The Championship Game

Tonight was Michael's big game - the Little League Championship between Missoula's West End League (I think that's what it's called) and Lolo Peak Little League. It was a tremendously close game. Michael started at third base, then moved to short stop when they switched innings. You'll forgive me if I don't remember the box scores. I can't even remember all that Michael did until he became the third pitcher. Maybe I'll post an update tomorrow. I spent a lot of time making sure Benjamin didn't run away, as we had him on a very short leash tonight. Anyway, Michael became the third pitcher during the fifth inning, and got us out of the inning quite well. After the bottom of the fifth, it was 13-13 - a new ball game, and a very close one throughout. In the sixth Missoula picked up three runs. Since little league games only have six innings, that meant that Michael's team had to get four runs to win. Michael walked in the tying run, but - unfortunately - the next batter struck out. According to the regular season rules, that's the end of the game - 16-16 tie. But this is the championship game of the tournament. The coaches and ump agreed to keep playing rather than reschedule for the next day (we've all got vacations and other things to do for Father's Day weekend). So, Michael was out there for the 7th inning, pitching his heart out... and making our's stop numerous times. Unfortunately, since he did pitch well, they may two more runs before Michael could strike out the last batter. I think he struck out five total in three innings, and walked 2, including his first ( you know - the warm-up batter). From there, Lolo was able to load up the bases, but, with one out, they weren't able to capitalize, and the last batter hit into a double play.

So, that's the end of Michael's season for the year. He's going to be visiting his cousins this summer, so All-Stars are out of the question. However, it's been quite the ride, considering how many games they lost by 1 point this season. To lose the championship game by 2 points in extra innings is fantastic, and I'm very proud of his pitching, hitting, and fielding. Someday I may get free tickets to the World Series. We'll see.

Update: Michael tells me he got two hits and two walks, including the one in the 6th inning. No strike outs, which is pretty good, as these pitchers were fast.