A Little Rusty But It’s Okay We Won Anyway (6/3/2024)

Last week, it was too hot to play. This week, it’s still hot as hell but not hot enough for the board to go ‘okay maybe we shouldn’t play’. Tans included.

Today I played softball for interschool sport! I’m in the Senior Girls team for my school. As a disclaimer, I don’t play professional softball or anything. At least one of us definitely plays outside of school, though. A lot of us played in the same team last year, so we’re pretty familiar with each other. There are, of course, new people and people who have left, but we’re coping well. 3-0 to start the season after today’s win and last week’s heat out. Eh.

It was our home game, but our school’s main oval which we usually play on is being revamped so we have to play at a separate venue which is about 15 minutes from the school. It’s fine, I like bus rides. The more we have of those the better :) We got there and had another fifteen minutes to warm up before the other school showed up and we had to start playing.

We fielded first. After we lost our usual first-baser to the soccer team (no hard feelings, she scored their two goals in their win today :)) I decided to have a shot a few weeks ago and now it’s kind of my position when we field. I’m not a bad catcher, but there have been some iffy throws I haven’t been able to recover and I’ve had my fair share of drops, too. It’s something I’m working on, though, which is good. Our team’s generally pretty good, but today a few errant throws home and the bumpy field did lead to the other team scoring four runs. Oof.

I also bat first. For some reason, our coach put me there (again, first game) and it’s stayed that way since. We forgot to bring our good bats today, so we had to borrow some of the other team’s. I’m not saying that ruined my batting action, but I hit it back at the pitcher on something like the third ball. Out at first base. Eh. Luckily, the next couple batters made much better connection and before I knew it, we had 5 runs and I was back at the crease. Crease? I don’t think that’s what they call it in softball.

Google says ‘batters box’ which I think is too long so we’ll go with plate. Home base actually is a plate, not a squishy thing like all the other bases.

Anyways. Back at the plate. I’m out here like ‘damn I hope I don’t hit it directly back at the pitcher. And I don’t! I don’t actually remember what I ended up doing. I definitely threw the bat. I think it went just past the pitcher. On their right, too, so it’s not closer to the girl at first base. I make it. Sneak a little. Sneak a lot. Make it home after a couple steps off the base to sneak turn into a sprint as I hear a sharp clang and a dash of yellow fly to my left. Woo. Nothing lost. Everything gained. (And by everything, I mean one run.) We’ve hit seven by this point so it’s time to swap over.

Our fielding in the second innings is much better. 0 runs taken. Our batting…. Well, I hit it directly to the pitcher again. Not fun. Then our second batter, who’s always a big hitter, got caught out. We made it a couple bases before another catch saw us also barreled out for none.

7-4. One more innings. And here we are, sent out to field again.

It couldn’t get much better. It could, but what we did produce was pretty damn good too. (Long story short for the ‘much better’, 3 catches- 2 strikeouts to the keeper, one catch by the shortstop). Today was not that day. However, we did get a strikeout, and I ran the other two out at first base, boom sideaway. The game was pretty much won unless we got barrelled out again and went for a fourth inning. I batted first again. One of my teammates gave me a pep talk after I worried about hitting it back to the pitcher again.

I didn’t hit it directly back to the pitcher. I can remember how it felt. How it sounded. A sharp clang. A jolt in my wrists. A whizz of yellow darting to my left. Towards third base. Exactly where I wanted it. I ran. Over the extra plate at first base. Come back. Wait for the next batter’s pitch. Sprint. Foul ball. Come back. Go again. Run the extra one. Ball gets thrown past me and I run the extra base because why the hell not. I make it. I’m at third base.

I don’t remember who took the next bat, (It might have been our pitcher, actually) but it was a good hit. Out past first base, I think. Once again, it’s methodical- a couple steps when the pitcher lets go of the ball, sprint as soon as you hear the clang and see the ball fly away.

That was one of the last balls we faced. The score in the end was 14-4. We got Slurpees at 7-Eleven after. A tradition carried on from last year’s group, though we waited until after some wins before asking the new coach. Or maybe, she usually does slurpee trips and was waiting for us to ask. Not sure. Anyways, I bought a packet of honey-soy chips to eat. I’m planning on having them tomorrow, actually, while watching the first AFL game of the season.

I might make a pre-season post, actually. That’ll be in my AFL hub, though, not this one.

This is softball.

This is home.

Carn goats.