This is a big baseball year as Ryan has aged up into the next league. Last year he was one of the older kids, which also made him (generally) more experienced and bigger than about 1/2 the other kids. This year he is on the opposite side of that range, as one of the younger kids (however his early birthday does impact that a little). To add to that, we switched leagues. He is in a more competitive league this year where a lot of the kids and coaches are more experienced overall. And he has been insanely nervous about this whole combination.Add to that ... baseball in a pandemic.
Things were crazy today. All pitches were done by kids, and faster and harder than he is used to. A lot of the kids play in multiple leagues, so there is a good amount of experience on all the teams. The team they went again for the first game appeared to be pretty stacked with seasoned players. Their team lost, but seemed to be in good spirits. I was impressed with the coaching, the general maturity of his teammates, and Ryan's desire to really do his best.
Kids had to wear masks on the bench, but not while playing. Coaches had to wear masks at all times. Those spectating were told to sit behind a white line, and circles were drawn to mark out spots 6ft apart. For the most part, everyone really complied. The game ran smoothly, the kids got to play baseball, and we enjoyed a "normal" summer day.
