Minors Invitational 2013

Rachel loves softball.  She started playing in 2nd grade and played every year through little league.  She has a positive attitude and tries hard at practices and games.  The 2013 season was a bit of a mixed bag for her.  At first, she was drafted to minors, which was a shock to a lot of people.  We were worried that it would not be a good situation because of the nature of minors in our local little league.  Some girls start playing minors as 3rd graders.  And some of those 3rd graders are tiny,  Rachel, as a physically mature 6th grader, was the size of a small adult.  We were afraid she might hurt some of the smaller, less skilled girls. (She did dent her bat by hitting the ball so hard, so it was a real possibility).

Because of our concerns, we were quite excited when she got called up to play on a majors team before the season started.  (A girl had dropped out, so there was an opening). We were happy that she would have the opportunity to play with girls who were closer to her age and skill level.  Our excitement soon turned to disappointment, as Rachel had a very rough season.  After attending nearly every practice (when often there were only 5 girls there) and sitting on the bench as much as the rules allowed during games, she came out of the season having learned to keep the score book, but not much else.

After the season ended, she was asked to play on a minors invitational team.  Even though she had played in majors, she was eligible because of her age (little league 11).  She was excited for a chance to play.  It ended up being a fantastic experience for her.  She played with a bunch of girls who were younger than her and less skilled, but it didn't matter.  They had all had the chance to bond all season long, but they welcomed her in like she had been part of the team all season.  She was able to play in the field quite a lot.  She didn't play every inning, but that was ok.  I was happy to see the coaches split time between the girls, rather than favor certain ones.  She had the chance to pitch, which hadn't happened all season.  And she got up to bat often enough that she was able to develop some rhythm.  (It's hard to do that when you bat once a game, twice a week).  The highlight of the weekend was the best hit she's ever had.  Bases were loaded and our girl hit a grand slam.  We were so proud of her and so thrilled to see her enjoying the game she loves.