On a fine Saturday in their semi-final little league baseball game, it turned into a blowout for my ten-year-old grandson Oliver and his teammates. They defeated their opponents, 15-0. At this level of little league, the mercy rule ended the contest after the third inning.
Ollie continued his hot hitting streak with two more singles and an RBI. He also scored twice.
Now the team proceeds to the sectional championship game Tuesday night. Should they win that one, they’ll advance to the state-level tournament next weekend.
So the main thrill, of course, is at the team level. They are on a six-game winning streak and everyone is playing well — on offense, defense and pitching. No one player wins a baseball game on his own. That’s the beauty of team sports.
But for Oliver personally, this has been a breakout stretch. He has 13 hits (4 doubles) in 17 at bats with 15 RBI. That translates into a BA of .765, and SP of 1.000, and an OBP of .789.
Kids can play team sports for many years and never get on a run like this one, so it’s special while it lasts, both for him and his team.
And for me, just to be witnessing it. We talk ’ball before and after his games, and review his game performances. and his stats. For a ten-year-old, he has a very high baseball IQ.
He studies the game, works hard at practice, spend lots of extra time in the batting cages, and listens to his coaches. Sometimes he even goes to games where he can watch teams he will face in the future — just to get ideas about how to play against them.
It all pays off. He’s a gamer.
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