place in the divisional high jump. Brody was 1st in ball throw, 2nd in high jump and 3rd in long jump.
   
     We were so proud of both of them. They both love to compete, but they are always great sports when they get beat or when they win.

 















    Of course I had to take the boys up to the gym and show them that their old man can still high jump with the best of them. It wasn't my best, but not too bad for an old short guy. Reggie took one of the pictures of me high jumping and made it look like I was jumping the Great Wall of China and the Lethbridge train bridge. They are so funny.

Beard Competition 

     My friend Jeff Johnson sent me a text with a picture of a poster for a Mustache and Beard competition in Calgary. All the text said was "You need to go in this". The poster was for the 1st Annual Alberta Mustache and Beard competition. I signed up right away! Kristi was also excited that I was going to be in the competition.

     The competition was at the Palamino, a smokehouse and bar. There were a number of different categories for mustaches and beards that people were competing in. I was in the beard under 6 inches category, and it was the largest category in the competition. There were 22 people in my category and the guy that ended up winning was someone who had a beard that was right on the border of being over 6 inches, but they let him in anyway. I found out later that I had enough points to put me in 2nd place in my category.

 



  There were 5 judges that looked at our beards. They were looking at fullness, length, shape, crowd appreciation and a few other things. I had one of the highest crowd marks and I was the only person to go to the judges and have them touch my beard (which was to be funny). Over all it was a fun night spent with a room full of people with facial hair. I am in the minority in Cardston having a beard, so it was nice being with others who appreciate beard culture. haha




Cub Car Rally

     Brody had his very first Cub Car Rally a few weeks ago. He was so excited because he had put in a lot of work on his car and was very proud of it. His car won all the races it was in, but Brody was not able to stay for the championship race because we had to leave early to go to Lethbridge. He had a great time with his mom at his very first cub car rally.

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