Perry League wraps up T-ball play Friday, July 26

• By YS News Staff
• Published: July 26, 2024

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July 19 offered a gorgeous mid-summer evening, perfect for some Perry League T-ball fun.

The gathering kicked off as usual with a lineup of kids on the third-base line. At this early point in the evening, most kids are excited to participate. Some assume the pose of a competitive race runner: front toe on the third-base line, back leg stretched into a low squat, anxiously awaiting the whistle’s blow. Others are more interested in the line chalk at their feet, and inevitably begin blurring said line with said feet.

With the blow of Coach Yunus’s whistle, the young athletes were off to the fence on the far side of the field. Once the children reach the fence, warm-ups begin with instructions to stretch arms and find air — as opposed to touching your neighbor — then to circle arms, then touch toes, and then some side stretches.

Warm-ups progress on to a tradition remaining from Coach Jimmy days: A rendition of “head, shoulders, knees, toes.” This sing-song exercise requires kids to use their listening ears and attention paid to finding the correct body part. The exercise repeats six or seven times, increasing in pace — head, shoulders, knees, toes, knees and toes, over and over, until kids and adult helpers inevitably get out of synch and are smiling and giggling with the silliness of it all. Coach Yunus then asks kids to become their favorite animal and crawl, slither or fly, mimicking their chosen animal — an incredibly cute spectacle to watch. Then it’s back to the diamond, where some make a mad dash to the batting bench and others meander onto the playing field.

Marty, 6, joined us for the first time this season. When it was his turn to hit, Marty selected one of the small wooden bats and contemplated his choice thoughtfully saying, “Let me see, I used to be good at this …” He flipped the little wooden bat from one end to the other several times before abandoning it and going with a more age-appropriate bat, the flame bat. Marty proved his Perry League experience with a nice hit and run of the bases.

Another one of our seasoned T-ballers, Henry, 7, informed us that he also plays minor league at that field, not this field, that one over there, pointing to the baseball diamond toward the east. Henry was sporting a lightning bolt shirt that certainly empowered his swing.

We love the batting bench chatter! Jeremiah, 6, commented that he was changing his name to Lucas. Curiosity got to us, so we probed for more detail. Turns out YouTube has a children’s education program his little 4-year-old brother, Jordan, really enjoys. From what we gathered, the show includes a character named Lucas. Sweet Jeremiah said that since Jordan loves Lucas, changing his name will make Jordan happy.

Another conversation while waiting to bat was with Josey, 6, who told us about her upcoming family vacation. She’s excited to gather with her cousins, one of whom is her age; the other cousin is the same age as her brother, Miles. The family has not been all together for a long time, and it’s going to be a reunion, she shared.

Indie told us about her seventh birthday party. The gathering was at the pool, and there was lightning. Very expressive Indie told us: “Actually, everyone had to get out of the pool, but it didn’t stop anyone from having a good time!” Way to look on the bright side, Indie!

Ender, 6, considered the bats on the ground in the batting area. He wasn’t finding quite the right one, so he went deeper and strode over to the Perry League duffel bag-o-supplies and rooted around for a few seconds. Then he stood up with the patriotic red, white and blue bat declaring, “Here’s my bat!” Later Ender and sidekick Henry were seen stealing home. Literally. They ran up to home plate and ran away with the tee as Coach Yunus laughed and shook his head.

Stevie, 4, smiling as usual, let us know she is happy to be Coach Becky’s neighbor.

Ember, 5, shared this is probably her last week of T-ball because next week is a big week: Her family is going to Kings Island and canoeing. A first for both experiences and she knows she will be too tired to come to T-ball and the final week’s potluck. We hope she has a blast with the new and exciting adventures next week, and still finds some energy for T-ball.

J’amir and Jarell were hanging together at the batting bench and encouraged each other when it came time to bat. And Jarell was so generous to offer to spell his name for us.

Ida, 5, came to the bench with a panda stuffie she had acquired earlier that day from Ikea. Ida came to T-ball wearing a primary-colored tie-dye T-ball shirt over what we commented was a nice mermaid skirt. She was quick to lift the tie-dye to make sure we knew it was a dress. After hitting and coming into home, darling Ida let us know she likes to bat once and then join her parents to watch for the rest of the evening. We encourage family time, Ida!

Anna, sporting some chalk dust on her forehead, batted and parade-waved at her friends before running to first base. We’re your biggest fans, Anna!

Eliza, 7, came to Perry League beautifully attired in a silver and star overlaid princess dress, hot pink sneakers and a pastel Perry League tie-dye shirt to cap the ensemble off. She seemed to enjoy herself, evidenced by her sweet, shy smile.

Evelyn, 7, aka Evie, which she said is pronounced “E-V” when asked her name, as it was being recorded on our notebook. She then laid her hand on the page to have us pause so she could take a look. Evie said, “I can write cursive, well, my name and the word ‘we.’” She approved our spelling and handwriting and went on to hit the ball.

Charlotte, 5, took her time to ensure her bat selection was going to provide the result she was striving for, a big hit. Her choice, after much deliberation, was the purple bat. She confirmed to the batting coach that this was The One and smiled with her sweet gap-toothed grin as she trotted off to the tee. Later, when Charlotte came to bat again, she tried some new batting moves. Before her swing, Charlotte would grip the bottom of the bat, give it a little vertical toss-up and let it drop to catch the bat where she had held it before the toss.

Parker, 6, after taking some practice swings before batting, paused and pondered out loud: “I wonder if this is the way my grandpa swung the bat?” Before hitting, Parker randomly screamed, “Michael Jackson, baby,” whacked the ball off the tee, and ran to first base. Another time, when Parker’s friends and cousins were cheering for her, she called for her friends to be quiet with a “sshhh” so she could focus on hitting. And, in usual Parker-style, cartwheeled from third base all the way home, directly on the white chalk line.

Four-year-old Mae was very confident in her bat choice, walking directly to the caterpillar bat — it was the bat for her, without hesitation.

While waiting for her turn to bat, 8-year-old Alice shared that she will never stop coming to T-ball. After a pause, Alice further clarified, because her mom said so.

In the batting circle, Shiloh, 7, saw the two wooden stick bats on the ground and commented there should be three so she could hit with all three stick bats at the same time. She went to the bat bag and with an “A-Ha,” discovered the third bat she craved, considered the trio and then discarded them for the red bat. The process of elimination is a real thing in the batting circle.

Brothers Miko, 3, and Kai, 5, waited to bat with patience — and with patience for Coach Margi, who needed help remembering who’s who.

Friday night, we had what Coach Yunus termed “The Miles Comedy Hour.” Miles H., the older Miles, wanted to make sure he was distinguished from the other Miles, Miles B. Miles H. let us know he has not had a hair cut in the last month, but he has used hair gel. Later, he said he just wanted to hit and not run as he had a cramp. As Miles H. was waiting to hit, he spoke into the hollow bat: “Hellloooo.” And then declared, into the same bat, microphone style, “Announcing: EVERYTHING!” His preparation before batting includes martial arts moves, as demonstrated this evening with karate style chops and kicks.

Speaking of Miles, the other Miles, Miles B., 3, had a fantastic one-handed hit with the wooden stick bat that went surprisingly far into the field of play. Also, Miles B. was a very helpful Ball Returner, supporting dad David’s efforts as First Base Ball Thrower Inner. Miles was seen giving it his all by throwing two balls in over his head at once!

At halftime break, following The Popsicle Swarm, a girl-talk conversation included favorable fashion comments regarding Shiloh’s glittered cheeks and flamingo pants. Coach Becky remarked that she would like to have flamingo pants for herself, to which Shiloh flashed a look of uncertainty.

Toward the end of the evening, we saw Elsie, 5, just past first base. Wearing a pink bow in her delicate blonde hair and a heart-patterned red skirt, she was by herself having great fun covering herself with handfuls of Davenport Field dirt.

Most Improved Player of the evening goes to Harry, 3. Early in the evening, as Harry chose his bat and practiced his swing, Dad Lee was inclined to help provide guidance. As the evening progressed, Harry gained experience from observation as well as fielding and more hitting with dad’s support. Eventually, we saw Lee step back just a bit to allow Harry to move forward on his own 3-year-old terms, providing little Harry some incremental independence. We watched Harry and his dad grow in tandem. This dynamic of a child making tentative steps toward independence, and the parent releasing their little one just a little bit, is really special. It happens every week at Perry League and is really cool to witness.

Later, Mom Laryssa, was with Harry at the tee, where he was just about to swing when an airplane came into view. STOP, hold the phone! Harry lowered the bat and pointed at the plane, taking a moment to appreciate the fly over. When his attention came back to T-ball and he made his hit, Harry ran toward the pitcher’s mound in an attempt to field his own ball and was steered toward first by his parents and others helping on-field.

More incremental independence and determination was witnessed earlier at the run back from warm-ups at the fence. Roslynne, mom to Isabel, 4, and Sofia, 2, joined them for warm-ups and for the jog back to the field to start play. It was noticed that Isabel ran ahead, seeming very self-assured and confident, while little sister Sofia hung tight to mom. Last year, Isabel was in the Sofia position, orbiting mom. They grow so fast!

As we were packing up for the night, we noticed 4-year-old duo Callie and Camilla at third base with an upside-down Frisbee. The girls were making a concoction with field dirt, stirring with Popsicle sticks and very thoughtfully sifting and considering the dirt and small pebble ingredients.

That’s it for week seven!

Next Friday, July 26, is the final week of Perry League 2024, including the shortened play and cookout. If there’s interest, we’ll bring back adult T-ball at the end of the evening. Attendees are asked to bring something to share if they haven’t signed up already. Something simple and easy is fine.

Our all-volunteer program is noncompetitive, free, and open to children aged 2–9, regardless of their race, color, creed, sexual orientation, gender identity, ethnicity, spiritual inclination or practice, ability or disability. We meet every Friday, June through July, at Gaunt Park 6–7:30 p.m.

—Coaches Yunus Brevik and Margi and Rob Gay, and volunteer Beth Anderson

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