End of Fall Ball

The fall sports season has come to an end. The Ignite girls wrapped up their fourth and final tournament in King on October 24th at the Top Gun Halloween Havoc. We have found that the 10U field is large, and each tournament this fall has had a double-digit number of teams. This one was no different with 19 total teams. The girls played hard all day in close match-ups, losing 3-6 and 3-4 in pool play. They did win their first bracket game with a score of 5-4, but then lost in the semi-final game 2-5. Despite a losing record, the girls have so much to be proud of. This small team of 4th Graders battled against much bigger and more experienced players all season. Emmy played her heart out at 1st Base, and she led the team in hits and on-base percentage. There's a chance that Emmy may play one more tournament in November with our friends at the Cardinals, but we are very proud of how she has handled her first travel season in the player-pitch divison. On the Saturday of Emmy's last tournament, Eli also had a tournament, so like many other weekends this fall, we divided up and I added a second gate band to my wrist for the day. Eli's team played well, going 3-0 in a MLB-themed Saturday Night Lights. The prize rings had MLB Hall-of-Famers, of which Eli traded for Shohei Ohtani. A few days later, Eli's team had a Halloween-themed practice with costumes, pizza, and trick-or-treating, and then in their final tournament, a Friday Night Lights, on October 30th they outscored their opponents 55-5. It has been so fun watching these little ball players put on a strong performance every time they take the field. The fall travel season for both kids has been lots of fun!

The kids' Little League seasons have also come to an end. In one game at Walnut Cove, Emmy took a turn at catcher, which of course had to be documented in photos. No doubt she is most comfortable at 1st Base, but she suited up and did a great job blocking and framing the ball. At the final game for both of the kids' teams, they played in their costumes, since it was Halloween. Boomer borrowed a silly hot dog costume, which got a lot of laughs from everyone. He gave each girl a softball zipper pouch, with other softball goodies inside and a personalized note. One hard part of the season has been the passing of Smith's dad and Boomer's assistant coach, Neal. The girls wore sunflowers on their helmets in memory of him. While it has been a winning season, it has certainly been marked by an incredible loss, and we miss Coach Neal. 

My slightly over-the-top husband kept track of the kids' stats from this year, and all together they played an impressive total of 158 games in 2026. As busy as the weeks were and as tired as my body feels, I wouldn't trade a single late night, packed weekend, or dinner in the car. We are looking forward to a break for the winter, but I know we will be itching to get back out there in the spring.