The Fighting Musicos [MOO-z-cos, musicians] slid past the Terrifying Albaniles [all-bu-KNEE-lace, bricklayers] for a narrow victory at the ballgame this morning: 8 to 6 in almost 6 innings.

Both boys scored two runs each. Ryan was walked twice to first, then stole his way home both times which just thrilled him no end. Mo got a hit to first twice, then got batted in twice.

A hugely successful day for them. Instead of the push to "do your very best which is likely not going to be good enough" feeling you have when you are playing amongst state champ contenders, they felt like they knew something, they contributed. Heck, they got to play! And everybody had fun. Like in a GAME.

I wasn’t there, but Xavier said you knew right away there was not going to be big-time pressure. In fact, there was no pressure at all. The coach showed up about 10 minutes before the game. Nobody can throw, nobody can catch and nobody can hit the ball with any consistency. After all, this is soccer country. They can probably all kick the ball… No matter, the boys baseball skill set fits right in here.

And nobody’s going to get much better… the Musicos don’t even have a weekly practice! They just show up to play on Saturday mornings, looking all spiffy in their costumes. Which are not free… today X spent $90 for a pair of spikes for Mo and a glove. Surprisingly, we couldn’t find either at the gringo mall in Escazú. (Plenty of soccer balls!) Looking forward to buying ditto for Ryan… Big money and not likely to get an award’s ceremony at the end. But, hey! I’ll bet there’s another parade!!!! Don’t worry, I won’t shoot a video.