When you hear “t-ball tournament” many would probably think “oh how cute” and it is cute, but it is no joke!!! We are still recovering from our long weekend away. Our team of 8 year old boys played seven games over four days. It came down to the last inning of the championship game, and we lost to our rivals, Ancaster, the hosts of the tournament.
We drove out to Ancaster on Friday after work for our 8:00 game. The boys were excited to play under the lights at a big field. They ended up losing this game on the very last play, it was super exciting and it would have been great to get that win, but it was a round robin, so really it didn’t matter too much.
Number 5 in your program number 1 in our hearts!
Saturday morning started with free hotel breakfast, and the first game at 10:00. All of the water jugs lined up in a rainbow of colours.
The boys won their first game and then we moved over to a different field for a skills competition and our second game at 2:00. Q and his friends cheering on their teammate in the home run derby. Which for t-ball is when the tee is set up at second base and the kids get 8 balls each to hit over the fence.
A hot day calls for an ice cream in between games.
The Ancaster Ice Cream Parlour is located right at the ball field. It has so many flavours!! I had cappuccino crunch one day, lemon lime sorbet another day, and mint chip finally on the last day.
Watching the team warm up from the hill. I would have stayed up there for the whole game but I needed to do the scoring. Each team keeps their own score and to make sure it is tracked properly.
The team won this game pretty easily as it was a 7 year old team.
After this game we went over to the local Boston Pizza for a team dinner, and then went back to the hotel. Swimming and video games for the boys, and some patio drinks for the parents. Most of the teams stays at the hotel which is so fun for everyone.
The tournament was double elimination so we had a few games to win on Sunday. They won their first game at 11:00 and then again at 2:00. That meant we had to play at 8:00 that night too. It was against Ancaster, and our team finally beat them!! The kids were so excited. But as noted above, this was just plays offs so there was still work to do. Because we won this game, we got a bye right to the championship game the next day.
With a full day out in front of us on the Monday and our game not until 7:30 pm, we needed to figure out what to do. We slept in for a little bit and ate breakfast. Then we found a go-kart and mini-golf place nearby and went to do that.
Q overtaking Dave on the last lap
Our High Park 7s team was also at this tournament so we went over to the field to watch their game and get some lunch at the concession stands (and more ice cream of course!). We still had some time to kill so a few of the families went to the movies to see Bad Guys 2. It was a good way to get out of the sun and force the kids to relax and rest.
And then it was time for the championship game! The starting line ups were introduced and we sang O Canada.
Coaches meeting at home plate.
The kids played so well and a win was within reach! But the last inning got away from them and Ancaster scored too many runs for our team to come back from. They lined up, with a few tears from some players, and got their medal. Ultimately what a great group of kids and we are so proud of their efforts. We have one more tournament and one more opportunity to get the win, after coming in second all summer.
We were excited to get home that night to shower, soak those white pants, and get to bed. These are the days!!
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