Personal Memoir

At that moment when I stepped into the batter’s box all that was running through my head was “Don’t strike out, don’t strike out.” But by the time I was ready to swing, pop! The ball was already in the catcher’s mitt. The umpire called out, “Strike one!” I stepped out of the batter’s box, and thought “It’s ok, I still got two more before I’m out.” Then I extended my legs back in hoping for a pitch that I could hit. Again I thought, “Don’t strike out, don’t strike out.” When the ball departed the pitcher’s hand, it looked like a pitch I could hit, so I swung. Just as I thought that it was going to be a good hit I heard the umpire yell, “Foul ball!” I had hit it into foul territory down the right side of the field. This was strike two. Now my heart was racing in terror of not putting a ball in play. But all I could do I hope for the fastball. But that was not what was going to happen. When I stepped into the batter’s box I saw the pitcher shake his head to the sign the catcher was giving him. I knew it was coming and there was nothing I could do. The ball left the pitcher’s hand and I saw the spin, but it didn’t matter the ball was coming right for my shoulder. I turned my back to the ball bracing myself for it to hit me. But it never did, the ball had done its dance into the strike zone. I was out.

This is no longer the case when I go up to the batter’s box. Since the time of that game things have changed. I learned I needed confidence. This isn’t something I have done alone. I have had a coach that I take hitting lessons with since I was eight. But confidence hasn’t been a problem till now. So what did I do about it? I worked hard, I never gave up, and I stayed with my goal until I succeeded. One of the days when I had a hitting lesson it was different. I walked in and we weren’t doing our normal routine. Instead we were doing breathing exercises and trying to keep a positive mentality when hitting. This changed me, and week by week I got better at staying confident at the plate. I know this helped me and I changed because now I hit fifth in my batting order, I used to hit eighth.

A few months later after the off season was over I was ready to play ball. My first tournament started in a few hours but I wasn’t nervous, I was excited. So when it came my turn to hit in the order here is what happened. When I was approaching the batter’s box from the on deck circle I was taking deep breaths. I realized that I was the only one that could make something happen in this game. Nobody else was in control at this moment accept for me. Even when the umpire tried to rush me to get in the box, it didn’t matter because only I was in control. But now I was ready, I stepped into the box, the pitcher got his signs from the catcher. The ball was leaving his hand and I could see right away the ball was in the spot I liked it. So I hit it, but this wasn’t just a single in between the third baseman and the shortstop. It went over the left fielder head. I started running but I felt like I ran so fast I left my shoes rounding first base. By the time I was halfway to second the left fielder was throwing the ball in, but he was too slow. I was already standing on second base. That day I ended up going 4 for 5 on hits. I also scored 3 runs. Being confident can go a long way for anybody in my opinion.