My Little League career

In the spring of 2004 when I was 7 years old, I stepped onto the baseball field for the first time. I had never previously played T-ball and I didn't play soccer until the fall of that year, so being on a team was new to me. I was the shy kid that rarely spoke a word, and to this day I still somewhat live up to that. During my first year of playing baseball I was the kid who, if the ball was hit to, you would pray to yourself that I would finally make a play. If a fly ball was hit to me I would stick my arm out and cower behind my glove in hopes that I would catch it. My batting was just as bad as I could barely hit the ball out of the infield.

Over the summer after the season ended, my cousins and I spent most of our days practicing baseball. My dad, whom I never lived with, would take my siblings and I out to the baseball fields for batting practice. He didn't do it that often, but when he did I was thankful for the time I was actually able to spend with him. The following year when I was 8 years old, I was arguably the best player on my team. It was my last year of coach pitch and that was the year I had hit my first home run. Of course, it was coach pitch so getting the perfect pitch was almost given 90% of the time. It was my second year playing baseball, and it was the first year I had made the Cambridge All-Stars. Since the other kids had more experience, and their dads were the coaches, I sat the bench for most of the post season.

My first year of kid pitch came the next year in which I played for the coach I would be coached by until I reached the Babe Ruth league, Jimmy Sylvis. Aside from the Fox family, my soccer coaches, Jimmy was the best coach I have ever had. He never quite cared for winning as much as he wanted to provide a fun learning atmosphere for the game of baseball. Ever kid sat the bench, even his own. For the next 2 years of kid pitch I made the All-stars, but I was never in the game for more than an inning. It angered my family, and sometimes I ever became overzealous at the fact that I never played, but I loved the fact that I was at least selected to be on the team.

When I was 11 years old, I didn't make the All-Star team, even after a decent year. Instead, a local dad decided to create a pick-up team for the kids who didn't make the original All-Star team that he thought deserved that opportunity. Our team was known as the Cambridge Connection. Out of all of my All-Star teams, and even my regular season teams, this team was the one I had the most fun on. I met Zac Blair, a kid who I still call one of my best friends today, on this team. I played behind the plate most games, and when I wasn't catching I was pitching.

When I was 12 years old, I had the best year of my life in Little League. I averaged 1 home run a game over a span of 10 games. I was arguably one of the top 3 pitchers in our small league, and I had one of the best batting averages. In my last Little League regular season game I went 4-4 with my last at in my career being a home run over the left field fence. After the game, a coach came up to me and told me that they weren't supposed to tell anyone yet, but I had made the All-Star team once again. During this All-Star run I sat the bench for a majority of the games; however, I was used a closing pitcher. When we went to districts, we were in the losing bracket trailing 14-1 in the 4th inning. The coach decided to bring me in off of the bench to pitch and our team seemed to spark. We came back at the end of the 6th inning to win the game 15-14. The following game we were losing 4-2, and in the 5th inning the coach once again decided to bring me in to pitch. There was one man out and one man on first base. I threw 1 pitch and my teammate, Terry Neff, caught the ball at first base on a line drive and stepped on 1st base forcing a double play. In the next inning, we came out onto the field winning the game 5-4. The first batter got on base from my first pitch in which I hit him with. The next batter was struck out with 3 straight pitches. The last batter of the game came to the plate and I threw what would be my last pitch of the tournament. He hit the ball on the ground toward the shortstop and we forced yet again another double play. In the Mount Vernon newspaper I made the front page for my spectacular comeback and my 6 pitch miracle, The following game we played Mount Vernon in the championship in which we were mercied and I was only able to play in half of an inning. My Little League career ended in this tournament, and I look back now seeing what my granddad likes to call as nepotism. The coaches' kids were the ones to start every game regardless of their skill. Could things have turned out differently if those who deserved to play were given the chance? That's something I ask myself every day. Regardless of the whole nepotism term, Little League baseball was one of the most memorable activities I have ever participated in, and I will be forever grateful for the coaches I had that helped me grow to become the man I am becoming today.