All-Star game #1

Samantha had her first All-Star game today.  It was a sweltering real feel temperature of 93°.  The team didn’t fair to well, which sucked because the coach of the other team was an ass so I really didn’t want them to win.  They lost 12-8 after jumping out to an early lead in the first inning.  They had Samantha batting 5th which she didn’t too well.  You could tell she was nervous just by looking at her.  She struck out her first 2 at bats and then hit into a fielders choice her last at bat.  Which goes for an 0-3.  Her  2 strikeouts, she had swung at high pitches and what made her good during the season is she didn’t chase balls out of the strike zone.  She ended up coming out of the game after hurting herself sliding into 2nd.  Not sure if it actually hurt or she was looking for an excuse on her sucking.

I sat and talked to her tonight about her being nervous.  Part of the problem is her step-father (the JackAss) is always saying stupid crap to her while she’s batting,  She also mentioned that there were a lot of people and that made her nervous.  I told her about learning to block out the stands, you listen to your coaches and the field and that is it.  Don’t listen to anyone in the stands.  That if she was going to play sports in school, there were going to be a lot more people watching her so she need to get used to it.  I also told her that I was so proud that she made the All-Stars, whether she strikes out or hits that I was proud of her.  I told her that she needed to just relax and hit the ball, that she made the All-Stars because she could hit, to go up there, relax and pick out her pitch and drive it.  So hopefully she’ll be a little more relaxed at the plate on Monday.

As far as the team goes, they just didn’t play as a team well.  A lot of little mistakes that add up to more.  They didn’t play horrible, but not great either.  They play again tonight (Monday) and Tuesday night.  Depending on their record in those 3 games will determine whether they move on to play Thursday and/or Saturday.