T-ball Jamboree

This morning was the 2008 Mt. Pleasant Recreation T-ball and Machine Pitch Jamboree. 86 teams of 5-8 year olds assembled on the field for the start of the summer season. It's James' first foray into the world of organized team sports, and I have to say that he's taking to it pretty well! He's on a team sponsored by a HVAC company called Endless Air, and they have purple hats & jerseys. When they tried to come up with a team name, two boys suggested "Dragons", and someone suggested "Purple People Eaters", so they compromised: "Purple Dragons". It's been a blast seeing them get out there and play.

After the opening ceremonies (invocation, national anthem, ceremonial first pitches for each league), each team played a 1 inning exhibition game. In this t-ball league, an inning consists of every player on each team getting a chance to bat. The Purple Dragons were the home team today, so they started in the field. James played left field, which in his case meant lining up just inside the *inside edge* of the infield grass (on a regulation size diamond), between short and 3rd. He made a couple of nice plays - one stop that came to him and one play backing up the third baseman (basewoman/baseperson) Briana (yup - it's a co-ed t-ball league).

When it came time for James' team to bat, they headed to the plate alphabetically, which put James in the cleanup spot today. He had a nice cut and got an infield single (helped, of course, by some stellar fielding by the 4 and 5 year olds on the other team!). When he reached first (after starting out by running straight toward the pitcher's mound), the pitcher from the other team, who was a classmate of James' this year, walked over and said "hey James Chalmers - nice hit". James, of course, responded with, "Thanks Marshall, nice play". It's all about sportsmanship these days!


I had a blast watching, doing a little coaching, and taking some pictures.