road to the state championship

ROAD TO THE STATE CHAMPIONSHIP

BY STEVE BACHMAN






on the day of baseball tryouts at stone creek high , Matt Alberson arrives at school to begin the day , matt is in

his freshman year of high school ,having just completed little league , with county record 34 homers, at the

end of the day of school , matt is walking out to his moms car, "hey Matt,are you going to try out for the high

school baseball team?" says his childhood friend tony Williams ,"I don't know yet , I have been thinking about it

thought" replies Matt , " you will do great , I know you will ," replies Tony. Matt waves goodbye to Tony as he and

his mom drive home ,"Matt , are you going to try out for baseball this year?" says Matts mom , "I have been

thinking about , high school baseball is very different from little league , im afraid I wont be like I was in little

league " replies matt , "I know you will do fine , your father played for the Atlanta braves for 18 years before

retiring to come home", replies Matts mom ," I no , I want to be like him , he hit 345 homers in the majors , but im

not like him , i wont be as good as i was in little league ", replies matt,"not everyone is good at it ,your dad spent

4 years in the minors before being called up, he was drafted by the red sox , spent 2 seasons with them before

being traded to Atlanta where he spent the rest of his career , he hit a home run in his last at bat , he crushed it

into the upper deck," replies mom , that night as matt falls asleep , he dreams that he is in Yankee

stadium ,where all the greats appear to him , Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio , Mickey Mantle ,the next

morning Matt is in the kitchen eating breakfast , "Matt , are you ready for the baseball tryouts today?" says Matts

dad jack Alberson ,"yes i am , i am nervous thought , i hope my hitting is ok " reply's matt , "i remember my first

at bat with braves , it was opening day , the pitcher was Nolan Ryan , he gets me to 2-2 count , he throws his

fast fastball at the strike zone , i swing, i nailed it in the seats for a home run , seeing the crowd didn't have a

clue who i was , only clapped for a about 30 seconds , but i knew after that homer , i would be come one of the

best to play the game " says Jack , " i will be ready for tryouts , i have been working hard all winter ," as Matt

leaves to head to school, he thinks about what's going to happen at tryouts , "i just got to keep calm and do the

best as i can " says matt talking to himself, as matt enters school to prepare for his first class , Vanessa Gordon

walks by him , "hey matt , what's up?" ." hey Vanessa , nothing much , how about you?" replies matt, "oh

nothing much , are trying out for baseball this year?" , " yes i am , i am nervous , i did good in little league , but

high school baseball is different from that" replies matt ,"i know you are going to do ok , oops gotta go ,good

luck with tryouts " replies Vanessa , "thank you" matt replies as both head off to there first class of the day , after

school matt gets dressed and heads out to the field to attend to tryouts , he sees kids he played little league

with and against , he sees a kid who led the county in steals 4 straight years ,he sees Brett Johnson the kid who

led the county in strikeouts 5 year in a row . a hour has passed and over 4o kids tryout ,19 has made the

roster ," matt alberson?" says the coach , " here!" replies matt ," get a helmet and get in the batters box" replies

the coach ,"yes sir" says matt ," hey , you are iron jack albersons kid aren't you? , he was my favorite player "the

coach says to matt ,"yes i am," matt replies ," ok , lets see what you can do , i see you led the county in home

runs in little league , but this is different , ok pitcher throw this some fast balls " , "you got it coach " says the

pitcher . the pitcher who is in his junior year and has the state record for most saves throws a ball to matt but it

it high , matt takes it , "good eye" says the coach ,the next pitch is right in the middle , matt takes a step in and

swings and misses ,"nice try , try again " says the coach , the next pitch is again in the middle of the strike

zone , matt steps in and hits the ball , the ball goes soaring over the left field fence, "wow , nice hit son , you

take after your father , a couple more "says the coach , the next pitch is in the left hand corner of the strike

zone , matt drills it over the right field fence ,as matts time in the box progresses , he hits homer after

homer , "that's enough! " says the coach yelling to the pitcher , "son, welcome to the team , be here Monday for

practice after school " , " yes sir , i will be there " reply's matt ,as matt gets into his fathers truck ,"how did tryouts

go ?" says jack , " it went great , i hit 6 homers during batting practice, off there closer " matt reply's ,"wow that's

great , i was never any good against closers , i was always striking out or grounding out to them ,but im proud of

you , replies jack , "thanks dad , i got practice Monday after school , " Matt replies ,"you are going be a great

baseball player son " says jack , "thanks dad ,ill try my best " replies matt. As the weekend goes by , it is time

for matts first practice in high school baseball ,as matt is heading out to the field, he sees Vanessa walking over

to him ,"hey matt, you look good in that uniform , good luck in practice" , "thanks Vanessa , ill do my best "

replies matt ,matt waves goodbye to Vanessa and joins his teammates heading out to the field to begin

practice ,senior 1st basemen Adam Johnson comes over to talk to matt , " hey your the new guy right? . i heard

about your tryout , nice hitting , i haven't seen that since my freshman year " says Adam , "thanks i try to do the

best i can" replies matt ,"what's your name " says Adam , "matt alberson " matt replies , "alberson?, are you

related to iron jack alberson? " replies Adam ," yes , he is my father" matt replies ,"wow , i cant believe it , he

was my favorite player as a kid, is he coming to opening day?" says Adam ,"yes he is " replies ,matt ,as the two

continue talking , the coach comes to the field to begin practice ,"ok guys , welcome to another season, lets give

a warm welcome to the son of the great iron jack alberson , matt alberson " , all the players are in shock to learn

that matts father was a pro baseball player , " start throwing to each other then take a lap around the field " says

the coach , as an hour goes by , matt is in the batters box to begin hitting practice , the pitcher is a 4 game

winner from the previous season , as the pitcher takes his wind up , matt begins his stride , the pitcher throws

the ball into the middle of the strike zone , matt takes a step and swings and sails it over the fence , "nice hit son,

keep your eye on the ball" says the coach , the next pitch is high , but matt lets it go , the next pitch is high in

the strike zone , matt steps and hits it into center field ,as matt keeps hitting ball over the fence and in front , the

players look in amazement to what they have just seen ,"ok that's enough " says the coach ," your gonna be a

star here son " ,"thank you sir , i try " replies matt ,as practice ends ,matt is tired , and walks over to his dads

truck, "hey slugger , i saw those homer you hit , im impressed " , "thanks dad " replies matt ,"hey you must be

matts dad , iron jack alberson " says the coach , "yes i am" replies jack , i new you were his dad so i brought my

rookie card of you , will you sign it?" replies the coach , "sure thing " jack replies , as jack is signing the

autograph , matt looks on ,"thank you sir" says the coach ," no problem says jack .as jack and matt head home ,

matt thinks of the way he hit , come school the next morning , Vanessa stops by matts locker , " hey matt good

luck on opening day" , "thanks Vanessa , i will do my best " replies matt , as another school day ends jack

heads to the locker room to get dressed for the road game against mountain valley high school ,as the game

enters the second inning ,matt is on deck , he looks over to see his dad with the video camera , matt waves ,

then head to the plate to bat , "lets go matt , you can do it!" , matt looks to see Vanessa on the bleachers

cheering him on , matt gives her a quick wave and steps into the box , "play ball!" yells the ump , the pitcher

throws matt the first pitch , a curveball into the dirt which matt takes ,"ball one !" the umpire yells , the next pitch

is in the middle of the strike zone , a fast ball , which matt takes , "strike 1!" yells the ump ,the next pitch is a

slider in the outside corner of the plate which matt takes , "ball 2!" the ump yells , the next pitch is over the

strike zone , a changeup , matt takes his step and swings "crack!" as the ball is hit over the fence for a home

run , the stone creek fans stand and cheer as matt rounds the bases , "good hit son!" yells jack ,as the game

progresses , stone creek is trailing 7-6 in the top of the 7th inning ,matt steps into the on deck circle , thinking

about to get on base , "crack!" as the stone creek 1st basemen adam Johnson hits a mammoth home run to tie

the game ,matt steps into the batters box , gives adam a high five and prepares to bat, the first pitch is a fastball

high in the strike zone "ball 1!" yells the ump , "come on matt ,you can do it! " yells Vanessa , matt takes the next

pitch , a fastball over the plate ,"strike 1!" yells the ump , "come on son you can do it " yells jack , matt takes

the next pitch , a curveball in the dirt "ball 2!" ,matt calls time and steps out of the box and does a couple

practice swings , then steps back into the box , the next pitch is over the plate , a fastball , matt steps in and

swings ,"crack!" as the ball goes just foul over the fence , the count is 2-2 , the next pitch is another curve into

the dirt, which matt takes , "ball 3!" yells the ump , now the count is 3-2 ,top of the 7th , nobody out , the game is

tied, the next pitch is a fastball in the middle of the zone ,"crack!" as the ball is hit again foul ,the next pitch ,

matt finally hits over the fence for a home run , the crowd stands and cheers , matt puts his arm into the air as he

is rounding the bases ,the bottom of the 7th , the closer for stone creek retires the side to win the game .as the

season goes by , stone creek is undefeated , with matt leading the team in home runs , they earn a spot in the

state championship game ," hey son , are you ready for the title game?" says jack , "yes i am dad , our team is

home team ,so we get last up " replies matt , " i no you are going to do good, uh i got something to tell ya , i will

be late getting to the game , i got a meeting to go to , but i will try to make it " replies jack , "i understand dad , i

wont let u down though ," replies matt , " i know you wont son , im proud of you ," jack replies , as the state title

game begins, matt struggles the first couple times , with a ground out , a walk and a flyout , "hey matt ,are you

ok to continue?" says the coach , " yes i am , im sorry i am hitting badly ," replies matt , " don't worry about it , "

replys the coach , its is the bottom of the 7th inning , adam Johnson steps up , stone creek is trailing bear valley

6-5 , the pitcher delivers "crack!" as the ball is hit over the fence to tie it up ,stone creek fans stand and cheer

while adam jogs around the bases , matt steps into the box , the first pitch is a very high and in fast ball which

matt ducks and bails to dodge it , "ball 1!" yells the umpire ,the next pitch is a curveball hitting the left side of the

strike zone , "strike 1 !" the umpire yells ,the next pitch is another fastball in the middle of the zone , matt steps

in but misses the ball , "strike 2!" yells the umpire , matt calls time and steps out of the box , matt is confused as

to how to hit the ball , "matt!" as jack yells from the bleachers ,matt is exited to see his father , matt takes a deep

breath and steps back into the box , the next pitch is a fastball high and inside, matt watches it go by,"ball 2!"

yells the umpire ,the next pitch is again high and inside , "ball 3!" yells the umpire , 3 and 2 , in the bottom of the

7th and nobody out , the game is on the line ,the next pitch is in the middle of the strike zone , "crack!" as the

ball is hit hard ,the ball is high , it is deep and it is gone, the stone creek team and fans begin cheering , while

matt jogs around the bases , he touches home and his teammates pick him up in celebration, matt has won the

state title for the stone creek , the first in school history ,matt looks at his dad , his dad gives him a thumbs up ,

then matt throws his dad the game ball , as matt takes his hat off and raises it into the air


THE END

next story will have matt in college