to play travel ball. Missing milestones like my sixteenth birthday to play away games. Having a normal life—whatever that was—to devote it to living my dream.
After today, either I’d move on to the next level of the game, or I wouldn’t.
Either prospect was terrifying.
Alex swung an arm around my shoulder and joined me at the entrance to the field. We were still in the shadows, so the fans in the stadium couldn’t see us from their vantage point.
“Don’t you love it? They’re here for us, man.”
“Showboater,” I said automatically. Alex always got off on the spectacle of it all. He loved being in the spotlight. He was the type of player who enjoyed being a player. Alex ate up all the attention from the fans—the female fans in particular.
“You know it,” he answered. “You ready for this?”
“Born ready.”
Alex whooped and punched me in the arm. “Let’s do this!”
By this time, the rest of our team had joined us. We were about to run out on the field for warmups. It was the first game of the year, and spirits were high. Our summer practices had been rigorous, but we were more prepared than ever. This was what I’d been waiting for.
The din of the crowd kicked up several notches as we ran out on the field and took our places to warm up. I’d thrown some to warm up, but I always liked to get a feel for the mound before we started the game. All eyes were on me, but my focus was solely for our catcher and the plate.
We were going to dominate.
It was the bottom of the sixth. We were up by two and had one on second. I wasn’t a genius at bat, but I was competent. While I was on deck, I took a moment to scan the crowds, looking for my parents. The game had been head-to-head until now, so I hadn’t had the chance before.
I found them behind third, a few rows up. They both waved enthusiastically when I lifted a hand in greeting. Then my gaze found Ember, who was sitting in the row immediately behind them. She had her friends, Layla and Charlie, next to her, each with a twin on her lap. They were about to turn five, and no doubt Em needed her friends to help wrangle them because they’d taken the “eff you fours” to the next level.
The three girls waved, and the twins copied them. I saw their mouths move as they cupped their hands and shouted. They were too far away for me to hear what they were saying, but I didn’t need to hear it. The twins were holding a sign that said, “WE <3 #9!”
I pointed my bat at the lot of them, and the twins began jumping up and down. With a grin, I turned to do some practice swings while our shortstop was up at bat. He hit a single, and I brought them both in with a triple. The next person up at bat struck out, which ended the inning and put us back on the field.
I walked the first two, and the second got a single to right field. Sweat poured down my face, and my uniform was already soaked. My focus was so absolute it was as though no one else in the stadium existed but the players on the field.
Alex signaled a fastball, and I nodded. I wound up, and the ball torpedoed past the player at bat. Strike. Once I got the ball back, I checked the players on either base out of the corner of my eye. Their coach liked to play it safe, but it didn’t hurt to make sure neither was trying to pull anything.
The second fastball made my shoulder twinge a little. It wasn’t out of the ordinary, so I rolled it and gave my arms a quick stretch to shake it off. It wasn’t abnormal to experience some muscle exhaustion this far into the game, so I didn’t think much of it.
Stress on the muscles and ligaments is why we did so much conditioning and strengthening. It’s also why Coach Taylor wanted us to give a sign if we were reaching the point of putting ourselves through too much. Injuries could end a career.
A curveball took out the player at bat, and I gave my shoulders another roll as we set up for the next one. A quick glance at the coach showed him focused on the player at bat. We only