July 2014

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The Catch—Personal Narrative Example

Author: Anthony
A cold wind blew through the ballpark that Saturday night
in October 2010. My baseball team, the Raptors, was playing
the Mountain Cats. It was the playoffs. The Mountain Cats were
the toughest team in the league. It was do-or-die for us.
Even though the weather was cool that night, the bats
were hot. In the sixth inning the score was 13-12. We were on
top! The Mountain Cats’ were up to bat. It was their last licks.
We took the field next. We were not going to let the other
team shake our spirit. The wind blew harder and a chill ran
down my spine. Even though it was cool, I felt a bead of sweat
drip down my forehead. It trickled slowly down my cheek and
off my chin in slow motion. We had two outs and the Cats had
their bases loaded. What’s worse, their fiercest hitter was up.
Jack walked onto the field swinging his bat. The crowd
cheered as he walked toward the plate. I could tell that our
stony determination was beginning to show some cracks.
Jack took his place in the batter’s box. He got set. The
lights flickered and the crowd went quiet. Tyler, our pitcher,
wound up. He threw a fastball right down the middle. “Strike
one,” yelled the umpire. I was in center field, I took many steps
back. I could tell that Jack was going for a homer.
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Tyler threw a ball down the middle again. Crack! The

baseball zoomed past Tyler. It kept on going. The lights
flickered again. The crowd roared. Suddenly I realized the ball
was coming my way! I was the most anxious person on the
field. I ran in a few steps, I ran backward a few steps. I wasn’t
sure where the ball would land. The crowd grew quiet.
I jumped into the air. Thump! Something hit my glove. I fell
to the ground, skidded, and rolled to a stop. My jersey was
covered with grass and dirt. My elbow burned with the
sensation of the impact and I held back the urge to yell out in
pain. I was stunned. Then I saw my teammates jump for joy.
They were all running toward me. I looked into my glove. There
was the ball!
“Out!” yelled the umpire. I jumped into the air. I did a 360
degree spin in the air as my teammates ran to me. Suddenly I
was surrounded by arms and high-fives. “I got it, I got it!” I
screamed with joy. Everyone jumped on top of me and I heard
the umpire call the game. We had won.
Our team gathered around the coach. We shook hands
and told the other team that it had been a really tough game.
We reviewed the game, like we always do but this time we
were bubbling with excitement. We were in the finals. It had

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been a long, hard road. The coach handed me the game ball
and I was voted MVP. It all felt like a dream.
Helping my team was one of the most phenomenal
experiences of my life. I felt honored. On the way home, I
wondered if I would ever be able to make a catch like that
again. All I could do was keep practicing and hope for another
chance.

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