I know it's only 10u but...

[ralanprod]

My son's team is undefeated this season. They returned 10 players from their fall team that was second in the league. My son is one of their two new players.

Their opponent for tonight's game came into the game undefeated as well. They also returned most of their players from last season. They were undefeated last season, and including playoffs and games this season had won 28 straight games. They beat my son's current team twice last season and eliminated them in the playoffs. (3 of their 4 losses last season)

Our team has been working hard this season, and I felt they may have improved enough to give the undefeated team a run for their money. Our games up to this point haven't really been close, so I was curious to see how they would do tonight.

Result - my son's team won by a mercy 13-2 after 4 innings.

Of course nothing at this age really matters later in life, but watching those kids pile on the pitcher after the last out showed me that for at least tonight it really mattered to a group of 9 and 10 year olds.

[Ursa Major]

Ralan -- did your kids cheat, or exhibit bad sportsmanship or taunt the opponent? You say no?

Then don't feel guilty! I mean, don't go jumping into the pile with the kids - after all, it's your job to not encourage them to get too high after a victory or too low after a defeat. (You can, however, calmly walk some place just out of sight and pump your fists in the air and shout, "Yes! Yes! Yes!" [if you want])

I'd make sure you find something that each and every kid did that helped contribute to the victory and tell 'em about it at the next practice, whether collectively or individually. It's even better if you can tie that contribution to something specific that the kid has worked on doing -- like maybe not stepping in the bucket when he hits. Remind them that this is one of the benefits of doing whatever they did to get there. Give them a few more days before you remind them that that opponent is very, very good and will really be out to beat them next time, so they have to continue to work hard to continue to improve.

Congratulations. Beating a strong, defending champion is soooo sweet, especially when the big contributions come from kids who were on your team the previous year and just stepped up their game to make the difference. Last year, the first time we beat the defending champs really turned our season around, both for the team and the (previously modest hitting) kid whose two-run single was the difference in the outcome. (The fact that it was my son who hit the single didn't make the victory any sweeter, of course. Yeah, right. . .)

[randy]

It's true that nothing matters until they hit the big field, I suppose. I hear that all the time, and I believe it. But I GUARANTEE that it matters a LOT to those kids, as evidenced by their reaction. Sometimes the "gurus" of youth baseball forget that. Congratulations to the kids!