Oh lordy... it looks like we're back on the softball field...
My kid has played this sport since she was little... like maybe eight years old. The YMCA Bombers was a delightful team. No drama. No grief or anxiety or hormonal psychosis. Nope, just a bunch of little girls in baseball hats and cute jerseys scrambling around the bases, not knowing which way was up. It was pointless and lovely.
However, after a few years, came the older division rec ball, along with the middle school team. Suddenly there was pressure. Lizzy worried that she'd let the team down if she didn't perform. This was the point (about four years ago) that she decided that she wanted to learn to pitch. WTH?? Seriously?? Let me just say that mothers of pitchers should get some sort of free tranquilizers (margaritas? Ativan?) before each game. I swear, it's a hemorhoid inducing combination of fear, celebration, and full on freak out that NO human should ever experience.
So my kid started learning to pitch, and surprisingly (and only because she is Big Dave's daughter) her coaches saw some raw talent in her. She moved off and on the pitcher's mound through the rest of her rec ball days, trading with her bff depending on which one of them was feeling confident. It was low pressure, but gave her enough time on the mound for her to know that this is where she wanted to be.
She decided not to play for SCPS her freshman year... the team was too intense. Plus, at that point she'd fallen out of love with the school and didn't want to go out of her way to be involved.
SO last year, when she moved over to SVA as a sophomore, she thought she'd give it a try, and they let her pitch a JV game with the hopes that she'd be eligible to play Varsity this year.
However, when this summer started, and she got the schedule of conditioning workouts that spanned the month of June, she was less than enthused. She didn't want to spend her entire summer wrapped up in cleats, sliding shorts, and sports bras. So she told the coach that she wasn't gonna do it. The team went on without her, and my heart broke a little, because I absolutely LOVE the idea of her playing SVA softball.
But, as with most things in the world of teenagers, she had a change of heart once July came around, and asked to be allowed to come to the last half of summer conditioning. Thankfully Coach Dotson agreed, so Lizzy has spent the last two weeks getting her booty kicked. Making up for lost time is NOT easy, especially when it's 101 degrees on the diamond. She's wilted multiple times at the practices, seeing black spots swimming around the edges of her vision. Her endurance sucks. Her stamina is non-existant.
But her team is amazing.
And it makes her emotional to talk about it, because it means so much to her.
Twice, when she's been unable to keep up with the leaders while running laps on the field, her teammates have come back to run with her. We all know teenage girls aren't the most empathetic creatures, yet maybe... just maybe, this group will figure it out. It looks like they're on the right path.
For practice, they're playing scrimmage games with some of the SCCPS teams, and Lizzy's played in both of the games since she's been back. The first one, Coach put her in to pitch the last two innings, and she was SO good!!! Her pitches were slower than the starting pitcher, but at least her control was good, and she threw strikes. They won the game.
She looks SO good out there!!
However, the second game wasn't as great as the first. She was playing in the outfield and got pulled to relieve the starter in the third inning. Not her ideal situation. She let her nerves get the best of her, and threw a bunch of crap, missed a pop fly, and had a bomb drilled off of her. Nope, not a good inning. She got out of it, and got through the next inning without any runs, but the coach took her out... I'm guessing because she looked like a big ball of nerves out there.
She's her own worst enemy, and when she lets herself get panicked, it's a struggle to find her happy place and throw strikes. Every pitcher has to deal with this... I know. And more importantly, she knows. But, I think she's committed to the team now that she sees how committed they are to her.
So, it looks like the next couple of months will be filled with red clay, strawberries on knees, and bleaching white pants. I love every minute of it!
Now... let's hope she does too.
:)
