Joe has struggled to find his way on the baseball team at school. He hasn't started, bats eighth, and generally plays right or left field. It's a very different baseball season from what he is used to, for sure. As a rule, he's a pitcher, a middle infielder, a team leader, but that's not what has happened this season.
Obviously, I don't see what goes on at practice, so it's hard for me to get a feel for why he's not been able to get noticed by the coaches. His lack of size works against him, obviously, but that may change. My only complaint - and it's a relatively mild one - is that I don't think Joe has gotten a real chance in games to play consistently and prove himself worthy of more time. Still, the roster is a large one and it is, after all, seventh grade baseball.
The more interesting thing to me, though, will be to see what Joe does with what is shaping up to be a bit of a lost seventh grade baseball season for him at school. Does he use it as motivation and work tirelessly to get stronger, more agile, and a better hitter? Does he set short-term and long-term goals for himself, in baseball, then come to me to see what we can do to help him carve out a path to reach his goals. Or does he feel the sting of non-success briefly, then move on to the next thing, as Joe tends to do. It's worth watching, as a father, for sure.
JP had his first race of the season after having been injured for the first time in his athletic career. He ran the 800 at the Scott Hartman. He got boxed in early, then used up all of his energy escaping and moving into second place, albeit briefly. JP faded down the stretch and finished in seventh place at 2:01.
While JP has been cross-training like a fiend during his recovery from injury, there is no substitute for actual running when it comes to preparing for a race or a race season. That is abundantly clear.
In short, both of the boys are unexpectedly facing some adversity this season. That's not necessarily a bad thing, either. It's part of life.
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