I've always been looked at as a lazy person, who doesn't want to put in the work to succeed in anything. I may be that way in school but in baseball it's always been different. Baseball has always been the one thing that I've wanted to work harder to succeed.

I started playing when I was only 5 years old and I've never stopped. My earliest baseball memory was my dad teaching me how to field a ground ball. My parents loved the sport so it's always been their favorite thing to watch. My mom has probably missed about five games ever and my dad comes when he can, and throughout my whole life I’ve played around a thousand games. I knew baseball was my sport when i made a diving play while catching. I played recreationally until I was 11, I had always heard about travel baseball but never thought I was good enough. Rec ball got to the point where I was so frustrated when someone would mess up that I decided to try and find a better team.

I made my first travel team when I was 11. At the first tournament me and my dad were late but got there just before the game started. I pitched in the first game and did very well. I knew this was where I belonged. The major difference was the pace of the game was faster and the competition was always a different level. We traveled all over Georgia and at the end of the year we went to Panama City, Florida for a final tournament. We only won about two games all year but at least we were better than my rec teams. 

I've made better and better teams every year from that point, improving at different positions. When I was younger I was a catcher but my knees always hurt after so I moved to outfield and pitcher. Then came freshman year, the previous year I had played in the outfield but when I went to try out the coaches wanted me to try out at shortstop. I wasn't great but I started JV at shortstop.

This sophomore year is different though because shortstop was always my dream to play but I've never been good enough. So I put in the work everyday weather permitting to be on the field. My dad hit me 200 ground balls and threw me 200 pitches every day, I worked hard because I knew it's what I really wanted.

I decided to try out for a summer travel team at shortstop and made a decent team. In the fall I played for the varsity team and played shortstop or third base every game. I had done it all on my own to get where I was. For the first time in my life I felt proud of myself. This off season is going to be a lot of work, but come spring I'll be ready because I've put in the extra work to be there.