I had never watched softball before. I knew what it was, of course, but hadn’t taken the time to take in a game. I also didn’t have a chance to take in every game at the showcase at York Lake on the weekend, which was a shame, because if everybody played baseball like these girls play softball, I might become a fan of the sport.
These girls are aggressive.
This is not a sport for the weak. If there is a single error, a base is getting stolen. Even if there isn’t an error, if someone doesn’t pay attention for a few seconds, a base is getting stolen. Even if a team is fielding perfectly, a base will probably get stolen. If a girl gets on base, she’s going to steal a base very soon. Eventually, she’s going to attempt to steal home.
The result is a game that’s exciting in a way that I haven’t experienced in baseball before.
The thing with baseball is that, typically, the game is slowly paced. It’s a rare sport that’s built around preventing action. The pitcher is trying to prevent any hits, the fielders are attempting to prevent any running, everyone is trying to prevent the other team from any feats of bravery.
The girls in the field at York Lake were trying the same thing, of course, but the difference is that since the teams were so aggressive, they kept the level of action extremely fast paced and exciting. It felt more like a battle because they were aggressively going after the other team. The fielders might have been trying to prevent action, but the batting team was doing everything they could to create it. Every time a player got on base, even from a walk, you began to watch them, because you didn’t know when, exactly, they would be running, when they would find that narrow gap that allowed them to move on.
Perhaps there were more gaps because these were young players and somehow batters increased their skill at a faster rate than the fielders. Maybe it gets less aggressive once the fielders catch up. I hope not though, because this is an amazing spectacle and incredibly entertaining.
Every sport has a different thrill and here the thrill was watching the teams finding any sliver of an opportunity to advance a base and push further. It was exciting and unpredictable. The teams played well, the difference was that they both played aggressively, so it really pushed the game to the limits of how exciting a variant of baseball can be.
Not every sport will reward aggression and risk-taking as much as U12 softball, but watching it I was impressed by the girls and I couldn’t help but think they had an attitude that will get them further in life. They push hard, they take risks, they take advantage of every opportunity they have, and sometimes make opportunities where a less aggressive ball player might not find them. If these kids grow up and apply this attitude to sport, to business, to any field they enter, they’re going to be a force to be reckoned with.
