I have to brag again

[jbsoonerfan]

Warning *Long read

 

I am not one to brag often, in fact it was about this time last year when I posted a similar thread. I do want to take a minute to brag on my daughters and their team. I posted last year about us winning our league and qualifying for the state tournament which was a big deal to these girls. This was a team that I agreed to coach because of some "small town politics" so I basically took my girls and a group of other girls that didn't make it on the other team. We were so proud of what they accomplished and they all had a blast. We continued that success into last fall and won first place in a different league but that would be the end of 10 and under softball for us. We knew this year was going to be different as my oldest daughter and 2 other girls on the team had to move up this year to 12 and under softball so we weren't real sure what we were going to do. Before we could make a decision as to what exactly we were going to do the league we play in canceled the season due to the virus. We found another league in a town about an hour away but this was known to be a pretty tough league and here we were with only 3 girls that could play 12u and a bunch of girls that could still play 10u. Since 3 of the girls are mine we decided to keep the same team together and just go try to compete and get them some experience. A couple girls decided not to play since we were playing up in age so we lost a couple and had to get a couple. When the season started we had one 12 year old, two 11 year olds, seven 10 year olds and two 9 year olds. My assistant coach and I didn't expect a lot this first year in 12u but we drilled it in their heads that we were going to go compete no matter what. These girls practiced 2 to 3 times a week for 2-3 hours a day and played double headers every Monday night. The first night of 12u wasn't the best as we were beat by the "Monsters" 9-1 the very first game. We ended up having a good season and finished 3rd in the league, which we were very happy with. Our only losses were to the Monsters twice and Storm twice. The end of season tournament would determine who qualified for state. There would be 2 teams that would make it from our league. We went into the tournament expecting it would probably be the Monsters and Storm. We won our first game which would set us up to play the Monsters in the next round. We played them the closest we had all year and they beat us 6-3. We came back through the losers bracket to face the Monsters again in an elimination game as they had been beat by Storm. Our girls played their hearts out and we came out on top in 3 extra innings with a 9-8 win to advance to the finals. Unfortunately we had to play immediately after that game was over in the championship game against Storm. I didn't figure we had a chance but at least we had qualified for state and beat a team we had lost to 3 times. Once again our girls battled hard and the game went into extra innings again. This time however we lost 7-6 and placed runner up in the league. A third place finish in the league and a second place finish in the end of season tournament was quite the accomplishment though. We traveled to state and didn't fare nearly as well. We won our first game 12-1 and had to face the defending state runner up in the next round. They had a pitcher that we just couldn't get around on and they beat us 8-0. We thought that maybe hitting the losers bracket would help us and we could play our way back in. We stayed in the same hotel as the team we were going to play the next day and they had told us that they had 5 girls that were already 13 and the rest were 12 so that is the kind of competition we were up against. I joked with my wife that all the teams we played had girls that had to wear bras and only a couple of our girls even owned a bra lol. They ended up getting the best of us, once again in extra innings. We chalked it up to a good season and we would start again in the fall. Well my wife was looking online at some open invite tournaments and she found a USSSA sanctioned tournament called the YSO World Series that was going to be held in Oklahoma City. We had never played in a USSSA tournament so we didn't have any "points" but since it was an open tournament all we had to do was pay the entry fee (which all costs this year for uniforms, bats, balls, tournament fees, etc. came out of my wife and I's pockets). When she told me about it I just looked at her and laughed, pretty hard I might add. She said it would just be for fun and a good experience for them. I told her I would do whatever she wanted so she signed us up. There were 12 teams in it, all of which had competed in numerous USSSA tournaments. She looked at their rankings and there were 6 of the top 20 teams in Oklahoma and 2 of the top 20 teams in Texas in it. Being as how we had no points we were put up against the highest rated team in Oklahoma in our first pool play game. Well that game was a quick one as they beat us 12-0. The next game we played another high rated team from Oklahoma called Velocity and once again we were beaten badly (9-0). We obviously were last place in our pool and had to play the #1 seed from a different pool in our first bracket game. They were undefeated in pool play. We played great defense and was able to play some small ball and come away with a 5-2 victory. On to the next game where we played a team from Texas who also was undefeated in their pool. We got an amazing pitching performance from my daughter who faced 12 batters, striking out 8 and walking none. We got the victory 3-0 and was one win away from the finals. We were going to get to wait till some of the losers bracket games were played so we were off till the next day. After that day there were only 8 teams left (4 winners bracket and 4 losers bracket). Over night OKC got a bunch of rain and the tourney was postponed. Because it couldn't be finished that weekend, it was pushed back 2 weeks. The directors decided they would only play the winners bracket games because they were going to have to fit them in on Saturday morning because they were having another tournament at the same fields that weekend. Two of the teams couldn't make it so that left us and one other team to play in the finals. Well unfortunately for us it would be a rematch against Velocity. A team that had already beat us like a drum and were far and away a better team than us. Game time was 9:00 am on Saturday morning. I had my girls show up to the field at 8:00 and we went to work working on bunting, hitting, fielding, throwing, etc. The way we warmed up I knew we were doomed. It was too early, we were lazy, we weren't focused, it wasn't going to be good. I won the coin toss though, so at least we won something. We started out the first inning with a walk, two subsequent errors (a drop to centerfield) and just like that we are down 2-0. We go up to the plate in the bottom of the first with a lead-off single. I have the 2 hole bunt and she lays down a perfect one and gets on first and the girl advances to third on the throw to first. I fake bunt with my 3 hole and steal second. I then have her sac bunt to score a run and advance the runner to third. My cleanup hits a shot to the fence to score a run and get a double. Now we are tied with this team, back to a ballgame. I have my 5 hole lay down a sac bunt to advance the runner to third. Now we have 2 outs and I'm praying we can get this girl home. The next girl up can fly but she can't hit very well. I don't like to bunt with 2 outs but I give her the sign just hoping she can get it down. She fouls the first one off so I give it to her again and she fouls it off. This time I give here the show and hit sign. I'm hoping the corners stay moved in and she can get one by them. She shows bunt and they come in. She pulls back and hits one over first base and we take the lead. Still have to play defense though. We shut them down in the 2nd and don't score. They get one in the third to tie it up. My daughter is throwing a good ball game up to this point so I am hoping if we can get one more run she can hold them as I know we are getting close to time limit. My daughter is up in the bottom of the third and she starts in off with a drive to the fence and a double. My next two batters both hit ropes and we score two runs to take the lead 5-3. We go into the top of the fourth and have 4 minutes left so I know if we hold them it's over. They are at the 9 hole and I have preached to her how important it is to never walk the first batter and always pitch the the bottom of the lineup. That's right, she walked her on 4 straight pitches lol. The girl steals second and we get a ground out to the second baseman. Now they have a runner on third with one out. They have the 2 hole up and she strikes out. Two down with the 3 hole up and she has already hit a shot so I call all low and outside fastballs. Didn't get any help from the umpire and she walks and advances to second. Cleanup batter is now up with 2 outs and runners on 2nd and third with a 2 run lead. I almost intentionally walked her to get a force at any base but I didn't want to put the go-ahead runner on base. I just told my daughter to work the zone and throw good pitches. She got her to work the count to 2-2 and I called a low screwball. She left it up a little bit and the girls hits a screaming line drive to centerfield (remember the error from earlier) runners are moving on the hit. The centerfielder is my assistant coaches daughter and when the ball was in the air I looked at him and said "BALLGAME", she came charging in and caught it like she has done a thousand times in practice. This girls in 9 years old and made a play that won this "World Series" for these girls. I know it may not seem like much to some, but this is a group of girls from a small town (pop 1,600) that went and beat some of the best hand-picked travel softball teams in the state. I cannot express how happy I was/am for this group of girls. 

[12poundbass]

Nice work! 

[Tennessee Boy]

It was a long read and I enjoyed every bit of it.  Congratulations!  A lot of life long memories are made on youth athletic fields.

[NHBull]

Sorry......I scrolled right to the pictures?

 

”winning”!

[Dwight Hottle]

Sweet. Congrats on the achievement. 

[roadwarrior]

[Michibilly]

Great read and awesome job with the team!!! 

 

Some of my fondest memories are coaching my daughters' fast pitch teams from when she was 9 -16. Never had your level of success but still great experiences.

[N Florida Mike]

Congrats! You sound like you really know your stuff. Sounds like you really enjoy it. Next year should be great now that they have experience.

 

I coached a teen boys softball team for a couple years and have great memories. We had a similar story as yours. First year we competed and did ok. The 2nd year we were like the third best team at the start and finished first! We almost lost to one of the worst teams though because our #1 pitcher decided he didnt want to pitch. Our 2nd string pitcher was out for some reason. Our 3rd string pitcher was very inexperienced and couldn’t get the ball over the plate. They went up 18-0 in the first inning( no time limit then). We didnt score. I had a talk with the #1 pitcher and we worked things out. The other team didnt  score. I just told the boys, keep your heads up and play hard- we can still win this. Bottom of the 2nd- we get 18 to tie the score!! We went on to win , I think 23-20. One of my favorite games.