Played in the Championship Game - Second in the League

I couldn't believe it. We took second in the league in Softball! I told all the parents at the beginning of the season not to expect much as I didn't know any of the girls but my daughter and her friend and I hadn't coached any of the girls in softball since Coach Pitch. 

I didn't get an assistant at the beginning and asked all the parents if they could help and after Princess Five was hit in the face before the teams were even picked, I wasn't sure I was even staying. 

Well, if you remember my post about her black eye and her deciding to continue playing (see that post here) you will know that we stayed on as coach and player. 

We got some people to help coach and my niece who plays on the high school team helped be a base coach and so we held practices and there was some real improvement as a team.

I never thought we would end up playing for the championship.

When we found out we finished second in the league, I really didn't believe it as it came from one of my players. When I got the call, I was excited to tell all the girls. Because we took second, we only had to play games on one night. I guess the team that was playing the first place team forfeited which meant they only had to play one team to win the championship. 

We played our first game and were down by six with fifteen minutes left but we rallied and won the gave after the buzzer finishing up the inning. We had five minutes to make it to our next game. We were hot and tired but I was so proud of our girls as they did their best and actually held the winning undefeated first place team to a low amount of runs. Towards the end, they were really tired and their pitcher had a mean pitch which was fast but out of control. She hit three off the girls in our last game and two this game. She pitched to me last week and I still have a bruise on my heel where she hit me. 

The girls were afraid to face her and I don't blame them. So, they went undefeated and we came in second over all in league play and championship playoffs. 

Princess five had a great experience playing a new sport and isn't afraid of the ball anymore. Unless of course it is a man throwing his hardest straight to the face, then I am guessing she may run.... You can still see in the top picture that she has a bump on her cheek near her eye where there is still a sore spot from the ball. I hope in time it goes down but look at the smile on her face as we hold up our victory sign.

She is too old to play for recreation league now and I don't think she would want to try to play on the high school team as she has dance most of the year so this was her big year for softball but now at least she can feel confident playing with friends in college or something. She thanks me all the time for coaching her team and getting her over her fear after being hit. I am glad she got to have that opportunity and am so grateful that others were willing to help to make the team what it was. Some things are more important than house and yard chores and family scanning. :-) 

I am so proud of you Princess Five for making it through the season on top and not giving up! Good life lesson to overcome fears and in the end you may have fun and even win a medal! :-)