My early childhood years were full of tee ball, peewee, and junior basketball games. It was hard to be the star player when my teammates were all older than me. I was one of those kids who was born around the cut off date for age limits so every season I was always placed in divisions were I was the youngest kid on the team. I was always intimidated by the older players because they were so much bigger than me. Trust me when you are young age is a big deal. This intimidation always caused me to be very shy and I wouldn't make many friends. This all change when in the summer of 2005.
It was early May and I was on the way to the first practice with my dad. I knew what to expect in the first practice the usual who's who questions and then a couple hitting drills and fielding just to get an idea of the team's skill level. Before this season third base had been my position since tee ball. The coach asked if I had ever pitched I said, "no but I'm willing to try anything to get in coach." I thought maybe he was just asking because we did not have a full roster yet. Little did I know how serious he really was.
As the season progressed I maybe got an inning here and there but mostly just bench time. It was hard to bond with the team when I never got to play with them. So by mid-season I was contemplating quiting, until one muggy summer night when we were on the verge of getting slaughtered my couch told me, "hey niner go warm up in the pen." I was shocked but very excited to show him that I could pitch. Being a third basemen for 4 years gave me a little bit stronger arm than most kids my size. I warmed up and when in to relieve the pitcher who was not having a good day at all. Before I went out my dad came over to me and said, " hey buddy remember your getting slaughtered right now so you got nothing to lose so go out there relax and throw hard." I did just that I threw as hard as I could and stuck the first batter out and the second. I was expecting to get rocked after watching 5 innings of our starting pitcher get pounded. All my teammates started to yell encouragement out from the field behind me. Before then I didn't even think they new my name. I finished the last two innings with 5 strikeouts no walks and no more runs scored. A bunch of the older players came up to me and said they did no I could pitch and I told them I didn't know either and that it was my first time ever. After that game I pitched almost every game and felt like I was actually part of the team I was an awesome feeling. For once wanted to go to my games because I had so many friends and they all relied on me to help our team win.