All-Star Tournament

The weekend before our beach trip was Jake's All-Star tournament. He played one game Saturday and two games Sunday, all in 100+ degree temperatures. It was gruelingly hot.

Jake and I before heading down to the game Saturday. We even decorated the car for the occasion. We've got spirit, yes we do!

Jake rocking the eye black again with teammates Landon and Griffin (so cute!)

 Jake at bat:

I love this picture of Jake running to second base, mostly because it proves he is watching the ball when he isn't supposed to:

 The team played with all their heart, giving it their very best. However, in the last game Sunday against one of the other teams representing Yucca Valley, they lost 12-11. This meant they had to fight their way back into the championship, which they did, winning games on both Tuesday and Wednesday night (against the team from Yucca they had lost to Sunday). Unfortunately, Jake had to miss those two games because it coincided with our beach trip but since his team won, we were able to make it back for the final championship game on Thursday night, coming down to our Yucca Red team and the opposing Yucca Black team.

To say that the last game was intense would be an understatement. It was a nail bitter. Once again both teams played their little hearts out. In the end, Yucca Red lost with a final score of 15-12. At first the team seemed heartbroken and it was a hard loss for sure. But by the time Jake got in the car with his tournament pin he declared his tears were gone. After all, coming in second place out of ten teams is still reason to be proud. And even though Jake was definitely not one of the star players on the team, he finished the game with 2 base hits and 2 RBIs.

Team picture after the game on Thursday. I think you can see how hard they played:

The team celebrated all their hard work by going to the spa pools for an end of tournament celebration (mind you this was at 8:30 p.m.). Our family had traveled from the beach straight to the game that night and had yet to even go home. To say we were tried would also be an understatement but the kids had a blast swimming in the pools.

Even with the huge time commitment and hours spent in the desert heat by our whole family, Jake especially, we have no regrets about Jake participating in All-Stars. We met some fabulous kids, coaches and families. It improved Jake's skills and motivated him to want to work even harder. It reminded us all of our love for the game of baseball and while we will enjoy our short break from sports (soccer practices start July 30th!!!), we can't wait for next season.