Lee Family: Baseball Season Comes to a Close

T-ball is over for the boys, they had a blast and Cade's dad has started working with him on pitching. Matt was a pitcher in little league up to like 9th grade and was pretty good. Cade has the natural talent for athletics but baseball is his fav and he has got quite an arm so it will be interesting to see how it pans out. That kid can hit anything, and I mean anything, you throw at him, it's amazing! It was really fun to see Brayden progress from the first game to the end of the season. The very first game, though I had practiced catching with him a little, Ross and I neglected to tell him how to actually play the game. He ran to first, and then ran all over the field, not sure where to go, it was hysterical! By the end of the season however, he could hit really well, was a great runner, and could even field the ball pretty well. It was awesome. Courtney finished up softball last night. Her team ended up taking 4th in Springville so Monday and Tuesday we were down in Ephraim for a tournament. At the beginning of the season she was doing ok, getting hits sometimes, striking out others. As the season went on however, she started getting all self conscious about striking out and therefore wouldn't swing unless it was perfect. She started striking out a ton, mostly from strikes the pitcher would throw that she wouldn't swing at. Last Wednesday I took all the kids to the batting cages and she did awesome! Her dad bought her a bat of her very own and batting gloves. He took her to the cages Monday morning and she did great. Then at her game Monday she struck out, but at least she went down swinging. This time however it was different, she really wanted it, so it made her upset enough for a couple tears. "I just want to hit the ball and be able to run around the bases", she told me. My heart hurt for her, I know how it feels to want something so much and have it not come together. Well her dad took her to the cages again Tuesday morning, and after getting hit with a baseball at medium speed (she has an awesome 'show and tell worthy' bruise on her upper thigh to show for it) she did even better with her hitting. So at yesterdays game, she steps up to the plate with that "bring it on" look in her eyes. First pitch, and BAM! She hit it, and hit it hard!! It was a great hit, she got on first, and was able to make it all the way to home. Seeing that ear to ear grin that didn't stop, and having her throw her arms around me as she got back to the dugout, made the whole season of sitting in that hot sun, and driving 1.5 hrs each way to get to the tournament, totally worthwhile. She is super excited for next season, and now that her dad is finally involved with helping her, I am excited to see her progress. It was an awesome day.