A Quick Moment to Brag and a Life Lesson Thrown in For Good Measure

Picture this...

It's the last inning of the baseball game...the score is tied 2-2...there are already 2 outs with a man on third base itching to come in.  My son is on deck.  A kid at the plate strikes out and the ump calls 3 outs and game over.  That's it.  The game will end in a tie.

But wait!  There was an error by the ump.  It's only 2 outs and now my son walks up to the plate.  He gets 5 pitches. (It's machine pitch)  He can win the game.

He swings and misses.  No biggie.  There's 4 pitches left.

He swings and fouls off.  Okay, okay.  Contact and still 4 pitches left.

He swings and misses.  Bite my lip.  3 pitches.

He swings all weird trying to get a high pitch and misses.  Oh. My. Goodness. 2 more pitches.

The kids in the dugout are chanting...Sumner! Sumner! Sumner!

He swings again all weird-like at another slightly high pitch and misses.  Dear Lord, one more pitch.

The coach tells the team, "If he hits it and makes it to first...we win.  If he misses...we tie."  The kids start yelling encouragments.

I hang my head and can't even look.

Then I hear the ting of the metal bat hitting the ball!  I look up to see a drive right up the middle straight to the outfield.  The runner runs in for the score and Sumner crosses first base!  He's immediately attacked by his team and coach.  They're patting his helmet and shoulders and he's all grin and few teeth.  He lined up to shake hands with the other team, and then swaggered back to the dugout about 10 feet tall!  He was so proud of his hit and sooo happy!

Y'all it was like a movie!  I swear!  I was so happy for him.  And his Daddy was a tad bit proud!

Postgame he was awarded the gameball and the lineup sheet.  Both of which are proudly displayed in his room.

If you've been around this blog for any amount of time then you know he struggled to get the few hits he got in the spring.  And since his 4 year old (age last spring) brother was doing pretty well, he listened to a lot of congrats going to his LITTLE bro.  So this was a real confidence builder for him.  He's been practicing over the summer and really starting to soak up what his Daddy's been teaching him.  So it's a great lesson in perseverance...practice pays off.