Safe at first base
Originally appeared online in the teen series: Your Healings - April 25, 2017
It was a warm, sunny afternoon and a perfect day for softball practice. About midway through practice, our coach split us up. Half of us would be in the field, and the other half would be runners. I was among the runners. I was very excited because one of my favorite things to do is run the bases, especially when the fielders are trying to get you out.
It was finally my turn, and my coach laid down a bunt. I ran to first base as fast as I could, and I was safe. As I was waiting for the next hit, I began taking bigger leads than I usually do—meaning that instead of standing on the base until the ball was hit, I scooted down the base path toward second base, to get a head start. Before practice, our coaches had told the runners to be a little “reckless” on the base path because we were playing an aggressive team later that week. So my leads were getting bigger and bigger.
On one of my leads, the catcher decided to throw the ball down to the first baseman to try to pick me off. I dove back to first, jamming my finger into the base in the process.
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