Dodge Ball: A Narrative Fiction

About three weeks ago, the Packer Varsity baseball team beat Berkeley Carroll school for the first time in twelve years and in glorious fashion. Tears streamed down my face as our winning run crossed the plate in extra innings, dust flying up as my teammates and I mobbed each other at the plate. Yet a few short days later, our team was blindsided by the news that St. Ann’s had pulled off back to back upsets to squeak their way into the playoffs ahead of us - just as our season seemed to be looking up, it was over.

“Every strike brings me closer to the next home run”(Babe Ruth). I was wondering how much baseball really affected my life and the choices I make. The answer is a lot, and it still continues to leave a mark on this life I love. Over the many years of my involvement in the game I have learned that life is full of ups and downs. Baseball teaches people to bounce back from negatives, this I believe.

It was a hot summer day in Hammond, Louisiana and I was pouring down sweat like I had just jumped in a pool. The game was just about to begin, me and my team was eagle eyeing the bomb squad. It was so quiet that you could hear your own sweat hitting the bench. The umpire broke up everyone’s concentration by saying, “play ball”! The defense had ran out on the field and I started rolling ground balls from 2nd to short-stop to third base. They had all made good throws back to me and then I threw the ball into the dug-out because the game had begun.

Typically, people think of reading when they see a novel or a short story, but I think of reading when I’m out on the baseball field. When I hear the word “reading”, unlike most people, I think of a green grassy baseball diamond at night, with the lights lighting it up, filled with fans in the stands. Believe it or not, I read all the time on the field. I read the ball coming off the bat when I’m playing in the field. When I hear the “ding” of the metal bat and hard, rubber ball colliding, I know that there is a chance I could make a great play. I can see the ball getting bigger and bigger as in approaches me. I read the ball coming out of the pitcher’s hand,

Last year, I experienced something that changed my life forever. It didn’t make me a different person, it just changed how I viewed things in our daily lives. Last year, I volunteered with a group known as Challenger Baseball. Challenger Baseball is a program, that gives differently-abled kids, a chance to experience all the fun parts of playing baseball. Each player is paired up with an able-bodied buddy. Not only do the buddies help the players play baseball, but they are also there for the player to talk to. Last year, I volunteered to become one of these buddies. At first, I was a bit nervous, not knowing what to expect. However, that fear quickly turned into joy. The smiles on all the players' faces, was more than enough to get rid of any fear. Although

It was a chilly Monday night as I finished putting on my baseball uniform. I was nervous because it was the championship game. We were playing our rival team, the Yankees. My close friend Tom was their pitcher, and he struck out a lot of people. Tonight, I was going to get a hit off of him. At least I hoped so. I heard a beep in the driveway and realized it was my mom who was ready to go. ¨ Coming Mom!¨ I shouted through the garage door. As I jogged to the car, I could not stop thinking about getting a hit off of Tom.

In late May 2015, a few friends of mine and my girlfriend made the decision to go to big festival of punk bands held inside of a shutdown high school that acts now as a performing arts center. Among these bands, there was a couple that I was beyond excited to see; Chunk, No Captain Chunk!, Real Friends, and most of all “Modern Baseball.” It was a full day festival of fun and excitement. In a hurry we bought tickets and began our wait for the day to finally come, trudging through the last few weeks of school.

We get to his black mustang he opens up the passenger door for me. Wow he's such a gentleman I think.

High school is one of the biggest transitions in a person's early life. You go from being at the top in your school to the bottom. For me, it was very hard to adjust to this change. On my first day of high school, I walked into first period so nervous I thought I was going to get sick. Luckily, during the summer I had played baseball for Wahlert and had familiarized myself with the school. I was able to get a feel for the environment here before the school year started and meet many new friends. The hot summer days on the diamond taught me many lessons I could use the first day of school. Wahlert baseball gave me a feel for the amazing realm that high school is. It helped me overcome the hurdle of beginning high school.

“Good. Then this should go real quick.” Rosie scurried down the hall. The breakroom was to her left. She noticed Hexson leaned on the vending machine, where the stranger from earlier had stood. He waved his arms, attempting to get Rosie’s attention, but she ignored the detective. Rosie had other business. It was time to build up the green civilian, and then watch him crash to the ground.

Baseball. America’s most patriotic sport and one of my personal favorites. I had the privilege of helping my middle school’s baseball team in my eighth grade year, aiding in setup and cleanup, and keeping those teenage boys in line. I loved every second of it, but my favorite part of that entire season was Bailey, our team manager, who happened to be on the more severe end of the autism spectrum. Bailey loved the game more than anyone on that team (more than anyone I’ve ever met), and he poured his heart into every practice and every game, but his autism prevented him from playing the game he loved so dearly. One of the pregame rituals that my team performed was cheering on Bailey as he hit off a tee and trotted around the bases with our coach by his side. It may not seem like much, but it meant the world to me, the coaches, the players, and especially Bailey. Every game, home or away, started this way, and it brought a smile to everyone’s face, including the members of the opposing team. This ritual seemingly worked magic on our team, who made it all the way to the conference championship game.

A place can be any position or point with space around. A corner, a site on the internet, McDonalds, or even if you’re lost in the woods you're still in a place because of the space that’s around. A place such as The Mexican Restaurant, where my parents go on special occasions or when I talked to a friend at The Baseball field about certain point of every aspect of the game we play, or even when My family was so traumatized when our dad went out onto the ocean when the waves we crashing in. He tells us he’ll be fine so he heads out on the sand and starts walking the opposite direction of us, the waves came in and crashed into the feet of the cliff. We thought he was gone but he came back and said the waves almost got him but he found a crack

And home run, there it goes into the crowd. And the Cubs lose again! Now the League Team is heading to their next game in Alabama now, lets see if they will win again! Oh wow another home run this a new record! Now Michelle is up to the plate about ready to bat… and oh no he misses that one, and oh oh no he is down.

We had just started the last summer break before our first year of high school starts before Michael started interfering with our relationship. Bradley is a lover of baseball and has baseball games every weekend, but I, Kelsey had either basketball or volleyball practice or a game every day of the week day. Considering we were both busy at different times it made it hard for us to see each other. We tried to go to each other's games as much as possible, but one baseball game changed it all.

A major role in my life would definitely be sports. It is almost as if I look up to sports because I could not live without them. Sports pretty much define me as me. I love to play sports as well as watch all kinds of sports on T.V. and if I could ever go to a game and watch the players play live I would be thrilled. Basically sports define me because I am ambitious, I finish what I start, I set goals for myself, and I am a fierce competitor in which I love to win and I hate to lose. The greatest part about sports to me is living for the moment when the game is on the line and the pressure is on can you come through and make a play for your