I have to do some parental bragging and some bitching about youth baseball.

Unfortunately, in the first game, he was only used as a bench outfielder playing the final four innings (pic right), but he was making good contact at the plate and, while in the outfield, he kept several runners who should have advanced to second firmly on first base. However, despite his success, it was one of those frustrating things. The All-Star team was comprised of 11 players (Xander was the lone representative from the Pirates, two from the Braves, two from the Giants and SIX from the Storm). The manager (actually the entire coaching staff) of the All-Star team is from the Storm. He was constantly benching or alternating players from the other teams while never benching his guys. Going even further, his guys were our infield: 1B, 2B, SS, 3B and all three starting pitchers were Storm and none of them sat out. Oddly the manager kept saying that players who hustle and work hard would not be benched. I guess he just left out the team origin qualifier. Anyone who knows Xander, knows his work ethic is unparalleled. Sour grapes? Yeah, a little. But it was bad. Real bad (more on that in a minute).

Sadly, in game 3 he was mainly designated hitter, although he did provide one inning of relief at catcher during the second inning and was sent in to relief pitch in the last inning. He inherited a bases loaded 2 out situation where he worked the batter to a full count before striking him out. As Designated Hitter, he was able to score one of our runs (pic left Xander on second base). He could have done more, but in spite of his great contact, he was ridiculously far down in the batting order and kept getting stranded and I bet you can guess which players had the primo batting spots...
Relief catcher for the second inning? Yea, you read that right. Remember when I said it was "real bad." The manager's son was pitching and our other catcher (from the Braves) was behind the plate. The manager's kid gave up 6 or 8 runs in the first inning (I lost count). Lots of wild pitches. It's not his fault, some days it's just not there, but does our fearless leader yank his kid who (to paraphrase J. Michael Straczynski) could not find the strike zone with a hunting dog and a ouija board?

Hopefully, he'll be utilized more at the state tournament and the other kids who earned a place on the team will get to play more. I'm so proud of Xander's heart and hustle. He gave it his all and it showed. Now he needs some respect from the coaches. No, strike that, he knows he did well and he doesn't need a damn thing from them. But he sure does deserve it.
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