As published on Catherine Emmanuelle for Eau Claire Facebook Page on May 23rd, 2019 with collaboration with Catherine Emmanuelle.
News:
On Tuesday, May 14th, 2019, the Eau Claire City Council will vote on the Eau Claire Express Youth Baseball League. The Eau Claire Express is a collegiate summer baseball team with their home stadium located at Carson Park, Eau Claire. Their first game will start on May 28th 2019 against the Bismark Larks in Bismark, ND, with five new ball players: Nick Herold from Coon Rapids, MN, Nick Alvarado from Grand Valley MO, Rece Finck from Hopedale, IL, and finally Noah Denoyer from So. Tracy, CA. If you are interested in watching collegiate baseball players in one of” the finest developmental league” in the Northwoods League, buy your tickets and support your local team.
The Big Game
Sam was ready for the big game; all the previous months of training were going to pay off. He woke up at 5am, immediately throwing off his blankets and preparing himself for the big game. The first in what would be a long four months of training, playing the game, resting, then repeat.
Sam Higgins was an Eau Claire boy, born and raised Wisconsin. He was always a sports fanatic, working at the top of his class and working the best as he can. From the moment he went to his first Brewer’s game with his dad, Sam became a huge fan of the sport as soon as he begged to play catch with his dad. It turned into joining little league, then middle school, reaching high school and getting a scholarship just to be on the collegiate baseball team.
This was senior year of college; if he could keep this up for the rest of the season, he might get scouted and might get a contract with one of the minor leagues, making it up to the nationals if he kept this good luck streak. Sam was ready; he made his breakfast and headed out of the house, taking his beaten college car and driving all the way to Carson Park.
The streetlamps were on still, collaborating with the first light of the sun as he drove with hardly any traffic. The park was dark, with hardly anyone walking around the area. Sam parked and got his equipment out of the backseat, walking in the cool early summer air. Carson Park would be filled with people before long- around 12pm. He could already smell the hot dogs and snacks, the cheer of the audience readying themselves for the first pitch and hit of the game, the first points.
He sat down on the hood of his car, taking in the sights and the smells. Sam liked to arrive early; he was a light sleeper It gave him time to focus, to imagine what it was like. Sam imagined he was on the pitch, looking down into the eyes of a batter. The faceless man’s eyes showed no hesitation, no signs of faking out. Sam would raise himself up, holding the leather glove in his hand with the ball. The scent of worn leather would fill his nose as he geared himself up, raising his arms before making the perfect pitch, one that would barely graze the dirt of the diamond and land squarely in the glove of the Catcher, hearing the roar of the Umpire making his final call to the delight of his audience.
Yes, Sam was ready for that. But first, he took in the quiet of the dawn, stretching his arms, legs, and feeling the blood in his legs. He was anxious and ready, his palms aching to slip into the baseball glove and grab that whirling ball out of the air- plucked it out of the sky. But now, he enjoyed the quiet of anticipation.