Becoming close to someone leaving you is never easy. I first met Kelly the summer before freshman year. It was a summer softball practice at Pelham and we instantly clicked. We both were pitching and she was so welcoming and nice to me even though I was so much younger than her. Before I knew it we became friends very quickly. After summer softball, it was fall ball, then before I knew it we were pitching twice a week together in preparation for the spring season. Soon after that, she started driving me to everything and during the offseason, we were always working to get better. Once the spring season came, we were inseparable and spent every day together. Since Kelly was a senior, it never hit me that she was not going to be with me next year until our last game together came. 

It was the semi-final playoff game on a Wednesday at Rye Neck. Rye Neck had gone undefeated all year, but that didn’t stop us from working all year to beat them. The first two innings went well with a 0-0 score and I really thought that we were going to pull off the upset that no one believed we could do. Kelly and I, being the loudest on the bench, were so locked into this game that Rye Neck was starting to get nervous. “Here we go Kel,” I said to her as we did our handshake. “Let's do this right now.” 

“We got this Mag,” she replied to me with a determined look on her face. 

Before we knew it Rye Neck began hitting the ball and the game was slowly slipping away from us. With the defeated look on our teammates faces, Kelly always brings the energy up. “It starts with one run,” she says. “We have to work as a team in order to win this game, we have made it this far and it's not for nothing. Let's go out there and get this game back.” Rye Neck, still pulling ahead, the score was 14-0 in the bottom of the 6th inning. As Rye Neck got up to bat I was thinking to myself, one more run and they win. We can not let them win off of a mercy rule. I knew Kelly was thinking the same thing and as I watched the ball cross the plate with a runner on 3rd, it was a fly ball to right field. Tina on the run to catch the ball, all of a sudden I see it go past her glove to the ground as the runner on 3rd scored making it 15-0. As the Rye Neck dugout ran onto the field celebrating, all I could think to myself was, how could this happen? All we have worked for, all the hours we put into this, it can’t be over I thought to myself. 

After shaking hands with Rye Neck and jogging out to right field to talk as a team, I was trying not to burst into tears. With tears in my eyes as Coach Mike is talking to us, the moment I have been avoiding came. I turned around to look at Kelly as Rye Neck was celebrating their win behind her. Tears were starting to form in her eyes as we made eye contact and knew exactly what we both were thinking. As I felt a tear run down my cheek the memories of the past year were flooding through my head as I realized that I will never play with Kelly again. I became hysterical and after hugging Kelly I never wanted to let her go.

You would think the hardest part was on the field, but really it was on the bus ride home. I tried to sit in my usual seat towards the front with Mary, while Kelly was in the back. But before we even got the chance to leave the parking lot, I felt myself begin to cry again and I sprinted to the back of the bus to sit with Kelly. Since Kelly is one of the toughest people I know, she usually doesn’t cry, but even she could not keep her emotions in. 

As we sat together in the backseat of the bus crying, all I could think of is how much she has taught me over the past year. I have looked up to Kelly all season and she is one of the reasons why I play the way I do. From pitching, to hitting, to fielding, and to softball in general, she has been one of my biggest role models and I will never forget what she has done for me. “What am I going to do without you next year?” I said to her, 

 “Mag, you don’t need me,” she says. “I know you are going to do great things and continue to grow even without me there. I know it's hard and trust me it's hard for me to leave too, but this is all you next year, and you are going to be amazing.” I know that this was hard for Kelly to say considering that softball has been her favorite thing to do for years, but it shows how much she cares about me and our team. 

After we got back to the school and got off the bus, I realized I would not get to spend everyday with Kelly anymore. Kelly has made such an impact on my life and I can’t imagine my life without her there. From being my best friend and like an older sister to me, I am beyond upset. However, even though she is going to college, it will never change our friendship and she will always be my best friend.