Game Five. Getting into my mom’s car after practice I cannot help but be excited. Tomorrow is the big game. All night I cannot concentrate, all my thoughts are about tomorrow as Holliston plays Hopkinton for the first time this season. As I lay in bed I have to contain myself from becoming too cocky. This is a hyped up game both undefeated teams meet on Hopkinton’s home field at 3:45. We will both show what this season means to us. Throughout school the next day, it is hard to focus. Every ounce of energy I have, I want to put into this game. Finally as the last bell of the day rings, I make my way to the locker room to get my equipment. Our team has waited weeks for this game, and there is only an hour and a half left until it starts. Pushing the door open to the locker room I hear the whoops and cheers of my team. Here we go!
Jumping off the last step of the bus, a confident air hangs over our team. Walking across the bright green grass to the field I start to relax. Being here all my thoughts from the day fade away. I can breathe and focus on one thing and one thing only, this game. Our team walks in two lines to the dugout. We grab our gloves from our bags and retrieve a neon yellow ball from the bucket. Throwing the ball around we start to warm up. After throwing we stretch and then we see the umpires walk onto the field. The game is about to start. Our captains walk towards home plate to talk to the umpires and the rest of the team forms a huddle. Our first baseman Lindy looks around the circle and starts to speak, “Guys, this is our game. Take everything you have and focus. We have worked too hard to just hand Hopkinton this game. We have to work together and fight for this game”. As Lindy finishes talking our captains come running over. They start cheering. “Here we go Holliston! Let’s start it off”. We pass around high fives and jog back into the dugout. The game has begun.
With four shutout innings behind us, both teams are determined to put a run on the board. Standing in right field I see our coach motion for us to move back, the next three hitters are the best on Hopkinton’s team. The first batter gets up and our pitcher, Molly, easily strikes her out. As the next girl gets up to bat, Molly winds her arm. As Molly releases the ball, the batter squares her bat and bunts the ball. Our catcher grabs the ball, but fumbles with the surprise bunt. The batter gets to first, leaving us runners on first and third. As the next batter approaches the plate I take a step back, knowing that this girl can hit. On the first pitch the girl sends the ball flying towards me. I drop step and run back trying to read where the ball is going to go. The ball flies over the fence behind me, giving the girl a homerun. At the bottom of the fifth it is now three to zero with Hopkinton in the lead.
As we run back into the dugout our coach calls a timeout and tells us to sit and listen for a second. He tells us that this game is to be played in the moment, “You girls cannot get caught up in winning or losing. Play every inning like an individual game”. We nod our heads at our coach and become focused again. We came into this game with the desire to win. We have to continue to dig deep because we are still in this.
Watching from the bench of the orange and green painted dugout I can see the determination clouded over the faces of our batters. As soon as the pitcher releases the ball, our team moves as a machine taking four leading steps off the base. This is it. The last inning of the game. We need four runs to win and three runs to tie the game. Our first batter of the inning approaches the plate. She sets back her weight and as the ball rockets forward she twists her hips and hits the ball. The yellow object fly’s over the center fieldsmen’s head and over the bright orange fence. With a homerun and two other runs batted in, we are now only behind one run, as the score approaches 4-3. Our next batter hits the ball to left field and she makes it to first. One of our best hitters then approaches the plate. Lauren takes two perfect pitches. Our coach tells her to relax as she looks at him for any signals. As the pitcher winds her arm back for the third time, Lauren shifts her bat and sends the ball flying to right field. The right fielder puts her arm up and with a blind catch, catches Laurens hit. Our runner on first runs to second base but forgets to tag first base. Hopkinton throws the ball to first and our player dives but is too late. Both runners are out which ends the inning. With a shock the game is over and Hopkinton has won.
As we sit down on the bus, everyone is silent. This is our first loss of the season and it is not something that we were mentally prepared for. As the bus lurches forward, our coach walks to the back of the bus and sits down. “You girls played a great game today. You have nothing to hang your heads about. You came back and played in the moment just like I told you to” he said. Even though we had lost this game, we are still united. We are still determined and we still want to win. Practice makes perfect, and one loss is not going to stop our team. As we walk off the bus our pitcher yells our names, we all turn around. She smiles and says, “No one go home hanging their head. This is our season, and we are going to have road blocks. The next time we play Hopkinton, they better be ready, because were coming for them”. With that our team forms a huddle and then we put our hands toward the sky. “On three everybody say Holliston”, said our captain. “One, two, three...Holliston”, yells our team. One loss was nothing in a season of twenty games and we will move on from it. For each and every player the determination to succeed overpowers any bad feelings about one loss. Our team will stop at nothing to improve, because this is our season.
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That's a great last line, though the comma goes before "because". Also, you chose again to write this (mostly) in present tense, and that's fine, but you have to be vigilant and monitor that you stay consistently in present tense. There are a few jarring moments when you slip out of it.
ReplyDeleteIt must burn you to know you lost that game on a mental error. Tagging up means you touch the base as the ball is caught! Ugh.
You've seen the appositive in action now. Can you find where you've used it?
"Our first basemen Lindy..." She's only one person, so she's a first baseman.