NTX Eagles

Wowsers!  We knew that Jackson's new baseball team was good.  Really good.  We just didn't know how good, though, until this past weekend.

Jackson was one of 5 new boys to join the NTX Eagles this summer.  I'm so thankful that he did, and so is he.  They are a fantastic group of kids and all super-talented.

Two Sundays ago, they started league play.  

Jackson pitched the second game and helped his team win both of them.
He got hit in the back while he was up to bat...   

but shook it off and went on to score.  A few innings later while he was pitching, that same kid, who was huge, nailed him in the leg.  His teammate ran up, grabbed the ball and threw out the batter at 1st, ending the game.  Eagles win! 

This past weekend, the Eagles played in their first tournament of the fall.  There was stout competition, with 22 teams in the 11U AAA division.

The first game was tough at first, but J did well as the lead-off batter.
He held back on high fastballs...

and ran the bases well.  The most controversial play came when he got caught in a run-down between 3rd base and home plate.  He made an awesome play and slid in under the tag, but the umpire called him out.  He was so clearly safe!  After the game, the other umpire apologized to our head coach and admitted J was safe.  Oh well!

J was upset, but we told him to shake it off and get back to being focused on pitching.

He did well and struck out a lot of batters.

During the last inning, he was playing second base.  The bases were loaded and the batter hit a line drive to him. He made the catch, then threw it to 1st base, making the double play to end the game!

The Eagles won both of their Saturday games and were sitting in 2nd place in the division going into Sunday.  

We got to the ballfields at 1:00 on Sunday.  These boys were so ready to play. And win!
They won the first game.  Then they played at 3:00.  And won that one, too.  The semi-finals were next at 5:00 and they were up against a really big Jaramillo team.  No prob.  They beat them, too.  In fact, they run-ruled them by scoring 8 runs in 4 innings.  Eagles won 8-0!

Just like that this kid was about to play for the championship!

A little while later, they had run-ruled the Bulls, too!
Braeden hit a walk-off double to seal the deal and everyone was so excited!

The boys all got their first and second place rings, some just had a little bit bigger smiles on their faces.

Coach Michael was just as pumped as the boys were, despite his "too cool for school" face!

Boom!  11U AAA Champs of the Matt Dozier NIT Tournament.

These girls were SO happy for their Bubba!  They had been at the fields from 1:00 - 9:00 pm and were still smiling.  Now that's some true fans right there!

The next morning, the new rankings were out.  The NTX Eagles were #1 in the state of Texas and even better, the #1 11U AAA team in the nation!  A few hours later, they got the news that they had been bumped up to the highest level--the majors.  I'm nervous, but excited for Jackson and all the other boys.  They will now be playing against the very best talent.  I have no doubt that they will handle it like pros.  Go Eagles!