A Perfect Game........Little League Style

I'm a little late posting this but it is an AMAZING story.

The Baseball Stud's baseball season was a good one.  Considering it's his last year of Little League.  He pitched some games, played short stop, catcher, first base and third base.  He hit some almost home runs and scored some good runs too.

BUT!!!!!!  On June 5th, he had the MOST amazing game of his Little League career.  One for the record books and one that got him front page in our community newspaper and even got him a letter from a sportscaster on ESPN.  Yea, it was that GOOD.

My Baseball Stud pitched a PERFECT GAME!!!!!  For those of you not to familiar with baseball that means that he pitched the whole game with NO walks, NO hits, NO errors!!!!  He faced 18 batters and struck out 15 of them.  In Little League and at age 12 you are allowed 85 pitches total per game.  My Baseball Stud did the whole thing only pitching 68 pitches.

To be honest with you, I didn't realize what was truly going on until the 5th inning when the score keeper for the other team came over to one of our coaches and asked him if he realized what our pitcher was doing.  They (all the coaches) knew exactly what was going on.  The Baseball Stud told me later that he realized what he was doing about the 3rd inning.  How stressful that must have been for him.

Going into the bottom of the 6th inning (little league major games only go 6 innings) the score was tied 0-0.  We had our last ups, the Baseball Stud was up to bat, he was walked.  Then he stole 2nd base.  Then the next batter came up, our managers son.  He nailed the ball and the Baseball Stud ran like his pants were on fire and his life depended on it.  The crowd was cheering so loud, I was jumping up and down screaming, the manager (coaching 3rd base) was running next to him as the Baseball Stud ran for home.  He scored the only and winning run for a 1-0 win in our last regular season game.  I thought I was going to pee my pants and pass out at the same time.  I couldn't believe MY boy had just pitched a PERFECT GAME and won it too.

At that moment in time, it didn't matter how many games we had won or lost all season.  What mattered at that moment was what the Baseball Stud had accomplished.  Something not all Major League pitchers can say they have done.  It may only be Little League but it's all the world to him.  Our league had other teams playing at other complexes and I still got calls because everyone had heard what he had done.  At the end of the season BBQ at our league that day, people just kept coming up to him and congratulating him.  He would just shyly grin and say thank you.  I think I must have gone around and told so many people I was SO proud of him.

The best part........was at our end of the year team party.  When in the mail that day was a letter addressed to the Baseball Stud with a return address from ESPN.  I had no idea what it was or what it was about.  We took it to the party so he could open it up and read it in front of everybody.

As he was reading it I was trying not to cry.  It was a HAND written letter from a sportscaster for ESPN's show SportsCenter.  It was from a sportscaster that used to do sports for one of our local TV news channels.  I couldn't believe it.  He was told about the game and what he had done and he praised the Baseball Stud and said maybe one day he would be doing HIS baseball highlights on ESPN.  Then after all the trophies were handed out he was asked to come up and get his trophy but that wasn't all he was being given.  After the managers speech and him receiving his trophy the other coaches came up and presented him with something else.  When he pulled it out of the bag, I couldn't help but cry at that moment...........

For in that bag held the best present of all.  The coaches had saved his game ball from that day.  They had it mounted behind plastic onto a plaque that had all the details from that special day and game.  Something we could place on the wall at home and cherish FOREVER!!!!  I have always been proud of my Baseball Stud, but this this whole thing was absolute ICING on the cake.

What a way to go out, in his last year of Little League!!!!!!!