All-Star Season!

Payton and Logan finally wrapped up their baseball and softball All-Star seasons, and somehow I ended up as the head coach for both teams. It was a busy summer, but getting to coach these kids and watch them improve was genuinely one of the highlights of my year. But enough about me, you’re here for the updates on the kids.

Like last year, Logan’s Single-A All-Star Tournament was a league-wide event. We created four teams from the players in the league and played a weekend round-robin, complete with a home run derby and a championship game that we treated like a big deal so the boys could feel that big‑stage excitement. Logan’s team went 1–2, but funny enough, the first- and second-place finishers in the HR derby were both on his team. Logan had several solid hits, including a few doubles, and a couple of well-hit balls that were caught on nice defensive plays. He also made a few great plays himself…snagging a hard line drive and scooping up a couple of tough grounders.

Payton’s All-Star team had a very different summer. They played in four tournaments, winning two and finishing second in the other two. They had some incredible moments. At the Windber tournament, they faced the team that beat them twice at Conemaugh Valley in the semifinals and this time, the girls rolled right through them. Then in the finals, they came back from an 8–2 deficit and won on a walk-off single. It was wild. They finished the summer 16–4, and every single girl improved exponentially.

Payton had her own ups and downs. She hit really well in the first tournament, including a few doubles and a lot of hard contact. Then in the second tournament, she struck out seven times…she just could not connect with anything. After that weekend, we hit the batting cage and she put in a ton of work to figure out what was off. And it paid off. She was back to hitting the ball hard in the next tournaments. I’m proud of the work she put in this summer.

This summer was a reminder of how fast they are growing and how lucky I am to be part of these moments. Coaching them, watching them struggle, adjust, and succeed…it is the kind of stuff I will remember long after the scores fade. I am proud of who they are becoming, on and off the field.