Way to go THUNDER!!

Here are 4 boys who are best friends as well as baseball buddies. They play for the Thunder minors team this year in 4 peaks baseball in Mesa, AZ. My son Dylan is on the far left, Jonathon Nussbaum, Nicolas Nussbaum, and then my son Darin are in the above picture. They are a young team and have won only 2 games so far this year. I wanted to share a quick story about their thursday night win.

Dylan may look big but is only 9 years old. He is one of 2 boys that has volunteered to play catcher. That is a hard position no matter what age you are. He has to squat down (which he is very good at), wear all that gear, be right behind the batter and be able to make good decisions on what plays to make. He is working on this as mentally it can be hard for a 9 year old to have to pay attention to the whole field and decide where the play is at. He has taken this on with great confidence and not too much backtalking to the umpire (just kidding:))

The game started with Darin pitching. He threw lots of strikes and did a great job. Jonathon spent last year in the outfield but has progressed to being a great first baseman. I have seen him outrun the other players to first base as well as make some wonderful catches. All this has happened because he has practiced and perservered in wanting to be a good player. All of his hard work has payed off:)

We were down by 2 points in the last inning but thank goodness we were home team. The boys were pumped up and determined to win this. The first 2 boys were walked to first base. Then Jonathon came up to bat. The last 2 years the poor boy has been a ball magnet! Everytime he was up to bat he was always hit by a stray pitch. But did he give up and quit? Nope! He practiced and practiced. This boys can now smack that ball a good distance and so far has not been pegged by the ball. In a key play, Jonathon stepped up to the plate with confidence and a smile:) He hit the first pitch and it was a huge line drive right thru second base area. He made it to first base and got two of our players home (one being his brother, Nick). Next up was Dylan and he was walked to first base and Jonathon was on second base. Darin hit a solid hit down midfield and was able to bring Jonathon and Dylan home and thus we won the game! All of us parents were high fiving, screaming and dancing around. The best part was to see the boys line up at the end of the game and have the hugest smile on their faces.

My moral to this story is that practice and not letting our fears overcome us can lead to great things. Jon could have easily quit and said he was tired of being hit. Instead, he practiced and built up his confidence. I am so thankful for our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, who gives us these opportunites to shine and make the best of ourselves in our lives.