Carli Softball Update

With Carli and Ava playing of different teams this year, it is wearing us all out.  This last week the only evening we were home was well...there wasn't one.  That wears a kid out!  Carli is my emotional child.  Her week started off kind of rough when on Tuesday she and Ava had a game at the same time in Troup.  I wasn't able to watch both, so I was with Ava and Keith with Carli.  Grammy and Pa kept the pathway hot going between the two games.

Apparently Carli stopped the ball and held a runner at 2nd, letting the runner on 3rd go home, which honestly is what she needed to do.  But everyone was yelling at her to go home, so she threw the ball home after the girl was already there and thus allowing the girl on 2nd to advance.  It wasn't her fault as she got confused with all the yelling.  And then there was more yelling after she threw it home and it really got to her.  So when coach asked Keith if Carli was okay, and Keith said she's just a bit rattled coach sit her on the bench.  Every kid needs to learn to sit on the bench, I just have a hard time with doing that to a kid after they "think" they've messed up.   And knowing Carli, it got to her head.  She didn't really hit the ball all night and wasn't swinging the bat hard.  He never put her back in the game.  She convinced herself she was not a good player and that's why she was sitting out. 

So, when it came time for our game on Thursday it took a whole lot of pep talking, hugging, loving and tear wiping to get Carli to even put on her uniform.  I was much relieved that when we got to the field she perked up a little.  She started the game in left field.  Stopped every ball that came to her and made the right decision on where to throw the ball after she caught it.  Half way through the 2nd inning they moved her back to short.  She did an awesome job.  She listened only to her Daddy's voice and did an amazing job covering bases and backing up her teammates.  She is still struggling at the plate, but did get one "just fair" ball down third base line to get on base.  We still have some confidence building to work on but over all we were pleased that she was able to overcome her anxiety and have fun!

I am thankful for the relationship she is building with her Pa.  I learned a lot of things from my days playing softball but one of the most treasured times was the extra time I got to spend one on one with my parents. 

Last night we played in Alto and it was a pretty good game.  Carli still struggled at the plate.  She makes contact just fine but she is not swinging the bat very hard.  She did get on base once and got an RBI. 

In the field she made some awesome stops.  She got the ball to 1st when needed and stopped the runner at second more than once.  She got a tagged out at 3rd when the runner over ran the base.  She was very excited after the game and I am thankful she is finding the positives in the game and not focusing on the negatives.  She is excited to get her new "bigger" glove so she will be more confident about catching fly balls this week!  :)

 

As much as I learned on the field in my time playing softball for 14 years, the game still has a lot to teach when the tables are turned and I am no longer on the field but the parent of the child on the field.  I'm not sure being on this side of the fence isn't harder, and more challenging than playing the game itself!