for the love of the game ; g.d.

Chapter 10

"Come on in, girls!" Coach Taylor and Coach Alvarez yelled from the dugout. Our team ran in from the outfield, where we had been warming up for the past few minutes. We were playing against Seako tonight, a school a few hours away from here, and we already knew it was gonna be a really hard game.

Since they're the guests, they get to bat first. I slid my face mask on over my head and tightened my glove, jogging out onto 3rd base.

Like I said, normally, I play shortstop, but I asked coach if I could switch just to try something new. Our first baseman threw the ball from 2nd to shortstop to me, warming us up even more for the first batter. I threw the ball back to her and looked up at the crowd.

A few faces I recognized immediately. My mom, Meredith, Grayson, who coincidentally didn't have a game or practice tonight, and Grayson's brother, Ethan. They know I love them, and appreciate them being there, but tonight the only one I was looking for was the one wearing a blue shirt with a UCLA patch.

He sat about a row away from them, and had a clipboard in his hand. His name was Coach Findley, and he was a recruiting scout from UCLA. Coach Alvarez put in a good word for me, and we sent in my highlight video to him a few months back. I'd always played on travel teams and club teams, which is a great way to get noticed by colleges, and had received letters from a few, but I had my heart set on UCLA, and have been praying for an oppurtunity like this one.

I tried my hardest to pretend I didn't see him sitting there, because knowing that he's here will send my stress level even higher. Luckily, the first inning went well, and they didn't score any points. When it was our turn to hit, we scored 1.

The game went on like any normal softball game, until our last and 2nd to last innings. We had a runner on 2nd, in scoring position, and to make matters worse, Tessa Ferrier, hands down their team's best hitter, stepped up to bat. She hasn't been playing this entire game, which has been our main blessing.

She hit a ball straight at me, on the first pitch. The ball sailed across the ground, stirring up dirt and spinning rapidly. The crowd was yelling like crazy, louder than they've been this whole game. I took the ball in my right hand and threw it to first, feeling a sharp stab of pain running up my arm.

I hissed and held my arm with my glove, watching the ball soar through the air, and right over the first baseman's glove. She turned around and hustled for the ball, which was already in right field territory. The runner on 2nd had already made it past 3rd and was leading off for home.

"Dammit, Camden!" Coach Alvarez yelled from the dugout, slamming her clipboard on the ground. Tessa made it all the way to 3rd, pushing me out of the way to get her foot on the base.

I didn't even listen to her. My main thought was that Coach Findley, a man with the power to crush all my little softball hopes and dreams I've ever had, just saw me make my worst throw I've possibly ever made, and it cost us a run and one more once this batter was through.

I know everyone makes mistakes, but why couldn't I have made a throw like that at any other game, literally any other. Coaches take in every move you make but recruiters a whole different deal. Throw personal experience, I've learned they critique you on the way you hold a bat to the way you look when you're standing in your spot.

I tried not to let tears fill up in my eyes, but once the pitcher threw one into the batter, the ball got right by the catcher. Tessa ran off of 3rd and slid into home, making our 3-3 tie a 3-4 in the last inning, ending the game.

After shaking hands, I grabbed my stuff and hauled ass out of the dugout, past my family, past Coach Findley, past everyone. I was absolutely crushed.