Day 18

Our high school softball team had made it all the way to the state semi-finals.  We were scheduled to host the following Friday.  I played third base.

On Tuesday during practice, I took a bad-hop grounder to the end of the middle finger on my right hand.  I shook off my glove and grabbed my hand, hopping around in the dirt.  When I stopped a moment to look, it was bloody and swollen.  A trip to the doctor and X-rays revealed it had shattered the bone at the end of my finger.  They drilled a hole in the nail to relieve the pressure, but I couldn’t bend my finger for days due to the swelling.

I was devastated.  Pain, I could tolerate.  Being out of the game, I couldn’t.

I tried throwing lefty.  I tried gripping the bat with just my thumb and finger.  I tried anything I could think of to make myself a worthy contributor to the team.  Nothing worked.  I finally had to face the reality that I was not going to compete in the state semi-final - my last opportunity to compete as a high school student.

Gameday came all-to-quickly.  I cheered.  I coached third base runners.  I encouraged my teammates.  Toward the end of the game, the coach let me pinch run.  I’d like to think I made the best of the situation.

Sometimes things just happen that are out of our control.  All we can do is roll with it.