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With all the other garbage in my other threads in the general forum I did want to post something happy.

The other day my son played in his first baseball game of the season.

It drizzled the entire time and the coaches had to dry off and/or switch the balls so the kids could throw a good pitch, so that made it interesting.

The score was even better 15 - 0. My son's team kicked some serious butt. The pitcher kept striking kids out and didn't let anyone get to 1st base until the end of the 4th (last) inning.

The mother of the pitcher and I were sitting next to each other and we were both screaming the loudest.

I think the boys in the field were bored because the didn't get to do anything but watch the pitcher strike the kids out.

My son scored two runs (or points, not sure of the proper wording) and after the first run/point the entire team swarmed him and patted him on the helmet and back. It was nice to see that

I just need to figure out how to teach him to swing. He seems to be a little cautious and doesn't' swing at a good pitch so he gets a strike. The rest of the pitches were "balls" so he was sent to 1st for that. It does seem like he's trying to judge which is a good/bad pitch which is fine, but how do I get him to be more confident at bat. I think he's afraid of letting his team down if he swings and gets a strike.

The down side (I know this won't shock anyone) was my husband stood at the fence line and took some pictures but didn't say a word or eve cheer him on. He did lecture him after the game about his stance when DS10 was covering 2nd base.

I just need to figure out how to teach him to swing.

Isn't that what coaches are for? When my girls were in soccer and needed help, I asked the coaches where could I take her to learn the skill. Most of the time the coach did a couple of practices concentrating on that particular skill. If it was position specific ( catcher/pitcher) there were clinics, camps, or skill building sessions.

Did he enjoy playing? My girls hated softball, and now are big baseball fans at there respective colleges. They still play soccer, just not as competitively. I miss the crazy running around, my soccer mom patrol, on the weekends. But I wouldn't change those days for anything. Even my XH sitting across the field or down the bleachers from the mom patrol!

He has an awesome coach. I just like helping out and doing things with him. This coach has "stations" where he'll have a group working on batting, a group working on the different catches (grounders, pop flies, etc...), and another pitching. Then the kids rotate.

He loved it! This is his third year. He took a couple yrs off, though. The last time he played was in 2nd grade for a different town. I think he's just rusty. The only traveling we have to do with baseball is between fields on the opposite side of the parking lots

We'll see what happens when he gets into the majors.

Woo hoo DS10!!! I promise to go with you to a few of his games when he goes pro!

Even if it's with the Yankees?

We'll have the best seats in the stadium!

Congrats!

My DD has played softball since she was 11 (I think) and now plays on the HS team. If you can find some batting cages nearby then that is a great outing for the 2 of you and he will get some extra practice.

Also just be aware that coaches sometimes tell the players not to swing until the pitcher throws the first strike. I don't know if they do that in this age bracket, but it is very common in HS. They want the pitcher to work for those strikes.

If his form is decent then take him to a batting cage. The repetition should help with confidence to swing. Most kids just don't spend enough time in the batters box to feel confident. A pitching machine for some kids can improve their ability to recognize a good pitch and a bad one. A pitching machine throws nearly all strikes so the batter can swing at all the pitches. So if the batter understands that a live pitcher is expected to throw all over the place and watches each pitch closer then a batting cage won't get him in a habit of always swinging at every pitch during a game.

I hope that makes sense

Dreamboat, we do have batting cages locally. They started their practices there because there was still snow on the fields at the beginning.

That doesn't sound like anything his coach is teaching them. That could just be at the HS level like you said.

dontknowwhyme, I'm sorry, but you lost me

I've been taking my son to the park to practice and I've been pitching to him. I have shown him how to dodge a pitch if it's coming at him and when to not swing if the ball isn't over the plate What can I say, I suck at pitching

My son scored two runs (or points, not sure of the proper wording) and after the first run/point the entire team swarmed him and patted him on the helmet and back. It was nice to see that

If he crossed the home plate twice, that means he had 2 Runs. If he was at bat and two teammates crossed, that means he had 2 RBIs (runs batted in). Either way congats! It sounds like it was a fun time.

Thank you Crescita. I used to watch baseball growing up. I haven't watched a full game in ages and I don't fully remember all the terminology.

Even if it's with the Yankees?

I LOVE the Yankees! It's the Dodgers that I refuse to acknowledge. #beatLA