Pelham Panthers WIN the Championship... Congrats!

It was bottom of the fifth inning, the last inning of the game, and the Panthers were up 7-2. All they had to do was play one inning of solid defense and the game would be over. But in the matter of a few hits (and a few pint-sized errors), the other team made it 7-6 with two outs and a runner on third. One good swing of the bat and the other team would tie or steal the game from the Panthers, who had had a comfortable lead since the first inning. The ball spun out of the machine and towards the batter. The boy took a chop at the ball and barely made contact, but it sent the ball into the infield. Parents, coaches, players, umpires, even curious by-standers all held their breath as four boys went into motion to decide the 7-8 year-old Pelham League Championship. The batter streaked towards first while the runner started towards home. The Panther "pitcher" (it's machine-pitch after two innings), ran towards the ball scooting across the dirt of the infield. It was his first inning as pitcher this game and he had sailed one over the head of the first baseman earlier in the inning, giving the other team a couple of those four runs. With a quick scoop he picked up the ball and tossed it towards the first baseman, who was stretching out to catch it while keeping his foot on the bag. Just as the batter was about to touch first, the ball landed in the glove of the stretched-out first baseman; the game was over and the championship won! No longer holding their breath, everyone in the park cheered the victors and the second-place team for an exciting ending to the game and the season.

- narrated by my hubby