Softball Season's End

After two quick playoff losses, Cora's softball season came to an end this week. She has learned so much this season, and come so far in such a short amount of time.

Cora displayed a strong determination to succeed, and proved that in one game by diving to catch a ball. Even the umpire congratulated her when that inning was over! Her situational awareness was outstanding, especially for a game as complicated as baseball/softball, with so many moving parts.











Cora is very competitive, and at times was frustrated when she or her teammates weren't playing well. But that drive also led her to practice hard and improve significantly.

Her pitching improved a lot, and in the final games she threw a lot of strikes, and struck out quite a few girls. 

Her hitting improved even more - at the beginning of the season she was anxious about hitting off good pitchers, and we dealt with some tears. But as she got more confident, and started hitting more, her demeanor and approach changed. Yes, she still struck out now and then, but she also got lots of solid hits, including the triple you can see here: 

With her strong throwing arm, Cora also made an excellent catcher, and was able to throw a couple of girls out as they tried to steal bases. She only started catching again at the end of the season, but I hope she can continue catching more innings if she plays in the future. Here's an example of Cora throwing a runner out at third base: (Thanks, Dad for getting these clips!)

Here's a final team photo after the last game ended.

Though there are summer tournament teams she could have tried out for, we'll take a break from organized sports for now.

We found the spring schedule with Hart softball to be a bit intense - two or three practices PLUS two or three games per week.


Our plan is to play softball again in the fall, when Cora will move up from "mini minor" to the "minor" division. Fall is a lot less intense, with one practice and one game per week.

Perhaps next spring, Cora can return to playing competitive soccer on a team. She still loves it, and plays every day at school at recess and lunch.