Evan has been particularly busy since about March. In the homestretch of the school year, and well into the summer he participated in the middle school musical, Science Olympiad, and baseball.
The middle school performed Frozen Jr. this year. He was slightly disappointed to not be able to take a bigger role in the musical, since the state Science Olympiad competition was scheduled for the same weekend, forcing him to miss one of the three performances. He thoughtfully made the decision to do both, and make the most of it. He took it all in stride.
In the musical, he was in the townsperson ensemble. Though he did not have a speaking part, he had to learn many songs, and enjoyed the challenge of singing harmony parts.
Evan and his friends at the state Science Olympiad competition at Western Michigan University. He participated in Codebusters, Experimental Design, and Wheeled Vehicle. His Codebusters team placed within the top ten in the state. They placed pretty well in the other two events, as well.
Last year, he and his teammate placed within the top five in the state for Wheeled Vehicle, so they had high hopes and expectations for this year. They did quite well, considering, for various reasons, they didn't have as much time to prepare this year. Additionally, they didn't get points because some of their measurement data wasn't in the specified format. If they'd have gotten those points, Evan would've been happier with their results. He was annoyed that they missed that data detail. Nonetheless, they did very well, and I continue to be in awe of the mind that he has for this type of work.
debriefing
At one point, Evan was playing on three baseball teams. He has been practicing with The Rise Rebels, a travel team, all winter. In the spring, he played rec ball, and then also played on the All-Star team affiliated with the rec league.
Evan mostly plays second or pitches. Every once in a while he'll be at short or in centerfield. He's NEVER caught in a game. Rec season is the time to explore, and he found himself playing catcher one time. I had to capture the moment. Who knows if we'll ever see that again.
Evan rarely has been on a winning team. He keeps plugging away for love of the game. He refines his skills, and keeps trying. This particular All-Star team was the exception, and it was so fun to be part of the team. The coaches did well engaging the boys, and staying firm but positive. The players were really evenly matched, and complimented each other. For the most part, they all could hit well, and field without errors. They also had a lot of good pitchers, which makes a big difference at this age.
Evan at bat
They took second at one All-Stars tournament. Their only losses were to the team from Brandywine, which is where I work. This resulted in some tension in me. They really could have one this game, if not for a very very bad home plate umpire. Brandywine has a great team, and Evan's team was the only team that gave them a run for their money. That ump really ruined what could have been a fun, competitive game. That's how it goes sometimes. This is a picture of their medal ceremony. Evan's walking up to get his medal.
In his last All-Star game of the season, I took a couple pictures of him pitching. He's cool, confident, and consistent on the mound. So excited to see where this baseball journey takes him.
On to his travel baseball team, the Rebels. They have had a very rough start. Haven't won a game yet. We still have two more travel tournaments this season, and hopefully things will fall more into place. Winning isn't everything, but it's fun to get that outcome at least once in a while.
The team had a long wait between games in a recent tourney. So, they went to an air park for some fun team building.
On top of it all, he is working on school work this summer - trying to test out of Health, and assigned summer reading for Honors English 9. When baseball season is done, it'll be just about time for this busy boy to get ready to start his freshman year. 💙🎵📚⚾
