Little Town Monologue

This time, Mac rolled it right down the pike. A meatball. My foot connected and the ball soared off into the distance. It went over the infield and above the center fielder's head, bouncing off the blue bench where we had made teams, and into the bushes. It was a great kick, and a terrific way to start off a game. I ran, as fast as lightning, my legs a machine, pumping towards first base. Then, I slowed to a mild jog when I saw the outfielder just getting the ball. I was Coming around second and heading to third, when Matt Weed, the third baseman, stuck out his leg and tripped me, with a smirk on his face. The ball was passed into the cut off man, who ran over and tagged me. I was not worried. Surely, Seth had seen Matt trip me and would grant me an extra base. Then, common sense hit me; I was talking about

“Take your base,” yelled the umpire as Kevin was hit with a pitch on his back. Kevin trotted at a snail's pace down to first base, his face was filled with agony as he grabbed his rib cage. As the game proceeded the pain from the pitch increased but Kevin thought it would eventually go away so he played through it. The game went on and it was close all the way till the end but the Stars pulled out the victory. They are now the 2016 South Carolina 2A High School baseball Champions. The team went crazy, the fans rushed onto the field to celebrate the victory with them. The team and the fans were bumping and brushing up against one another while they were screaming and hollering. Kevin was in the middle of the crowd with all his friends and

The summer passes by uneventful until they get themselves into a “pickle” when Benny hits a ball out of the sandlot leaving them without a ball to play with. However, Smalls’s stepfather is a baseball fanatic, who has indeed a baseball. Without permission from the stepfather, Smalls takes

My breakfast started to creep back up my throat as game time got closer and closer. I walked across the patch of grass behind home plate and was towered over by the 30 foot backstop with a huge net suspended from it. My bulging bag of equipment was beginning to make my shoulder hang. I walked down the steps into the cement dugout and placed my bag under the bench that spanned the entire length of the dugout. I sat down, laced up my cleats, and put my warm-up jacket on in preparation for batting practice. I stepped onto the grass surrounding the dugout to get the feeling of how wet the grass was. I dug my cleats into the grass and began my usual routine of taking certain practice swings as I gazed upon the press box in the wake of the backstop. Preceding the burn in my forearms, caused from the practice swings, I marched behind the dugout to the rows of batting cages to wait my turn in line. Pacing back and forth I knew I had to keep my nervousness to a minimum. I popped in a wad of Big League Chew and continued to

Have you ever wanted to be in Williamsport playing baseball? Well, I have I’ve been practicing since I could hold a baseball. Now all my training paid off. I finally made it. So did my friend Johnny. Johnny and I made it to Williamsport on different teams. It’s the Elimination game. Who ever loses goes home. It was a close game. Until the 9th inning the bases were loaded. Jimmy was on 1st, Timmy on second and Joey on 3rd. I’m up - 3-2 count. Johnny is pitching. He throws me a fastball right down the middle.Crack I crush it. Going… going… gone! A walk off grand slam. We win! After the game we go shake hands with the other team. I come to Johnny. I put out my hand and he doesn’t even make eye contact. He just walks away. The

Maria was already across home plate when the Robin’s shortstop racing for the ball picked it up bare hand and threw it so wildly across the diamond trying to get bobby at first.”

Clouds mugged the sun of light as the day progressed. Dusk filled the air on the baseball diamond where I would leave my legacy. Forth, was the championship game to be played, and the pressure of the starting pitcher, was not fazing me. In the zone, we said the Little League pledge. Jolts of excitement filled my muscles as I recited the piece that I know all too well. Warming up, I was controlled, and was ready to bring it. The game began with a bang. Strikeout after strikeout I fired, giving my all every single pitch. ‘BOOM’ went the glove after every pitch, whizzed right by the petrified batter. However, this was not much different for our team. Just two hits filled the board, I and my teammate Ian Keth. Scoring off of this was efficient,

Only being the bat boy, Stanton had to bring his equipment to the ballpark everyday and go hit in the batting cages before the team showed up. Stanton thought to himself, “Why is coach asking me to swing in batting practice today? He has never done that once since I became the bat boy.” Stanton walked back onto the field and stepped into the batter’s box. Before Stanton even took a swing, he looked at the beautiful Marlins Park. Straight ahead was the bright, colorful outfield walls that were painted green. Stanton soaked in the atmosphere. While the batting practice pitcher went to throw the first pitch to Stanton, Johnny Field, the Marlins seventh round draft pick said, “Come on coach! You’re giving the bat boy a couple swings? Ha-ha that’s funny.” Just as Field finished his sentence, Scotty Stanton crushed the first pitch he saw into the left-center field gap, landing at an estimate four hundred feet. Coach Mattingly said, “Sit your ass down Field, we should have drafted this kid over you!” Stanton gave Mattingly a smile. Stanton continued to punish balls, smashing them all over Marlins Park. To others, it was just batting practice, but to Stanton, it meant more. It felt as if he had the game of baseball back in his life. When Stanton’s round was over, the Marlins players were impressed, besides the envious Johnny Field. One Marlins player even told Mattingly that this kid needs to be in the lineup. Mattingly

Then Casey went back and made one scornful look and the audience was quiet again. Then his face grew cold and his so called “muscles” were straining. The whole population of the stadium knew that Casey would not let that ball pass by again. Casey was no longer sneering, he had his teeth clenched in absolute hate. He wanted the pitcher dead, or for him to get a home run and save his team. He signaled one last time to the pitcher and the pitcher threw the ball. The air was still until he hit the air was shattered by his blow. Casey had missed the

The time had finally come for the boy and his father to head downtown to the stadium. As they got closer to downtown, traffic began to back them up for miles. The boy began to worry that they would ever make it to the game on time, creating an illusion of an endless line of cars blocking them from the stadium. Alas, they made it through the disruptions and had arrived at the ball park, the boy looked on in awe, as it was bigger than he ever imagined. Their tickets were scanned, and walked to their seats, first row behind the dugout; the most plum seats in the whole place. The game began with the toss of the first pitch, as the opposing batter stood at the plate; the crowd let out roaring boos. The boy asked his father why they were yelling at the player, his father began to explain he had been caught cheating with steroids and will forever have an asterisk next to his name because of it, all the fans despised him. As the game carried on, each team went back and forth scoring runs until it was tied in the bottom of the 9th inning. The boy’s favorite player was up to bat, and with one swing of the bat, sent the ball over the fence for the game winning homerun. A nuclear cheer erupted throughout the entire stadium as everyone celebrated winning

At the end of the eighth inning we pick up the game with Kansas City leading the Minnesota Twins one to zero. Steve, sitting on the bench in the corner with a towel over his head in the Kansas City Royals dugout as his team is batting in the eighth inning, has thoughts that go back to his Little League days when his father Joe Ballard would say. “Don’t worry about the batter, play pitch and catch with the catcher. That’s how to win a game from the pitcher’s mound.”

PAR1 was playing in a local softball tournament. He stepped up to bat and hit a single. As the next batter came up PAR1 took a generous lead off first base. The batter then hit the ball into the outfield and PAR1 took off like a rocket. PAR1 was nearing second base when the ball was overthrow allowing PAR1 to proceed to third. Just as PAR1 was halfway between third and second base the catcher picked up the ball and throw it to the third baseman. Instantly PAR1 made a b-line for the second base, and found himself in a pickle situation. While the third baseman threw to the second baseman PAR1 revered his direction and went back for his attempt at third. At the same time the second baseman threw to third baseman, just a little high making the

Two outs, full count, Crushers still up 7-6, bottom of the 7th with the Stix as the home team and a runner on first. Hardester throws one more a little outside and McCoy fouls it off. Next pitch right down the pipe and she hits a hard ground ball up the middle… and… KAMRYN LOHDEN DIVES FOR IT.”

The author also briefly puts in the story of the New York Yankees' second baseman Chuck Knoblauch, who developed sports "shocking" while playing in front of thousands of fans, Knoblauch had trouble throwing the ball to first base, while stressing Knoblauch found himself reverting to explicit mode, throwing like a Little Leaguer again", as the author said in pg. 267 (last paragraph)

A batter walks up to the plate to hit for the first time this season. After a quick two strike called the count is against the hitter and in the favor of the pitcher. The pitcher is really aware of this 0-2 count and follows up with a fastball that is about chin high making the batter chase it and strike out. This is a great example of what youth baseball struggles with today in the sport. Technical offensive skills of baseball include, but are not limited to the strike zone and it has become the weakest part of today game. It’s very strange that the weakest aspect of the sport helps increase the defensive part because opposing pitcher rely on the over confident strike zone and accept the challenge making the hitter chase