My First Baseball Tournament

“Bang!” I hear the sound of baseballs being clocked by a bat. This is the first time I have ever been in a tournament for baseball. This is especially the first time I have ever been in a dome. “Wow,” I gaze at the dome and the fascinating players that are here. It’s just like a baseball park, but inside. I was very excited for my first baseball tournament and that it’s in a dome. I can’t wait for my first game.

There I was standing on a turf field. It was my first time playing in a baseball tournament and it felt breathtaking. The crowd cheering, the other games going on and the guys trying to make money at the pretzel stand. My team started off home so that meant we were in the field and they were hitting first. “Play Ball!” The umpire yelled when he wanted the game to start.
I was playing third base the whole game.
Our pitcher was throwing a gem, a great game, until the last stretch. It was the top of the 6th inning and all we needed was one more out and the game could’ve been over. “Strike one!” The umpired howled. Our fans were rooting for our pitcher. Our pitcher was sweating, but he was in it, to win it. He stepped on the mound. He read the catcher’s sign for the pitch. He lifted his leg and whaled the ball right down the middle. The batter closed his eyes, swung the bat hoping that he will hit the ball and you know what happened next. The kid hit a two-run blast over the fence. The dome was going crazy because our fans were saying we’ll get’em next time, but their fans were going
nuts.

Our coach took a timeout to go to the mound and talk to us. “He boys. Shake that off. Nothing in the world just happened. And you. Pick your head up. The kid got lucky when he hit that ball off of you. Now let's draw our self back in the game and shut these boys down. All we need is one more out and when it’s accomplished, let's gain that hitting barrage going boys. Alright, go get’em.” My coach mentioned a very good point. Our pitcher sustained his head back in the game and struck the next kid out on three pitches! Now it was our turn.

Our lead-off batter started it off. “Boom!” He hit it right up the middle for a single. The next guy got up. He looks at ball one and two. “Come kid you can do it now.” The coach hollered over. The next pitch comes and he sends a rocket to center field, but it was hit right at the kid for an out. The third batter got up, but it was hit to the first baseman and he got out but the first base runner advanced. Now is our clean up batter and then I was up. Our clean up batter got up, but he walked. Now it was my turn. I can feel my whole body sweating, I was shaking and I could almost barely speak. I got in the batter’s box looking at the pitcher. I was agitated because I didn’t know what to expect and if I did something wrong, I would feel horrible. “Strike one!” The umpired screeched. I took a breath and stepped back in. “Strike two!” The umpired squealed. Now it was like I jumped in a pool and jumped out, that’s how much I was sweating. “Come on now kid in your wheelhouse now.” My coach hollered. I stepped in the box shaking like crazy. I saw the pitcher and he looked pretty confident because he had two strikes on me. He threw the ball right down the middle. “POW!” I see the ball fly over everybody. I thought to myself, I just hit the game winning homerun. The crowd went wild. They were screaming and yelling and they were saying,”Go Gmoney!!” I felt the force of the ball making contact with the bat and at that exact moment, I knew it was all over. When I rounded the bases the whole team dog piled me and everyone congratulated me from the team. When we were done packing up, the fans gave me high fives, pounds, and even hugs. “Great job Giacomo! I love you son. I love you brother!” My family congratulated me as we left the dugout. I will never forget this day and how I felt so loved!