Firstborn Writes

Here is Firstborn's final submission to his first online writing class:

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Coach Kevin put me on the pitcher's mound for the first time. My knees shook with nervousness, but I focused on the cather's mitt. We were in the third of four innings and I had already struck out two batters. There was a runner on second when the next batter came to the plate.

For the first two throws, I slipped my fingers over the stitched seams. Now there were two strikes on the scoreboard and I wanted the next pitch to be the final one of the inning. I rotated the ball in my hand and planted my fingers across the seams. I shut out all of the sounds around me and my eyes were like laser beams on the catcher's mitt. I drew my armback and let the ball fly. SMACK! The ball hit the catcher's mitt and the umpire called it, "Strrrike three!"

That day I used two of my best pitches. The last pitch was one I made up. It flies as strait as a wooden dowel. I usually use it when the batter has two strikes and three balls. It works well also against left handed batters. To deliver this pitch, you hold your fingers across the seams.The other two pitches I throw are the two-seam fastball and the four-seam fastball. The two are practically the same, except the two seam fastball curves a little more than the four seam. To throw the two-seam fastball, hold your fingers with the seams. The pitch the four-seam fastball hold your fingers across the seams at the curvy part.

Professional pitchers use all kinds of grips dependent on the situation. A few are the curveball, the knuckleball, the screwball, and the change-up. I sometimes use the change-up, too. For the change-up, the pitcher holds the ball with three of four fingers and across one with the seams, depending on which kind of change up is thrown.