please ignore the date stamps on the photos...UGH!

Last night ended the season of Runnells Black. These boys had an amazing season! I am so proud of all the boys! We played 14 regular season games. With 9 wins and 5 losses. I must say these boys have shown excellent sportsmanship all season. I am so proud of each one of them for the dedication, hard work and great attitudes. We entered into Rally Days (our leagues version of a tournament) #5 seed so we played day 1 against 4 mile with a win we moved on to game 2 in Bondurant on Tuesday. The temperature at game time was 96 degrees with a heat index of 106. It was HOT! Our coaches took good care of our boys making sure they drank tons of water and had wet cool towels in between innings. What an intense game this was! But our boys pulled it off with a few awesome plays and great hits! Nice Job boys! we moved on to game 3 (if we won game 3 we moved onto the final Championship game if we lost we were done). Again we were at Bondurant. We had to face a team that has been undefeated the entire season our boys fought hard! The game was close and intense! The weather was a bit cooler and we had a slight breeze. But in the end we lost. I have to say, it is an awesome feeling to have the umpire approach you when the game is over and tell you the your boys your TEAM was the best example of good sportsmanship he had seen ALL SEASON! That is what is important isn't it? Teaching our kids to win and to lose with grace? On a side note....This could have been a disaster for us considering one of Elijah's good buddies Andrew played on the opposing team. I must brag just a little here....Elijah packed up all his gear walked over to the other dugout and waited for them to get done celebrating. When Andrew came out of the dugout he gave him a high five and a hug and told him congratulations on a great game and even asked if he could come watch Andrew play the Championship game on Saturday morning!! I could not have been more proud of Elijah than I was in that moment!! I know it was hard to lose so close to the final tournament game. And to lose to your buddies team had to be difficult as well. But Elijah rose to the occasion and proved his true heart through his great character! Lij I am so very proud of you! You are AMAZING!!! I love you tons!!