Summer Softball

The slow-pitch softball season has begun! Each week, between fast- and slow-pitch, six or seven games feature someone from our house. Never have I missed my voice so much as now, when I can't yell and cheer for the teams - I sit in the bleachers and lamely clap.

Svea Church has two teams - one in the Bronze League, and one in the Silver (that one should probably be in the Gold - they won 38-0 last week). The Bronze League team consists of eleven Svea youth, ages 13-19; three friends, ages 16-19, and a mom. Our coach is the fantastic Jerry, who played on a state champion slow-pitch team years ago, but who has a perfect perspective for a church league team. Everyone plays as soon as they're ready; everyone bats (the league has a special rule allowing that). Most of the players don't play sports in school, although we do have a couple of girls' softball players, including our Sarah, and a baseball player.

Our record is now 2-2, but that is irrelevant to how we (coach, players and spec- tators) feel about the season so far. We derive great satisfaction from seeing how much improved the team is. Last year, if a ball flew to our outfield, the runner almost always got to second base at least; this year, the outfielders are able to either catch it outright, or field it and throw it in to hold the runner at first, a good portion of the time. They are aware of the "cutoff" player, and thinking about the game as it unfolds. The infield is even better. John, the pitcher, knows the game and remains aware of every situation; he saves the others from many mistakes by calling out what they should do. The first baseman, Liz, snags balls thrown to her, or speedily tracks them down if they are overthrown a bit. Our Sarah, having played third base on the 9th-grade team this year, has improved her throwing speed and accuracy across the diamond. Last week the entire team played almost flawless defense - which is the area I enjoy watching the most. Our hitting is slowly improving as well.

One of the umpires mentioned to me once that he loves refereeing church softball, and especially Svea's games. We shine in three areas of sportsmanship. First, our players encourage each other. Last week Rusty, a three-year veteran of the team, hit a great smash to the outfield and took advantage of an error to race home, along with the other 2 base runners. The cheering and backslapping went on for quite some time, because Rusty hasn't had a lot of batting success in the past. The very next inning, in the outfield, Rusty caught a well-hit ball and quickly funneled it in to the second baseman. We joked that he was a one-man team, and everyone was very excited for him. This is typical of our team.

Secondly, our coach stresses good sportsmanship. Often we play against teams who dominate us because they are made up of grown men - sometimes in the wrong league, but not always. Occasionally some opponents will sneer, mutter, or even make inappropriate comments or actions on the field. Not Svea - when we beat another team 15-0, everyone tried his best and didn't rub it in. Jerry always says, "You have nothing to be ashamed of" if the team did its best, no matter the score.

Thirdly, our fans are the greatest. While other teams frequently have empty bleachers, Svea always has a good contingent of cheerleaders. One year we did the can-can whenever a player hit a home run (fortunately there weren't too many!). Several of us have Svea softball T-shirts to wear. And we are relentlessly positive, never cheering against the opposing team, and even congratulating them on exceptional plays.

I know I'm bragging, but I love church softball! And I take no credit for it; Jerry and the team are just great!