Pitcher (Aaron Nola Phillies)

Debut

13 Months Later

"Abigail, come into my office now!" The coach called me off the field where I was stretching with my triple a team. I followed my coach to his office. I was kind of nervous although I didn't know what I did wrong. 

"What is it coach?" I said as I entered his office.

"I'm scratching you from today's start." A smile crept on his face. I was starting to get the idea of what was happening.

"What do you mean?" I was trying to stop myself from smiling.

"You're going to Philadelphia. You start 2 days from now."  After a couple seconds of recognizing what he was telling me I smiled. I'm going to pitch for the Phillies.

"Thank you!" 

"Good luck Ab!" He said as I left. 

As soon as I entered the Lehigh valley iron pigs locker room I started packing my bags. Just one year in the minors and I'm already going to the big leagues. All the boys were in there doing whatever. 

"Abbie what're you doing?" My roommate J.P. Crawford asked. 

"Find a new roommate jp cause I'm going to Philly!" The whole team stared at me. 

"No way really?!" 

"Yup I start Monday." 

Monday

After talking to the media in the press room. I was ready to go to the locker room. I was staying in a hotel and needed an apartment but I had my jersey. I got my lucky number six. Walking into the locker room was the scariest thing I've ever done. The second I walked in all eyes were on me. I forgot what it was like to be on a team that wasn't used to a girl. I glanced around at the familiar faces. I saw the Spanish players all in one group together goofing around, I saw the veterans looking seriously at me, then I saw the second years and rookies they looked just as uncomfortable as me. 

"Hey y'all! I'm the new pitcher Abigail smith! Anyone know where my locker is?" I greeted them to break the silence. Odubel Herrera said something Spanish to his friends and they all laughed. I just ignored them. 

"Over here, next to me!" Someone called, when I found who was waving I imeadiately recognized him as the catcher Cameron Rupp. Sweet I'm next to a friendly guy! When I got to my locker I shook Cameron's hand as he introduced himself. 

"Who's on my other side?" I asked Cameron motioning towards the locker next to mine. 

"Aaron Nola." I'd heard his name so many times at LSU. It reminded me of my real home.

"Where's he?" 

"Over there." He motioned towards the other side of the room. Aaron was standing with some pitchers. It struck me that he was kinda quiet. I really wanted to see him I needed a reminder of Louisiana. 

After talking to Cameron and his friend Cody for a while. It was time for us to start practice. Cameron and I had decided that I could stay in his apartment since apartment searching was hard here. Even though I'm from Philly I had kinda forgotten what it was like so it would be nice to experience it with someone. Cameron and I had become really good friends. 

The coach welcomed me and paired me with Cameron for the game and made sure he warned me up. After three hours of practice it was time to change. The team had already started to accept me. I made sure to get changed before the rest of my team. I felt a bit nervous for my game but I tried my hardest to remain calm. 

"Don't be nervous." Someone said in a familiar Louisiana accent as I was sitting down playing on my phone after I got changed. I looked up into the prettiest hazel eyes I had ever seen. 

"I'm not, and you are?" 

"Aaron Nola." of course he is he's the only one from Louisiana. 

"I'm Abigail smith." I stood up to be at his height but it was no use he was way taller than me. Aaron shook my hand. He had tan skin, hazel eyes and messy brown hair. Of all the shirtless, handsome boys I've seen today Aaron is the handsomest. I tried to peel my eyes off his six pack. 

"I know. You're the only girl it's kinda easy to tell you apart." 

"Well I know who you are. You went to LSU too. They never shut up about you. But I must admit it's comforting to see someone from Louisiana again." I don't know what made me say the last part. He laughed at it but not meanly just sweetly.

"Yeah I've heard about you too. My friends back home won't shut up about you. They say you're as good as me and pitch like me. We'll see if that's true tonight." He finished getting changed by pulling his shirt on.

"Well back there they say I pitch like you and that you're an amazing pitcher. I'll show you tonight."  

That Night

The game went amazing in fact it went better than Aaron's debut. I even got my first big league hit and scored from second. The team gave me great back up offensively and defensively. I struck out 7 in 7 innings. Aaron was shocked and impressed.  The whole team was. All it took was one game for me to fit in with my team. Thankfully we won. 

After the game I went out with my parents for dinner. When I entered Cameron's apartment he showed me my room and where to put my stuff. He congratulated me and I thanked him for the home run he hit to insure my win. He told me he couldn't wait to catch for me again. I  couldn't wait either.