Chapter 49

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(did anyone watch the uconn game yesterday? when paige fell and grabbed her knee my heart dropped)

Peyton POV:

It's the next day, Paige and I both have practice today. Today is the first day of actual softball practice and not just weight room stuff but since it's cold out we are inside.

We are starting off with hitting stations, there is a pitching machine station where Coach V the head coach puts a ball into it and we hit it, there a station where we hit off a tee into a net, there's a station of soft toss where a teammate tosses you the ball and you hit it into a net, there's a bunting station, and then a station with little foam golf balls we need to hit in a net.

"Alright so split into groups and start hitting" Coach V says

Everyone splits into groups leaving Kate and I together which I don't mind since we are friends but also know to get our work done.

"What station do you wanna go to" I ask her

"Let's do the pitching machine first"

"Sounds good to me" I say as we start walking over to the pitching machine station and I tighten my batting gloves and put on my helmet as I step into the batting cage.

"You ready Peyton" Coach V says

Coach V and I are pretty close she's the one that actually recruited me and saw something special in me when other colleges didn't. She's also been another parent figure in my life ever since my parents kicked me out so I'm very grateful to have her in my life.

"As ready as I'll ever be" I say as I get in my hitting stance as she shows me her putting the ball into the machine.

As soon as the ball gets pitched out of the machine it immediately makes contact with my thigh giving me no time to react.

"You good?" She calls out from behind the screen as I walk it off

"Are you really trying to kill me on my first day" I joke getting back into stance thinking about how that will definitely leave a huge bruise.

After the first pitch I've been able to hit all the others relatively well and then it's time for Kate and I to switch.

"You both did a great job girls" Coach V says as we pick up the balls after we both hit.

"Thanks Coach" Kate and I both say

"Peyton get that leg checked out after practice" Coach V says as we are on our way to the next station which I just give her a thumbs up.

"Yea how is your leg, I saw you get hit" Kate says as she gets in her stance at the tee station.

"It's fine, it burns a little and will definitely leave a bruise, but nothing I haven't dealt with before" I tell her as I put a ball on the tee for her

After doing all the hitting stations we transition into fielding. Right now we are just fielding short hops which are when the ball bounces once before reaching you. So the Assistant Coach, Coach Brady, is hitting them to us and we field it and go to the end of the line.

I've been doing pretty well, I haven't messed up yet which I'm happy about because I'm still a bit nervous, not about the team and the people, but the fact if I don't like up to the softball superstar everyone sees me as.

After fielding short hops we start doing fielding scenarios. So we all get into our position and Coach V hits the ball and we all adjust to what the situation is, such as if there's a person on first and 1 out or something.

We've also worked on bunt coverages and since I play second that means I have to run over to first and catch the ball since the first basemen runs up to try and get the bunt.

"Alright nice practice girls it was nice to see everyone hitting and fielding today for a change instead of in the weight room" Coach V says as we get in a huddle and put our fists in the center.

"Huskies on 3, 1, 2, 3" Kenzie, a senior says

"Huskies" we all say before we go back to our bags and put everything away.

"You ready to go Peyton" Kate says once we are in the locker room changing after practice

"I gotta get my leg looked at but you go ahead, I'll talk to you later" I say

"Alright, have fun" she says as she leaves

I make my way to the athletic trainers room/rehab/recovery room and find Cat who is the athletic trainer for the softball team who is waiting at an examination table for me.

"Alright let's get you looked at" Cat says as I hop on the examination table and roll up my shorts so she can see where the ball hit my thigh.

She feels around for a few minutes and ask if it hurts anywhere and moves my leg around to see if there is any other pain.

"Ok, so it's just gonna be a big bruise it will most likely hurt if you put pressure on it but I'm gonna wrap ice around it because it's swollen" Cat says

"I feel like I'm gonna be in this room a lot" I joke

"Let's hope not, because I know you would much rather play than sit on the bench" Cat says as she begins to wrap the ice around my leg.

"Yea that's true, I hate sitting on the bench"

"Then I will do everything in my power to make sure that doesn't happen, but for right now you are good to go, keep the ice on it for about an hour and then you can take it off, but if it starts to bother you, you can put it back on. But before the next practice come in here and sill check out how it's doing"

"Ok sounds good. thank you" I say standing up from the examination table.

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