The "Tournament Time For Our Grandson" Story

The field at "In The Net" Sports Complex.  In left field is a tall
black wall that reminded me of the wall in Boston.  Click to enlarge.

It was an ordinary day.  Second day of a week-end baseball tournament held in Palmyra, Pennsylvania at the "In The Net" Sports Complex.  My grandson Caden is part of an All-Star team from Lancaster, Pennsylvania that was entered in the tournament that also featured teams from Maryland and New Jersey.  The tournament was for players 13 years of age and under and was held after most other leagues had finished for the summer.  It was a two day affair with the first day used to "seed" the teams and the second day used for a "lose one game and you are out."  The fields that were used were regulation 90 foot basepath fields; same size as major league baseball.  

Caden takes the throw to make an out at 1st base.

Caden spent the entire year playing on a field that had 75 foot basepaths with a pitching rubber set at 54 feet from home plate.  For the tournament the pitching rubber was 60 feet 6 inches or 6 feet, 6 inches further from homeplate.  Quite an adjustment to make when you are playing against other teams that have used the longer distance all summer.  Caden was selected as a thirdbaseman, firstbaseman and a pitcher for the team known as the "Slingers".  The first game was Saturday morning and one of Caden's teammates this past summer started the game, but yielded to Caden in the second inning.  Caden pitched the third, but was replaced by another boy the next inning.  

Caden started the second game of the day on the mound.

Players at times are saved for later games since they may throw only a certain amount of pitches to prevent their arms from being over- worked.  The Slingers lost the game 7-6.  The second game was to be in the afternoon so Carol and I headed to a restaurant for lunch and a drive around Hummelstown, PA where the first day's games were played.  We made a visit to the Indian Echo Cavern to see what it was and decided to make a trip back with friends on another day.  Arrived back at the field and watched Caden's team win by over 10 runs.  He got to play 1st base and 3rd base for most of the game and had a few hits in the big win.  Today we arrived in Palmyra just as the game was to begin.  Caden was playing 1st base to start the game and again was moved to 3rd base during the game.  

Caden drives the ball to the right-center field fence to
drive in a few runs in the second game of the day.

He drove in a few runs with a blast to the fence in right-center which was about 370 feet from home plate.  The team won and proceeded to the semi-finals two hours later.  Caden started on the mound and pitched three innings leaving after giving up 1 unearned run.  The game went back and forth and the Slingers lost 4-3 to be eliminated from the tournament.  He got to meet and play with a great bunch of young men who will end up playing against one another next year in the 14 and under age level bracket in Lancaster County, PA.  And...they will once again go back to the 75 foot basepaths and shorter distance from the mound to home plate.  Since all the boys will be taller, weigh more and be more skilled, the competition should be more intense.  Caden is hoping to be on a team that may win the local end-of-the-year tournament and perhaps play once again on an All-Star team as he did this year.  I'm sure Carol and I will be in attendance at most of his games cheering him and his team to victory. Thank God for Grandkids!  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.