Have you ever felt like something was over before it even began?  Well baseball can make you feel that way. It was a breezy October day. My team sat solemnly in the dugout, down one in a game we had to win to move on in the tournament. My coach felt the sorrow in the air and tried to give us a lifting pep talk.

We all felt as if the game was over.  There was a solemn feeling like our hearts had been ripped out. They had their best pitcher on the mound; we knew he threw fast, like a cheetah running through an open field.

My teammate, Sam, was leading off the inning. He wasn't confident. “Cmon, Sam!!” his parents shouted. The pitcher didn't take a single warm up pitch. This got our engine going as we were all fired up. We were all crammed up against the dugout fence chanting Sam’s name as he did a light jog up to the plate. We could tell he was nervous as he looked anxious with each step.

“Strike one!” the Umpire yelled emphatically. The next pitch boomed in. He took a funky swing and missed by a mile. “Strike two!”  He anxiously swung his head toward the dugout down in a 0-2 hole. My coach gave him a head nod letting him know he still had  it. He put up a tenacious at bat, fouling off many pitches, and ended up working a walk. We went crazy as we were trying to get in the head of the other team's pitcher. Their pitcher looked lost like a quarterback after throwing an interception.

Now our line up flipped over to the top with our best hitters. We needed one more baserunner to get the winning run on first and the tying run on second. Jake was our leadoff hitter. He ripped a ball into the gap. Sam took off flying, trying to get to third; he slid in. “Safe!” the Umpire yelled out with a commanding voice. We got even louder than before.

I was up. I jogged up to the plate. I felt like all was over and I would be the rally stopper. I thought to myself,  I gotta preserve and get the ball in play.  I knew all I had to do was get a ball up the middle, and that would get the job done and deliver us the win. The first pitch zoomed by. “Ball!” the umpire shouted. He delivered the next pitch. “Ball two!” He shouted again.

I knew in 2-0 count I was favored as he just had to get a ball over the plate. “You got this,” I heard his coach shout with a bold tone. I knew what was coming. He got in his windup in what felt like an eternity. As the ball started coming, I swung. I heard the sweet crack of the bat; the ball was ripped up the middle. Sam and Rickey both scored, giving us the win as we went ballistic and into celebration as he had moved on with a walkoff victory. I felt like I was on top of the world after feeling like I hit rock bottom.

I felt as if all was over. But I found a way to persevere and deliver us with the win. This is why you never give up and persevere until the end, even if you feel all is lost.

 

 

 

 

-Kaden G.