The Phelan Family: a GREAT season ~ Baseball

Carter wrapped up his third season of baseball earlier this ~~month~~ (since I am finally getting to posting, it's now been more like 2 months!) summer. He really loved it...he was able to be on a team with several of his friends and he worked very hard and improved a lot over the four months. Carter is a lot of fun to watch, because he takes the game so seriously. He's (almost) always paying attention and is on the look out for the next play. I was really proud of him.

Kyle was the assistant coach again this year, so it was a fun activity for them to do together.

A few pictures before our first game of the season

I remember this day so clearly...he was so excited for his game! I hope he always loves his activities as much as he does now. Playing sports is such a source of joy for him ~ and whether he is good at them in the future or not, I pray that he'll continue to love them.

It's funny to look back and see how his smile has changed in just a few months

I always get a bit nervous when he's up to bat, but I don't think he does! He's all business. He had some really great hits this year. Kyle said that his hitting was the one skill that had really improved from last year - whenever Kyle had a free moment, Carter was asking to go outside and practice.

The kids are rotated through all of the positions, so Carter played catcher a few times - definitely not his favorite!

During the second half of the season they let the kids try their hand at pitching. I think Carter pitched three times and did quite well. He has an arm on him and can throw the ball fairly hard. He just needs to work on his accuracy, since I'm pretty sure he hit two batters :) He really enjoyed pitching, though, and didn't seem rattled by the pressure. Again, it was so fun to watch him up on the pitching mound clearly loving every minute of it!

I have to make sure to include the highlight of the season, at least for Carter. It was about midway through the year and Carter was playing second base (I think, maybe it was short stop, I get confused easily :) A fly ball was hit towards him and he was able to make the catch...things started to get a little crazy at this point. Both coaches (and assistant coaches) were yelling at their respective players, parents were shouting directions from the stands and the players were all pretty confused. The boy on first base didn't tag up, so Carter ran to first and forced the out. Then, again amid a lot of yelling, the boy that had been on second base was trying to figure out what to do, so Carter ran as fast as he could and tagged him out at second. A triple play! Unassisted! It was more hilarious than impressive but if you know Carter at all, he about floated off the field he was so very excited. He had to call grandparents and aunts and uncles to share the news ~ he was pumped!!!

He had a couple of really great hits this year. He also worked hard to improve his base running. All in all, it was a great few months of growth that he really enjoyed.

After the last game, we had a little celebration for the boys.

Pizza, cupcakes and trophies ~ all you need to make little boys very happy!

Carter with Coach Nick getting his trophy

Kathy made delicious (and darling) Oreo cupcakes for the celebration

Andrew, Carter and Andrew

There is a lot of energy in those three little bodies!

Carter, Asher and Austin

It certainly made the season more fun to have a lot of friends on Carter's team. It was fun for him and it was fun for me to have my friends to chat with during games...baseball can feel really long at times so it's always more fun to have friends to pass the time with.