“Strike three!” I hear the umpire yell, as our pitcher strikes out the last batter to send us into the championship game and a shot at the state title the next weekend. My heart furiously pumps as the adrenaline flows throughout my body. We have worked so hard for this moment to come and finally its here before us. My team of twelve young boys has ventured to places we did not expect to. That memorable summer of ’08 was the best summer of my life. This sport has affected my life in many different ways. The baseball tournaments I participated in, the experience I gained from playing baseball, and the feelings I felt while playing baseball all helped me be a better person and player.

The games I played in tournaments in the summer were very exciting. I gained much knowledge from coaches and from myself. I learned of my unique abilities and of what I am capable of achieving. The fate of our team had always been pretty good, as our success grew, so did our physical and mental skill after each game because we knew more and played smarter. These select numbers of games made all of us, players and coaches, have a good time playing the sport of baseball.
This baseball experience is a once in a lifetime occurrence. I feel this way because the team of young kids needs to be well prepared and able to work together and compete against bigger towns, with better players, and we were. I think that our team two years ago had been good enough to win the Class 13A State Tournament. I don’t think we won because we did not believe in ourselves that we could go that far into the tournament. I believe if we had that much needed self-confidence we could have come out on top, although we were the Class 13A State Consolation Champions.

The bond between my friends and I strengthened while we played baseball. We became more of a team, as before we were a bunch of kids brought together to play baseball, and go farther than our imagination. I had built up my friendships with many of them and we are still good friends today. These friendships have had played a big part in my young life because without them, we could not share this awesome baseball experience. While playing baseball with my friends in the summer, I had experienced a rollercoaster of feelings.
As I stepped onto the neatly groomed infield dirt, and then onto the trimmed outfield grass, I felt a exhilarating rush go through my body. It made me feel as I was at the Little League World Series, my ultimate dream goal, though my team and I were much short of that feat. My feelings of sadness and heartache after a loss was only temporary, those feelings only made me stronger, and more determined to play harder. The friendships grew as well while we played together, as a team.
My pride for the game flourished and developed to heights I would not have believed. My pride for the great game of baseball is more than a feeling now, it’s a mind-set, to be the best I can be on and off the field. This pride from inside is the driving force for me today and was the driving force for my team two years ago. I think that if everyone was embodied with this magical force from inside, we were capable of defeating anyone.
The qualifying tournament, my memorable experience, and the feelings I felt all contributed to my great summer of 2008. I liked to consider our team of twelve as “The Boys of Summer” as we could physically defeat any team in a game of baseball, but mentally, we could not. Baseball events such as this one have changed my life and they will forever stay with me. I can always imagine that game, playing over and over in my head when we knew we were going to play in a tournament for the state title. In my view point on life, baseball is not just a sport, it is a game created to share with friends and make memories that will last a lifetime.