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DOOL Discussion Group
Did I tell you guys often enough that the blonde is an awesome softball player? Well, she is. That said, the varsity softball coach at her high school keeps her on the junior varsity team. Last year one of the dad's from the blonde's travel team said that the blonde was one of the best players on the travel team and he found it difficult to believe that there was one player better than the blonde at her high school let alone 12 girls better. We agreed.
Last year we told the blonde that part of what was keeping her from the varsity team was the "fluff." It wasn't her playing ability but she was struggling in a couple of classes and cut a couple of classes. We told her that if she worked on the fluff, she should be playing varsity. So, this year she set goals for herself. She wanted to prove herself this year. She signed up for difficult classes like chemistry and physics, and AP courses. She is getting straight A's. She goes to school early or stays after school to participate in study groups. She took the ACT and got a 27. She dropped a couple of her friends and is hanging out more with people she describes as "student athletes" which I think translates to the athletes get good grades.
With all of this, the varsity coach decided to keep the blonde on the JV team again this year. She told the blonde that she was mostly going to use a senior as the primary pitcher and would bring up the blonde to varsity for double headers. Nevermind the fact that the blonde is an amazing fielder and incredible batter and they could have had her play any number of positions on the varsity team. The coach told the blonde that she wanted to give the blonde more pitching time so that was why she was keeping her in JV purgatory. (OK, she didn't use that term, that's Sparky-speak.) The blonde told the coach that she plays on the travel team and will probably pitch 20 or 30 games this summer, so she didn't really have to worry about the blonde not getting enough pitching time during the high school season.
Needless to say, the blonde was crushed and we were not pleased. She handled the disappointment really well. That's why a couple of weeks ago, I gave the blonde the Coach coin purse. I wanted to let her know how impressed I was with her positive attitude despite the disappointment.
Yesterday was the first double header of the season. Well, there were supposed to be a couple of double headers prior to this, but the weather this year has not exactly been cooperating.
Yesterday it was a balmy 45 degrees and WINDY. The blonde pitched the first game as a JV player. The blonde won that game 17 - 2. In addition to throwing 17 strike-outs, the blonde hit a home run. Overall, she drove in 4 runs during the game. At one point during the game, PB suggested to the coach that they take her out of the game because she was still supposed to pitch varsity. The coach declined because the blonde was "pitching so well." When the game was over, the two teams line up and congratulate each other on a "good game." Several players from the other team and their coaches refused to shake the blonde's hand. Omigosh, what poor sportsmanship. The girls from the JV team all hugged the blonde and wished her luck. It was really cute to see how genuinely supportive the girls from her team were towards her.
The varsity team won their game 7 - 9.
So, after that game ended, there was about a 15 or 20 minute break until the second game started. During that break, the blonde had to change uniforms and eat some lunch. The second game started and here is the blonde's first pitch as a varsity player.
Here is her first pitch.
And the wind-up on her second pitch
There's a strike!
She kept striking out the batters that she faced. It was great!
Oh, and the girl who usually pitches varsity, she played in right field during the game. A fly ball went to her and she dropped it and bobbled the throw. It looked like she was trying to sabotage the blonde's performance. Since it was a double header against the same team that they had just played, the comparison between the two pitchers was obvious. That girl's dad looked like he wanted to throw up because the blonde was outperforming his daughter. I had to walk away from him at one point because he was just making stupid jealous comments.
By the end of the second game, the blonde was exhausted. But she wanted to keep playing, so the coach kept her in. Their regular coach just had a baby, the interim coach is a big supporter of the blonde. PB and I like him a lot.
I was standing behind the plate while the blonde was pitching that last inning and she could barely contain her smile. She gave up a triple to the first runner in the last inning. We were nervous, but still incredibly proud of her because she had just pitched 2 games back-to-back in terrible weather and was dominating. Step-mom Sparky was biting her nails. When she had 2 strikes against the last batter, she was getting very excited, but she had the presence of mind to tell herself that she'd better rein in her excitement because that's when bad things happen.
The blonde struck out the rest of the side. We win! We win! We win! The crowd totally erupted in cheers. The infield rushed the blonde and swarmed her with congratulations. The final score was 2-1.
The blonde, in her first varsity performance, struck out 14 batters and tied the school record for most number of strike-outs. We really had to wonder how many strike outs she would have had if she threw the varsity game first. The record has been in place at the school since 1978.
We were so proud of the blonde. Of course, we couldn't help but keep saying "not bad for a JV pitcher." LOL. Oh, and some dad came up to PB and asked him "why haven't we seen her play before?" We told the blonde that revenge is a dish best served cold. She exacted her revenge for being kept in JV purgatory by serving an ice cold dish to the coach through her outstanding performance.
Is she a junior this year?
My daughter just turned 11 and is doing the fast pitch this year. Last year it was just regular underhanded. This year they are doing full wind up!
She is very inconsistent! I just hope she doesn't hurt anybody!
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Cool...
Way to go Blonde!
Hmmmm, for some reason you are not sounding like a very proud mother! I am so happy for her. She done good!
You are doing a great job with her! I see your realtionship blooming with her.
Here is what the local paper for the other town had to say about the game.
ABC sweeps XYZ—The blonde struck out 14 batters to help lead ABC to a doubleheader sweep over XYZ in Conference softball action Saturday.
The ABCs won the first game, 9-7, and the blonde held XYZ in check in game two in a 2-1 ABC win.
XYZ got a leadoff triple from Power Hitter in the top of the seventh of game two, but the blonde struck out the next three batters to preserve the victory.
“The blonde threw a little bit harder than the pitcher we saw the first game, but I thought we might get to her later in the game,” XYZ coach said. “We just couldn’t get a big hit at the end.
“Overall, I give both teams credit. It was cold and as windy as I think I’ve ever seen it down here. Considering the conditions, they were still two pretty exciting games. ABC just got the best of us today.”
Power Hitter was the hitting star for XYZ. The senior went 4-for-4 in game one, and her triple was only one of three XYZ hits in game two.
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WAY TO GO BLOND!!!!
Great photo story, Sparky.
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