Ever since I was 5 or 6 years old, I have played some form of baseball from t-ball to Little League to Babe Ruth to high school. There was a time when I thought that I would never play baseball again. When I was growing up, I used to be a great baseball player, and most people saw that I had excellent skills.

From an early age, I knew that this was something my mom and dad enjoyed. My brother and I are both very athletic; he was always known for basketball, not so much baseball. So when I would be playing baseball, people knew that I was good; it didn't feel like I was living in his shadow anymore.

There were so many things about baseball that I loved, like the sound of the bat when you hit the ball or the feeling of striking someone out in a big moment, the double headers when we would sit in the dugout during the break between both games, eating fruit and snacks, playing Wiffle Ball with the whole team when were at tournaments waiting for our game to start, joining with kids from other teams in the league on an All Star Team and going to State for baseball. There were other things as well; like running around the hallways at hotels, and one of the best things about baseball isn’t even playing the game it’s when we are in the dugout and we are telling jokes or talking to the other players on the team from the dugout, and last thing you can't forget about is that sound of the metal cleats when you are walking on concrete.

The first time I had ever even thought about quitting was towards the end of my season when I was in 8th grade, and we were playing on the High School team, and it wasn't just one bad game or play or anything like that, I simply just felt bored with playing baseball. All those great things that I described above just didn’t interest me anymore. It wasn’t that I no longer liked sports because I did. I kept playing basketball; it was just baseball I was bored with.

So I decided I wasn't going to play my Freshman year, and then this year I just randomly decided I'm gonna play. I've been going to the batting cage with one of my friends, and I have been really enjoying it like the feeling of playing catch again feels great, and although I’m gonna definitely need to bring my timing back on my swing and get my velo back up for pitching but im having a great time and I think I just needed a little break from playing baseball.

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