Prince Go-for-It's last, big tournament was in Moses Lake, WA. This was during Princess Bossy's visit, so she came along! Since we didn't get the schedule until that week, so thought we might be playing first thing in the morning and it's a 3 1/2 hour drive, we arranged to arrive the day before. As it turned out, the first tournament game was at 8 PM. That meant we were there about a full day and a half early.
The coaches were glad to hear that, because the 18 year-old team was playing in nearby Ephrata, and needed some extra support. The prince ended up sitting the bench the first day, but started the game on the second day, several hours before his own game that evening.
The team always warms up for up to 2 hours before a game, so Bossy, CuddleBunny, and I had some time to kill, and drove to get snacks, water, and sunscreen. (We also got just a little sidetracked at a quilt fabric store and someone forgot we had a schedule to keep!) Prince Go-for-It thought the game started at 1:00. Unfortunately, it started at 12:30, so, according to the report from his coach, we missed 2 amazing plays our prince made in center field. But we were there for his first at-bat.
See that ball in the last picture, headed for the plate?
Turns out it wasn't headed toward the plate, but toward Go-for-It's hand! The ump was sure he'd hit a foul ball, since the ball landed somewhere past first base. But it hadn't. It struck the bone on the top of his right hand, leading from his ring finger to his wrist. The knuckle below that finger seemed to have disappeared into his hand...Not good.
Amazingly, the little town of Ephrata has its own hospital, so off we went to the ER. The bone was broken, and they splinted his hand and gave him pain meds. Once we were back home the following week, we consulted with his own doctor, then saw an orthopedist and it was repositioned...OUCH... and put into a cast.... A cast that stayed dry for about 1 1/2 of the 3 weeks it was supposed to be on. But I digress...Meanwhile, the 16 year-olds' tournament began...
Princess Bossy was a little taken aback that 3 days of her stay would now be spent, sitting in nearly 100 degree temperatures, watching kids she didn't know play ball. But we knew them, we'd paid for the hotel, and Go-for-It was still a member of his team, who wanted to, as he should, support his buddies through their games. 
He had great fun serving as first base coach, and again, they finished in a very respectable 3rd place. They could have done better in that one... Maybe with their starting center fielder?
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