I'll share my similar baseball story. 8th grade but it was epic nonetheless. I'll begin with saying my team was pretty horrible. We had a lot of guys on the team that just weren't good, period. I was the starting pitcher, and I had a few buddies on the team who pitched and were also excellent hitters. Me? I sucked and always have at hitting. I guess you could say I am a true pitcher because I can't hit the ball for shit.
Anyways were in the first game of the playoffs. We were playing the highest seeded team for our first game because we were the lowest seed (like I said we weren't very good). I started at pitcher for this game and threw a pretty good game, considering who we were playing. Only gave up 2 runs all game and they all came in the top of the 9th... Ugh. I'm able to get out of the inning and the score is 2-1 them. I was 4 batters away, and I just prayed it wasn't going to come down to me. I didn't want to be the final out. I thought that if it somehow got to me, I'd screw it up. 1st batter strikes out, 2nd batter hits it in the gap and gets a double. 3rd batter grounds out, but runner advances to 3rd. 4th guy gets walked and OF COURSE its my turn. 2 outs, bottom 9, 2-1 with 2 guys on base.
I was so locked in I don't really even remember all of it. I remember coach signaling for me to take the first pitch so the guy on first could steal. I end up sitting at a full count with 2 guys in scoring position. At that point I told myself I was swinging at everything. I didn't care. I'm gonna hit this thing one way or another. I proceed to foul off 3 balls in a row. All down the left field line. I was swinging so anxiously and aggressively that I was pulling the hell out of the ball. I call time, go through my little routine, step back in the box and squeeze the hell out of that bat. I got a pitch I liked, I waited on it a litttttle bit longer and BOOM right over the shortstops head and into the gap.
It felt like I teleport-ed to 2nd I got there so fast. I look back and see my team and coach running at me screaming with their hands in the air. I can't even describe how I felt in that moment. My coach got to me first and he picked me up and hugged me for what felt like forever.
It was one of those experiences that sticks with someone forever and is why I will push my children to play sports when they're older. Sports are special.