Merth

This update is about my 10-year-old son. If you are disinterested, I will pause so you can close this window and return to your search for all things Emo. First, this week during gym class, Mini-Omega and 3 classmates set a new school record for the 4x100 relay. Very cool. Second, my son is playing little league baseball. Little league baseball feature kids pitching to other kids and it can be painful to watch. Ten-year-old pitchers tend to have problems with accuracy. Ten-year-old batters tend to have very small strike zones. Put those two things together and the final score of many games is 15-13. Most games involve 20 walks, 60 stolen bases, and 3 hits. My son debuted as a starting pitcher for the first time a week ago. It was a pretty typical scenario. He threw 67 pitches, walked about 8 batters, allowed 6 runs, and recorded 6 outs. He threw almost 70 pitches in 2 innings of work. It was not a good outing. But, by little league standards, it wasn't horrible. (Now, the cool part.)

On Tuesday, he made his second start of the season. Something clicked (God intervened). My ten-year-old son turned into a strike out machine. He pitched the entire game. He pitched the full 5 innings. He struck out 11 of the 15 batters. He allowed 1 run. It took him 67 pitches to get through 5 innings. His team won their first game. The coach gave him the game ball. Over the next several days, parents and the coach approached me with comments like, "That doesn't happen. Kids don't pitch a full game. That never happens. That was crazy." Saturday morning, Cie had another game. He appeared as a relief pitcher. The starting pitcher played well. He threw 75 pitches (league max) to record 8 outs. He threw for 2 and 2/3rd innings. He gave up 4 runs. By little league standards, 4 runs in nearly 3 innings of work is a solid day on the rubber. Cie took to the mound. I think he actually pitched better on Saturday morning than he did on Tuesday. Our young lion closed out the final 7 outs (2 and 1/3rd innings) on 26 pitches. He walked one batter and hit another one. He allowed one run. He threw with more confidence and more velocity. It was crazy. (All glory goes to God.) As a point of comparison, the starting pitcher played well throwing 75 pitches to record 8 outs. Young Lion needed 26 pitches to record 7 outs. It teetered on ridiculous. He is not overpowering. He just threw strikes. I think the sight of a ball actually going over the plate confuses many of the batters. After the game we came home. We checked the mail. Cie received a letter from Miami University. He received a medal as well as a hand-written note congratulating him on his 1st place finish in the Miami University Triathlon (440m swim, 21k bike, 5k run) in the 14 and under division. He put the medal down on the table and headed to his room to play. He pitched wonderfully to help his team win its second game. He received a medal in the mail congratulating him on his 1st place finish in a sprint triathlon. Does he think any of this is a big deal? Does he get excited and brag? No. He just shrugs and moves on to the next thing. I hate to boast and brag on his accomplishments. I am just so proud of how he is developing and the person he is becoming. God has truly blessed us.