My name is Cassidy Pitts and I am a senior at Ponderosa High School! When I was the age of 5 I began my journey with baseball and it ended when I was 9 years old. Years later, when I became a Freshman an email was sent to my parents about the softball team for Ponderosa High School. I decided to go to the softball camp. I met the girls, took a lot of reps, (just an FYI, I used an old baseball mitt that my dad found at his work because it was the closest thing I had to a softball mitt) and realized how incredible softball is. My parents didn't have a whole lot of money, so asking them for new cleats, a new 300 dollar bat, a new glove, and to pay for the softball fee which would add another hundred dollars onto the bill seemed far away from possible. When I discussed it with my mom and explained how much I loved the game, she realized that both my parents would have to do anything they could to make my wish come true. So, that night after the camp, she took me to a second hand athletic store, and bought me used cleats, a used glove, a used bat, and I was over the moon excited. After that, I tried out for the Varsity Softball team, and became their starting left fielder as a freshman. This may not seem like a big deal, but being the only starting freshman on the team, was an honor to me. Not to mention the honor of playing on the same team as Ally Power the 2013-2014 Gatorade player of the year. I took my freshman summer off of competitive ball because I was such a new and clueless player, that I honestly had no idea it existed. My Sophomore year, I played left field once again, then near the end of my high school season, people kept asking me what comp ball team I played for, and I admitted I had no idea what that was. They responded accordingly and said that I needed to find a team in order to be successful. I joined the Colorado Black Diamonds late in the game. The coach accepted me but told me there would be no guarantees of my playing time, but with my skill set, he wasn't too worried about me not fitting in. I wasn't the best player on the team starting out, I started in right field for my first game with them, then after one game, my bat and athleticism in the field earned me a permanent spot in the lineup. After a few reps at practice, my coach realized he could use my arm strength at short stop. I quickly agreed because I love the exhilaration of being in the infield. I started at short stop for most of the season until I struggled and played through an entire out of state tournament with a slight knee dislocation, and my coach didn't know until I told him I couldn't play for a while. I worked through the injury, and threw even when I wasn't supposed to (on crutches), but it was worth it. Then I had just gotten cleared to play with my team in the Queen of Diamonds tournament and I was so excited! We played our first game on a Saturday, (I was cleared for two days) and I slid on my uneven cleats on my way to round second base, fell onto the ground and realized I was hurt. Bad. I didn't want to let my coach or my team down so I got up, laughed it off, wiped the tears off my face and put my game face on. Our next game, I told my dad I was injured but wanted to work through it. During the second game, I hit an infield home-run and just continued to work through the pain. We played three games that day and were undefeated in this tournament. When I got home that night, from my toes to my knee it was purple black and blue my ankle was so swollen I could barley walk. But I'm not the type of player to hurt my team by taking my skill set away from the line up in the game. So, I iced, an decided to play on Sunday. We continued out undefeated streak, and paved our road into the Championship, we had a game break before the Championship game, and I went to my coach's wife and daughter's house, and I asked for some ice, took off my sock, and they were mortified. They had no idea I was injured for I did not let it affect my playing. We went to the Championship game shortly after, and we won with me sliding in on my belly to score the winning run. That final slide made it so I couldn't walk after the game, my coach ran up to me to congratulate me on the win and he realized I wasn't getting up. He ran towards me and asked me what the matter was and I took off my cleat and sock and he saw my leg and he started to cry because he felt to blame, and was so upset that I didn't tell him. I told him it was my decision and this Championship title was worth it. He quickly named me the MVP of the tournament. My family quickly escorted me into a emergency clinic but they didn't have a doctor due to the fact that it was Sunday, so they couldn't come up with a proper diagnosis. They gave me a boot and told me to schedule an appointment with an Orthopedic Surgeon. I then learned I had a fourth degree ankle sprain, and couldn't play for four to six weeks. I cried and broke down in the office and was so enraged when the doctor said that I couldn't play. I supported my team from the side lines in a boot and watched my team begin to fall apart. We lost two players due to complications, and we had one game left in the Sparkler tournament, if we didn't find someone to play we would have had to forfeit the game. So, I had a med student tape my entire leg, and I suited up to play. I played second base, and made it through the game. Then, not shortly after, we played in the State tournament, once again desperate for players, so I taped it up again and played. After that, I went through a ton of painful therapy to be cleared to play high school ball. During my season with the Diamonds, I found that I enjoyed catching. I caught a total of two games, and realized that I fell in love with it.I went into my high school season wanting to catch. There was a girl that had just joined the varsity team, and was also a catcher. Eventhough she had caught her entire career since she was little, after the short time I had caught during comp ball, I was determined to be the starting catcher. I worked my butt off trying to start, and became the starting catcher for Ponderosa after the two game practice during the summer. I then got injured during my high school season as well.I had bursitis, and it caused my shoulder blade to wing out, but I played through my high school season injured, and just waited for the off season to come so I could heal. I had to wait to be cleared to play for my 2017 summer softball season. I finally got cleared and tried out for the Rocky Mountain Thunder 18A Gold team. I was still not fully healed so my hitting wasn't where is usually is. The coach said my hitting was a concern, but too come back the next week for another practice. I made the adjustment, and starting hitting incredible. He wanted to use me in scrimmages in the beginning of the season to see if I truly was the player he thought I was. Right off the bat, my first hit was a triple, and my hitting was great throughout the games, and my coach realized he needed to make me an offer before I would start looking for other teams, so I took his offer, and joined his team. I grew so much as a catcher, and as an outfielder, but mostly as a player, I learned the mental battle of the game, and I learned how to conquer it. My team played incredible all season. We played in our last tournament of the season which was the State tournament. We played undefeated throughout the tournament, and made it to the State Championship. We went and played our hardest, this was the last game we would play as a team together in. Then. Two outs. A runner on third. I got up to bat and prayed that I could let the runner score to win the game.My first pitch was in the dirt, I took a breath as I could hear my own heartbeat. My coach gave me the sign to hit away, and then he smiled. The last thing i can remember before I hit the ball was my incredible teammates cheering me on. I knew I couldn't let them down. I took an outside pitch, and drove it right over the center field fence and ended the game and the season with a walk off two run home-run to win the 18A Gold State Championship. I am working hard right now to prepare for my upcoming high school season and final comp ball year. In the total of two (almost three) comp ball seasons, as well as the soon to be fourth Varsity high school season, I have grown so much as a player as well as a person, and I'm looking forward to dominate in my college years as well! Thanks so much for reading!