LA Family is a very young team, in fact probably the youngest team of all Foothill, Jewel City and Burbank little-league teams combined. With the general age bracket of 9-12 for minors, our average age is 9.5 including three 8-year-olds. And, we had no one that had ever pitched before. After the second practice, I realized we would probably not have a winning season, so my plan was to concentrate on individual achievement and set attainable goals for the team. My simple goal was to have each player get onto first base with a hit. The goal was finally met in game 14 out of our 20-game season.

I was amazed by some wonderful surprises along the way. Without much of a record to show for and just one game left, we actually had some very close, exciting games, were ahead in many innings and never seemed to give up hope no matter the score. And who would have guessed that an 8-year old would relieve our star-pitcher-in-trouble in our last game and finish off the last 3 innings with 6 strikeouts?

We may not be seeded very well for the playoffs, but the season sure was rewarding in terms of watching the team grow.