central celebrates outstandingness!!!! - Jefferson County Public ...

Batter Batter Swing!
M. S’vea “Savage” Carter
Do I want to play? Will I stick to this sport? Will I ever hit the ball and, most importantly, will the team get
along? These are some of the questions I asked myself around late April or early May. It would be my first time
playing softball for a high school team. Let me tell you how my year as a “JACKET” went.
Do I want to play?
When I heard about the girls’ softball team on the intercom, it really caught my attention. Mrs. Schmidt said
“Girls, softball is coming up,” in a very joyful way. The whole day, softball ran through my mind. At 2:20, I
went down stairs and got a paper from the office. They asked me, “Have you ever played before?” And I
answered “No, but I’m going to try out,” with a big smile on my face. My friend, Taylor, also wanted to try out
for softball. At home, I told my mom about wanting to play and she asked me if I would stick to it. I smiled,
“Yes.”
Will I stick with it?
On the first day of try outs, I walked into school with the biggest smile ever. The day went awesome. When I
got to the field, there were about 25 other girls out there. I knew some of them. Soon, a blond-headed lady
walked out of the dugout and told everyone to sit on the bench. Then she began to talk to us about how the year
was going to go. She said there would be a lot of running, and the team would only have about 15 girls on it.
After she stopped talking, she told us to give her 3 laps around the whole field. By that she meant, out by the
track, into the alley, turn left into the parking lot, and back into the gate. After everybody ran their laps, we got
some water and then started to throw and hit the ball around a little bit.
Will I ever hit the ball?
When she put us in a line; I was the second sophomore. I was very nervous at this point because I had never hit
a ball and it was coming very fast. When it was my turn, I got up there in my stance. I bent my knees, I turned
and twisted my feet till I dug two big holes, put the bat up, leaned back and put all my weight on my back leg.
She asked me if I was ready and put the ball in the pitching machine. I blinked and the ball had already passed
me. I tried it again and this time I swung the bat, but I didn’t hit the ball. We went all the way through the line.
When practice was over, the coach said she was going to post the results in the morning and let us know who
made the team. Wednesday morning I walked into school and went straight to find the results. It said, “2009 -
2010 softball team list” at the top. I was the 7 th person; in bold black it said, “Makalyn S Carter.” I was so
happy! Now I was a part of something, I had people to look up to, and I had people to talk to when I needed it.
Will the team get along?
When I read the other names on the list of the new 2009-2010 softball team, I worried we weren’t going to have
a great season because we had people who fought all the time. But I was wrong. We pushed each other to work
harder and we also had each others’ backs. This was a big lesson learned and I’m so happy I joined the Central
Yellow Jacket Softball team.
Double header
Being on this team taught me a lot of things: how to have a good and strong relationships and friendships, how
to work as a team, and also the importance of trust. Being on the softball team really made me open my eyes
and say, “Hey, I’m in high school, I have friends, I’m happy. What else could I need?