Personal Narrative: The All-American Tournament

“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.

Each and every week I would head out to the baseball park, not because the experience would always leave me with joy, but because of the joy and satisfaction that the players had when they came and left the field. Many of the player’s parents told my fellow buddies and I, that the players would start counting down the days until the next Sunday, as soon as they’d get into the car! Throughout the entire Challenger season, I was reminded of how easy my life actually is, and how a how much I take for granted daily. With this program having such a great impact, I was dedicated to making sure that the player’s experience was the best possible. Which meant that I would often get there early, and help our Challenger division coordinator, to set up and makes sure that everything was ready for when the players came. My hard-work, and readiness to help out obviously were apparent to the coordinator, Jeff Sandes, as he came to me at the end of last year’s season to thank me for all the hard work, time and effort, I had put in to make sure that the players' experiences were the best

As I got settled in the dugout, I heard my coach yell, ¨Michael, youŕe batting second in the lineup, and

As my Varsity baseball team suits up for practice we whip out our “Easton Mako Bats” and our “Evo-Shield arm sleeves.” Everyone prepares for the season as we break in our new 200-dollar gloves. As I Un-zip my “Demarani Bat Bag” I search for the stick of eye black that seems to add spice to my game as I smother it under my eye, to “reflect the sun” of course. Our accessories become a part of our game, and we begin to value them more than the game itself.

When I qualified for the AAU State wrestling tournament I never thought I would have done so well. Being in 8th grade and it being my last year to go to AAU State I put in the hard work and qualified for AAU State and I was overjoyed with happiness. For the next 2 weeks, I practice my heart out trying to get better for AAU. The day that wrestling starts the older group doesn’t wrestle till 4, so we went to the mall till 12 then Wells Fargo. The team started to warm up around 3:30 and I was one the first matches up. I won my first match with a pin and my second with the 11-3 win. My third match was against the kid that won the tournament and I lost to him 2-5.

In summer 2015 my brother had a baseball tournament in Branson, Missouri. So our family drove to Branson and went to Sam’s first game. After the first game we went to check into the hotel, and our parents said they had a surprise for us.

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.

My team won 3 out of 4 hockey games in my hockey tournament. It was the championship game for a banner and a medal. We were playing the Ice Dogs who we had originally beaten 3-1. Over the summer we did so much dry land on the track and my dad said it will all pay off today. I stepped on the ice for warm ups and the ice felt smooth under my skates. I was prepared for a hard hockey game.

One time when playing travel baseball my team played in a 16 youth tournament , and we were the only 14 and 15 year old team. We were a very small team in size and numbers , but we had a great amount of talent for our size and age. The tournament took place in Columbus Ohio. We were the only team from Tennessee in the tournament , and we worked very hard all year to make it to the tournament. We played up in pretty much every tournament all season , so we came prepared to see some very talented and big teams. Sure enough we showed up to our hotel the first day arriving and there were tons of teams staying in the same hotel , and by the looks of these teams we were by far the smallest team. The next day was the start of the tournament and we

A young kid growing up with a burning desire to be a great ball player. My greatest love of things has always been baseball. Baseball taught me determination. Baseball taught me the greatness of having a hard work ethic. Discipline, manners, and staying positive all shaped from baseball. It is greater than just a game. Without baseball I don't believe I would be who I am today.

Ever wonder how I did at my league tournament for wrestling? If you don't then you should. First, I walked on the mat for my first match. The first match was probably the hardest match of the day. I had to wrestle a kid named karson Brandt, he was from holton. I beat him 9-1 in a three period battle.

The pressure was bearing down on me like nothing I’d ever experienced. My entire year, I thought, hinged on this one debate. My partner and I had put so much work into it, and I couldn’t bear letting him down. Then, everything fell apart as they announced the decision. “Congratulations to both teams for reaching the quarterfinals of the UGA Tournament, it is a 2-1 for the Affirmative from Gulliver.” We had lost. I lost. As soon as those words were delivered, my heart dropped into despair. Never mind that I had reached the quarterfinals, all the work and success that my partner and I had gone through felt erased with that big L.

It was a hard loss Friday evening. What was projected to be OUR year was stopped in the semifinals unexpectedly; to a #8 seeded Austin Peay. The Bruins fought hard and brought it to overtime, but the 97-96 loss is going to be remembered by this team for a long time.

On a cloudy spring morning on our home course at Medina Country Club, I watched the all the other groups in front of me tee off at my first golf match. After we finished our first hole, one of the girls on the other team recorded her score as a four. I counted ten. A big knot grew in my stomach. I knew I would have to confront her. I am typically a person who keeps to oneself. I had joined golf team in order to be more social, but this was out of my comfort zone. As we walked to the next hole I timidly explained to her that she scored a ten. She turned around to give me a hard glare. Annoyance of my accusation flowed off of her. Fortunately, it turns out she was new to golf and did not realize that whiffs counted as strokes. Facing that conversation

It was a cloudy rainy day and pretty chilly out to. We had a basketball tournament in Mineral Point and I was so nervous. Little did I know that later that day we would be playing in the tournament championship.