Michael Zarrillo My Favorite Place

Michael Zarrillo

20 September 2014

Professor Young

English 1100 

My Favorite Place

Out of every place I have been to, there is no better place then the James Caldwell High School baseball field. The JCHS field is my favorite place. Everytime I ever stepped onto that field, I always got a feeling of butterflies flying around in my stomach, but in a good way. No better feeling than putting that royal blue and white uniform on and running out onto the soft brown dirt and green grass. The feeling I got every time I ran out to left field every inning was like waking up on Christmas morning. Coach Garg, the assistant coach for the team would always tell us “yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, and today is a gift. That’s why they call it the present.” And a gift is what it was to be able to walk out on that field everyday. Whether it was practice or a state championship game, the JCHS field is my favorite place. 

The feeling of playing a baseball game on the JCHS field is unimaginable. The feeling of sweat pouring down your face, or the dirt kicking up in your face is the best. Not only was it amazing to play on that field myself, but I had the best group of teammates anyone could ask for. We all loved each other like brothers, because that is what we are, brothers. Especially the Seniors from last year including me. We loved doing what we had the privilege to do. To sink our metal cleats into that dirt and grass and run onto the field. I love baseball and being able to walk onto the field with my brothers made the feeling 100 times better. The Chiefs played 30 games last season with a record of 21-9, the first time the Caldwell baseball team has won 20 games in 70 years. 

The JCHS field wasn't the perfect field, but to me and my teammates it was perfect. Our lineup for most games was; Doc pitching, Hunter catching, Kinney at first, Dylan on second, Cooper at short, Joe at third, Tommy in right, John in center, and me in left. The reason we won 21 games was because we all helped each other out. We knew being out on that baseball field everyday was a privilege not a right, so we never took it for granted. Not in the field, and not up at bat. When we were out our baseball field, it was always better having more fans cheering for you, and just knowing that this is our house. This is our dirt and our grass. 

The best feeling on the JCHS field of all is, running in on a fly ball, your legs moving like a car motor, and diving with your body vertical in mid air, and catching that little baseball in your glove. You feel the pound of the ball on your palm and then your body sliding through the grass like a penguin on an icy slope. The JCHS baseball field has more memories for me than I can count and every time I stepped out on that field, I got that same feeling of butterflies in my stomach and goosebumps on my arms. Just the same feeling as a little kid running downstairs on Christmas morning with a smile wrapping around their face. There isn't a better place than the James Caldwell High School baseball field.