John Gorgone

Dr. Womack

English 15

4 September 2013

Profile Essay

So what was the greatest time or activity of my life? Well there is a few moments and experiences that I have encountered over my eighteen years living on earth. The activity I will be talking about is winning the state championship back in 2009. It was the greatest moment of my life and I remember every second of it. The excitement and joy this event brought to the whole team, as well as the families was incredible. The experience was far greater than any holiday or even my birthday. Being able to be called state champions was one of the best feelings in the world. For all the hard work it took the team and I, it was well worth it in the end.

Baseball is one of the most popular sports today. It is America’s past time when it comes to sports. Basically every single American kid grew up at least tries to play the game once or so in their childhood. Some continue to play it through Elementary School, Middle School, High School, and even at the Collegian levels. In my opinion, baseball is the best sport ever invented. Most of it is just my opinion but there are also a few facts to support that. For example, in terms of money, baseball is the highest paid sport over hockey, football and basketball. The number one hardest thing to do in sports is to hit a fastball. I was always told, ninety percent mental, ten

percent skill. Baseball is also the hardest sport to succeed in. It’s something like two through four percent of baseball players in the United States actually make it into the big league. The road to the state championship game was a very long journey. It was a life time goal of mine to play in a game that means so much and that time eventually came.

So as a kid, I started off at five years old playing down the Leedom Little League right around the corner from my house. It turned out that my dad knew that I might be something in baseball later on in life, so he decided to work with me all the time at the younger ages. I moved up to the machine pitch from seven years old till I was ten. My dad coached the team I was on so he worked with me more than enough to be the best kid out there. All my friends from school were on that team also so I had a lot of fun playing the sport I loved with my good friends. My dad was sculpting me into a good ball player. He would bring me out into the field next to my house and hit me fly balls and ground balls for hours until I made perfection. He would also pitch dozens of balls to me to get me ready for the next level of the game. As I got older, around ten years old, I grew like crazy and was the tallest on the team. Back as a kid, it was always a little contest of who was taller which affected the way some people played. But the last year of pitching machine/kids pitch was over and it was time to face better, faster pitching.

As I grew up, I realized the league I have been playing in my whole life had the age limit of twelve. So it was time to start searching for another team to play with. I was in Middle school at the time and I heard that Swarthmore Wood had a good baseball program so at twelve, I decided to join two teams. It was the first time I ever played multiple teams. It was a challenge

to me because I never played with or against any of these kids before. So I started off doing good hitting two homeruns my first game against the best team in the Swarthmore Wood league. I had a breakout season for both teams and did really good. I was asked to join the Cal Ripken all-star team and without a hesitation, I immediately said yes. As a team, we practiced every morning through the summer heat until we became almost perfect. As a team, we made it to sections that year but lost to a strong Langhorn team. We decided that next year we will fight a little harder and go farther in the tournament.

The year was 2008 and I was thirteen. It was time to make the transition from little league field dimensions to major league. As the summer of 2008 progressed, playing for three teams was a bit of a struggle. But the only thing on my teammates and I’s mind was getting another shot at making it to the state tournament. We soon got out Ridley thirteen year old Babe Ruth team back into action. As a team, we continued to practice all summer in the hot morning and afternoon heats. The team and coaches approached practice in a little bit more serious way. We wanted that championship more than anything. Soon later, the district tournament started and hosted at our home field. We played Broomall Newtown, UDHL, Springfield and Haverford Township. I cannot remember if there were any other teams in it. My team came out on top winning every single game in the tournament. Districts were not much of a problem considering we were a very well prepared baseball squad. States were held two weeks later up in Gettysburg Pennsylvania. During the duration of the two weeks, we practiced harder than ever. Unfortunately, we ended up losing two games to Mifflin County and State College. State College ended up winning the championship just a few games later.

Since the loss in the state tournament back in 2008, my team went hard to work. We practiced all fall and winter for the next opportunity we could get. Playing for three teams once again in the spring and summer of 2009 was a bit of a routine. Everyone had gotten a little stronger and learned a lot more than the previous year. Soon again, the district tournament started up again. I was so excited to play. We lost our first game to Media but bounced back out of the loser’s bracket shortly after. We took down Broomall and UDHL with ease. A few games later, we were back in the championship against Media, the team that beat us in the first round. We came out in all force, pitching our best pitchers, and playing our best players. The bats came around and our team destroyed Media 16-5.

Two weeks later, I was on the road heading west to play in Franklin Township, in Lehigh Pennsylvania. Weather was a big factor in the tournament. The first two days were complete rain outs. But soon enough, we were back at it. We took down Springford, Franklin Township, Aston Valley and Middle town with no competition what so ever. The following day we played Mifflin County. They pitched the same kid that beat us last time. But we were ready. We steamrolled Mifflin 7-2 in the semi final game, taking us to the championship game with the former state champions. There was so much excitement on the field and the bystanders watching the game. The game proceeded. Our pitcher was doing a great job until he took a line drive off the chest in the sixth inning. The ambulance came and took him off the field, but he refused to leave the game even though he was on the verge of almost dying. The game was inch to inch. We would score a run, than they would score a run. It was like that through the whole game until our pitcher was struck with the ball. At that time I thought to myself “we are over,

there’s no possible way we can win.” We put in a nervous but very confident pitcher. He retired the side in the last inning. Our team was the home team so we had the last chance in the game. The top of the line-up was due. Our lead-off batter hit a double in the left field gap. The following batter hit another double but the runner on second held at third due to a close play. Our third batter was intentionally walked to load the bases to get to me. The nerves in my body shot from my head to toe in seconds. I looked over to see my whole family in the stands cheering me on. All the sudden, everything became quiet the second the first pitch was thrown. You could latterly hear a cricket chirping. First pitch I took a strike. My nerves shot up at an all time high. Second pitch I took a curve ball, ball one. The third pitch I took high for another ball. The count was now two balls, one strike. The pitcher wound up and threw a high fast ball just where I like it. I swung my oddly heavy bat and connected, hitting a laser line drive to left center field. Runner touched home and I touched first base and just like that, the game was over. I had hit the game winning hit to win the state championship. I was tackled by all my teammates with excitement. I actually got a black eye from being piled on. The cheers from the fans were amazing. I could not believe that the under dogs in this tournament beat one of the best teams in the state.

Putting in countless hours and effort, the team and I done what we dreamed of doing. Looking back at it now, I still remember every second of that day. It was the best day of my life and it always will be. I forget a lot of things over time but that moment will never be forgotten. The effort and time the team and I put into this goal was a huge amount. If I never picked up a

baseball as a kid, this moment would never be sealed into my head. I believe that this amazing moment made a big impact on my life. It is something my team and I will never forget.