Lit Device Short Story

It’s the bottom of the ninth inning, two outs, bases loaded, the score is four to four, and everyone on the Wildcats are on their feet for Ben’s at bat. “Ben you’re up,” said coach James. In my head, I am thinking that I will strike out and cause us the game. I grabbed my bat and I went to the side to take a couple of cuts before my at bat. I am very nervous and I could feel the inside of my body shaking. I place my back foot in the batter's box and look at all of the parents in the stands cheering me on.

The pitcher looks, stares at me in the eyes, and he looks mad. He steps on the mound and takes a deep breath. I take my sign from my coach, which was a take sign for this pitch. I put my front foot in the box and I am ready for him to pitch the ball. I get my bat up and bend my knees. The pitcher throws it way outside.

The umpire says “ball one.”

I am feeling more confident and take my front foot out of the batter's box to get my next sign. Coach James gave me the swing away sign for this pitch and I step back into the box ready to hit.

The pitcher steps off the mound after his coach called a timeout and brought the infield to the mound to have a situation talk. I stepped out of the batters box. The bulldogs coach, Coach Jimmy, tells them “If any ball is hit to you, get the out at the nearest base. If you are going to throw the ball, throw it like there is someone chasing you and you have to release it quick. Go get em”!

I stepped back in the batter's box and the blue said “time in”. The pitcher stepped on the mound and the umpire gave the pitcher the signal to pitch the ball. The pitcher went through his windup as I loaded my power to the right side of my body so I could hit better. The pitch came through and was high and inside. The umpire said “Ball two.”

My coach called a timeout and took me to the side to get a couple of practice swings because I was in the box for a while. I stepped back in the box and my coach gave me another swing away sign. As soon as I knew it,  the pitch was a flame. The pictch was a tornado, going right at me. I tried ducking, but it was too fast. BANG! The ball hit me right in the nose and I am on the ground with blood all over. All I hear is my mom scream “Oh my god, oh my god!” I can’t get up, my nose feels numb. Coach James came sprinting over to me with an ice pack and a first aid kit. He told me “Your mom is running all over the place Ben, and you are cared by everyone on this team.” I had no response.

I heard the ambulance sounds coming because my dad called 911. Coach Jimmy ran over with an ice pack as well. I turned over and saw my teammates balling in tears, it looked like it was raining cats and dogs in the dugout.

As I got on the stretcher, the nurse already knew that I broke my nose and that I have some sort of jaw injury. The guy driving the ambulance opened the back door and pulled down the ramp so they could bring me down on the stretcher. I got down and now I am in the hospital wondering what will happen? How long will I be out of baseball? Did my team win? We get into the ER and I am very scared about everything at this moment. The nurse took me off of the stretcher and I sit in a chair. The nurse leaves, but first she says, “My name is nurse Jill.”

I said “okay.”

She responded, “See you in five minutes.” I have no time to say something back because she bolted out. She walked back in sooner than I knew it and she said

“Get up, we have to go get an x-ray.”

I say “okay”.

We get into the x-ray room and nurse Jill says that “the first x-ray will be on your nose.” She told me to “lay on my back” and then she put this heavy material on my stomach. She faces the x-ray machine at my nose and starts the x-ray.

The x-ray finished after six minutes and then they did another one on my jaw. It finished quickly. We walk back to the other room where my parents were. I walk in and the lady tells both me and my parents that I have a broken nose and fractured jaw. I will be out at least 3-4 months with this injury. I immediately think that I couldn’t train this offseason and I also wonder, who won the championship game.

I sit there for about 5 minutes hearing the nurse talk about how to treat these injuries. I hear coach James and Bobby from my team. I think they are coming to see me! They open the door with a huge trophy and a bunch of goodies for me. They tell me “we won off of a walk off triple by Miguel!” I am in shock and I am so excited! They give me the trophy that we won and also they went to Walgreens to buy me candy and sodas because of my injuries.

We leave the hospital together and everyone comes over to my house.