AllStar Macey Klima timidly stepped up to the plate at Youth Sports Inc., on June 5. It was her first time at bat during her team’s first game in the Parks and Rec Girls Intro T-Ball league. Like her teammates before her, she stepped up with trepidation and eyes wide with wonder at the ball on the tee. Then she swallowed her anxiety. She swung away. And she got a hit that sent her all the way to third base. As Klima and the AllStars soon discovered, the game was a lot about facing down anxiety and jumping feet-first into a new sport.

But the newness of the sport is really what the intro T-ball league is all about. David Klima, AllStars head coach, said the team’s biggest goal this season is to learn the fundamentals of the game.

“We are working on watching the ball and being safe with the ball,” Klima said.

The league teaches sportsmanship along with safety. The players and their families don’t go home until each and every player has had a chance at bat in each inning. Both the AllStars and Bobcats players took full advantage of their time in the spotlight in their first game.

AllStar Ava Cormaney led off a first inning that saw her squad load the bases and bag nine runs before the Bobcats stepped up to the plate.

The Bobcats also swung away at the tee, sending several players around the bases to score.

The team showed strong promise in the defensive position and at one point caught a few hits straight in their mits.

The AllStars followed suit in the second, receiving solid hits from Piper Rogers and Sarah Hood and a triple from Macey Klima.

Courtney Hagen/World Online Photo

“My favorite part was seeing their smiles as they came around third base,” Klima said. “They just knew they were about to score.”

Klima’s daughter, Macey, said she enjoyed the sport so far because it gave her time to have fun with her dad.

Though smiles and runs abounded in the AllStars’ first game, Klima said the team had some clear goals to work on for the rest of the season.

“With girls this age, a big thing we will work on is improving our attention,” Klima said.

The Bobcats exposed some small holes in the AllStars’ attention spans. The Bobcats were quick to run bases as some AllStars players struggled to get the ball to the bases quickly enough. The team roared by penetrating through the AllStars’ defense with a handful of doubles throughout the game.

In the end, though, it didn’t matter who had a stronger defense or faster baserunners. What remained after the lights dimmed on the field and the players gleefully grabbed their post-game snacks and headed for home, was the sense of accomplishment.