All Stars

Bryson just wrapped up his All Star season of baseball. Austin tried out for his age group, and didn't make it. His size has always been an influencing factor, and there are some politics involved with who the coaches choose to be on the team. Matt watched the try-outs and there were kids who made the All Star team that had a worse try-out than Austin who fielded all his balls well and hit 3 for 3 on the batting portion. Austin is also such a smart base runner and fast. I think that he needs to work on being a stand-out pitcher and then the coaches can't ignore him.

I don't agree with some of the kids who made Bryson's team. 😆 All Stars is nice because you don't have to follow minimum play rules, so you can play your best players in whatever positions all the time. (There is a pitch limit for pitchers.) Bryson played shortstop 70% of the time and catcher for the other 30%. Every player on the team does bat, however, so there were some players that really held back the team because they couldn't read a change-up pitch or didn't have smart base running or ran very slow. Their team lost both games, but we were so proud of how Bryson played and how he cheered on his team. He batted a total of 6 times, got on base every time, and scored a run each time. (4 hits, 2 walks) His team lost 10-6 in the last game, so Bryson represented 3 of those runs. He had no errors in the field--lots of balls came his direction--and did a great job catching. We are definitely biased, but we thought he was the best player on the team! He did come in as a relief pitcher to finish out an inning as well.

Matt was an assistant coach

 

Bryson

Baseball is still Bryson's first love, but we also have started him in tennis lessons. He has natural athleticism and the best hand-eye coordination of all my boys, according to the coach who has worked with everyone but Austin, but Bryson is also my kid who isn't motivated to work hard. As of now, he wants to do baseball in high school. We can't help but gently push him towards tennis due to the competitiveness and environment of baseball at the high school. He made the junior high tennis team and has enjoyed the matches, putting his winner ribbons proudly on his backpack, though he would prefer to play singles to doubles.

He loves pitching and has grown to enjoy catching more.

Bryson has been very brave this year in trying out for choir solos and region choir. He sang a special solo part with 2 other boys during his Christmas choir concert for one of his songs. He was the 1st alternate for region choir, but it was still a good experience for him. Because I am not paying for his piano lessons, he has been taking voice lessons this year, which has helped with his confidence. He sang a duet in his choir Pop Show in front of a filled auditorium. He and his friend sang, "The Other Side" from The Greatest Showman. 

Region choir try-outs

Yard Goats

Matt coached Austin's baseball team for the fall. Austin pitched for the first time. Their team got 2nd place!

Spring Sports

 

We love that grandparents come out and support their games.

Austin's team won first place! He continues to improve each season. He batted 3rd from the end during the play-off tournament, but I really appreciated that the coach moved the lineup around all season so that each kid felt valued. Austin mostly played 2nd base and right field with the occasional turn at shortstop.

Bryson had a great season! Unfortunately, his team struggled, losing every game. The league divided into east and west for each division, and the east had very little talent to choose from for Bryson's age. Matt coached again and knew the season would be a struggle. They didn't end up in last place for the tournament though!

Carter enjoys both tennis and football but can't do both in high school, so he played on the JV tennis team at school and did a football league outside of school. These are a few pictures from his flag football team.

Fall Baseball

We have had a frustrating battle with the last few seasons of baseball with the same coach who kept drafting Bryson. Bryson played 4 or 5 seasons with him, and we really liked him at first, but then Bryson spent last fall (2023) season batting last the entire season. We felt it was unwarranted; Bryson was middle-of-the-pack with his batting average. Bryson got up the courage to ask the coach why one time, and the coach said he needed a strong batter at the end of the lineup. He only ever played Bryson in centerfield. We used it as an opportunity to encourage Bryson to prove himself at every practice and every game with positivity and hard work.

Prior to the spring 2024 season of baseball after the coach drafted Bryson again, I emailed him and asked if it was possible to bat Bryson anywhere other than last. I have never tried to tell a coach what to do or how to coach, but I felt like this was a special circumstance since Bryson was going through therapy at that time developing tools to deal with anger and some depression. I told the coach that Bryson's self esteem really struggled the previous season because no matter how hard he worked or how well he batted, he was still last in the lineup. The coach thanked me for the email...and then continued to bat Bryson last! That season, Bryson had the 3rd highest batting average on the team.

After that experience, Matt took matters in his own hands and coached Bryson for the fall of 2024 so that coach couldn't draft him again. Bryson batted 1st or 2nd in the lineup all season, and mostly played shortstop. It was amazing the difference that made to have a coach believe in him, and it showed in Bryson's playing. He was so confident batting or on the field and his stats improved even more. Matt even gave him the opportunity to pitch a few times.

Austin had a great season as well and improved a lot. It was his first time making a AAA team (higher level), so he had to work really hard to keep up with the other kids. The main thing was that they could mostly all throw harder than him. His team got 2nd place in the play-offs. His team had a commanding lead in the championship game, but then we ran out of our good pitchers and ended up walking in runs allowing the other team to win. :(

Matt led Bryson's team to a victory in the championship game.

Spring Sports

Bryson had an enjoyable baseball season, but we are ready for a new coach next season. Hopefully, that will be his dad!

Austin played his 2nd season of baseball and grew leaps and bounds. We are still frustrated that he gets overlooked due to his small stature (he didn't get selected for a premier team), but he had the highest batting average on his team, caught 4 fly balls, several thrown outs from pitcher to 1st base, and just played a smart heads up game when fielding and running bases. 

Carter played on the junior high tennis team (#2 on the 8th grade boys team) and also played on a flag football team. He really enjoys football! Unfortunately his team of 8th graders couldn't keep up with the teams of 9th graders they played against--height and pre-puberty made all the difference when opponents just had to throw a high ball. His team worked and played hard, though. When deciding between football and tennis for high school, he went with tennis due to the environment of young men. Carter made the JV team for tennis next year.

Caleb had more wins than losses, but there are two incredibly tough [and super rich] schools in our district that have amazing talent. It makes winning district and advancing to region and state a steep uphill battle. He's working hard to fight for it next year. He played #2 on the Varsity boys team and will be the #1 spot for his senior year.

Baseball Spring 2023

We switched Bryson's league so he could play more competitively. The downside was Bryson didn't get to pitch this season because he wasn't good enough. The upside is he improved all around because the skill level of his peers was higher. Bryson has to work through nerves when he plays, which holds him back. (For example, when he bats in practice, he can knock the ball way out in the outfield. During games, he couldn't perform to the same caliber.)

His team won the championship! It was a tough battle trying to beat a team twice that was essentially undefeated all season. 

Showing off the championship ring

Carter's season did not result in a championship win, but they were the youngest in their age bracket (7th grades playing against 9th graders). Matt coached again. Carter mostly played shortstop and pitched on occasion. 

Carter going in to pitch and warming up.

Catching a fly ball at shortstop

Fall Happenings

Bryson was the best pitcher on his team this season and thus got to pitch a lot. He improved so much!

Carter has never played football before and yet somehow made the 2nd highest team out of 5 total teams. He worked hard and grew to be really passionate about it. He played defense, outside linebacker, and really enjoyed it. The highlight of the season was when he scored a touchdown in the final game!

Trick-or-treating with friends. Austin was a baseball player and Bryson was Captain Jack Sparrow.

Proof that we do make our kids work. Ha!

The boys love dog-sitting Waffles!

Caleb ran in a turkey trot for Thanksgiving. Frozen turkeys were "hidden" along the route. We told Caleb he had to get one! He ran the last quarter mile with frozen turkey in hand and still managed a 7:15 pace for the 3-mile run.