Little League, Big Win

So far this Little League baseball season I’ve been stoked with the potential my team keeps flashing. While moments of incredible brilliance often times rear their gorgeous heads when I least expect it, more often than not we screw something up. But since we’re just two games into the regular season (five if you count the pre-season pitching machine tournament – I don’t), that is to be expected.

Nevertheless, since we’re just a AAA team of 9- and 10-year-olds in a league not too obsessed with winning, I’m happy with our progress. We know what we need to work on now and what we’re pretty good at. We lost on Friday due to simple mistakes made by our own team, so our win yesterday was even greater when the players realized why they won – preventing those same mistakes.

But the greatest achievement so far this season has come in the form of one new player. At his first practice, having never thrown a baseball in his life, he only talked about his undying love for basketball and why baseball “sucked.”

Then a funny thing happened: He got better each practice, proceeded to take a greater interest in baseball, and now leads the team in hits, stolen bases and batting average!

In the middle of a recent game, after ripping a line drive into the outfield and then stealing third base on the subsequent play, he came bounding into third base with a beaming grin.

“Coach Jake!” he bellowed as he reached the base. “I LOVE baseball! I think I love it more than basketball! No, I love it the same. Ummm, no, never mind. I love baseball more!”

I’m chalking that one up as my greatest coaching success And like I said, we’re only two games into the season.

I love this sport.