Softball Withdrawals

Call me insane, because I must be warped and twisted.

At a time when all the other softball parents are heaving huge sighs and saying comments like, "I can't WAIT for the season to be over" and "This is getting old" or "I'm so tired of softball"..... here I sit, having withdrawals.

I was hugely disappointed when Alyssa's team voted not to go to Nationals, and her season was over. I love watching her pitch. I love watching her hit. I missed taking as many pictures this year.

Fortunately for me, Darcie's season has gone extra innings. And unfortunately, I'm missing the big climactic finish. Darcie was named to the Little League All-Stars team. This is her last year in Little League, because the City of Lewiston dropped the Juniors program. Anyway, the All-Star team competed at Boise last weekend, and had huge wins: 14-1, and 10-0. These pictures of Darcie are from those games.

So now we move on to the softball Western Regionals. As State champs, we go into pool play now against the state champions from all over the west. Play begins this afternoon in Vancouver, Washington. Since we were at Softball Camp this last week, our travel has been intense. We arrived home from Boise on Sunday, went to church and turned around and headed up to Coeur d'Alene for camp. We came home from camp yesterday, and this morning (4:30 am), Todd and Darcie left for Vancouver.

Because of scheduling conflicts for work, one of us had to stay home, and this time it's me. So I waved goodbye to my star player and her dad, and am already missing being there before they've even arrived. I'm so pathetic!

So they'll be gone all week, and Todd had specific instructions to take lots of pictures and video for me. If the team is successful at Regionals, they go on to the World Series. Alyssa has already had this experience 2 years ago, and it was very memorable. There's a lot of pomp and circumstance at the opening ceremonies.

Darcie and Alyssa both are big assets to their teams. Both of them bat fourth in the lineup (the "cleanup" batter). Both of

them pitch, although Alyssa is found there most regularly for her team. Darcie is truly a utility player, and can (and does) play any position on the field. These photos show her at catcher and first base, but she also regularly plays third and shortstop, and sometimes outfield.

Wish I was there.

P.S. There is no "off season" in softball, just a longer time between games! This is one time when I would wish we lived in some southern state, where softball is a year-round sport.