Baseball ends.

Dylan's final baseball game of the season brought the team and some of the moms to tears. They were the Red Sox. After their first game, we raised our eyebrows and winced slightly with concern. But they proved us wrong. They became a group of friends who supported each other and played well together. One made an unlikely catch to win a game and grinned awkwardly as his team mobbed him. Another dusted off his goggles and crawled over the plate when his slide at home fell short. He was safe. The crowd went wild.

The Red Sox coaches gave them nicknames like Voodoo for Vukovich and Hawk for Hawley. Jake referred to Trapnell as Shrapnel. Bong didn't need a nickname. There were 5 younger siblings who attended all the games and ran like a pack, without any quarrels.The parents and grandparents enjoyed a camaraderie I have rarely felt. So we all had high hopes as the Red Sox entered their single elimination tournament last week. The 3rd game of the tournament, it was cold and they played in a steady rain. They were up 9-8 in the 4th inning (of 6) when the game was called due to lightning.

Three days later, the Red Sox were allowed to pick up where they left off. Again, the rain fell steadily. Two players were uncharacteristically absent. The teams were small and it was understood that they needed all of the players or subs. When the two families were contacted, both had received emails that the field were closed due to rain. Both had soccer players, too. The soccer fields were closed, not the baseball fields, but they have the same name and the email didn't specify. The 2 families hustled to get their sons to the game.

At 7:10 pm, the opposing team's coach forced the Red Sox to forfeit. At 7:11, Bong arrived. The opposing coach refused to relent and brought out his Little League Rule Book. That's when the Red Sox' eyes filled with tears. But they still wanted to play.

So, Dylan's team entered into a game they knew they couldn't win in a tournament that was over for them. They played hard, got behind, rallied and took the lead in the 6th, but ended up losing by one point in the pouring rain. By this time, the game had spanned two evenings and 4 hours of play. That's when I got choked up. It was an unfortunate way for such a good team of 10-year-olds to end their season.

During all of this drama, Maya waded into 6 inches of standing water, filled her rain boots and soaked her clothing. So she had to sit in the van. Three of her baseball sibling compadres joined her for a van party, oblivious to their brothers' demise. And the next night, everyone attended the team party at the coach's home. Again, all the kids were drenched. This time, when Voodoo got ahold of the hose. We had fun, Jake made great food, and the coaches talked about how winning was easy and the important thing was to be able to lose gracefully, which the Red Sox had done.