Going all the Way!!

What a fun baseball season! We finished up the season on Saturday with the Championship game. It just so happened to be that we ended up with the chance to play the team that Braydon's best friend, Tren, plays on. I'm sure that Tren's mom (Kim) and me looked pretty funny on the sidelines watching (or fretting) each they were up to bat or in the field playing. We both made sure to cheer each others boy on and give words of encouragement. The game was at noon (May 30) and it was a very warm day. (Nice for working on your tan!)

This is Braydon and Tren before the game started! Braydon went over to Tren's earlier that morning and his parents thought about feeding him lunch. (Something with sugar in it or worse, lots of fiber maybe. I'm sure they were just wanting to make sure my kid was taken care of! ha, ha)

Braydon was going to pitch 2 innings this game. He pitched 4 in the tournament game on Thursday night and can only pitch 6 inning a week. Well, during the first inning, the ball was a little wild at one point and he ran in to cover home. The runner on 3rd ran in and the catcher threw the ball to Braydon. The only bad part was, Braydon caught the ball with his eye, not his glove! Yep, it wasn't very good. I was a good mom on the sidelines and yelled, "Be tough Braydon! You'll be fine!" Then they took him into the dugout and needed some ice. I had my water bottle full of ice water and sacrificed it for my boy. They called in the back-up pitcher and I was a little bummed that Braydon wasn't going to pitch anymore. Braydon did go back in the next inning and played 1st base the rest of the game. Dallin, our back-up pitcher, did an amazing job and was good to hold the other team. The final score: 15-5 for the RAPTORS!!! We won the Championship.

They boys were so very excited! (Braydon is 11). Coach talked to us a little afterward and he said that the first 2 practices he thought for sure it would be a rough season. Most of the kids had never played before. Justin and I thought the same thing. We never imagined that Braydon was on a Championship team. All of the boys were always improving and they all did good to play their positions and be ready for anything.

Here's Tren (Trendala) and Brayd (Brenda) after the game! They decided they could still be buddies. (Tren's dad gave these 2 girl names. He even yelled out to the field a time or two to Brenda. It was kind of funny!)

The post season party-
We had the party at Idaho Pizza Co. and the boys were still a little hyped after their winning game. It was just 1 hour after the game and there was a fun buzz in the air. What's a baseball party without pizza, pop and a pinball machine?

Braydon's eye was starting to swell at the party. It didn't look bad right after the game. By the time we got to the party, it started to show really good. We should have put more ice on it but weren't thinking. It's a good thing we put ice on it at the game. He wouldn't have been able to play 1st base if it was swollen.

We moved most of the tables into a party room (& we still didn't fit) so the dinning area was mostly empty. Mayci took advantage of the space and did some dancing and running around. She enjoyed the entire party!

Coach Johnson did such a great job with the boys. (During our game on Thursday night, he got a call from his wife who was going into labor. He left Justin to coach while he left to take care of his wife. He left around 6:15 to get her to the hospital. The game was over just before 7 pm and his wife had the baby at 7:30. She had her about 2 weeks early!!)

Coach had some awards for all of the kids. Braydon got awarded Home Run King for scoring the most home runs this season. The team in whole had 204 runs scored for the season. I think Coach said it was double what the other teams had! Pretty impressive!

Braydon also got awarded MVP!!!! Coach was only planning on giving out 1 MVP award but after Dallin stepped up during the championship game and pitched amazingly, he felt that he needed to give another MVP to him. We couldn't agree more! The team was very blessed to have 2 great pitchers on the team. The both did great to encourage all the players on the team.

Braydon & Dallin getting their MVP award. Dallin is the coaches boy!

Here's Braydon's eye this afternoon. He got lots of remarks at church today. Lots of teasing about that's what you get when you kiss a girl! I think he likes the attention! He's cute that way. This picture doesn't do it any justice. He's got some nice coloring going on. I thought it would swell more than it did.

I'll say this. I can handle a black eye. I don't want 2 broken arms for the summer like we've had before with Braydon. (That's a post all by itself!) Welcome to my life with boys!