It was the the Summer of 1995 and I was 24 enjoying life and playing all types of sports!
Wall Ball* is one of my favorite I used to play with my brother and my fellow Greek friends in the neighborhood
This summer was going to be special as we formed the Palmerston Wall Ball League for the first time.
Palmerston Public School was where we all attended in public school and had the best dimensions to play wallball.
Having a league was going to be fun as we would keep track of all the stats for the summer.
It was in late July when a very special moment happened...
It was hot and great day for baseball
We always had fun playing the game and we all knew each others strengths and weaknesses so it made much harder to really do well on a consistent basis.
On this day Tommy F was pitching and he has some great stuff. We used a tennis balls and aluminum bats.
The tennis ball did neccesarily have that much movement yet some of the ball we used had seams so it can change the movement.
I was at bat and it has been a tough afternoon trying to hit Tom's pitches!
So this time I went up with no plan just watch the ball and wait for a decent pitch.
Tom was focused and determined to strike me out!
I settled in and just said to myself "just be patient and wait"
Tom had two very good pitches Forkball witch dips in the end and a wicked fastball
I was waiting to hit it hard
He throws the first pitch and I swing Umpire says STRIKE 1!
Next to pitches were balls outside the strike zone
The next pitch I just watched and it was in the zone STRIKE 2
Next pitch was a ball
So here we are 3-2 count and nowhere to go
I saw Tom's face he was flustered and little irritated that I was still hanging in there
I had made up my mind he was to come after me and get me out!
I stepped in and prepared and took some half swings and let out a breathe of fresh air and waited...
He threw the pitch and I saw his face he looked horrified that he had lost the pitch and headed straight down the pipe.
I took and hard swing and then BOOM! I connected with the tennis ball!
Tom didn't even turn around to look yet everyone else did and this ball simply took off and kept on going to the moon!
It cleared the fence of the school and landed in the back yard of the house across the street and kept bouncing until it hit the front of the garage.
My brother came to get the bat and said to me " You connected on that one for sure!"
It was memorable summer of fun and competition amongst friends
*Wall Ball or American a square is made on a wall and then 50 feet away a pitcher throws. Singles, Doubles, Triples and Homeruns are measure by distance travelled on preset areas.
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