Batter Up

I missed Tee ball sign up for Chase back in January. I didn't know they did it that early. So I found the website and filled out the paper work and paid an extra $10 for late registration. I then noticed that the age cut off for t-ball is April 30th. The age bracket is 5-6. So I put a note in the registration and said, "I would like Chase to play t-ball. His birthday is 5 weeks after the cut off. If you can make an exception, that would be great. Otherwise send back my money and we will sit out a year." Bam-Bam was fine for one year, but it would be a waste of time and money for another season.

I didn't hear anything forever, and finally we got a call from his coach the week before Easter. He ended up on a team with older kids. Most of his teammates are 5 almost 6, and two are 6. However, a couple of the kids have never played before, so Chase will do fine with some practice.

Dale has a tee ball stand and net for Chase to practice hitting into. He has been working with Chase most afternoons for 20 minutes or so. His throwing and batting has improved immensely already. Eric took him to get a new glove. They now make gloves with synthetic material that is already flexible and soft. So Chase can open and close his glove. The biggest thing we have to work on is his catching. He is afraid to catch the ball.

His first game was last Saturday. Only 6 of the 9 kids showed up on his team, but they covered pretty well. The other team had all 10 players, so their batting took a lot longer. In t-ball each kid gets to bat and run the bases, there are no outs. Each team keeps going until the hour is up. They play with a ball that is softer than a hardball, but they still make the kids wear batting helmets. I didn't know you were suppose to buy your own. Chase now has his own batting helmet. Good thing Wal-Mart sells them for less than $10 bucks. His games are only on Saturdays, so he is going to miss 4 or the 10. Two of them we will be in WI and the other two are for Miranda's and Meagan's wedding.