Championship Sunday

Hello everyone, this is Morry.

This morning when I got up, Reid's dad, Tony, had texted me inviting us over for food and to watch the NFL Championship games.  So we agreed to go over there.  Rachel offered to make cookies.

So, Rachel made sugar cookies and icing. The boys helped decorate them.  Since Reid and his family are Yankees fans, Evan made a Yankees logo on one of the cookies.

Noah decided not to come with us.  We went over and watched the game.  We ordered pizza to eat.  Evan and Reid didn't watch much of the game.  They were playing football in the back or doing other things.  Tony and I watched the game together while Rachel and Mandi hung out.  It was a really nice time.

Rachel left after the first game. We had driven separately so that Rachel could leave when she wanted.  I stayed for the first quarter and went home.  Evan stayed there.  I left so that Rachel and I could go to HEB and shop.

After shopping, we drove back and picked Evan up.  Then we dropped off food to Grandma and Papa that we had picked up.

Rachel is now doing some work while the boys play on the Playstation.

Until next time...

Last Weekend of Baseball

Hello everyone, this is Morry.

This morning, we got up early to go to Evan's last tournament.  This is the "B" team that he's playing for.  We had to be at the fields at 7:15.  Noah wanted to come with us because Angelo's brother, Tony, as going to be there and they were planning to hang out.

We stopped at Donut Taco Palace on the way.  Noah didn't want anything.

Evan played third base in the first game.  He made some very nice places on balls that were chopped.  He seemed to know when to field the ball so he didn't get caught between hops.  He popped up once and walked twice in the game.  The team lost that game.  In the second game, he was catcher.  He threw out a runner trying to steal third in the first inning.  They never tried to steal second on Evan but they attempted third three more times.  Two of the times, I thought the runner was out but the umpire called them safe.  The third time the throw was just late, although that was Evan's most impressive throw.  The pitch was high and inside causing Evan to have to stand to catch but Evan was off balance. He somehow managed to catch it, transfer the ball to his throwing hand and throw a perfect strike without moving his feet.  He didn't step into it at all and the throw looked great.  They unfortunately lost that game as well.

We came home and did nothing all afternoon which was kind of nice.  Evan, Noah and I were all quite tired.  Rachel did take Chewie on the upstairs porch.  She did some work out there and let Chewie relax looking out front.

For dinner we went to Chipotle and then we went to the new Bahama Buck's that just opened in Austin.  We've been looking forward to it opening.

The boys will be getting ready for bed soon.

Until next time...

Very Late Sunday Night

Hello everyone, this is Morry.

On Sunday, Evan, Noah, and I went up to Taylor around 9am.  Evan's first game was at 11:30.  He needed to be there at 10:15 and we were stopping to get donuts. 

Rachel left shortly after us for a funeral service for a friend of hers from the Pink Ribbon Cowgirls.

Evan's first game went great.  They won and Evan had a great game.  He was 2-2 with a triple and a HBP.  He made his largest impact behind the plate.  He threw two runners out trying to steal second.  Both were in critical times where the other team had put their first batter on base.  He also caught a foul pop up behind the plate for the second out in the last inning.

After that, we went to get pizza for lunch.

In the second game, Evan caught again.  They were playing the number one seed.  Evan didn't get to throw anyone out but he played well again.  With the opposing team trying to make a late comeback, Evan caught a foul pop up against the net behind home plate and almost fell over but managed to hold on to the ball to end the game.

They immediately had a third game - the semifinal.  Again TRPD jumped out to an early lead.  Evan played third base in order to give him a break.  But with the score 7-3, they brought in Evan to get out of a bases loaded jam.  He was able to get the out.  He pitched another inning where there was an error that led to two runs, but he was able to force a double play to get out of the inning with the score 7-5.  He batted in the bottom of that inning and got hit by a pitch but it was enough time for the game to end and they were on to the championship.

Fifteen minutes later, the championship started.  TRPD jumped out to a 4-0.  Evan drove in a run and scored the fourth run.  The TRPD defense had a mini-meltdown in the fourth allowing the score to be tied.  In the fifth, they brought Evan into pitch again.  He walked a batter and gave up a bloop hit.  With runners at 2nd and 3rd with no outs, Evan induced three straight grounders back to him which should have ended the inning with no runs scoring.  Unfortunately, there was another defensive mistake that allowed the winning run to score.  TRPD was able to bat again but wasn't able to score anything.  But coming in second in a 21-team tournament was pretty good.  Especially playing 3 straight games. 

Noah was there with us the whole time.  Angelo's brother Tony was there for the first game, but after that, he was with me the whole time.  He never complained. He helped me score.  He helped out the coaches some.  He was a trooper.

We finally got home at 10:30 last night. 

We let Evan stay home from school today. Noah has perfect attendance and didn't want to break that.  I let him sleep as long as I could before waking him up.

Rachel went to teach and Evan came with me into the office.

Evan went to Grandma and Papa's for dinner.

The boys are getting ready for bed now.

Until next time...

Early Morning Baseball

Hello everyone, this is Morry.

We had to be up in Round Rock for warm ups by 7:15 this morning.  Noah came with us.  We stopped at Donut Taco Palace on the way up.  Noah got a taco and Evan got a donut.

Noah played with a boy named Tony the whole time.  Tony is the younger brother of a boy on Evan's team named Angelo.  It's nice that Noah has someone to play with.

In the first game, Evan started out catching.  He played a great catcher.  He blocked everything that could be blocked.  In terms of hitting, Evan was 2-2 with a walk, a single and a triple.  His team started out losing 5-1 after the first inning and a half.  But then they scored 11 runs in the bottom of the second and put the game out of reach.

They had a break between games as another game was played.  During that time, we went to see some of Evan's friends and former teammates play in another game.

Rachel came up for the second game.  This game was against a really good team.  But TRPD didn't back down.  Evan walked in the first inning.  He was the catcher again.  He threw out a runner trying to steal third in the bottom of the first.  In the third, he singled knocking in a run.  The team put up a good fight and had the potential tying run on at the plate in the last inning but couldn't come through.

We came home and Evan and Noah watched the Villanova game.  I did some work and got food for the boys.

Rachel took the boys to Sunday School.  After Sunday School we took the boys to Top Golf.  It's a tradition that we take the boys to Top Golf for their birthdays.  We typically do it on a weekend morning where it's half price.  But we took them for dinner.  It went well.  I golfed really well.

The boys are in bed now.

Until next time...