We had our first softball practice of the season yesterday. Everyone wants me to be pitcher again. This year Nick is playing with us, which should be great. He seems to be a great hitter and he’s awesome in the outfield. Plus, he wants to practice pitching, so I can catch some relief occasionally and I won’t HAVE to go to every game (even though I probably will anyway, it’s nice to know there’s a backup plan).
Anyway, for two hours yesterday I pitched to people as they practiced batting. By the end I was tired and it was getting darker to the point where there wasn’t enough contrast to distinguish the ball from the background, which was getting dangerous, so I was glad when we finally stopped. About 45 minutes into practice I took a ball straight to the knees. Yes, both of them. I think what happened was that I turned my legs so that the ball wouldn’t hit the knees dead on and it hit one, bounced off it and hit the other, then flew up into the air. I think that since my legs were turning at the time of impact the blow wasn’t as forceful, but it was still quite a wallop. I essentially just sat down and took a few deep breaths. It didn’t hurt as much as I expected, but it was bruising immediately. I took a break for a bit and let the coach pitch while I walked it off and relaxed. The rest of practice I was a little gun shy, so I was careful with anything that was bouncing along the ground or hit directly to me.
Today I was sore all over and my knee is really sensitive and has some neat bruising indicating EXACTLY where the ball hit me. I guess I have a few months of abuse to look forward to.