Pitch Hit and Run 2008

Last year, Jared was seven and wanted to participate in Pitch Hit and Run which was sponsored by Pepsi and Major League Baseball. On the morning of the event it was rainy and wet and there weren't many people there. Jared pitched a couple of strikes, hit for about 80 feet and ran from second base to home in about 8 seconds. There weren't a lot of kids there that day and he ended up beating kids that were a lot older than he was at pitching and running.

When he got to the regionals they combined the seven-year-olds scores with those of the eight-year-olds, and needless to say, the eight-year-olds killed the seven-year-olds chances at advancing. (although to be fair, the kid that won was amazing!!!) Needless to say, Jared was disappointed, but wanted to try again the next year. The Mother of the boy who won told him that he was great and that he should try again because her Son had come back a second time and had won. (He later competed on the state level and came in third)

This year the local event had more people there and was far better organized, although it was held in mid April and the morning of the competition it was 45 degrees and very damp. We were all shaking and shivering and I couldn't convince Jared to put on a jacket to warm up before he pitched. That being said, his pitching was not-so-hot that day.

His first pitch went over the fence and his second wasn't much better. Finally, he threw a strike, which was enough to keep him in the competition. The next kid up to pitch was someone we actually knew, and he pitched a couple of strikes while Jared moved on to hitting.

Jared hit one for 102 feet which looked farther than several of the other kids, so my thought was "Good, maybe this will make up for the pitching!" He followed up with a running time that wasn't his best, but was still faster than several other competitors.

We didn't hear anything for a week or so after, so I thought maybe he was out of the running for the Regionals, but then one day an letter arrived from the parks department along with a ribbon for "Overall Champion" for his age group and a ribbon for "Best Batter." He was off to the Regionals!

On Sunday we made the 20 minute drive to the city park in Buckner, Mo. The park is nice, but not as new as the one in Pleasant Hill where Jared competed last year. The set-up was much better, as was the weather (although it got very warm as the day progressed.)

Jared got up to pitch and was competing against 16 other boys and girls in his age division. Judging from the size of the kids, I don't think there was a seven-year-old in the bunch. Several other kids had already pitched, and out of six tries, a couple of them had thrown three strikes a piece and another couple had thrown two strikes each. In order to stay in the competition, Jared would have to throw at least two strikes and then run like crazy and bat like a maniac!

Jared wound up and pitched the first ball...and missed the target. He grabbed another ball from the bucket... "5 more tries" I thought. He pitched it dead center for a perfect strike! Then he repeated the pitch three more times! He was now in the lead! He missed on his last throw, but it hardly mattered because only one other person in line would even throw three strikes after Jared walked off the mound.

During the running portion, numbers were shouted out like 9.5 and 10.36 and 8.8 seconds, which is the time it was taking some of the players to run from Second to Home Plate. Jared's time was 7.75 and again he was in the lead. WHEW!

Batting came next...by then some of the kids were hot and tired and you could tell it. For this event they combined the 7 and 8 year olds with the 9 and ten year olds, not to combine the score totals, but to speed up the process. While this was going on, the judges began to tally the scores.

One kid, who had pitched okay and had run rather slowly, belted one at 106 feet, which was 4 feet farther than Jared had hit at the locals. I knew this would be hard, because a lot of these kids hadn't hit from a Tee in quite a while. I could tell Jared was disappointed with his farthest hit of 77 feet and 7 inches. He had a look of frustration on his face as he left the field.

About twenty minutes after the last batter batted, a lady with a megaphone began to announce the winners. All the kids gathered near her and the prize table and all of the parents leaned forward in the bleachers.

They announced third place in Jared's age group... "PLEASE GET SECOND AT LEAST!" I shouted internally to no one imparticular. They announced second place... "Oh, please don't let him have gotten fourth or fifth" I pleaded in my head.
The lady announced "And first place in the seven and eight year old division is Jared Cox!" I yelled a hearty "All Right! Good Job Jared!" And a couple of parents nearby offered their congratulations.

In the next age division the first place winner was the boy from last year that had blown everyone away only to place third in state. I saw his Mom and told her congratulations and she said she remembered Jared from last year. She told him "See, I told you to come back...I knew you'd win!" His response was a huge grin.
I've been proud of Jared before and of his older Brother, Dustin too... But I was really proud that day because I knew how bad he wanted it and how hard he'd practiced to get there.

We found out that day that there was going to be one more regional in the area before we would know if Jared got to continue on to the state event. So now we have to wait till this coming weekend to see if his numbers hold.

If they don't, he says he wants to try again next year. I admire his hard work and his patience. He's still admiring his ribbons, his medal and his certificate!

David