Sunday, June 3, 2012

Tournament Weekend Two, Triple Crown Sports Florida State Championships

TP headed to Kissimmee for their second tournament this weekend.  They didn't take home the championship but they came close, placing either third or fourth overall.  We're still waiting for final tournament results to be posted.  Their final record for this tournament was 3 wins - 1 loss -1 tie.  Like most tournaments, this one was not without some excitement.

TP's first game was originally scheduled for Friday evening at 8:00.  However, the games were all rescheduled due to heavy rain at the fields on Friday.  We were scheduled for two games Saturday, 3:30 and 8:30.  A had her big dance recital Saturday, twirling and dancing in five numbers over three performances.  So Coach C picked J up and gave him a ride to and from the tournament.  I rarely miss games, so it was hard staying behind, although I thoroughly enjoyed watching A strut her stuff in the recital.

J texted me an update following the first game.  They tied that one 2-2.  He played first that game and was happy to report he had done well and that Coach C was pleased with him.  (More on that in a future post)  The team went out to dinner together before the next game at 8:30.  I briefly thought about heading to that one following A's last recital performance.  But it was an hour away and I was just too tired.  Besides, I would have missed most of the game anyway.  They won that one, 4-2, heading for home around 11:00 pm.  Since I was home by that point, and Coach C lives about half an hour south of us, I texted J that I would meet them to save Coach C the trouble of driving him all the way to our house.  It was shortly after midnight when they arrived at Coach C's house. Coach C let me know that they were scheduled for a 10:30 game this morning, though he had some concerns that the tournament organizers had messed up the brackets, therefore assigning us the wrong game time.  However, he had attempted several times to verify and kept being told it was correct.  Fast forward to 1:30am when the tournament people  realized their error and rescheduled the game for 8:00am.  How to contact everyone at that hour to ensure the team arrived at the field by 7:00 for warm ups?  Coach C sent out a mass text and email, hoping that everyone would see it in time.  In my case, I happened to wake up around 2:30 and saw the text alert on my phone.  That meant adjusting my wake up time from 7 to 5, and leaving the house by 6 instead of 8.  J was none to happy when i woke him to get ready, though he promptly went back to sleep once we were on the road.  Amazingly, everyone managed to arrive at the field in time to start the game at 8:30.  We were all a little sleepy and a little grumpy, but there and ready to go. Coach C got the boys revved up and they managed to pull off a 6-5 win for that game.

After that there was time for a quick lunch before heading to a different field for the second game of the day.  TP came out with bats blazing for that one, taking a 4-0 lead by the 2nd inning and never giving it up.  J hit a beautiful line drive for a double in that game, bringing in two runners.  He also did a great job playing first base.  Our pitcher did an amazing job, and in the end, TP shut the other team out, winning with a 4-0 score.  The third game of the day began about half an hour later.  The boys were pretty beat by that time, but they came out playing to win.  And for most of the game it looked like they would be advancing to the championship game.  However, in the bottom of the 5th inning, we had a few errors that allowed the other team to pull ahead, 5-2.   The boys fought hard, scoring another run in the 6th inning, but in the end they lost that game, 5-3.

Coach C is extremely proud of them and how well they did this weekend.  They not only played hard, they played as a team, with heart, sportsmanship, and class.   Next weekend they have a two game showcase in Vero Beach,where they are sure to do well once again.      

No comments: