Sadly, this was the last time we will all be together as a team - but we had fun!
Although the parents' team started off strong behind some good defense - especially from Taylor's Dad and Paige's Mom - and some excellent pitching/umpiring by Coach Jim, the Sparks won the game in the end, 63 - 18. (okay, maybe that wasn't the actual score...)
On to Teddy's for dinner... and my homework: a little about each player.
Abby: 'Rush' ... One of our two 'Canadian Sisters'... Queen of the Double ... pitcher, catcher, fielder, hitter ... voted an All-Star by her teammates ... clearly made WAY more talkative by ice cream, even if she can't find her mouth with it
Allie: 'Goody2Shoes' ... Queen of 'The Pose' ... speedy on the basepaths ... played all over (and will definitely pitch more next season!!) ... consistently excellent fielding.
Anna: 'Ghostie' ... The Quiet Competitor ... great catcher ... solid hitter... and made an amazing shoestring catch to make the final out in the playoffs vs the Mystics ... hits better than her Mom. :-) ... our reserve All-Star player, top 6 in votes received.
Carly: 'Egan' ... (where is Carly?) the other 'Canadian' ... big hitter ... Queen of 'SOFTBALL READY!' ... excellent catcher & 3rd base ... potential All-Star for 3rd season in a row (if she'd stop going on vacation!) ... responsible for 'Star Jump' instruction.
Emily: 'Dynamite' ... Queen of the Question ... always wanting to know the score, the number of outs, the square root of 11, and the meaning of life ... has a monster swing that softballs are afraid of ... slugged a single into the outfield in the parent/Spark game (See, Emily? You really CAN hit!) ... made multiple catches of pop ups at second base.
Jenna: 'JC' ... Queen of 'AH!' during the circle warmup ... selected to be an All-Star by the team ... excellent first base player ... one of our two lefties ... made numerous VERY intelligent plays in the infield, including running down & tagging two baserunners by herself ... best hit of the season was a TRIPLE against Madalyn down the 1st base line.
Jordan: 'Sparkle' ... Miss Bubbly Personality 2010 ... ready to play anywhere ... would prefer all pitchers to slow down ... great fielder ... even better at somehow convincing pitchers to walk her.
Katie: 'Smallz' ... Queen of the Walk ... pitchers couldn't figure out how to pitch to her ... improved her fielding all season long ... put in extra time on her hitting (I have the bruise on my shin to prove it) ... had a great single in the playoffs to keep a rally alive.
Kelly: 'Special K' ... Queen of the Untied Shoe ... takes after her Dad! ... our other lefty ... slugger at the plate ... base stealer and intelligent fielder ... elected to All-Star team by teammates
Nikki: 'Swizzle' ... Queen of the (loud!) Dugout Cheer ... consistent hitter ... stole so many bases she should be arrested ... great fielder & rocket arm ... excellent speech-giver ... not so great at drinking milkshakes ... wants a yellow jeep ... and to know if she can milk the cowdog.
Paige: 'Firecracker' ... my 'Fielding Frog' ... improved her fielding immensely ... great arm ... became more and more consistent as the season progressed ... a willing hitter ... led the team in hitting the ball hard...directly to a fielder ... next season we work on hitting where they're not!
Sophia: 'Chief' ... Queen of the 2-Pitch Warmup ... excellent wherever she played ... slugged her first double this season! ... consistently excellent pitching ... was 'the closer' in every important game ... named to the All-Star team by teammates.
Taylor: 'Blondie' ... Queen of Hitting Any Pitch (no matter where it was!) ... had an excellent season pitching, playing first and occasionally 3rd ... All-Star selection ... always a defensive batter - I'm pretty sure Taylor was our foul-ball leader this year! ... but when she hit it between the lines, almost always a single and rarely put out on any hit.
I'm sad that the season is over, Sparks - but I'm so happy that I got to be your coach this season!
Have a great summer, and I hope to see you all again next Spring!
- Coach Drew
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