All last week we were away at Daughter's fast pitch softball world series. Oh boy, it was a blast! This was the last tournament of our Spring season {sniff sniff}.
Such an amazing experience for the team - they were all first-timers. From pin trading to the opening ceremonies parade to 4 straight days of softball to getting introduced at the Reno Aces baseball game to a teary-eyed farewell made for a week full of unforgettable memories that the girls will always remember - hopefully.
Monday we arrived and started trading pins right away. Daughter started with 40 of our pins and traded 39. There were teams from Hawaii, Arizona, Idaho, Utah, Colorado and California. 140 teams total, 38 were 10U.
After pin trading and check-in we had to head over to the opening ceremonies. For the parade the teams were allowed to dress up to represent the area they were from, their team name, etc. Since we are All American Mizuno we decided to stick with the good ol' red, white and blue.
The streets were jam packed with kids - 140 teams to be exact. They did a good job organizing everyone, thankfully. While the team waited Hubber, aka Head Coach, snuck off to put on his costume to surprise the team (and the parents). It was hilarious!
[he won best 10U coach's costume]
Starting Tuesday we went on to play 8 games of softball over the 4 days. The team played so well, we were all very proud of their performance. So well in fact they place 9th out of 38! Woot! Woot! Not bad for a first year team, eh?!
On Thursday the teams were invited to the Reno Aces baseball game. They were having World Series night so the teams that participated got to be introduced as they walked around the field. It was a fun time.
Friday morning we had an 8:00am game so we had to leave the baseball game early to get our energy sleep. :o) We won our first two games on Friday then lost our third which knocked us out of the tournament. I don't think anyone was upset about that loss. It was a great So Cal team and their pitcher was throwing about 55mph. Yes, 10 year olds are throwing that fast ... whoa!
Since we are moving up to 12U and using bigger softballs, ummm next week, the coaches let the team sign their names on the 10U balls so they could each keep one for themselves with all of their teammates names on it. Yippee!!!
After a week of fast paced, well played softball the coaches got to sit down and thank the players for a job well done all season. Most of the girls, and a few coaches, got tears in their eyes. It was so sweet and so sad at the same time. Afterall, we did become a family.
[After a long 6 month season and 81 games they are all still smiling]
Their impressive record was 63-17-1. Yep, that's how they roll. :o) Now let's see what we can do in the Fall!
