This past weekend our oldest son, McKay, played in his first kid pitch baseball game and tournament with his select team. We were all giddy Friday night, and could hardly sleep thinking about his game the next morning in Waxahachie! His first game was unbelievable and not at all what we expected. These kids had never pitched, catched, been able to steal and lead off bases, but they came out with a huge win and looked like they had been doing it for years! McKay played catcher the whole game and looked like a pro. The pitcher was flawless and the two of them made a great team. Their second game immediately followed their first game, but with their huge win they were pumped and ready to go! The next team was tough and we struggled with our pitching, but our boys fought hard and came close, but ultimately lost. One of the coaches said it was great the boys got to experience a huge win to build up their confidence, and then lose to a great team to humble them and remind them how much work they have to do to compete with the big boys! The next day we found out the team that beat us was actually 10 year olds and got disqualified from the tournament because they were in the wrong age bracket. All of a sudden we were in first place for the next round of games the following day. Our first game on Sunday was awesome and all the boys played great. Again McKay got to play catcher and again looked like a pro. He had an amazing hit in the middle of the game and Wess and I were so proud and couldn't wipe the smiles off our faces. We were not expecting our team to play so well and be in the championship game of their first tournament, but there they were. Unfortunately, Wess and I had a prior obligation we had to be at that evening, so we left McKay with his proud grandparents and our good friend and his coach- Coach Spikes! We hated not being there, but knew there would be more baseball:) The next team was tough and it was a close game the whole time until the end. McKay played catcher AGAIN and apparently he was so exhausted he could hardly get the ball back to the pitcher. We went through several pitchers and tried to hang on, but everyone was exhausted. They pulled McKay and had him rest on the bench. This is where the story of courage begins. Our good friend Newley Spikes, who has been McKay's coach since pee wee tells it like this...The team was losing and going down fast. We had exhausted our pitchers and catcher and our situation seemed hopeless. The coaches needed to pull the pitcher but didn't know who they could put in after him. They had gone through the pitchers they had seen in practice (only 3 practices), so they thought. Newley turned around and saw McKay sitting on the bench and said "lets put in Peterson. I know he will do it." The two other coaches thought he was crazy because McKay could hardly move after catching almost 2 whole games back to back. Newley went and asked McKay if he wanted to pitch and he said his eyes got SO big and he jumped up and said "yes coach, please let me pitch." Newley told him their situation wasn't good and he needed him to go in and pitch strikes and get 3 outs. It was the 5th inning and there were no outs and lots of previous runs from the other team. Newley said McKay promised him if they let him pitch he would pitch strikes and get 3 outs! You gotta love his confidence and excitement after being completely worn out! The story ends with McKay making his pitching debut without either one of us there, and striking out the next 3 out of 4 batters and ending the inning! He did exactly what his coach asked him to do and exactly what he said he would do! He displayed enormous amounts of courage and proved he will never give up and do whatever he needs to do for his team! Their team lost, but played their hearts out and got 2nd place in their first tournament!!
I love that Wess is calling this "a story of courage" because I have been struggling with teaching my boys to be brave, bold and courageous for their Lord and Savior. We had an incident with McKay the day before on his song choice for his walk up song (song they play when they are up to bat). He initially chose "Trust in Jesus" by Third Day and then got embarrassed and wanted to change his song. I was so disappointed but knew he had to see boldness in me in order to be bold himself. I didn't want to force him to keep the song, but we did a lot of talking, praying, and even watched a movie about what Jesus did for us on the cross hoping to convince him to be bold and brave. Of course, I completely understood how he felt because I have been there and sometimes made the decision to be bold and other times not. When he decided to keep his song we were thrilled, but we told him it was a huge responsibility and he needed to do his very best and play his hardest. We explained to him that if Josh Hamilton wasn't as good as he was, McKay would've never wanted to use his same walk up song. So, the best way he could be bold for Christ on the baseball field was to play his absolute best! That is exactly what he did, and I was reminded being bold for Christ is a process and McKay showed great courage and proved himself to his team and coaches. Hopefully, they will listen when he talks and think twice about the song he reluctantly but boldly chose!
