favorite baseball memory

My most memorable baseball experience is surprisingly a game which I lost. It was the district tournament championship game, Alpine Little League vs. Palo alto National Little League. As a proud 12 year old on the alpine squad, I had watched our team bulldoze through several opponents up and down the peninsula. On the other side of the bracket was the proverbial goliath - PA national. They were deemed the chosen ones, with valid hopes of representing the West region in the little league world series. Events led to a balmy night in early july, the deciding game in who would be crowned champions of district 52 - Alpine vs PA national. The tournament was hosted in palo alto, and the town allowed the league to bring in temporary lights. By the 7 o'clock singing of the national anthem, it appeared that over 500 people were in attendance to watch the "little big game." The atmosphere itself was unlike anything I had ever experienced before, and haven't still to this day. Kids packed the outfield, watching the heros of their town, players they looked up to as stars of little league. parents and friends crowded the bleachers, ringing cow bells and holding up signs. The lights made it feel as if we were playing the 7th game of the world series, mystically illuminating the field in a way that seemed to give the contest an added significance. At this point, I also realized what it meant and felt like to represent your town and fellow players who you had been competing against only weeks previous to the tournament. The game itself ended up being all it was hyped up to be. It was locked in a 2-2 tie until the top of the 6th inning, when our ace hung an ill-advised curve ball and watched it sail into the trees lining the center field fence. The solo shot proved to be all palo Alto needed to shut us down and take home the tournament title. The crushing defeat however was transcended by the journey that had me to this memorable spectacle of a little league baseball game, a subtle triumph I will never forget.