Strike One

Chapter 17: Homerun = A Kiss

Chandler's Point of View:

After leaving her dorm, I have to have Luke talk me out of not going to Nick's dorm and beating the living s**t out of him. He succeeds, this time.

In the morning I partake in my pre-game morning ritual. Baseball is easily one of the most superstitious games played. A bowl of Lucky charms cereal. I know, but I have to eat the grain cereal first then I eat the marshmallows in a particular order...it's tradition. After this I get into the shower, brush my teeth, put on my uniform and then wait for Luke in the living room so we both can drive to the stadium to get on the bus to go to Lansing.

When Luke appears from his room, he is dressed in the number 44 and repping his lucky wristband. The wristband has some underlying meaning, he won’t tell anyone about it though, and that’s fine by me. I on the other hand wear the #20 and the only thing lucky on my attire is that there is a quote written on my catcher’s clove in permeant marker - "Legends never die." Oddly enough it is from the sandlot and brings me meaning from my family. But today when I look at my glove prior to putting it into my bag - It reminds me of Matthew Brown, Whitney’s dad. Legends never die.

I decide to text Whitney, "Good Luck today, 'Legends never die.' It's written on my catchers mit, has been for as long as I can remember. It's from the Sandlot - But when I looked at it today it reminded me of you and your father. I wanted to share that thought pattern and hope it brings you comfort going into today." I smile as I lock the screen of my phone and follow Luke out of our apartment.

Arriving at the Stadium, I place all of my catcher’s equipment under the charter bus, while the Freshmen gather equipment and place under the bus as well. I grab my air pods and enter the bus and place myself against a window. Luke finds me and sits next to me - we will be a full bus today with both the softball and baseball teams riding together to Lansing for the game. Luke and I have a similar pre-game, we listen to our own particular playlist to get ourselves in our mindset for the game. We fist bump and begin our pre-game.

I text Lexie letting her know that we are about to leave. She is riding with my parents to the game, and they are bringing three dogs for training purposes. My parents always ask me if it’s okay for them to bring the dogs, I laugh every time. Of course, its ok, they need to learn to be outside, around people and in different environments - it's part of their job as therapy dogs. I truly hope they bring Mia; it will put a smile on my girl’s face. Wait, she’s not my girl, at least not yet.

The Softball team is in the front of the bus while the baseball team is in the back. We are almost ready to go when Nick Suchy decides to make his appearance, late none the less. Hutch makes a joke, "Glad for you to finally join us Suchy, can’t wait to watch you run laps not just for being late but for also running your mouth. We (she points to the entire bus) are a family. You disrespected that yesterday when you ran your mouth with false information about Whitney. Don't worry we have already decided that you alone will be running poles for that, as for being late - I cannot wait to see what coach has in store for you," she announces out loud to Suchy.

It takes everything within me not to laugh. It was pure joy to see his face, he tried to act like it didn't faze him, but we all know it did. Furthermore, it was a good example for the freshmen that we are a family here and we treat one another with respect. My phone buzzes and it’s a picture image from Whitney. Upon opening it I see her catcher’s glove with, "Legends never die" written on it. I look up to see her looking at me as she mouths the words, "Thank you." I do a simple nod to her, letting her know that she is welcome.

The bus takes off and we have about an hour till we are at our destination, so headphones in and eyes outside letting my mind calm and prepare for the game. However, I'm distracted by a text: "What are you listening to," Whitney asks me. I forward her my playlist via text message and tell her; this is my pre-game playlist.

The play list consists of:

1.Young MC - Bust A Move

2. Linking Park- Paper Cut

3. Blink 182- Damnit

4. Rage Against Machine - Killing in the name of

5. ACDC - Back in Black

6. Run DMC - Tricky

7. Third Eye Blind - Semi Charmed Life

8. Fall Out Boy - Sugar, we’re going Down

9. Linkin Park - Bleed it Out

10. Foreigner - Juke Box Hero

11. Dave Matthews Band - Ants Marching

My next text followed up with, "Yeah, it's all over the place...but so is my head so this works for me." She responded back, "Foreigner and Dave Matthews are on your playlist?" I smile, "Yup, part of the music played for me as a child... it's in me," I respond. "Those were my father’s favorite bands.... thank you for this." I look down at the item in my hands, it’s a simple iPhone - but what this item holds is so much more. Sure, I'm in the day and age of using your phone as an everyday extension of our own hand, but when a song or playlist can speak to someone, you lose sight of the technology aspect of the world and just enjoy what we are doing within it. It warms my heart to know I touched her soul in a way that made her happy.

I lay my head against the glass and wait for us to get there. When we arrive both coaches get to the front of the bus and give us their typical, "lets win and have fun speech, they inform us Cell phones off and if one goes off during the game, we will all (ALL of us) be running poles until we vomit." I will literally punch someone if I have to do that, I look at Suchy and make sure he shuts his phone off. Right as I'm about to power it down, a text comes through from Whitney. "Kill it today. Make sure you appreciate the game and what it has to offer, don't underestimate it - for the game is ever challenging - honor it. Take solace that another catcher too is undergoing the same fate as you are today. IF you get a homerun though, there is a girl I know who will give you a kiss," she typed.

My heart skips a beat. Ah s**t, now I have to try really hard to get that kiss. I shut my phone off and double check it just to be sure... and stuff it into my bat bag and head off the bus. The softball girls have created a tunnel with their hands for us to exit off the bus in style. Being that I'm one of the last ones off I smile as I see Whitney somewhere in the middle of the tunnel, I lightly pinch her side as I run through, letting her know I appreciate her in our own unique way.

Game days are some of my favorite days to exists, the thrill of stepping into the box or the simplicity of being behind the plate catching for Luke - it all makes sense to me. What is even better about this, Nick Suchy is sitting his ass on the pine. He didn't earn his spot; in fact, he is not even in the bull pen warming up our reliefs. Coach is not pleased with his attitude and truly doesn't care who he is nor how good he is, if you can't play as a team - to us, you mean nothing.

My mind goes almost blank before a game, I take everything in... I watch everyone, I see how my team is responding when we take the field for warmups - IF I see any hiccups, I will address those after we exit the warmup in the dugout. I am always taking mental notes - The same goes for when I watch the opponent take infield, I inform my team of weak spots and where to try and hit. Does it always work in my favor, no. But Baseball is such a mental game, that if you have a bad warm up - it tends to run through to your game. That being said, the opposite is normal for me, I try and look weak, so the challenger tries to run on me, or tries to bunt... it's my favorite to throw them out.

The game begins and because we are the away team at Michigan State we are batting first. In the lineup I bat second which is not really normal for a catcher. Typically, your catcher is not the quick one on the team (or at least that is how it always used to be) however, times have changed, and I can lay a bunt down and run that s**t out. I've always been quick/fast, and I use it to my advantage at being a really good base runner. I truly believe it has allowed me to become an even better catcher because I try to think of "What I would do" and adjust my catching position to mimic just that.

The baseball and softball fields are right next to one another, and I see that the girls are too going to start at noon on the dot just as us. They typically get done before us because we go 9 innings, and they go 7. Plus, softball is just faster all around on and off the field. Our Lead Off is our center fielder he pops out, so I'm up. First pitch I take, Strike One. Alright, perfect. Coach gives me the sign to "get on base" I nod. As I am getting back into the box, I see my parents along with Lexie on the First baseline with the pups. A sense of relief comes over me, and I'm back in my own space again.

Second pitch comes too far outside, for a ball. One and one going into the third pitch which he throws a fast ball outside, perfect for me to drive toward right field, and I do just that. Single into right field to get myself on base. The sad part of this inning is that no one else can seem to find a hole and we end up scoring nothing that time through. The next couple innings fly by, 1,2,3. 1,2,3...1,2,3. We are all playing great defense and offense is hitting, just not finding holes. We are approaching the ninth inning and I'm up to bat with one of my guys on second. I end up getting myself into a full count, I need to find the right pitch we are down by one at this point. State hit in a run last inning, so I need to make something happen here, especially with 2 outs on us. My favorite pitch comes, he misses a bit high allowing me to get ahold of one and send it over the middle / left field fence. As I'm rounding second base I toss one arm in the air for a fist pump, as I do this, I notice the softball team sitting in the bleachers - all of them up cheering me home.

The baseball team is at home plate waiting for me to come and touch it to do our celebration. As I'm running down from third base to home I see Whitney, she salutes me, and I c***k up laughing as I hit home plate. Everyone hits my helmet as congrats are thrown around.

We end up winning the game by 1 run, as excited I am for getting that win. I'm more excited to kiss Whitney for that homerun I was able to snag by the skin of my teeth.