All three of the boys had great seasons:
Joseph played in the older league this year called the Cal Ripken League and played for Team Nissan. In this league the players do the pitching, and pitching was Joseph's passion. By the end of the season, his "pitching arm" had greatly improved and he could throw some serious fast balls, and amazingly they would land in the the strike zone! Next year he hopes to be one of the team pitchers, so he plans on practicing non-stop for the next 10 months :) For most of the games, Joseph played first and second base and got many unlucky opponents out. He truly has tremendous throwing and catching abilities (and I'm not just saying that as a subjective mother) :)
Michael played in the Babe Ruth League for Team Century 21. To say that he loved every minute of every game would be an understatement. His heart is 100% in the game, whether he's batting, playing 1st base, fielding, or donning catching gear. Michael has a lot of passion in his little frame, and his coaches quickly tapped into his energy and ability. He played short stop and left field for most of the games, and I don't think he had a single strike-out at bat (he is a great slugger!). His favorite positon, however, was playing catcher a few times. I foresee baseball being forever in his future.
This was Dominic's first year playing ball. Watching his games was complete entertainment for us parents. The kids were totally clueless, totally cute. I'd say 75% of the time the kids were either playing in the dirt, sitting in the field, climbing the dugout fences, running the wrong way around the bases, or throwing rocks instead of baseballs. One kid thought that to get someone out you had to throw the ball and hit the runner. He was thrilled with himself when he succeeded...the runner was not. :} I think all the kids played the game simply for the snack reward at the end. :) Not many skills were learned, but a love of the game was established, and I guess that's what counts. Right?
I wish I could have captured more highlights with my camera, but Paul was out of town on work trips for most of the games which meant that I was carting around Nathanael in the stroller or the Bjorn, walking back and forth between fields trying to watch equal amounts of each of the boys' games (which of course were always at opposite ends of the baseball complex, always at the same time, which was a serious challenge for this camera-loving mother). But hopefully these pictures capture at least a portion of the passion that these boys have for the game...
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