Personal Narrative: A Career As A Baseball Player

As soon as I made my very first varsity baseball appearance, I knew that I had to be the very best I could be or there was never going to be a chance of ever putting on that white and maroon crisp cleaned dri-fit Russel number 18 jersey. My heart was beating beyond faster than it should be at my first at bat because I had always heard “Just wait you haven't seen nothing yet, wait till you face them varsity pitchers.” Players older than me had constantly been saying that throughout my freshman season and it kept repeating over and over in my head like a broken record. Although I had studied the pitcher and had seen with my very own eyes, he wasn’t as good as everyone talked him up to be. I was still overawed and very nervous about messing up.

Finally the time was here to play some Baseball. No one had seen how fast the pitcher pitched the ball because I was the only one at practice. Anyway I was the second one who was going up to bat but my team was in the field first so I kinda got some time to see how they play. But we had a really good pitcher so it was 1, 2, 3, strikes it was time for us to bat.

I click my cleats with my bat and dig a hole in the batter's box and stair at the pitcher. The pitch comes in slow almost in slow motion. I swing as hard as can. I hear the crack of the bat and I see the ball fly over the fence. I can't believe it. I never thought in a million years I would ever hit a homerun. I hear my teammates screaming. I round first, I'm almost at second when the shock wears off and I realize that I just won the game. A huge smile crosses my face as I round third and head for home. I get closer and closer to home. I stomp on home. Then before I know it the lights go out.

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,

This particular Sunday, we had already played four other games. We were nearing the end of our fifth, the championship game, and I was almost up to bat. I slipped my gloves on, black with white lightning stripes, giving me a sense of power. The player up to bat sadly strikes out, giving us our second out as the game is tied. The ump looks at me motions for me to approach the plate. I stepped out of the practice circle and took a few practice swings. Lift, step, plant, twist, bring the bat around, follow through, slap. Lift, step, plant, twist, bring the bat around, follow through, slap. Over and over, the same swing I’ve spent countless hours perfecting back at our practice academy in Olathe.

The tigers have been playing a lot longer than we all have, we lined up, I was the first on to bat. He pitch STRIKE 1, he pitched again, I swung my hardest… and… SMACK the ball kept growing higher and longer HOMERUN!! The crowd went wild! We hit the first point of the game. Next it was Jimmy, Jimmy always hit higher and longer home runs than me. As Jimmy went up to bat, the pitcher pitch and.. SMACK! It went really high and came down right over the fence. The hooper redbirds were in the lead with two home runs and no outs. ¨man this going to be an easy game¨ I said while watching the game next up Johnpaul he was the bet batter and catcher on our team, every home run he gets he gets 5$ from his parents. As he walked up to bat I was thinking ¨we have to win this game so i can stay on the team¨ he pitch BAM! Flew into the outfield and out of the arena!

When my coach put me in the game I looked at him and said are you sure you want me to do this coach he said yes get out here and play and have a good time while you’re out there. I ran out to left field and I had that feeling like please don’t hit the ball to me but that didn’t happen the next pitch the ball came straight out to left field and I made this play that I was really proud of myself for it was a huge part of my life to be able to go out there and making plays and not letting my team down and having are team play like a teams it was just a great time.

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.

“Play Ball”, the ump said as I was on the mound. Sweat running across my face as I stepped back and threw the first pitch. I knew I had to start things right. 3 outs later it was time to hit. “Play Ball” the ump said to start the 4th inning. Our team was winning it was enough for a mercy rule.

The first pitch that the coach threw to me seared the hair right off my head since it was going so fast. “Strike one!” called the ump. Alright, I needed to believe in my abilities. The next pitched was hurled right in line with my face! When I opened my eyes, I saw that the baseball was a perfect pitch and the catcher hadn’t moved his glove. The coach was making a fool out of me with his famous curve ball. “Strike two!” the umpire proclaimed. The next pitch was the one that I would make my mark on. The pitcher wound up and thrust the ball toward the catcher’s glove. I loaded and fiercely swung as hard as I could. After what seemed like forever, I looked into the catcher’s glove, and there was the ball. I felt dreadful. “Strike three!” I heard in the background. As I walked back to the dugout, I wondered what did I do wrong, what could I have changed, and what does the coach think of

I remember the time I arrived to the plate with a man on third base in the bottom of the 9th inning when my team was down 1 run. I stepped out of the box to take a look down the third base line for signs and what he told me to do was “Cody, do your job.” I gave my coach a nod and went back into the box. I stepped into the box and my mental thinking was, “leave nothing back and let’s win this game.” The pitcher started his windup and throws strike one to me and then strike two. I finally realized that this next pitch was going to be a strike; therefore, I was thinking, “I am swinging on this next pitch.” The pitcher did his windup again and the pitch was thrown low and outside, and I took the swing. The ball landed in the hands of the shortstop man. I hustled down the line as fast as I could and I stepped on the bag before the ball hit first winning the game for my team.

My teammates and I were over-confident and had made some early mental errors. This allowed Cascade to earn three runs in the first inning, while we got none. In the huddle after inning one, our coach said, “Where’s the energy boys? You guys look flat out there!” In the next few innings, we found ways to pick up two runs, only while allowing Cascade another. It was a defensive battle, as neither team could get any runs. By the time we reached the sixth inning, the score was tied four to four. I started to get nervous, as I knew I would have a pivotal at-bat this inning. The first batter got on base with a walk. Our team, was very excited as he was the winning run. Our excitement instantly faded, as the next two batters struck out. This left me up with the last out. Our man on base had stolen to second, putting him in perfect scoring position. My teammates yelled from the dugout, “Let’s go Hinch! You got this big guy.” My coach said to me, “Alex, sit back and drive the ball. Make sure it’s a good pitch!” I could feel the pressure of the moment, but wanted to be the guy to get us the win. The at-bat started off slow as I got two strikes and two balls. On the fifth pitch, I got a ball right down the middle. I made a big swing at the ball and felt it come off my bat. Immediately, I started sprinting towards first and was signaled to go for second. The winning run had scored and our team went wild! We had won the game, and left Cascade with two victories. From this point on, I was much more confident. My teammates also felt a new sense of belief in me. The rest of the year was very enjoyable and left me with many new friendships! It was a summer I will always

Running back and forth on and off the field, trying to score as many runs as each side could when batting. Then when it came to defense, we tried our best to not let the Braves score any runs. Around the top of the fourth inning is when it all started. I was up to bat. The first pitch came in, I swung the bat and the ball escalated into the air, landing out by the fence in the right center gap. I was running as fast as I could to at least get to second base. I slid into the bag and the umpire yelled, “Safe!” I was super excited and my adrenaline was pumping like no other. I was so anxious to score it was unreal. Now there was one out, I’m still on second base. Cora Blume is up to bat, and kills a line drive into the left center gap. When a line drive is hit usually you get off halfway or at least enough where if they drop the ball you can make it to the next base, or you can get back if they catch it. Next thing I know the girl makes an

I was getting very nervous, because all three of us were hitless today. Okay, we need base runners, and we need them now. Don’t try to do too much, just get a hit. I thought. The first pitch was a fastball right down the middle of the plate, a perfect pitch to hit. My eyes got big, and my mind said swing, but before I could react, the ball was past me.

That could of felt a lot worse so I decided to jog to first base then I trip over myself then I feel the pain in my ribs as I lay there it just keeps getting worse then I feel the pain slowly go away so I decided to get up and go to first base so the kid after me stepped up to the plate. Here comes the pitch it got away from the pitcher a wild pitch so I decided to steal second base. Here comes the next pitch another wild pitch so I decided to steal third base. There two balls and no strikes on the kid hitting. Here comes the next pitch another wild pitch so I will try to steal home plate and at the time I thought I would probably get thrown out by the catcher but I just kept running ,so I slided and the umpire yelled “He’s safe!”