Put on Your Game Face

I am the classic softball mom. I wear the softball mom t-shirt, I do the fancy braided hairstyles, I bring sunscreen everywhere I go, I sit at the fence, I cheer for not only my own daughters, but for their teammates, ........ and I'm always packin' a camera.

I even came up with my own cheer for Alyssa. Well, it's not a cheer, exactly. Just a reminder from her mom. I asked her once, "Are you a good pitcher?" ("yes.") "Are you a REALLY good pitcher? ("yes.") "Best one around?" ("yes.")

Then, Throw It Like You Know It.

So now, whenever I say that to her, she knows what I mean.

Having taken dozens of photos of Alys pitching, my favorite shot is always this one of her in the "K" or "X" position:

I probably like it because it shows her in full power mode. If you get an up close look at her game face, it looks like this:

I know. Pretty intimidating, huh! Who, knowing our Alyssa, would think she could look so intense as this?

When she's in the dugout, her favorite seat is this one:

She rarely sits back on the bench... she wants to be right at the dugout doorway, with nothing blocking her view of the game.

With our batting cage STILL down, she hasn't gotten in as many practice swings as usual. That didn't stop her from still hitting a hard high ball to the fence in the last game of the day:

(If you look closely in the upper left corner of the photo, you can see the ball on its way.)

It was a beautiful hit, and she had a nice slide-in at 3rd base: one of those that you bounce right up to a stand. She scored on the next hit.

The only downer of the day, was discovering that hit had broken her bat:

Yep, it's cracked. It's her Mikken "Rain" bat. Last year, her "Halo" bat had cracked, and we were able to get it replaced under warranty. Now it's looking like she'll go back to the Halo bat, with the Rain being finished. Watch for upcoming photos of her with a pink bat instead of this green one.

After going through over a week of REAL rain for our weather, this sunny Saturday was a welcome change. We're looking forward to our next weekend tourney in Coeur d'Alene, which both Alyssa and Darcie will play in. WE LOVE SOFTBALL!!