Page 2 of Rain Delay

Every time I pictured my future, there was Eliana.

This was something we always talked about when we would lie in the bed of my truck on late summer nights, looking up at the stars. We would talk about how we were going to do this together, how I was going to show her off to the world, and have my biggest fan with me through everything.

Looking back, I wish I would’ve paid more attention to the way Eliana looked at me that night. To the way she was truly elated for me.

It’s funny how things can change in the blink of an eye when you’re asked to pick one over the other. The future you once built in your head can change in an instant.

I thought I had everything on Draft Night.

A first-round selection.

A future in professional baseball.

The girl I’ve loved since I was twelve.

Turns out, you can lose the most important thing in your life while you’re focused on getting everything you’ve ever wanted.

Chapter 1

Wyatt

“MY BROTHER IN CHRIST, I need you to actually throw the ball in my direction.” Liam calls out to me, snapping me out of whatever daze I had been in.

The desert air hits differently on these kinds of days. It’s the last Spring Training game before we head back to Milwaukee to get the season going.

One last exhibition game to get everything going.

One last chance to shake off whatever nerves and rust that remained before we headed back home to defend our World Series title.

I tossed the ball back to him and shook my head before heading towards the dugout.

I stood along the railing, looking out across the field, watching as the grounds crew made the field look stunning. The Arizona sun hung high above the stadium, casting everything in a warm glow, making everything look like it was straight out of a commercial. The types of fields you would picture in a movie.

I rolled my shoulders beneath my jersey, adjusting my batting gloves that hung out of my back pocket.

Fans were starting to fill the stadium, filtering into their seats with their snacks and baseball gloves, with the hopes they would be one of the lucky ones to catch a stray or home run.

Six months ago, I was in the clubhouse surrounded by my teammates being sprayed in champagne as we celebrated our World Series win.

The first one in franchise history. The first championship I had won since my freshman year of college when Coastal Carolina won the College World Series.

It’s the kind of moment you spend your entire life chasing. Most people thought us winning the World Series would change us going into this season.

If anything? It made us hungrier. We wanted to feel that euphoria again. So many doubted us – Didn’t believe that we could do it. When we started the season on such an ugly note, everything looked like a far stretch in our heads.

I can still remember every second of the final inning. The way the ball came off the bat of New York’s second baseman, grounding into a winning double play for us, and how our first baseman, Miles, was jumping up and down like a mad man when he was the one to step on the bag and seal the win.

The feeling of pure disbelief as we all stormed him, letting reality sit in.

We did it.

We won it all.

The title still felt weird to hear behind my name. But I liked it. So fucking much.

I’m ready to capture another one. No matter what it took.

“You’re doing that thing again.”