Sweat is pouring down my face as I sit behind the plate. The bases are loaded, last inning, two outs, and their best batter is on the plate. Kathryn pitches the ball; Betty hits it right to her. She throws the ball to me as the girl on third slides into home. “Out,” the umpire yells. Tears stream down my face as Kathryn and the rest of the team hug. “We won. We won.”

When I step onto the softball field and feel the sand crunch beneath my cleats, its game time. I’m in the zone; it’s all about the ball, the scoreboard, and my opponents. When I get the right pitch and swing at the ball, I feel absolutely in control. It’s all about how I decide to hit the ball. When I catch a pop fly or a great hit, I fell that I’m stronger than the person who hit the ball. When we win I feel on top of the world and nothing can make me come down from that high.

Softball keeps me away from getting caught up in drugs. It keeps me from taking a second look at it because it could hurt the feeling I get about softball. Drugs could make me lose interest in softball and I may never feel my natural high again. The thought of having drugs take the place of softball depresses me in a way. All of the hard work and effort I put into softball would just be thrown away like it didn’t matter at all. When I think about all of the long hours I have put into softball I also think about how I don’t want to be putting that all to waste.