The day of the Bat-a-thon started off a little chilly, but with a very clear sky. By the time we made our way to the field, my daughter was giving me the stink-eye every time I tried to psych her up to swing the bat.

I wisely shut my mouth before she managed to hex it shut like that creepy little kid from the Twilight Zone movie.

She lined up with her team, and was the second or third kid called to bat. One of the coaches was announcing a pitch by pitch reaction for each kid, and I was sure that would set her off.

But no. While I stood near the outfield with a couple of other moms, my girl stood at the plate and hit 16 of 20 pitches. Granted, they were all infield grounders, but holy crap. She hit the ball! Lots of times! I take back all the snide remarks about her ability to hit!

The next day, we took her to the park, and my husband pitched a zillion times, and she connected with most of them. We felt like we were making a break-through on this whole hitting thing. She could hit off a machine, she could hit off an adult man throwing at a relatively sedate pace... but could she hit off a kid?

At her next practice, she stood frozen at the plate for a zillion pitches, and her coach was frustrated when I picked her up. I wisely kept my mouth shut until we were in the car, and then I started sputtering "but... but... but...." and she said she was tired and didn't want to talk about it.

Okay, fine. So I talked. And she worked on her mouth sealing hexes.

At her next game, she walked up to the plate... and ended up getting walked on four pitches.

Then, she walked up to the plate, and with one swing hit a nice little chopper back to the pitcher. He threw her out before she made it to first. Still, she was beaming from ear to ear, all the coaches were thrilled, her teammates were thrilled...I was relieved.

She hit the ball. And at the end of the game, which we lost by a landslide, the coach presented her with a game ball for her efforts. And she hasn't stopped beaming since.

Incidentally, my mouth is still working just fine, too.