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Lauren Raker
Ms. Ingram
UWRT 1101-070
19 September 2014
The Story of How I Transformed into a Softball Player
Eleven years ago, I didnt know what being a softball player would mean to me. I had no
idea how to throw, catch, or hit a ball. I didnt know what hand-eye coordination was. I didnt
know what an outfield or an infield was. I thought a softball was actually a ball that was soft. I
didnt know that I would end up eating, breathing, sleeping, and living the game of softball for a
decade of my life. The first time I stepped onto a softball field, I had no idea that I would fall
completely in love with this sport. Over the past eleven years, I have become very literate in the
game of softball with the help of my dad, Lewis Raker, and my pitching coach, Amanda
McArthur.
My dad is my number one fan, coach, and teacher. He has been there to support me since
the first day of my softball career, and has helped me advance my softball fundamentals and my
thinking process of the game. He has thought me almost everything I know about softball.
For starters, on the first day of tryouts, he was there watching my every move. I had
absolutely no idea how to catch and throw a ball or how to swing a bat. During my very first at
bat, I stood on home plate instead of in the batters box and I missed every single ball that was
pitched to me. He stood on the sidelines cheering me on the whole time. He would say, Youll
hit it next time! or Itll just take some more practice. He saw the discouragement on my face
over my first few seasons of playing softball. Until the one day that it all just sort of clicked,
and to be honest, I really dont even know when in clicked. It just happened and, all the long

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hours at miserable practices and hard work of trying to learn the basic fundamentals finally
started paying off. This was the turning point of my softball career.
A couple of years after I started playing softball, my dad decided to become the head
coach for one of the recreational softball teams at the Mint Hill Athletic Association also known
as MHAA. And of course this meant that I was on his team. No ifs, ands, or buts about it.
Out of all the games I have played over the years, the one game that stays with me is the
championship game of my last season of rec ball. We had been undefeated all season long until
that championship game against Steele Creek. At this point in my softball career, I realize
softball was not just about fun anymore. It was about winning. And on that ball field with the
sun beating down on me in the middle of July, I realized what it meant to be a loser and my dad
made sure of it. After my team had been defeated, he had all of us line up on the foul line so he
could lecture us. He called each one of us out for all the errors we had made. He yelled at us
until our faces were filled with tears. He had a way of making all of us feel worthless. After his
All of you suck speech, we had to play Steele Creek again. The opposing team saw all of the
tears rolling from me and my teammates eyes, and the Steele Creek team thought that they had
the next game in the bag. Me and my teammates all dried it up and stepped onto the field with
determination and hatred in our eyes. Needless to say, we kicked Steele Creeks butt.
And from that moment forward, my dad taught me to leave everything Ive got on the
field and make a name for myself that I can be proud of. He taught me to believe in myself and
to hold my head high. Without that, you dont have anything when it comes to softball.
After the championship game against Steele Creek, my dad wanted me to take my skills
to the next level, so he introduced me to travel ball. Travel ball is when teams from all over
come together to play each other. Travel ball is more competitive and consists of the best of the

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best. My dad taught me to push myself in everything I do. He would be the hardest on me out of
any one on the team because I am his daughter and he wanted me to be the best I could be.
When it was my turn to field the ball, my dad would hit the ball harder at me than he would
anyone else. Sometimes I would be afraid of the ball and pull my head, he would get so
frustrated and angry with me, and he would make me stay hours after practice was over to hit me
hundreds of really hard grounders. My dad would hit me grounders until I stopped pulling my
head or until I wasnt afraid to field the ball anymore. Once I learned how to hit properly, my
dad taught me how to place the ball when I hit. Then, he taught me different ways to hit the ball
like bunting and slapping the ball. He taught me discipline through softball. Whenever I didnt
do something right, he would make me run laps or do pushups for punishment. Believe me, I
was cussing him up and down while I was running those laps or doing those pushups too. He
taught me to have discipline in the batters box, which pitches to swing at and which pitches to
not swing at. Once I became more advanced, he taught me how to think ahead of the game. He
taught me how to predict what the other team was going to do and when they were going to do
what. My dad is the best coach I have ever had. He knows the game of softball inside and out,
and backwards and forwards. My dad taught me almost everything I know about softball, and he
has made me the literate softball player I am today.
About three years after I started playing softball, I became literate in pitching with the
help of my pitching coach, Amanda McArthur. Each pitching lesson I had with her was an hour
long, and I always walked away from each pitching lesson knowing something had not known
before. At first, she taught me the basic fundamentals I needed to know to be a softball pitcher.
She taught me how to hold the softball, how to do the foot work, how to stand on the pitching
mound, how to push off the rubber, how to present the ball, and how to put it all together for the

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complete pitching motion. We worked on accuracy, like how to hit the catchers mitt and spots.
Spots meaning the four corners of the plate, such as inside-high, inside-low, outside-high, and
outside-low. Amanda taught me how to build up my stamina with certain exercises. She taught
me how to throw different pitches, such as a fastball, change up, drop ball, screwball, rise ball,
and a two-seam fastball. She taught me the different ways to hold the ball for different pitches.
She taught me the different arm motions and foot work for each pitch. She would have sayings
to help me memorizes what to do for each pitch. Amanda taught me how to increase my speed
by moving my arm faster and using my hips and legs for power. At this point in my career, I
have reached my maximum speed of about sixty miles per hour.
Amanda would always say, Pitching is a lot of work, and you have to practice more than
anybody else on the team. Ppffff! Theres no way Im going to practice even more than I
already do. Amanda, you have lost your mind. But I did, and not only did I have to go to my
two hour team softball practices, I had to go practice pitching for an hour after those two hour
practices, whether it was with Amanda or not. Sometimes I would get burnt out on softball
because it just was not fun at all to practice for all those hours. But the only way I got to where I
am today is because for perseverance and hard work. I can throw every single pitch there is on
spot, and I have to admit I throw pretty dang fast.
Pitching Lessons, with Amanda, stretching, warming my arm up, and drills. I need to
make sure I stretch everything out good, so I do not pull anything. When pitching, I use every
muscle in my body to throw the ball. I do mean EVERY muscle in my body. Some days, after
pitching Im so sore I dont even want to move. And if I do not warm my arm up slowly and
properly, I could damage my rotator cuff or any part of my arm and/or shoulder. There are so
many drills that Amanda had me do. Some drills were used to help me gain strength, so I could

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throw the ball as hard as I possibly could. Other drills were used to help me learn how to throw
different pitches. She had so many drills to help me throw better, faster, and stronger. Amanda
has greatly impacted my softball career by showing me how to be a pitcher and teaching me
everything Id ever need to know about pitching.
My dad and Amanda have instilled within me everything I need to know to be successful
throughout my softball career. From the first time I stepped onto the softball field at tryouts, my
dad has been dedicated to learning everything he can about the game of softball so that he can
pass on what he knows to me. Because of my dad, the basic fundamentals I started out with have
advanced into something that I could only dream about when I first started out eleven years ago.
My dad is the best coach and mentor I have ever had when it comes to softball. From the first
pitching lesson, Amanda has been there for me and teaching me everything I need to know to be
the best softball pitcher I can be. Because of Amanda, I have transformed from not knowing
how to pitch at all to becoming a pitching coach myself. I have them to thank for making me the
literate softball player, pitcher, coach, mentor, and role model I am today.