April 20

It was another multi-game Saturday for Brady and us spectators.

By the time his head hit the pillow this evening, he'd played in three match-ups (two for Intermediates, one for Babe Ruth) which netted two wins and one loss. He had a hit in each game and played solid defense all over the field(s). It was beautiful outside and Adam's parents were able to join us for game number two, which is always nice, and I got to chit-chat with my fellow baseball moms. So it was, all in all, a very pleasant kind of day.

But what I really want to focus on is what I'll call The Big Comeback, which could alternately be dubbed The Proof That These Kids Are Clearly Not Awake Until 10:30 AM game. It was the first match of the day between Brady's Intermediates team and one from Bollinger Canyon Little League. It was technically a house-level game, although (like our team), the opponent has something of a floating roster that includes players of varying ability levels.

To be blunt, Brady's team looked bad from the outset. It seemed like they suddenly didn't know how to play defense and before we knew it, they were trailing by five runs. They could very well have given up and accepted what looked like certain defeat, but that's not what happened.

Instead, they buckled down, woke up, started making plays and chanting like crazy, and entered the bottom of the final inning knotted in a 10-10 tie. Brady wasn't supposed to pitch, but his coach asked if he could please have his services for an inning and we agreed, so he threw a terrific bottom of the seventh, notching a groundout that he expertly fielded himself, a walk, and a strikeout over just 13 pitches. He even dispensed with the runner he walked by executing a perfect pick-off move to second base. In the extra inning that followed, his team scored 3 more runs to secure a 13-10 win.

It was infuriating and then nerve-wracking and then exhilarating. That's often baseball for ya. And it was a blessing to see them rally hard and fight for the victory. This life often takes mettle, and those boys certainly showed theirs today.