The Inner Edge: You Motivated?

Extra innings, trailing by one, runner on second base.

You can feel your heart beating, the blood rushing through the veins spidered throughout your body.

You hear the subtle roar of rival fans booing you as you glance at the pitcher tossing spins in the circle, the bright stadium lights engulfing you.

You kick away the loose dirt from the box and plant your back foot, stepping in, resting your bat on your shoulder.

Without drive and the desire to compete, you can expect a strikeout or a half-hearted hack right at the shortstop, not a walk-off hit.

You have to want it.

Better yet, you have to whole-heartedly believe you can destroy the ball and knock it out of the park.

Baseball is a mental game, which is why motivation is of the utmost importance.

It’s exhausting to maintain such a high level of motivation when not being successful at the plate. Everyone needs to find his or her own form of motivation to power him or her past his or her failures.

Stepping into the box with any doubt in your mind, you will fail every time.

When I step into the batter’s box, I don’t think about the fact that I whiffed at the change-up during my last at-bat. I think of my old travel coach, Brock Radaker.

Brock’s love for the game was contagious. He inspired me to give my 100 percent effort in everything I did. He made me want to succeed just to make him proud.

I remember the feeling of remorse that coursed through my body whenever our team lost, feeling like we let Brock down after he put so much time and energy into making all of us better ball players. So after we lost, we would work harder and harder and tried everything we could to prevent that feeling of disappointment.

But more importantly, Brock helped me to recover emotionally after I broke my back during the heart of recruiting season my junior year of high school.

The night Brock called me after finding out my back was fractured, I discovered the difference between a good coach and a great coach, and how much he truly cares about each and every one of his players.

Brock gave me the confidence and guidance I needed to be successful in both softball and life, and for that he will always be one of my role models.

One thing is for certain. Without Brock, I wouldn’t be sporting a BU softball jersey.

That’s why I don’t step in the box thinking about statistics or hitting for myself. All my motivation comes from the greatest coach anyone could ask for.

The fact that I recovered from my injury and can continue to make Brock proud playing at the Division I level drives me every pitch.

When a ball is coming at me, all that crosses my mind is “this one is for Brock.”

For some people, they would find this absurd — the fact that I feel I owe a single coach that much. But hey, it motivates me and seems to work.

Everyone has something that drives them. For some it’s family, for others it’s proving critics wrong, and then there are those who are motivated by their own stats.

What motivates you isn’t important; the only thing that matters is there is something that gives you an overwhelming desire to succeed. Everyone needs his or her own Coach Radaker. Without it, you won’t be hitting walk-off homers to win the nail-biters any time soon.

Instead, you’ll find yourself falling short in clutch situations.