FWB Friends With Baseball

Y'all gotta be sick of me.

Jailyn~

Given Christian and my roommate status, and I assume the fact that both the Brewers and my team are up for the same award, we've got seats right next to each other, in the front row. Christian and both opted to sit next to one another, seemingly the bridge between the two teams.

"You're heading up next," Christian says, while he leans over as we applaud for the last category. "Just watch, don't trip either."

"Ass," I comment back, smiling as we watch the as the next presenter comes out to announce the nominees for Breakthrough Athlete. Smiling as my name is called, and a camera is pointed right in front of me, I wait to hear the name that he calls. I do have a pretty compelling case for winning.

"And the ESPY for Best Breakthrough Athlete goes to," there's a brief pause as the envelope is opened, "Jailyn James, Team USA National Softball Team." Holy shit, that's me. My girls are all cheering, seemingly already to their feet before I get the chance to be. Standing up, I wave to my girls, blowing them kisses as I head towards the stage. Clutching my dress, I hold it up as I take the several steps up to the stage. Hugging the presenter, I accept my award and take my place in front of the microphone.

Glancing at the hunk of metal in my hand, I smile as I start talking, "This is pretty cool." My small chuckle gets a couple of smiles before I continue, "Thank you to anyone who's voted for me for this. Every day I just come out to play softball, and to see that it's enough for you guys to vote for me is pretty cool. Thank you to every coach I've had, especially Cathy and Ken. You two have let me kinda just do my thing, and I think it's paid off, so far," I joke, looking down my line of teammates, finding Ken grinning over my small call out. "Big shout out to my girls. It takes all of us to make one of us look good, and I'm incredibly lucky to have gotten to spend my first season with all of you, and this family we've created. Thank you!" Maybe I took that a little fast, but I hold up my award before heading backstage as directed. They have me hand off the trophy before waiting for a break in the show to escort me back to my seat.

Getting back to my seat, Christian dabs me up, both of us laughing slightly over the interaction, "You were a little nervous, right?"

"That obvious?" I ask, chuckling to myself.

"No, you just were talking fast," He points out, "You were fine, it was good, aside from the fact I was snubbed, but I'll take it."

"I hate you," I reply, laughing.

A few more awards go by before Play of The Year is announced. Each respective clip is played before the presenter fiddles with the envelope, opening it before announcing, "And the ESPY for best play goes to, Jailyn James!"

Smiling, I stand again, following the same motions as the first award as I walk up to the stage, fist-bumping Christian on the way up. Accepting the award, I step back up to the microphone. "I'm guessing this play has something to do with why I'm getting pelted with softballs rather than just getting walked," I joke, running my hand down my braid with a chuckle. "Again, thank you to everyone who voted for me in this category. This one I feel like I should be sharing with you, Maddy," I continue, looking at where she sits while she brushes me off, "This play probably wouldn't have gone as smoothly had you not been on your toes at third. When they'd had their mound visit, I'd made a snap decision that I was going two when they inevitably walked me, mostly just annoyed that I wasn't getting anything I could hit. When I started booking it towards two, you caught on quick and got into home, securing our lead. Like I'd said before, it takes all of us to make one girl look good, and you helped prove my point with the fact I'm up here for this. Again, Ken, thank you for just going with my plans sometimes. I'm probably not the easiest person to coach, hence me having to run foul poles when I get things wrong, but I appreciate your trust in me to let me just go for it sometimes. Thanks," I finish off again, holding up my second award of the night before going through the same motions as before, eventually making it back to my seat again.