I sat in the dugout, the intense heat radiating through the diamond shaped holes in the metal fence, as I waited for our last game of the day to start.
My teammates buzzed around me, all preparing to face our rival team, The Edmonton Eagles. All of the girls on the other team, stood in the dugout opposite ours, determination written all over their faces.
I wasn't afraid of playing against them, I was afraid of losing to them for the third time this season.
The girls at Edmonton high were all phenomenal at softball, and I knew we stood no chance against them.
The umpire blew a whistle, signifying that our warmup time was over. For our first inning, we would be on the field first, so I took this opportunity to watch how the girls on the other team swung their bats.
I grabbed my glove and slid it on my hand before grabbing my cap. I slapped it on my head and ran out onto the field with the other girls.
I stood at the pitcher's plate, determined and ready to throw the ball to my catcher.
I stretched my arm, preparing to throw the ball.
The first Eagle took her place on the side of home plate, and I took this opportunity to study everything about her. If I didn't, then there would be absolutely no chance of winning against them today.
Her blue jersey clashed with our team's red jerseys, so it was easy to tell she was the odd one out on the field. I saw the number two on her back flash quickly as she stretched, before she turned back around to face me.
The girl stood in her batting stance, ready to hit the ball I was going to throw. But, I wasn't going to let her hit it that easily.
I swung my arm behind me, propelling it in a circular motion and released the ball way too late. It glided through the air above the girls bat, and she swung for it, inevitably missing.
My catcher, Alyssa, caught the ball and threw it back to me. I felt the ball land in my glove with force.
I could see the batter's eyes yell at me in frustration through the helmet that sat on her head.
The umpire stuck up his finger, signifying the first strike. Usually, it was three strikes and you were out, but one was all I needed.
I mouthed an 'oops' to her and covered my mouth in a look of disapproval. I could barely see her roll her eyes, but I did, which caused a grin to line my face.
By the swing of her bat, I could tell the ball would land somewhere in left field, so I turned my head around and made quick eye contact with my third baseman, Eren.
She nodded her head and I whipped mine back around, a smug smile lining my face.
If my calculations were correct, the batter would hit the ball in that direction, allowing Eren to catch it, giving them their first out.
I prayed to the softball goddesses that I was right, and swung my arm, releasing the ball again, but this time at a perfect angle.
The ball whipped through the air, towards the glove of my catcher, but the batter intercepted my perfection, the ball pivoting back towards the field.
I watched the ball arch through the air above me, right into Eren's glove.
I smiled in triumph and stretched my throwing arm once more.
I knew I had to keep up my strategy in order to get us this game, but I also knew it was going to wear me out.
I continued the same process for the next two batters. I threw a late ball, analyzed their swings and predicted where the ball was going to be hit.
After the last out, the umpire signaled for us to switch positions on the field.
I made my way back into the dugout, the girls on my team patting my back.
"Henry, that was incredible," Alyssa said as she clapped me on the back. It stung but I knew I'd recover.
"Dude, keep it up," Eren said as she handed me a bottle of water from the cooler in front of us.
I twisted the cap off and took a few sips before taking a seat on the bench.
I knew I couldn't continue with my strategy the whole game. Eventually the Eagles would catch on and stop swinging on my first pitch.
My teammates lined up in the dugout preparing to bat. Hopefully they would score some points, so by the second inning we were ahead.
Even though I wanted to bat with them, Coach Lee wouldn't let me. She said I had to save my arm for throwing the balls rather than trying to hit them. I thought this was unfair, but I knew I needed to save energy.
[•••]
I continued my strategy for as long as I could. Unfortunately, I knew the other team would catch on but, I didn't think it'd take three innings.
Just because they can play ball, doesn't mean they're that smart, I thought.
I instantly regretted my cocky competitive thoughts and shook them away.
This game was going by quickly, and we were in the last inning. My calculations had allowed the scores to be tied. Without them, there was no doubt Edmonton would be in the lead by a landslide right now.
I took my place at the pitcher's plate one last time tonight, before the game would be completely over.
I had been analyzing the entire game, and every single one of the other teams players, and I decided I knew how we were going to win.
I got comfortable in my position, knowing that there wasn't much else I could do besides pitch at the moment.
I threw a few fast balls, trying to help my team prevent any scoring from the Eagles. It was inevitable, of course because they had scored three more points before we had gotten them out.
As we switched positions on the field, I told the umpire we needed to take a timeout.
He nodded, making weird hand signals as I rushed back to the dugout.
All of the girls made their way over to me as I thought about exactly what I was going to say.
"Load the bases, and I'm gonna hit a home run," was all I had to say before I had my whole team smiling and cheering.
We all put our hands into the middle of our huddle. I counted down from three and all of our hands made their way into the air.
"Ravens!"
