Softball

Last week I played in my first softball game in 14 years! I was nervous as all get out but I met a lot of really nice people and had a blast. My longtime friend Megan asked me over the past several years to play on a team with her but I was either incredibly pregnant or just had a baby. Hugely pregnant women doth not a good softball player make. There are only about seven weeks in this season which is just enough for me to get back into the swing of things (pun intended). My only problem with this season is the game times; most of the games don’t start until 8:30 at night. At that time of night I’m half dead from chasing my kids around all day so I usually try to be lying in bed watching movies and snuggling with them.

Our game last week was supposed to start at 8:30 but the previous games had run over so at 8:15 the 7:30 game was just starting their game on our field. We didn’t end up starting our game until 9:45 or so, and boy oh boy was it freezing! Everyone was very encouraging and supportive of each other, having that plus their energy made it the most fun I have had in a while. I played the outfield for the first 3 innings and batted several times making it to first base on two of my hits. Woo hoo! Color me ecstatic! I barely hit anything during practice the week before so this was a welcome change of pace. The whole game we were battling back and forth within a few points of each other. The games are supposed to be called after they go longer than a specified amount of time, so when we were at the bottom of the 5th inning at 11:00 at night the umpire called it. We ended up winning that game! I do wish we had time to finish but I was exhausted and had to be up early for work the next morning so you could say I wasn’t too upset about the game being called.

When I was younger Megan and I played on the same team together for several years. We were always outfield buddies together, it was nice to have someone to joke with and talk to while waiting for our chance to catch something. She was there for the time I almost broke my jaw trying to catch a grounder and I was there when she got two black eyes (we were really young alright). It’s kind of funny the fields we play on now are some of the fields we played on when we were younger. It definitely brings back memories of being in the dugout and singing songs with the other girls and attempting to eat sunflower seeds. Now that we are older we can make new memories of playing together.

Sports have always been a pretty big part of my life growing up; my mom, and both my sisters played softball; more than that though it was something that the family could do together. My dad would play catch with us when we needed the extra practice; he always threw the best pop flies. We were playing softball when my parents were going through their divorce so it kinda forced everyone during that time to be together to support and cheer each other on; it brought us together in a time when we needed it. Softball turned into volleyball when my sisters got in high school whereas I got more involved in my JROTC activities but still any event someone had we were always there supporting and encouraging each other.

I hope as I continue to play softball that I get more of that connection back to it where everything becomes second nature, where you can just tell where the ball will land or if you’re going to hit the ball out of the park so to speak. Right now I’m having a lot of fun, but maybe you should ask me again after my first double header tomorrow night, HA!