There are three fundamental skills of baseball: hitting, catching, and throwing. Coach Cook asked me to talk to all of you, because he thinks you all do not want to practice. To succeed in baseball, you must practice because repetition is the key. Whenever one repeats an action it becomes customary and easy for one to perform a task.

When I was a ballplayer, my teams were very successful because my coaches told us the importance of practicing. One year my coach could not coach us because he did not have the time to do it. That same year the teams were shuffled and everybody had different teammates. My best friend, Wes Cook, made it on my team. Wes was the best player anybody had ever seen. However, He did not enjoy practicing. He thought he could succeed without practicing

Catching and throwing are the two other types of skills needed in baseball. It requires hand-eye coordination and speed. When a ball is hit toward a player, he must move in the direction of the ball. Once he positions under it, he must raise his glove and use both hands to catch it. Using two hands is the best technique to catch the baseball. If the ball is hit on the ground, the fielder must shift in front of it so it will not get passed him. Throwing is another type of skill. It requires hand-eye coordination and a good aim. Once a player has caught the ball, he must transfer it from his glove to his hand. After he has done that he needs to plant one foot in the ground and step forward and throw the ball toward the base.

my hand into the air. The next batter loops a fly ball between the centerfielder and second baseman. When I scored, I knew we had won, because the team ran on to the field. The whole team except Wes; he was still sulking on the bench.

As he stepped into the batter's box and gets ready to hit the ball. The first pitch he receives he swings as hard as he can and he missed badly. The next pitch he swings wildly again and pops the ball up in the air. The catcher flips his mask and yells, "I got it." Wes slams the bat angrily into the ground. Right before I step in the box, I look into the dugout and see Wes sitting on the bench with his hands over his face crying. I knew I had to try to win the game. The first pitch that the pitcher threw almost hit me, which that made me really mad. The next pitch I hit a foul ball in the bleachers. On the third pitch, I hit a line drive down the third base line. The two runners on base in front of me score. As I am rounding second base, I see my coach telling me not to go to third, but it was too late. I was in full stride and I knew I could make it. When the cloud of dust disappeared, I saw the umpire waving that I had made it safely. I stood and up and thrust !

Wes and I were a great duo. I had the highest batting average for our age group, and he had the second highest. Wes had five homeruns to my two. As the season progressed, we cooled down. Everyday, when I had a chance my dad and I would practice in the batting cages. I would call Wes and ask him if he wanted to come with us and he would tell me that he was busy playing Super Nintendo and Sega Genesis. I would try to tell him that he needed to work on his swing and that I

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Approximate Word count = 1640
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)