Senior Night!

“Okay guys, we have two hours until the seniors get here. We have to make this place look incredible for one of their last memoires with Holliston Softball”, said Lauren as we pulled up to Damagella softball field.  It was senior night, our team’s last home game of the season and the senior’s last home game in high school softball.  Armed with red plastic cups, rolls of streamers, posters and balloons we were going to make the sight of the field unforgettable.

An hour and a half had passed and the field had been transformed from brown and dusty to a war zone of red, white and black. The fence in centerfield was covered with red plastic cups spelling out, “We love our seniors”. The metal fence of the dugout was covered in red, black and white streamers. Attached to the gray middle poles were white balloons with the seniors’ names on them. On all remaining space were neon colored posters with pictures of smiling faces from this season and past seasons with the seniors. We had twenty minutes for finishing touches, putting balloons anywhere we could. Then, from down the street we could see the three seniors driving toward the field. Their cars glowed with neon car paint reading “Holliston Panthers” and “Seniors of 2012”. As they pulled into the parking lot our team cheered and screamed as they blasted music from their cars and beeped their horns. As they got out of their cars tears of happiness rolled down their cheeks, “The field looks amazing!” they said at the same time.

As it neared game time I looked out of the dugout and was amazed by the amount of people here to watch the game. The grass was filled with lawn chairs with parents, grandparents, friends and other coaches. As the sky turned gray and darkened, the dim field was suddenly illuminated by the bright over head lights. It was game time. Our team was ready to play. It was our time to prove that Holliston was here to stay this season. We had so much determination for the game because it was a celebration for the seniors and we had to win it for them.  

After five innings Molly had thrown a no hitter and we had scored seven runs. As I looked into the other dugout the Dover Sherborn team looked defeated. They no longer moved with excitement for the game and they appeared like scared animals wide eyed in the batter’s box. We quickly finished the game with a final score of 10-1. At the end of the game our team gathered in left field. Our coach explained that we had a fantastic game but, tonight it was not about the game or the win it was about the seniors.

Everyone on the team ran to the third base line except for our coach and the seniors. It was time for the ceremony to start. Music erupted in the background and the announcer started to call the names of the seniors. First to be called was Ashley. She ran down the third base line and gave us all high fives. Then went Molly and then Lauren. They met in the pitches circle and their parents met at home plate. As their position and name were called again they met their parents at home plate and received a bouquet of flowers. We cheered for them and watched as they smiled for pictures. Again the seniors met in the pitchers circle and talked to our coach. He told them of how proud he was of them and how he wished he could have been their coach longer than one season. Next our coach motioned for the rest of us to come to the mound and we sprinted to the seniors. We all hugged in the middle of the field.

Tears streamed down almost every players face. As a freshman I had never been a part of such a close team. The seniors had been so accepting and kind and it was sad to see them leaving for collage soon. We huddled together and smiled through our tears. These tears represented the love and unity that this team has grown over the season. They showed was its like to be on a team and they showed how it feels to have a team behind you, always supporting you. The feeling in this moment we had to let overcome us. We will use this love and dedication to move forward in our season. With two more games left until we start playoffs we stay strong because, this is our season. 

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