By Alyssa Trudniak
As a girl who played softball all her life, and growing up watching the Chicago Cubs, I’ve learned that failure is never easy, but success is a blessing. My softball story was similar to the Chicago Cubs. I haven’t lived 108 years, I was doubted, and my teams were never the greatest. I was part of some decent teams, but like the Cubs, we fell short or weren’t good enough.
Varsity ball was the toughest mental obstacle I had to overcome. But the same year I made varsity but was the same year Kris Bryant got called up! While watching Cubs games, I’d find that he played very similar to myself. He played with heart, quiet, would fault himself when things went wrong and always worked harder on improving his game! Kris quickly became my favorite player and also just an idol that couldn’t be matched. I was determined to play out my dream on Varsity like Kris was living out his dream in the MLB.
While nothing changed for my varsity career, despite putting hard work in, I took it upon myself by asking questions to improve and having teammates help me, but with such little support from my coach, who would never play me, I only had the Chicago Cubs on my side. I graduated and never got my “World Series”. I didn’t give up because we all know in 2015, the Cubs didn’t quit! They kept persisting, and with my new idol if he could change the Cubs around, I could do it!
Fast forward to a year after I graduated high school and I’m playing recreational softball for my community. When the league ended up folding due to lack of players, a coach from another team took me and three of my teammates under her wing. I proudly wore the numbers 17 or 23 – if you didn’t know, Kris Bryant was 23 in college. And so now I’m playing with this new team. I felt different, but a good different; A 2016 Cubs different. There were laughs shared in the dugouts, smiles on our faces as we played, coaches smiling. That year, I ended up going to the championship with those girls. I started the rally to win the game, yes it seems like a Ben Zobrist moment but if it wasn’t for me looking up to Kris Bryant or the Chicago Cubs, I don’t think I would’ve had that night to cherish!
Kris Bryant proved to me that you can be a quiet but hard working player and still make great things happen. When I say I know what it’s like to win a championship after 13 years of constant doubt and feeling like you weren’t good enough, it’s a blessing! Thank you to Kris Bryant and the Chicago Cubs for keeping my drive going and thank you to every teammate and coach I had on my side that night!
All About That Base 