The Perfect Game-The Perfect Trip

I'm sitting here on a very rainy and cold Tuesday, missing the beautiful, sunny, warm (actually hot which is how I like it) Florida. We are back from our whirlwind trip that came up fairly quickly. Stephen pitched against a team out of Charleston called the Diamond Devils a few weeks ago. He did very well so they invited him to go with them to pitch in Jupiter, Florida at The Perfect Game. It was a championship tournament that they have every year there for teams who had earned their way there. It's where pro and college scouts come to see players to recruit or draft. Every college team and pro team have their people there to watch. I was warned but nothing can quite prepare you for the hundreds of golf carts riding around with these scouts and the hundreds of people that are there. There were 85 teams playing from all over the country. It was simply amazing. Here's a recap...
We arrived in Jupiter on Thursday afternoon for Stephen to meet with the Diamond Devils for workouts and dinner. He stayed with them because that's what they do when they travel. I was a little nervous since he wouldn't know anyone but he said the coaches and players were great at introducing themselves and treating him like one of their own. We enjoyed a great dinner at The Yard House thanks to Chrissie's boyfriend Michael Hux leading us around. He lives in West Palm Beach so we got to spend some time with him.
Friday was a full day. Thankfully it didn't start early and it was a gorgeous 87 degrees with a breeze through those palm trees. As soon as we walked through the gate I knew it was going to be something like we had never experienced. They played the games at the St. Louis Cardinals and Florida spring training facility. Fields were manicured, people everywhere. DD played at 12:30, won that game, then turned around and played at 3:00 and won that one too. This team can play!! It was like watching a college team play. They played together as a team, cheered for each other, no errors, outstanding pitching. You could tell they were well coached and they came to play. There was no fooling around, it was all business but loads of fun. I guess winning usually is fun though.
Saturday started early, 10am game. The deal was if they won, they got a free afternoon with family. Lose and it was practice. Praise God they won so we got Stephen til 10 that night. We grabbed some lunch at The Thirsty Turtle and watched college football on their tvs then headed for the beach. The water was so blue and gorgeous, it was breezy and warm, awesome afternoon. We spent dinner at Duffy's Sports Bar and Grille surrounded by about 50 tvs and 5 different college football games, great fun. We got Stephen back by 10 and turned him back over to the team. He would be the starter for Sunday's game at 12:30 so he needed a good night's sleep. Continue this tomorrow.