I’m in love.

It’s not your typical love for a teenager. It’s more than intense. We get to see each other every day. Not a second goes by that I don’t wish I was there. I dress my best and I’m always on top of my game, trying to prove myself. When we’re together, I feel complete, I feel like it’s just us, nothing in the world matters. It is my world. Softball.

“Play ball,” calls the ump and the game is on.

With each pitch I find myself further entranced. Wishing. Hoping the next hit comes to me, to follow it into my glove, for the perfect throw, and the catch. One, two, three outs and it’s our turn.

Stepping up to the plate, I’m more confident than anyone else on the field. I tell myself that I will be better, that I am better. There is nothing the pitcher can throw that I can’t hit. Settling into the batters box, as if it’s home, my fingers tighten around my bat and I’m ready for her best. She puts it exactly where I want it, outside and low, my favorite pitch. I sit back and wait on it, then, at the very last second, I take my swing. The ball and bat collide — I can tell from the feeling in my hands, and the sound of my teammates, I am better.

Sure we have our fights, when I fall into slumps, or when I make errors, but the end game is all worth it. Winning records, unforgettable plays, and games I will always replay in my head.

Stepping onto a college field to play the City Championship, the last game of the year, those are the moments that will stay with me forever. Knowing that my team and I could overcome the odds, come back from the deficit, and win a game that people long to be a part of. The moment when your name and number are announced and you step onto the dirt. The first and last hit, the routine plays that get the outs, and the once-in-a-lifetime plays to make the game.

As the slow cloud of sadness creeps when my green and gold is folded and put away for the year, the new excitement of the summer arrives. I find myself under piles of black and red, surrounded by “Knights.” Summer is here and my weekends are gone. To some it is a sacrifice that they cannot imagine, but to me, I can’t imagine spending it any other way. Early mornings, long drives, and even longer days spent playing four games, to get home late, and repeat it the next morning. Exhaustion quickly is overcome by intensity and desire. The desire to play and never say die. The desire to be victorious. The desire to hold in our hands a first-place trophy.

It’s a long summer spent in the sun, sweat, and dirt. But there are reasons to fight through every- thing telling you no. You stay focused for them. The coaches in the dugout, the players on the field, and the fans in the crowd. You give everything you have to make them happy, to make them proud, to make us successful.

It’s more than a game and it’s brought me some of the most amazing people in my life. My best friend and partner in crime: together we’ve won five championships and don’t plan on stopping there. Little sisters that I never knew I wanted but can’t imagine playing without. Teammates that I depend on whether we’re on or off the field. The girls who pick me up when I’m at my lowest and inspire me when I feel like I can’t go on. Coaches who have gone above and beyond to see me succeed.

Softball is my everything. Uniforms fill my drawers. Twenty jerseys to capture my years of work. Gloves piled high in boxes. Bats line the back of my closet. LTSB and GPK fill my walls — walls lined with pictures of those forever memorable teams and games.

Softball has made me strong. Strong enough to face the pain of raspberries, the pain of being hit by a pitch, and the soreness from seven straight days of play. Strong enough to face the struggles in each game and with each day. Strong enough to accept losing, but strong enough to never accept defeat.

It is here, sharing the field and uniform with eight girls that I wouldn’t trade for the world, that I know I am my best. There is nothing that makes me feel more confident, more accomplished, and more hungry for what is ahead. There is no drive greater than what is within me for this sport, softball, my love.