Page 5

NSB Playoff Game 1

June 5, 2017

Sennet had his first playoff game with the NSB Cubs tonight – the team won 11 to 4! They have another playoff game on Wednesday, if they win that they advance to the semi-finals.

Sennet had a really good game. He had 3 plate appearances and walked, got a single, and struck out. He was NOT happy about the strike out, but I think was thrilled with the hit and the two times on base.

The first two innings he played 3rd base and right field and didn’t see much action. Luca pitched the first three innings and Sennet pitched the last two innings. One of his innings he pitched a no hitter, and the other one the opposing team only scored one run. He struck out a few batters, and also fielded 3 hits and threw the runners out at first.

I think this was a good boost of confidence, but I’m still waiting for him to just smack one into the outfield like he does in practice. I know it’s coming, I just hope he’s patient enough to wait for it.

Pitching Machine

June 5, 2017

Stacie bought Sennet a sweet pitching machine for his birthday. He’s been struggling at the plate a bit, and was frustrated. The pitching machine came yesterday, and we set it up and took it over to the park. After a few pitches to get it dialed in and for him to get a feel for it, he started blasting them. We probably got about an hour’s worth of batting practice in (if I had been pitching to him), in about 10 or 15 minutes!

He has his first playoff game tonight. We hope the practice will help!

Baseball, baseball, baseball

May 29, 2017

This blog has been neglected and I have lots of photos and stories I need to catch up on but I will start with baseball. Sennet started out with the same Central Seattle Little League team as last year. We really like some of the parents and kids- they are are all cool people. However, it was a complete shit show moving from coach pitch to kid pitch. Sennet is just so MUCH more serious about baseball than any of the other kids (except maybe William) and his overall skills are just so FAR above that we were pretty worried about him hurting someone. We considered seeing if he could move up one more level (he was already playing one level up because technically he should still be on coach pitch) but thought that might be weird seeing the other kids from the team he was leaving.

I asked around at his school about other leagues and level of play and two different parents told me abut North Seattle Baseball (NSB) and said that it was very organized and pretty competitive but not in an annoying way. Any kid can join NSB (so its not a tryout select team) but it is a Pony League w/o neighborhood boundaries and for whatever reason it does seem to be better players at least compared to SCLL. I reached out to the director and told him what I just said above and asked if there was anyway we could move to their league even though the season was about 1/2 way through. He got back to me pretty quickly and said he had never had a request like this before and he thinks that normally the answer would be no if all of the teams had full rosters but that there was one team that had a few kids with fractures and a roster that was smaller than they like.

The NSB is broken into age groups named after horses… get it…Pony League. We were interested in Sennet playing Mustang which is the 1st year of kid pitch but in this league it is 9-10 year olds and technically he would be playing 2 levels up… the director (Clay) met us on a Saturday afternoon for a quick evaluation to make sure Sennet was capable of playing Mustang. After a few tosses- he said ok. I get it. He can play up. For good measure he had Sennet hit a few pitches and he nailed every ball.

That bring me to where we are now- playing with the Cubs from the NSB Mustang Division. We really feel like we hit the jackpot as far as coaches and families go. I cant tell you how many times I have been asked (baseball/soccer, etc) “Are you sure he is only 7” or “Are you sure he shouldn’t be playing with a different age group” to which I have often wanted to yell- “yes I’m sure! I know when I pushed him out of my hooha.” I have never once felt like any of the parents liked playing with a kid that was so much better than their own kid. We’ve heard whispers from parents on other teams saying things like there is no way that kid is 7.

It has been so great with the Cubs b/c the parents and coaches alike have asked the same questions “are you sure he’s only 7?” but they mean it like “are you kidding me we have a kid that is 7 and will be on our team for 2 years and he’s only gonna get better.” The kids have been so super cool too- Sennet was a bit nervous and as soon as we walked up to the first practice before a game- one kid immediately asked Sennet to play catch and from that moment he has been part of the team.

The Cubs are middle of the pack- they have won and lost about the same number of games but Sennet has not gotten so frustrated when they lose (like he did with SCLL) b/c they played well and just got beat that day. He really needed to learn how to lose gracefully and this team has been great for that and I really credit the coach and the other kids for the way they handle a loss.

Anyway, this is way too long but here are some photos from his new team. These are from the game on May 25th against the Athletics. Cubs won 24-13… it was a route.

Luka, Cayden, Sennet
Teren, Cayden, Sennet, Brooks, Miles
Teren

Brooks, Teren
Troy
Owen
Miles

Coach Dan (he played college ball and is great with the kids)
Cayden (Coach Dan’s son)
Luka- he just turned 10 so will be moving up next year. He is a great player
Miles
Brooks

Teren
Coaching from 1st base

Notice the kid from the other team. He was a total jerk and wouldn’t shake hands and threw a huge temper tantrum after the game. If it was at all appropriate to go up to someone else’s kid and get in their face and tell them they were being an asshole, this would have been a time I would have been happy to do it.

NSB – North Seattle Baseball

May 11, 2017

First, a little background. Stacie heard of a league in the north part of Seattle that has summer seasons and winter batting cages. It’s quite a bit more competitive and you can steal bases, lead off, and bunt.

We joined the NSB Cubs and first met them before their game on Monday night. We got there and the whole team seemed genuinely excited to see Sennet. Immediately one kid said, “Come on Sennet, let’s go play catch.” The team is very put together and pro. 4 coaches (all wearing uniforms too), all whom played college baseball. I think the head coach told Stacie that the kids are all at least 9 years old. Height-wise Sennet fit right in with them, maybe 1 or 2 were just a bit taller than him, and several shorter. They are also all quite good. Good at throwing, good at catching, and really good at hitting. He’s super thrilled.

They let him play in that first game. He played center field and right field. He got one ground ball hit to him that he fired back into first base for the out and all the Cubs’ parents shouted, “Way to go Sennet!!” (The parents all seem very cool and very supportive too.)

At the plate he walked twice and popped out once. He was quite excited to steal his first bases. By the end of the game they were all chattering in the dugout like they had known each other for 10 years.

Ok, so his second game with the NSB Cubs was tonight. He still doesn’t have a hat or jersey, as they had to order those for him, so he wore his blue Chicago Cubs t-shirt. He had a great game. He started at short stop, then played left field, and then he pitched for 3 innings. He did really well, I think only giving up one run each inning he pitched, didn’t walk too many batters, and threw a lot of good strikes.

At the plate he walked the first inning, stole second and third and then stole home on a wild pitch (caught that on video). The next time up he got beaned in the helmet. Freaked him out a little bit, but he shook it off, took his base, and promptly stole second and then third on an errant throw, and ended up scoring another run. His last time up to bat he finally got his first hit for the Cubs. Smacked it into left field for a nice single. Monkey off his back – he’d really been wanting that first hit.

This was a game that the Cubs’ parents had not expected us to win, I guess the other team is older and really good. We played them tough the whole game, both teams pulling ahead back and forth. The Cubs finally pulled it out and won by one run right at the end. Pretty cool.

Pitcher

April 1, 2017

Sennet pitched for the first ever time today, starting in the first game of the season. This year it’s kid-pitch: a whole, new ballgame!

He did great – pitched 3 innings, struck out 5 batters, walked two, and had an unassisted double-play (with a runner on first, the batter popped it up and Sennet ran and caught it and then sprinted to first before the runner could get back).

He also hit a 2-run stand-up triple that was probably an in-the-park’er, but the coach gave him the stop sign at third so as not to crush souls. He had a blast.

Special thanks to Joy Prouty for the photos!

Our Cat Otto

March 18, 2017

We’d been discussing getting another cat for some time. Mitch is awesome, but Stacie really wanted another kitty. One of our friends had a cat that she had become allergic too over time, and they were looking to find a home for it. Lewis was a very standoffish cat, mostly stayed outside at their house, and would only let them pet him occasionally. One day Stacie had Tanya bring Lewis over to see if he got along with Mitch. Lewis wouldn’t come out of his carrier, but Mitch poked his head in, licked him, and sat down and put his paw on Lewis’ paw. Awww… so we took in Lewis.

He mostly stayed under the bed in our bedroom, occasionally scurrying out the window to sit on the roof under the eaves. Slowly Stacie started making headway with him. He started to allow her to pet him sometimes (sometimes leading to him hissing and scratching her). At night he’d sleep on the heated bathroom floor. But he never came out of the bedroom.

After a few months Stacie decided to see if he wanted outside on the main level so he could roam. He bolted once he hit the ground. We weren’t sure that he’d return. But he did, and we settled into a pattern. He would roam the day and night, and return to get fed in the mornings and evenings. He’d even let us pet him on the porch before we fed him. With some of the cold nights we tried to coax him inside, but he wasn’t having any of it. So Stacie bought him a little dog house and put it on the front porch and loaded it with blankets. He moved in, and sleeps in the dog house most nights, and continues to roam all the time.

Which brings us to Otto…

Since Lewis didn’t much qualify as getting another cat for the house (can’t sit on the couch and pet him and such), Stacie said she wanted to get another one. She found Otto online. He was the newest member of a household with two other cats and two dogs. The dogs and Otto got along, and Otto seemed to like the other cats, but they didn’t like him apparently. The wouldn’t let him eat, fought with him, and it wasn’t a good situation. Even though he was so beautiful, he was the latest addition to their family, so they tried to find a different home for him.

Stacie drove over and met him, and they bonded instantly:

She brought him home to meet Mitch. Mitch sniffed him, head bumped him, and walked off. No surprise, Mitch is chill. And Otto was inquisitive, but cool with him. The play hide and seek now and then.

Charley was super anxious to play with Otto, and although Otto wasn’t really scared of her, it was a bit overwhelming so Charley got slapped a bit. Kaiser was indifferent. As Kaiser is. Unless food is involved.

Otto and Sennet bonded right away, and Sennet began carting Otto around the house, as he does with Mitch. Otto seems fine with this. The first night Otto slept on Sennet’s pillow right near his head.

That developed into a pattern, that now it seems Otto sleeps most of the night with Sennet. Sometimes he wanders, coming into the other rooms, or we can hear him chasing and batting stuff around the hallways. Most mornings he’s back on Sennet’s pillow. He’s a great cat, wanders all over the house, doesn’t mind the dogs, lays on the couch to get petted, and purrs up a storm. He’s even warmed up to Charley’s craziness.

Our cat Otto…