by Jerry Feitelberg

March 30th, 2015

It is that time of year again. It was a warm spring day last Saturday as the Black Cats took on the Pink Panthers in a game of softball at the Alta Vista school in Los Gatos. A beautiful warm day under bright sunny skies saw four games being played by young women at four diamonds on the school’s expansive playground. There were four different age groups and for the game that we watched, the girls ranged in age from seven to ten.

The girls had slightly better hand/eye coordination this year, but it didn’t matter. The girls were having fun. It didn’t matter if they swung and missed at the ball four or five times before they made contact. However, when they did make contact, there was cheering from their teammates as well as from the crowd that included their families and friends. Lots of fist bumps and high fives and pats on the back as the kids circled the bases. Some of the girls ran right through the coaches stop signs and scored. Didn’t matter as no one was keeping score. Hit the ball and run and have fun. You should have seen the big smiles on their faces when they got a hit.

How was the fielding? Don’t ask. They haven’t reached the level of an Omar Vizquel or Ozzie Smith yet, but it was not for lack or trying. That big softball comes at you pretty quick and if the young lady made a nice play with her glove or a great throw, a big cheer went up from the crowd. The game ended with no team winning the game, but everyone including the players, their parents and grandparents as well as their brothers and sister had a great time. When the game ended, they packed up all the equipment and left with their folks and headed off to a great lunch. The kids will be baseball fans for life. We will be there next year when they do it all over again.