Sandwich Blast 2016

Over the past weekend, I got to spend a lot of quality time with Older Brother (OB). He participated in a baseball tournament held in Sandwich. We stayed at a nearby Cape Cod town of Hyannis (ancient home of the Kennedy clan). I learned a lot about my son over the course of these few days.

OB continues to mature as an athlete. Summer ball has been a bit of a transition for him. He started out as just one of the boys (instead of as an alpha dog). On the ride down to the Cape, I remarked that his team had inherited three of the better players who had been on the opposing town team the previous summer. He agreed, but grumbled that it was forcing him to the bench more often. (There are 12 kids on the team and only nine can start so the boys compete for playing time). We laughed and I told him that he simply had to raise his game! Of course, this is easier said than done.

In anticipation of this higher level of competition, we had taken some steps to prepare. Over the winter, I signed him up with one of the high school coaches for some extra batting instruction. OB has always felt that his hitting is the weakest part of his game. I watch his sweet swing and disagree, but given his early struggles in spring ball it would be hard to dispute the evidence.

At the start of summer ball, OB was generally batting somewhere between seventh and ninth. In the past few weeks, he has grown increasingly comfortable with facing the more talented pitchers. He was starting to make pitchers work really hard and was putting the ball in play with solid contact. While he was the victim of some bad breaks (some of the hardest balls he hit were right to outfielders who made the catches for outs), I reminded him that baseball rewards consistency and over time his luck would change.

I was as surprised as anyone when we got to the first game on Friday night and OB was batting third! He would later tell me that he was nervous and preferred to bat lower in the order. I let him know that he should welcome the pressure. He was given the opportunity because he is talented. If he can trust in his ability and allow himself to perform as he knows he can, he will be able to succeed.

Well, he struck out in his first at bat. He would soon learn that he had to get more aggressive. He did better in his second at bat. He hit it to third and beat the throw for an infield single. He would go on to draw a crucial walk in his third at bat that helped trigger the winning rally. He would end up scoring as the team would go on to a taut 2-0 win.

It was late by the time we got back to the hotel. Flush with smiles from the thrilling victory, we celebrated with some homemade ice cream. Looking over the many flavors, he looked past the standard vanilla and chocolate (“you can get that anywhere”) and opted for the “secret recipe” of Cape Cod Sand. If I had to guess, it was some combination of vanilla, caramel, butterscotch and something else to give it the sandy texture. It was also delicious! It was a decision his mother would have made and it gave me another reason to smile as we walked home and fell into bed.

One of my last memories of the day was looking over as OB crawled under the sheets. He was clutching his old friend, Wally the Walrus. It was a touching moment. It was also a sad reminder that these days are passing way too quickly.

Saturday morning brought a new opponent. OB again struck out in his first at-bat. He was nearly in tears. Since the field had no defined dugout or real separation from the kids, he walked over shortly after that and sat next to me with his puffy eyes to get a cold Gatorade. I asked him why he was so upset and he complained that the first two strikes were at his shoulders and the last one was about a foot outside of the plate. I told him I agreed, but that he had to adjust to the way the ump was calling the game. He again improved and got another walk and flicked a nice single out to left field. The team ended up winning by more than ten runs and invoking the mercy rule.

We had a six hour break before our next game. We went back to the hotel and changed. OB decided he didn’t want to swim so we walked to the arcade on Main Street. After some light fun, we decided to grab lunch near the ice cream shop we had been to last night. It was a fairly fancy Italian restaurant. Since OB can eat a fair amount of food, we both ordered off the regular menu. He originally thought about a Caesar salad, but I convinced him to try something else. I talked him into his mom’s favorite—pappardelle. This version had short rib in it. I had gnocchi. They were both quite good! Later, we split the Cape Cod Mud and Lavender Honeycomb. OB was impressed because the latter choice tasted exactly like it smelled!

The late game was another tense affair. We started off well and then fell behind. OB got a nice double and a single and played well in the field. We ended up with a tight win.

That evening, we decided to join the team for pizza at the hotel pool. It was a chaotic scene. OB had some fun, but as time wore on I saw him shying away from the centralized scrum of boys fighting over the football in the middle of the pool. I walked up to him and he shared that he didn’t feel comfortable roughhousing with the rest of the boys. I told him I understood. After about an hour or so, he climbed out of the pool and asked to go back to the room to get some rest.

Sunday morning brought the first round of the elimination portion of the tournament. The first three games were only for seeding purposes. At this point, any loss would end our run. To my pleasant surprise, OB was scheduled to lead off the first game. His first inning went 1-2-3 with two strikeouts. His first at-bat also was a solid single to left. By the end of the first inning, we were up 6-0. In the second inning, the first batter grounded to third and the throw to first went over the fielder’s head for an error. After two passed balls, the runner was now on 3^rd. The next batter hit a pop fly to the outfield. The center fielder wandered over to where it would land and stuck out his glove. Unfortunately, it popped out and a run scored. Through it all, OB maintained his composure and never lost his cool (even though he was seething inside). I have to say that he’s really improved in his ability to manage his emotions.

OB settled down and was able to get out of the inning with no further damage. Because it was a hot day, coach went with another pitcher. We would go on to win 13-3 after four innings (mercy). With two hits and a walk as well as two solid innings, OB won the “star of the game” award. This had been one of his goals for the weekend, so he was quite pleased and proud.

The next game was against Canton. We had just played them in the late game on Saturday. We had also played them twice in a tournament about three weeks prior. That familiarity would add to the overall difficulty.

One of our aces started the game. He had pitched brilliantly on Friday night. Against Canton, he would not do quite as well. The leadoff batter started off with an infield single. The next batter struck out on a wicked changeup that seemed like it was on a string. The third batter then hit a rocket to the gap for a double that scored a run. That was followed by another solid single and then another double. Before we knew it, we were down 3-0. Even worse, the batter on second was actively yelling out “changeup” to the batter when he was down 0-2. As I said earlier, Canton had learned from their previous battles with us! We eventually got out of the inning, but it was fairly somber in our dugout.

OB was batting second. The leadoff batter was able to get on base. He lofted a nice ball to left center that fell in for a double. He was followed by another double and now we were in business. We would score three to even the score. It was now a five inning game.

There was no score in the second. In the top of the third, our ace walked a batter. A sacrifice and a groundout would move him to third. The next batter hit a lazy fly to right center. There were two boys there, but they both hesitated as it started to come down. It fell between them for an error and gave up a critical run. It didn’t help that we went down meekly in the bottom half of the frame.

We brought in our second ace to start the fourth. He throws really hard and started out by striking out the side. In the bottom of the fourth, we pushed a run across. OB drew a walk and the batter after him did as well. The bases were loaded and one of our better hitters was up with two outs. During the at-bat, a wild pitch eluded the catcher. Our fastest player was on third and he darted home. He was so fast, he scored standing up—or so we thought. In Little League, there is a rule that if there is a play at the plate, you have to slide. Since he did not, he was automatically out and it snuffed out our rally.

We thought we had their pitcher on the ropes, but we just could not come up with the timely hit. After holding them scoreless in the fifth and the sixth, OB came up in the bottom of the sixth with the go-ahead run on first. He flared one out just past first base, but the fielder made a nice catch backing up to get him. We got the runner to second, but couldn’t score. The game would go into extra innings.

In the seventh, our luck ran out. The fireballer who struck out the side was running out of gas. He gave up a single and then a long double followed. The lead runner ran for home. The relay home was just a bit too late and we were now down 5-4. Later in the inning, runners would get to second and third. With two outs, the batter hit a grounder to short which looked like a sure out. Unfortunately, a bad throw allowed two more runs to score.

Canton had thrown the same pitcher for all six innings (!). They switched pitchers. It didn’t help us. We went down 1-2-3 and our tournament was over.

OB was sad. To be honest, I was, too. By all rights, our team should have won the game. We also have lots of good pitchers on the team and could possibly have won our next two games and the tournament. The ride home was mostly silent. I know from experience that I just need to give him space and time to sort out his feelings. We wouldn’t really end up talking about any of the games until the next day or so. Even though he doesn't usually fall asleep in the car, I could see in the rear view mirror that he was exhausted and he dozed off for much of the ride.

All in all, I am extremely proud of the progress OB has made over the course of this year. He stayed in second or third position for the entire weekend. He even spent time at shortstop instead of second base. He told me he doesn't like the added responsibility, but I think he secretly does like leading.  I’ll be sure to keep you posted as he continues his baseball journey.