Storm Report

Jessica had her first travel softball tournament yesterday in Portage. It was a round robin tourney where she played three games during the day. We were really curious to see how they would do in their first tournament. They haven't been together that long and have not had too many practices. Jess caught the first game and the third games. They went 1-2 on the day. They won the first game and lost the second and third. The third went into an extra inning because it was tied after the time limit. Jess did awesome! She had some new rules to get used to that are different than little league. Runners can leave the bag earlier on a steal and can run to first if a third strike is in the dirt or missed by the catcher. After a year of travel ball she will be gunning down every steal in little league. She hit the ball hard and was a wall behind the plate. The pitcher in the first game pitched her first game ever and did really well. Jess did a great job keeping her calm and focused.

The babies were visiting with Grandpa and Grandma so it was just the four of us at the games all day. Katie had fun hanging with the team and we enjoyed getting to know some of the other families. We had a giant potluck picnic for lunch and watched some other games when Jess was off. Another team in the tournament has a few of her friends from school and little league so it was fun to watch them and see their families. This was the first time Sean was a spectator at one of her softball games, he is usually in the dugout. He did pretty well, some coaching from the sidelines, but not too bad. It was a fun day and a really positive experience for Jess, she had a great tourney and had fun. The Storm are hosting a tournament October 4th in Holland, when I have her game schedule I will post it if anyone want to make the trip over to see her play.

Warming up with Dad on the batting stick!

Katie enjoying the Storm picnic lunch.

Working hard behind the plate!

Katie spent the entire last game working as the team's official photographer. She took lots of pictures of Jessica and the other players. She took the one above of Jessica catching. I think she jinxed us though because in the last regulation inning we had the score tied, the bases loaded and no outs. Katie had herself perched in the perfect position for a picture of the plate. She said she was goingto take the picture of the winning run. Well three quick outs later we were back in the field and playing extra innings, eventually losing!