“Swing batter, batter, swing batter!” The pitcher threw the ball down the middle, my eyes lit up, and I swung the bat. The ball went flying over the fence and the tree in left field. The pitcher looked at me in surprise and started to laugh. The game was over! We ten run ruled Muncie Southside. Our team, Jay County Patriots, hit eight homeruns that game. We shook hands after the game and said good game to each other. The team went crazy because we had so many homeruns that game. It is not very often a team hits eight homeruns in one game. The Jay County Patriots hit 68 homeruns last season. The record is 69 homeruns in a season. Our record was 24-3 that season.

We started off the season great! I did not play much at the beginning of the season though. I was the designated hitter most of the games, which I did a really good job at. It is a hard job to do because you have gone up for one bat like every two or three innings. Your muscles are so tight, which makes it very difficult to run and swing. I was up for the challenge that the coaches gave me. When I do play, I pitch and play third base.

At the end of the season, we were playing our best baseball. You want to be playing your best baseball at the end of the season because of sectionals, regional’s, semi-state, and state. We had high goals at the beginning of the season. Our number one pitcher back was hurting him and he could not pitch for two weeks. That meant our third baseman had to pitch, which I filled in the spot at third base. The goals were to win twenty games, win sectionals, and have a good reputation. Well, we won the twenty games and fans from all over said we were really good kids. No body would have ever thought in the right mind we would hit 68 homeruns. We had talent and we knew it, which is why we had set high goals. The team knew we had the talent to go to state in baseball. We had two out of the three goals by the end of the season. It was sectional time.

The first sectional game was a blow out! Our number one pitcher, who was hurt with a back problem and is one of the best pitchers in the state, came back and pitched the first game. He was getting very frustrated because it was hard for him to throw strikes. I remember him saying on the mound, “I used to be one of the best pitchers in the state, and now I can not even throw a strike.” Our coach just told him to slow down and relax. As well, the coach told him to let the defense take care of you. We won the first game 17-3.

We were in the sectional championship. It was the very last goal we needed to meet. We were playing homestead, which they are very good. Homestead had a division one player and we had a couple of division one players. It was going to be a battle. We did not want to lose after the historic season we just had. They announced the starters. I was starting at third base. After announcing the starters, they played the national anthem. It was time to start the ball game. We were visitors and Homestead was home. We were playing at Huntington College. The field is massive. It was all tied up at the top of the 7th inning 0-0. We had a couple of chances to score, but we had some mental mistakes. As well, Homestead had several chances of scoring. It was the bottom of the 7th inning, the crowd was cheering and the teammates were cheering. It started to get really loud. With all the energy in the atmosphere, we could not score. It was homestead’s turn to bat. The bases were loaded with zero outs. Their division player, who went to Louisville to play, was up to bat. Our pitcher, who has pitched all game, was really tired. It back fired on us. He threw the pitch and the batter swung. It went high into the air in right field. I stood their watching the ball soaring over the fence. Everyone‘s head on our team dropped.
After the historic season we just had, it was all for nothing. The baseball season had a great deal of admirable memories. We did not meet our third goal for the season. Some of the players were shedding tears including me. The coaches talked to us after the game and it was hard to find words for the kind of season we had. I found out later that Homestead went to state and lost in the finals. We all felt like if we would of won that game, we would of went to state. Lastly, we accomplished most of our goals, but did not succeed at the end. It was a great season, but a sad finish.