Up until my freshman year I used to play the great American pastime, baseball. Baseball used to be my favorite sport in the world. There was no place I’d rather be than on a baseball diamond, especially in the batter's box. I started out playing T-ball then move up to little league and then to Babe Ruth. After that, I played school ball for a few years. Playing Babe Ruth had to be some of the best times of my life when I was a kid. I was usually on a pretty solid team and the coaches were always great.

The highlight of my baseball career was our playoff game against Menahga when I was in 5th grade. I remember certain parts of that game like it was yesterday.

The game was in Menahga, so I rode down there with my mom, Cole Coborn and a couple other teammates. The whole ride up there I was thinking about Levi Schwartz. He was the talk of the team. He was like a folk tale, 6 feet tall, threw 90 mph, hit home runs to warm up, some said he even had killed a man with a high and tight fastball in Sebeka. To an undersized younger player, he was your worst nightmare. The whole drive down there I kept telling Cole how nervous I was.

Opening the door of our 2002 Honda Odyssey,  I stepped onto the parking lot and immediately looked for Coach Porozinski’s white minivan. I spotted it and walked right over to help carry some bags. Inside those bags was a single piece of equipment that was going to be my lifesaver. That piece of equipment was a 30 inch 17 oz bat. It was the lightest bat that we had. The most important part was the weight. Battling against someone who threw as hard as Levi, I needed to get that bat around as fast as I could. Once all the bags were in the dugout, I searched through them all until I found what I was looking for. The bat was the Spalding Raptor. It wasn’t anything fancy, but it did work when I needed it. I leaned it up against the fence and went to warm up with my team.
I stepped onto the dirt and looked across the field.* It was sunny and 75 with a few scattered clouds. The only problem I had with the weather was the wind. The breeze was a decent speed and blowing right towards home plate. That meant that Levi could throw harder. That was a bad thing. The smell of the freshly cut grass complimented its perfect green tone.*  I could hear the fans climbing onto the metal bleachers. I heard the crack of a bat as Menahga began to warm up. It was a lot to take in. Then I looked over and saw my team confidently warming up. It was a perfect day to win a ball game.
Warming up, I couldn’t help but keep glancing over at Levi. I could tell he was trying to be intimidating. He had arm bands on and a chain around his neck. To top it off, he even had eye black on. That was by far the scariest part. He also had facial hair which was unheard of for a 5th grader. We finished warming up and went into our respective dugouts for a pep talk. I grabbed some Giants sunflower seeds to munch on during coach’s talk. I welcomed the salty flavor as I sat down on the bench.* Coach emphasized that as long as we play with confidence and as a team, we could get a win.

The start of the game was a blur. We were playing well, but not good enough to win. Even during the game, I was still just as nervous as I was in the car. In fact, I was just down right scared to bat. The first few innings were pretty even, each team traded a pair of runs in the 3rd. Both teams were struggling to get players on base. It all changed during the 5th inning. I was the third batter that inning which we called, “In the abyss.”% The abyss is preceded by the hole which is preceded by the leadoff batter. The first two batters made it on base. One by a walk and one by a single. I stepped up to the plate shaking because was so nervous. I took my practice swings and steadied the bat on my shoulder waiting for the pitch. Levi wound up and I saw a flash.

Strike one!

My coach and teammates cheered me on as the catcher threw the ball back to the mound. Still shaking, I took my practice swings and steadied the bat yet again on my shoulder. Levi wound up and I could see the ball flying towards the catcher. It seemed to be in slow motion, I could clearly see the laces of the ball as it spun in a 6 o’clock direction. I knew it was going be a strike. I closed my eyes and swung as fast as I could. As the bat swung around I felt nothing. I thought, “Oh no, not another strike”.# But what I heard still brings a smile to my face. The high pitched ting of a baseball smacked right in the sweet spot.

I took off out of the box sprinting as fast as I could, not looking where the ball was. I rounded first, sprinted to second, rounded second. That's when I looked at the ball. I had hit it over the left fielder's head and he had just picked it up. Coach Porozinski  was winding his arm in a circle and yelling, “Get 3 Get 3!”# As I closed down on the base he yelled “Get down!”#, which means to slide. I dove at the base and prayed through the cloud of dust that I would be safe. The dust cleared and I heard the umpire speak up.

SAFE!

I stood up smiling like I just won the lottery% and got on the base. Coach grabbed me by the shoulders and started shaking me.* He must have repeated great hit at least 20 times as he was shaking me. That was when I started to listen and hear the crowd.* I glanced over and saw them all on their feet, yelling and clapping! I looked at my teammates in the dugout, they were doing the same thing. I was so proud that I had hit in what turned out to be the game winning runs. I was proud because I had not let my team down by striking out but instead made a great play. I wasn’t proud for me. I was proud for my team.

After that play Levi was defeated. I could tell just by looking at him from third base. The next batter up hit a single and I was able to safely run home. As my right foot hit home I went over and gave Cole a high-five. I sat down on the bench and looked over to see my mom smiling from ear to ear. I was so happy. Looking back on it I realize that the outcome of a 12 year old baseball game really isn’t that important. It isn’t going to define you in your later years. But back then, on that day, it felt like I was on top of the world.