The Beginning of My Softball Career

I am still on Spring Break and I am realizing how nice it is to have some free time. Too bad it ends in only a few days. One thing I added to my already busy schedule is a co-ed softball team. Rojas, the P.E. teacher at the school I work at, has organized a co-ed team that plays in March. Basketball is really my sport but I am decent at most sports and enjoy being part of a team. I didn't play softball in high school but I did play some co-ed intra-murals in college. I didn't already have anything scheduled for Friday nights so I agreed to be part of the team.

I missed our first games because I was out of town visiting my brother's family. Last night was my debut performance. Our team is called the Third Base Bullies and we are mostly Mexican. The first team we played was mostly Black and the second team was mostly Asian. I am not sure if all the teams are so racially-segregated but it was pretty funny.

We ended up losing both games. Some innings we looked pretty good and other innings we looked pretty terrible. I played third base and definitely wished I knew more about softball or third base, for that matter. I had pretty realistic expectations of myself so I was happy to do anything good and not mess up too bad. I did okay. I was the second to bat, which was handy since most of the pitchers weren't too warmed up. I ended up getting walked three times, struck out once and got one hit where I beat the tag at first. Not too shabby. I caught a fly ball for an out, I stopped a line drive and caught the ball for an out at third. I made a few mistakes but I like to focus on the positives.

My friend, Erin is on the team and she, like me is fairly athletic but without much softball experience. She was in right field for most of the game and didn't get much action. She hadn't had much luck at the plate either. In the last inning I got walked and then the guy behind me got walked, which meant he got to take two bases. This put me on third. I prayed that Erin would get a hit and she totally did. I ended up running home and scoring a run. It was a nice way to end the game. Too bad we still lost by 10 runs.

It was fun to be part of a team and I look forward to our games next week. Maybe I will find someone who can give me some pointers so I can actually feel like I know what I am doing.