This weekend was Peyton’s last tournament weekend. It was bittersweet! On the one hand, it’s the last tourney. But we’re really going to miss the families we’ve met along the way, for this short, but intense season. It started Saturday, and even though we didn’t play until noon, we showed up in town by 830a. Dave was meeting two different people at a coffee shop to sell two Craigslist things. Both appointments showed up on time, and he made the “exchange” while I stayed inside with the kids to enjoy our breakfast. We headed over to the field, and another family had already arrived. Coach was running late because of traffic, so Dave settled in to get our team ready. There was an accident that we had avoided for our early arrival, but another family took 2 hours to drive over the hill!
The first game was a close one, being lost by a run. Peyton was lead-off batter for two games, but didn’t hit as well as expected. Peyton got to pitch an inning, and despite not having any strike outs, she did throw some strikes, and held her runners to not have any score against her. The second game was equally heart-breaking, losing by 1 run as well. We went to dinner as a team, as both games were back to back. After we disbanded, we took the kids to enjoy ice cream. Peyton fell asleep on the way home, and she threw a fit at the request of taking a shower despite being pig pen! She finally did take a shower before getting to bed.
Today, we left about the same time. This time to get coffee at “THE place”. We headed to a breakfast bagel place before the game. We saw the same early family there, as they pulled up while I was waiting for Dave in the car. We ate with them on the field waiting for the others to arrive, well in advance of our game time of 1030 am, but we were avoiding Wharf to Wharf traffic, which we saw at the coffee place. Brandon said, “Those people are runners.” I asked him how he knew. “Because they’re wearing bibs!” I guess he’s been around a few races 🙂 We were playing the “Pajaro” valley , and both kids said, “Hey, we’re playing the ‘Bird’ Valley tournament, since that’s what ‘Pajaro’ is in Spanish.” I guess they learned something over their four weeks of Spanish!
Because of our two loses, we were playing in the bronze bracket for today. We were up first in the game. She wasn’t lead-off batter this time, but was buried lower in the line up. She’d told us, “Coach Toby told us if we won two games today, then we’d be 7th place!” There were 9 teams, three brackets – gold, silver and bronze. Here’s her first at-bat on Sunday:
She hit it to short, and they threw to second. Since it wasn’t a force, she needed to be tagged. The first base coach sent her, and she kept running! She got in there just as the ball was thrown to the second baseman. SAFE!
I missed her second at-bat as Brandon was watching intently, and I chose to capture that moment instead. He was really sweet today, really getting into it now that it was for keeps! I should’ve as she hit off the pitcher and got on base!
They won; now I don’t remember by how much. But we had several hours to wait around for the next game. The game was at 3 pm, and we were done with the other game by noon. We ate at the site, eating hamburgers for the three Tsao’s, while I finished up my bagel half from the morning. We had a picnic style lunch, eating with the team. Some went to get food at nearby sandwich places, while others had snacks that they brought. For the final game, we were on the third base side. We set up the canopies, but none of the parents could watch! We were so nervous. Brandon chose not to play with the little boys, and he sat with me. He told me, “I’m so nervous!” He really was paying attention, as he kept track of the count as well as the outs. I’m glad he was paying attention and CARED!
from the final game:
We were talking about how Brandon and Peyton need to blend themselves as batters. Brandon usually swings at the first pitch, while Peyton waits and waits and will get 2 strikes on her before swinging to protect. This time, she did hit the first pitch!
They won the last game 6-2. It felt like a closer game than that, as it was 4 the first inning, as the team almost batted around, then the other team scored 2 more, then we scored 2 more and then had to hold them in the bottom of the third. The girls were super excited, as they had seen the trophies already. They walked as a team, with the youngest two, P and C, leading the team out to the trophy table.
Not even as this was wrapping up, did I just register P and B for the Japanese basketball league as well as fall softball for Peyton. The kids have a couple of months of rest 🙂
Here are the pictures from the weekend:
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The brothers
On the mound
Mommy and me 
Brother cheering on little sis 
Wasting time between games – this is their make shift bus
Full team meeting at the plate 
Winner winner chicken dinner! 
The two youngest leading their team to the trophy table 
Dabbing 
With the coaches:
The trophy and plaque for the team! 
Base/softball family. 
We went to dinner after at a place coach had been recommending since the last tournament there. It was just the four of us. Until Brandon saw another teammate and her dad. Dave chased them down and found out a few other families had stayed to watch the game after ours and just came over to eat. We finished up then went to say bye again. But it turned out that the highway was traffic-y so it was going to be awhile. After hearing this, Dave plopped himself down with the dads, I sat with the moms and the kids found room with their friends. We took our party to the beer room next door and continued to hang out. We didn’t leave until 8! There was still traffic, but it was a little better. I expected another meltdown over showering since Peyton had fallen asleep in the car. I solved this by showering with her. I couldn’t wait to shower! She was a little better. Tomorrow is ice skating and cooking camp!