School was a week out and I was 7 years old. We were scheduled to play the championship game on Monday, June 11th. I was one of the best players on the team and coach told me I was going to be the starting pitcher at practice. I started on the mound and pitched for five innings. I had eight strikeouts, two walks, and no earned runs. When I reached the 60 pitch limit, I then swapped places with Tim at short stop. Tim was the other best player on our team and him and I switched off from pitcher to short stop, and sometimes even catcher. Tim had two errors, but made up for them with two double plays at short stop. At the plate I was two for three with three singles, a triple, one run, and two runs batted in. Tim had one single, one walk, and one strikeout.

In AAA, kids are only allowed 60 pitches in a game so they don’t overthrow and hurt their arms. I finished pitching with 59 pitches and that’s when coach made the switch for Tim to come in and pitch. We were the away team and it was the Bottom of the 6th inning when Tim came in to relieve. We had a 3-0 lead and were certain to get a win. The next three kids coming up to bat for the other team were the last kids to bat in the lineup. This would be an good inning because Tim could easily strikeout all these kids.

Bottom of the 6th and Tim is up on the mound facing the bottom of the lineup. Their lead off hitter Tim faces is Tim’s cousin. At first it was all smiles and exciting when they both noticed they were going to face each other. But once he came up to bat and the first pitch was ready to be thrown, it was all aggression and determination. Tim’s first pitch was a 60 miles per hour fastball that blew right by the batter and straight into the catcher’s glove for strike one. Tim’s cousin, watching the first pitch, started shaking his head up and down to the first base coach as if he liked what he saw and was going to hit it. The next pitch, Tim threw another fastball but this one scraped the floor. The batter anticipated to swing, but held back his swing. “One ball, one strike” shouted the umpire.

The next pitch Tim threw was another fast ball that was right on the outside corner of the plate. The batter made contacted with and went left of the third base bag. “Foul ball” shouted the umpire. The count was now one ball, two strikes, and everyone knew what pitch was coming next. Tim also made it obvious when he dug into his glove to get the grip of the ball. The pitch started high and was coming right at the head of the batter. The batter stepped out of the box but the ball then curved inside and landed right down the middle of the plate. “Strike Three” screamed the umpire.

The next kid wasn’t a very good hitter; he had only gotten a couple of hits the whole season. He tried bunting and failed his first attempt. On the next pitch the batter bunted and Tim came rushing to the ball, but our catcher Jorge called him off. Jorge picked up the ball trying to release the ball as fast as he could and he overthrew our first basemen. The batter took a turn, running past second base and onto third. Before our right fielder picked up the ball I set up right in the middle of the infield to get ready to throw the runner out at third. I kept my right hand near to my glove as I caught the ball. The kid was half way there as I threw a perfect strike to our third basemen that caught the ball and tagged the runner on his ankle. “He’s out!!!” shouted the umpire. I jumped with excitement as my teammates congratulated me. We still needed one more out before we celebrated our championship win.

The next batter was the last batter in the lineup and could be the last out of the game. The first pitch Tim threw a fast ball that blew right past the batter and into the glove of the catcher. “Strike one” shouted the umpire. The next pitch Tim threw the exact same fast ball, but this time landed on the outside of the plate. “Strike two” shouted the umpire. “Swing the bat” shouted his teammates. The batter stepped out of the box, took a deep breath and stepped back into the box. Tim then threw another fastball that was high and outside but the batter unknowing where the pitch was, swung his bat and missed. “Strike three!” shouted the umpire.

The game was over and we were named the Pasco Little League AAA champions. This was my first time earning player of the game, winning a championship game, and being rewarded with an MVP award. Winning the MVP award made me happy, accomplished, and satisfied because there is only one award giving a year and I put in a lot of hard work towards my game to receive in the off season to earn this award. This was my first time winning this award and I was excited to have won it. My mom, as long with other parents, congratulated me and my family and I celebrated at Applebee’s.