2nd in Illinois! (Lots of pictures!)

We had a very exciting week here! B1's middle school softball team took 2nd in the state on Thursday! They began playoffs 2 weeks ago and won their regional pretty handily. Then last weekend, we played in the state quarter-finals and beat Metropolis, advancing to the semi-finals on Tuesday. We beat West Frankfort that day. Thursday was the state finals and we played (and lost to) Carterville. It was a really fun ride! The baseball team from our same middle school also went to state and WON the title! Yay for them! Here are some pics of the pep ralley and send-off as well as the medal/trophy ceremony.


Signs made by TMS students.....the first one is specifically for B1!




They marched outside, in between all the students, band and cheerleaders, behind a police car.


Here comes the softball team!


B1 with one of her best friends.....


And getting on the bus.....


What a beautiful smile!


The bus heading out for state! There's something about seeing a Triad bus that makes me happy and proud!


A fire truck from each of the 3 towns that feed into our middle school helped escort the kids towards the interstate, along with 2 police cars. This is the fire truck from OUR town.


Custodians and maintenance workers were even on the roof of the school, holding signs and wishing the kids luck!


The marquee at the school.....


You have to look closely here. This is a picture of the scoreboard during the game when B1 was batting. I thought it was neat how it said "at bat 50", which is her number. The score doesn't look so good though! LOL!



Receiving her state medal.


The team receiving their trophy.


The team with their trophy.


B1 with the team trophy.


B1 and 2 friends with the trophy.


The boys baseball team AND the girls softball team together with their trophies.


B1 and my mom with the trophy.

We had a huge celebration later that evening at Pizza Man! The bus came back and all of the kids rode on it (instead of riding home with their parents like they usually do). The bus was also escorted home by 2 police cars, one in front and one in back. They of course got to ignore all red lights, stop signs, etc., which they thought was awesome! Most all of the parents, and many grandparents, siblings, etc., were also at Pizza Man and boy was that place rocking! However, if you walked into the back room where most of the kids were sitting, the smell was not so pleasant! I guess that's when happens when you play in a state final game!

Here is B1 with some friends.....


Here she is with a boy in her class who she has literally been friends with since birth. We all go to the same church and they are currently in confirmation class together. They have been in school together since kindergarten.


And here are the 2 trophies we brought home from state!