Anderson Township Little League Fall Baseball

Josh had a great fall baseball season.  He moved up from coach pitch to kid pitch, which was a huge change.  Not only is it harder to hit, but it makes the games so much longer.  Josh's were almost always 2 hours, no less. 

He was one of the younger players on the team, but fall ball is low key so it was a great chance to practice hitting and beginning pitching.

Josh played a variety of positions but his main two were first base and pitcher.  Josh has played first base since he was 5 years old in t-ball, but pitching brought a whole new aspect to the game. 

I was very nervous the first time he threw, especially since there was a light rain falling, making the ball slippery. 

Seeing Josh on the mound brought back years and years of memories watching my brother Brad pitch in little league and high school.  In fact, I called Brad during Josh's first stint at pitching and left a message on his cell phone. 

It's fun because when they play baseball I think of Brad.  When they swim I think of Jeff.  When they play soccer I think of Rhett and Kurt.  When they play tennis I think of my Dad.  When they golf I think of Rich's Dad.  When they learn to ski next year, I'll think of Greg.  When they play basketball I think of Danny, Taylor and of course Rich.  It's nice to have so many sports idols you are related to!

Back to baseball....  Josh did a fabulous job pitching.  They had the boys pitch from the stretch, so you've got to use your legs for your power.  It was new for Josh, so at first he mainly used his arm for speed.  He can throw very hard and is quite accurate.  As the season progressed he did a better job of using his legs and was able to increase his ball speed.  Josh never hit a player, had a few walks and number of hits off him, but I think every inning he pitched ended with 3 strike outs. 

Josh also had a great season at the plate.  At his first at bat against a kid pitcher he smacked the ball and it sailed into the outfield for a stand up double.  Sure he struck out a time or two (usually looking), but he watched the ball and got at least one walk a game.  The kids also were allowed to steal bases for the first time, which was fun.

The only negative thing about this season was how many times Josh's games overlapped with Trey's soccer games.  Rich and I had to divide and conquer to get the kids to the various fields around the city.  Thankfully the two baseball fields Josh played on were close to Trey's soccer field.  Matt's soccer games were always later in the day, but every one of Trey's was at 1 PM and half of Josh's were at noon.  I managed to see at least an inning or two of most games, but I look forward to the spring when I stay and watch them all.

Great job Josh!