Bismarck Game -- first real game of the season!

My goal at the beginning of baseball season was to capture a little bit of each game and then blog about it.

Yeah....about that....goals don't always come to fruition the way we would like them to, do they? :)

This game was our very first games of the season, once we got past our first pre-season tournament. It was the very first game with live pitching! In our little league (and most around us), the boys play the first four innings of the game with a pitching machine (that delivers 'every' ball right down the middle of the strike zone for ease of hitting). This not only speeds up the game, but it helps the kids to develop an "eye" for strikes.

Then, in the 5th and 6th inning, a live pitcher comes in. We have two--one in the 5th, and one in the 6th. This would be the first game Colin had ever pitched in, so we were excited and a bit nervous for him!

I take so many pictures that this time--Colin's first at bat (he is the first batter in the line-up, so this was actually the very first hit of the game)--I decided to take some video.  He hit a triple!
(Sorry about the quality--it's hard to video through a chain link fence!)

Colin coming in from scoring. Always so serious!

Lola girl....

....being goofy as usual. :)

I snapped quite a few, and by the time I went to take one with her, she was tired of the camera! *grin*

For preservation's sake, I wanted to make sure to record here who was on Colin's Mud Hens team this year:

Reef and Colden

Hayden and Bennett

Blake and Brayden

Isaac and Jackson

Sebastian (not pictured) and Cole

The boys did well, and we had a the lead going into the 5th inning--where Colin's best friend Colden was up first to pitch! He did a great job, and we got out of the inning without any additional runs scored!

Then, it was little Colin's turn. This Mommy was nervous! There is not much in this world 

quite like watching your child (seemingly all alone out there on that mound!) with a lot of the 

pressure of the game riding on his little 8 year old shoulders!!

(Throwing a warm up pitch)

Daddy giving a word of advice before the inning began

Here he goes!

Colin did great--actually, the best he's done all season. He has pitched several games, 

but this one in particular he threw nine pitches total. Three strikes a piece to three different batters. 

It was incredible to watch and I was so excited for him!!

Coaches congratulating the boys!

I think Col's face says it all--he was pretty relieved!

And also....pretty happy. *grin*

Colden and Colin--best buds on the best Mud Hens team around!

More baseball soon! :)