i cant believe how big he is already, time flies.

>At the start of the season if you would have told me I would
>be this invested in 7/8 year old baseball I would have laughed
>at you. The last two and a half weeks have been fucking nuts.
>Playoff sports is intense no matter the age.
>
>Today we had an elimination game to play. Winner moves on and
>the loser goes home. It was our 9th game in 16 days between
>out in house tournament and the Tournament of Champions games.
>Going into the top of the last inning we were behind by 3
>runs. We scored 5 runs. Home team comes up with the bottom of
>their line up. Like most teams we are out of pitchers at this
>point. Coach puts in one of the older kids to pitch. He
>immediately walks the bases loaded. Coach calls time out and
>calls my son to pitch.
>
>My son is the youngest kid on his team and in the division.
>Had he been born 4 days later he would have still been in
>t-ball. But here we are playing with 7 and 8 year olds. Shit
>some of these kids have just turned 9. My son hasnt even
>turned 7 yet and wont for a couple of months. But for some
>reason he is league age 7. He has had a great season. He is
>one of the better hitters on his team and played every
>position on the field. They even had him pitch a few innings
>here and there. But he hast pitched the entire playoffs. Shit
>he hasnt pitched in 13 games. But he has wanted to. Every day
>he tells me he wants to pitch. I just kept telling him to be
>ready for when his number was called.
>
>Well tonight it was called in a fucking huge moment. When the
>coach called him to pitch he sprinted to the mound with a big
>ass grin on his face. The rest of the team was nervous and
>scared. He was happy as shit to get called. He looked loose in
>his warm ups and confident. Not a worry in the world. My wife
>and I were a fucking mess. He is only 6 and this is too much
>pressure. Why is the coach putting him right now? He's not
>ready.
>
>Here comes the top of the line up. They have been killing us
>the whole game. Especially their 3rd batter. Double plays dont
>happen at this level so we are going to face this kid this
>inning. The lead off hitter flies out to our 2nd baseman for
>the first out. E runs out to high five his 2nd baseman for
>catching that and pumps his fist on his way back to the mound.
>He was fired up. Me and my wife were pacing and could barely
>watch. He works the next batter to a full count before
>striking him out. 2 outs!
>
>Big boy walks up to the plate. 2 years older than my son. A
>good 5 inches taller and 20 lbs heavier. But it didn't bother
>E. He is fearless. First pitch swing and a miss, strike one.
>Second pitch Big Boy connects pulls it to left,foul ball. Any
>other kid would have been scared because he just hit the shit
>out of that foul ball. You could hear the collective sigh of
>relief from the parents. I look at the mound and E pumps his
>fist because it means strike two. Next pitch big boy gets a
>hold of it. The ball went over our left fielders head and big
>boy rounds the bases. His run didnt count because they only
>needed 3. But he just hit a walk off grand slam off my boy.
>
>Watching him walk off that mound was heartbreaking. He was
>upset but I was the one crying. I didn't expect him to
>experience something like this until he was much older. I mean
>up until this season they never kept track of outs or score.
>Last week was easily the best moment of his short little
>league career winning their in house tournament earning 1st
>place and gaining a spot into this tournament. Today was
>easily the worst moment.
>
>When they came off the field I was proud of him. He was mad
>but had no tears in his eye. The coach gathered the team
>around and gave his speech. Just like after every game he gave
>out a game ball. It went to Emiliano. As soon as the meeting
>was over he handed me the ball and said he didnt want it
>because they lost. We went out for pizza and ice cream after
>the game to celebrate their great season. When we got home he
>said he wanted to pitch to me in the backyard. He said we
>gotta start getting ready for next season. I started crying
>again.