In the game of baseball, even the greatest players ever fail 7 times out of 10 at the plate. In a game like this, you have to be patient; success is not easy to come by. In the Summer of 2015, I tried out for the most prestigious amateur (baseball) scouting event ever, the Area Code Games. 500 professional baseball scouts gather in Long Beach, CA to watch the 220 best players compete against each other. It is an amazing opportunity to anyone who wants to pursue a career in professional baseball.
Now typically only players going into their senior will be invited to tryout for this event, but some invites are extended to underclassmen that have impressed professional scouts in their area. I was blessed with the opportunity to tryout as an underclassman …show more content…
I couldn't wait to get back on that field in front of those scouts and show them that I had become a far better player than I was the year before. I had put so much effort into getting better in all aspects of my game and I knew I was poised to have a great tryout.
After hours days that felt like years of grueling work in the weight room and in the batting cages, the day had come to tryout to punch my ticket to Long Beach. At that point, I went out on that field and did what I loved to do. I flew around the field and made plays, while backing it up in the batters box with my bat. My performance was sufficient enough to be extended an invite to the Area Code Games! I was ecstatic when I received my invite and celebrated with my family, and throughout the excitement, I knew my work wasn't done.
I can remember arriving to the field to meet my team in Long Beach and seeing Palm trees in the outfield and a Fresh-off-the-press New Balance bag with all of my assigned gear in it. I knew then that my work had payed off and that experiencing that failure in the summer of 2015 was the fuel I used to get here. That failure was the leading motivator for me when I had to come to grips that I would have to get a lot better if I want to make this team. What I can take away from this experience is that if failure knocks me down, to get back up and never give up on whatever it is that I set my
Now typically only players going into their senior will be invited to tryout for this event, but some invites are extended to underclassmen that have impressed professional scouts in their area. I was blessed with the opportunity to tryout as an underclassman …show more content…
I couldn't wait to get back on that field in front of those scouts and show them that I had become a far better player than I was the year before. I had put so much effort into getting better in all aspects of my game and I knew I was poised to have a great tryout.
After hours days that felt like years of grueling work in the weight room and in the batting cages, the day had come to tryout to punch my ticket to Long Beach. At that point, I went out on that field and did what I loved to do. I flew around the field and made plays, while backing it up in the batters box with my bat. My performance was sufficient enough to be extended an invite to the Area Code Games! I was ecstatic when I received my invite and celebrated with my family, and throughout the excitement, I knew my work wasn't done.
I can remember arriving to the field to meet my team in Long Beach and seeing Palm trees in the outfield and a Fresh-off-the-press New Balance bag with all of my assigned gear in it. I knew then that my work had payed off and that experiencing that failure in the summer of 2015 was the fuel I used to get here. That failure was the leading motivator for me when I had to come to grips that I would have to get a lot better if I want to make this team. What I can take away from this experience is that if failure knocks me down, to get back up and never give up on whatever it is that I set my