Finally Clobbered My First Home Run Of The Year (4-6 w/ 2 Runs, 5 RBI, 1 HR, 1 Walk) + 5 Innings Pitched, Allowing 4 Hits & 2 Earned Runs

I FINALLY hit a laser home run to deep left center, and damn it felt good. The hit was such a hard low line drive that I was sprinting to second base with no idea that the ball sailed over the 15+ foot high wall shown below.

I thought the shot was going to hit the wall at best, not clear it with more room to fly. I didn't see how far it went over the fence, but I'll assume roughly the bare minimum of 360-365+ feet from a map distance calculator. With a wood bat, that's pretty solid. I think it's the third home run my team has hit out of that field in about 10 years.

The home run was on my first swing in 2 weeks, and first at bat in 3 weeks (since we had 2 weekends of rainouts and one practice session).

I didn't even feel the contact, which is how it's supposed to feel when you hit the ball properly on the bat's sweet spot. It feels like the ball rockets off the bat without any effort. It was probably my furthest hit in about 5 years.

I'm now hitting .406 on the season with 8 Runs and 12 RBI through 10 games, on pace for career highs in these stats so far.

Pics from a sacrifice fly line out in game 2:

Relaxed & Focused:

"Looks good enough. Swing."

I had to bring my hands in tight on the swing (not able to fully extend) to get the good part of the bat on the ball. This produced a decent line drive to right center the center fielder caught on the run. I usually like to be lower in my stance, but I had to adjust to the pitch. The runner on third tagged up to score.

Running it out... a few feet to the right from the speedy center fielder and it'd have been a 2 RBI double.

Game 1 Offense:

• 2 Run home run on first swing, Run scored.
• RBI single to right field on a tough full count outside pitch on my second swing of the day.
• Struck out because I got too aggressive to swing too early/didn't wait for the pitches to reach the plate.

Recap: 2-3 with 3 RBI and 1 Run. I played the entire game at second base with no errors. We won the first game with our ace and a reliever throwing a 1-hitter.

Home Run:

Here's the home run mapped out, noting that the street is elevated 15+ feet up, so the ball's distance would be actually a little longer when considering it coming back down to field level.

The ball's path from memory and asking my team. It was such a low line drive that none of my teammates thought it'd reach that far, but that's what the gym is for.

Game 2 Pitching:

I pitched the last 5 innings in relief, giving up 2 earned runs on 4 hits. I would've had the win, but 2 major defensive errors cost us some unearned runs to end the game in a tie in extra innings due to loss of daylight.

I made an absurd full speed sliding catch to get out of a jam I inherited with the bases loaded (from the previous pitcher). It got an applause and a few pounds from the other team. Nothing gets me more fired up than saving runs from scoring, especially after my teammate's atrocious error... dropping my easy throw to him on a ground ball to myself for a critical out at home that would've been a double play if he executed the basics.

My knuckleball was on fire and the other team couldn't hit it. They took huge swings and misses, and mostly made bad contact for easy outs. They were laughing at each other for taking violent swings and not hitting it. That gives me a lot of confidence, but I have to be smart and mix up my speeds so they don't catch one.

Speaking of that, one of their hitters did hit a tall home run that just cleared the fence at 310 feet. He was a huge guy and that happens when they get a few good hacks over the game. I also had two strikeouts on hard fastballs they weren't expecting and swung late on. I'm still throwing much harder than last year after my off-season prep, and my arm will get stronger as the season continues.

Game 2 Offense:

• Strikeout not waiting for the ball to reach me.
• RBI sacrifice fly line out to right center.
• Line drive single to right center (waited for the ball well).
• RBI single between 3B and SS, Run scored.
• Intentional walk (the other team was clearly afraid)

Recap: 2-3 with 2 RBI and 1 Run. I pitched 5 innings, allowing 4 hits and 2 earned runs, with two strikeouts. This game ended in a tie in extra innings.

We're in third place in our league so far.

Thanks,
@steemmatt