The Mann Clan: State T-Ball Tournament

My brother flew into town, making his first trip ever to Texas. It was awesome to have him here. He has never seen the boys play ANY sport, and we were just as excited as he was to have him here and for him to get to be a part of this week with us!

Big hugs from the boys!

Shortly after Uncle Chris arrived, we all headed to the baseball fields for the start of the TTAB T-Ball State Tournament. They started off with opening ceremonies:

Each team was introduced:

We stood for the National Anthem...

Well... some of us stood

...And then the games began! Not only was it fun to have my brother around, he also captured some GREAT pictures. I probably posted more than I needed to, but he got so many good ones that I didn't want to miss any!

This was one of Carsen's catches:

After our 1st game win, we met up with a team from Whitehouse, the Gators, and they handed us our first loss of the season in 30 games! We dropped down into the losers bracket and realized it was going to be a long road back if we wanted to get to the championship game!! We knew our kids could do it, and we knew they deserved it!

Our first game was against the Kerens Bobcats. I posted this next picture so you can get an idea of how they grow farm boys in Texas! Check out their shortstop... especially compared to our little runner on first! (He has a different jersey on because he was a pick-up player)

After beating the Bobcats, we faced Riesel 1... our kids played great and we beat them pretty bad!

The next night, we faced the Whitney Wildcats... once again, our kiddos pulled through and came up with another big win! After our first loss, it was single elimination for us, so the pressure was on!

More great pictures by Uncle Chris!

This picture cracks us up! My brother happened to capture Carsen making an error! We gave Carsen a hard time about it, and especially once we realized we had a picture of it!

We beat the Whitney Wildcats and then had to face a team that we've faced before, which we knew was going to be a challenge... The Temple White Sox.

Somebody is about to get thrown out at 3rd!!

I love this next picture of Carsen looking at his coach, getting instructions:

We beat the White Sox in an incredible game!! We had one more game now to move on to the championship game to face the Whitehouse Gators again... But first we had to beat the Edgewood Fireballs!

OUT!

Out again!!

I'm not even sure if he made this next play, I just love the pictures that show him going after the ball!!

It looks like he is going to be out...

...but

Not so fast!

Another nice catch!

We beat the Fireballs... and had made it back to the championship game! We knew it was going to take something special for us to beat the Gators, but we also knew that the boys had come a long way, and they were in the championship game, where we felt they belonged!

Getting ready for player introductions:

Starting at shortstop, #22, Carsen MAAAAANN!!!

One last Lookouts cheer!

Almost game time!

I had to include this of our two little players that didn't play out in the field... they were SO adorable rolling the ball back and forth in the dugout!

The game didn't go so well for us! We struggled hitting, and they had Derek Jeter at shortstop... We lost only our 2nd game of the entire year (to the same team) and took a respectable 2nd place at State!

It was a hard pill for the kids to swallow... they are not used to losing... and to be honest, don't really know how to do it! There were a few tears, most of them coming from MY little guy!

After shaking hands with the other team...

Listening to Coach Mark trying to explain to a bunch of 5 and 6 year-olds that they just lost to the best t-ball team he had EVER seen! A team that would have beaten a lot of teams in Braeden's division!

Getting his trophy

Way to go Lookouts! We couldn't be more proud!

Tears were quickly turned into smiles as we hung around the field after the game and had some fun. The kids wanted me to take some pictures of them sliding into 2nd base...

4 of the best little t-ballers around!

Lance, Mason, Kadyn and Carsen

All smiles now... Carsen, Mason, Kadyn, his little brother Cason in front, Trae, Jamaar and Ashley.

The 5 original Lookouts: These kiddos have been together for the two years that they have been in t-ball. They've come a long way from their first year and we SURE will miss these boys next year!

Kadyn, Carsen, Mason, Jamaar and Trae

This next picture HAS to be one of my favorites. I told them, "Okay, now turn and give the person next to you a kiss!" I love how Mason planted one on Carsen and Carsen was trying to get Kadyn... but Kadyn, Jamaar and Trae weren't having ANY of it!