Zach Prichard-Week 10-Graceland Baptist Church

Well ladies and gentlemen, it was my final week, and it couldn't of been any harder. This week was from Monday-Monday the 25th. It started off last Monday with being a pretty easy day, there wasn't a whole lot to do except clean up the fields, and finish cataloging the t-shirts. Karen let me go around 2:30 that day because the week was going to be long and hot. Tuesday morning I came in around 7:15 am, Karen was going to have me work with Gary, our groundskeeper and his assistant Blaire, and then a man named George, he is retired, but likes to help out at the church from time to time. The main goal of Tuesday was to cut and haul all the steel that was laying around the new soccer field, and the behind the bus barn. There were 8 huge bleacher seats that needed to be cut into two's so they could fit on the trailer, so we had to load those in the trailer and have half of it hanging off so Gary could cut through them with the cutting torch. Once that was finished, we went behind the bus barn and started cutting through more pieces of steel that wouldn't fit on the trailer and loading it on there. There were also very big steel cabinets that needed to be broken down so they could fit on the trailer, so George got on the back-ho and used the bucket and the arm to crush them. The worst part of Tuesday wasn't the heavy pieces of steel, or how hot it was (115 degrees), it was when Gary was cutting a piece of steel in half, George picked it up and backed it up right into my shin, now when you cut steel, the torch burns at around 1,000 degrees, so both pieces are going to be very hot. My leg burned for many hours. After we got the trailer loaded up till it was full, Blaire and I went to the new soccer fields, and raked up more grass that was left there from the mowers, this took up the time it took for them to get the trailer unloaded and coming back. When they got back, we started all over again and loaded up one more truck load. I got off Wednesday cause my week was going to be pretty full. Thursday was the same thing as Tuesday, we had more steel to load up and cut, and George and I got on the lawn mowers and cut the fields next to the tennis court and the pond. Once that was finished, Karen wanted me to get the grass that was growing on the pitchers mound off. So I had to grab a hoe and cut up the grass and then rake it up and dump it. Once this was done, Gary, Karen, and I had to line the soccer fields. This took the remainder of the day. It wasn't hard, but it was so hot. I probably drank 12 bottles of water that day. We also set up the soccer goals too, and Karen let me go while she finished up putting on their nets. Friday I got off as well since the tournament started Saturday and was going to run through Monday. Saturday came and I had to get their around 7 am to get the field ready for the 1st game that was at 9 am. Saturday ran smoothly except for some argumentative parents who didn't like the calls being made, but with any sport, your going to get that. Sunday the games started at 2 and run through 8 pm, so after church I got the field ready and sat around to watch the games, because in between games I had to drag the fields, and re-chalk the lines and batters boxes. Today was a little more hectic than the last, mainly because the team from Henryville wasn't following the rules laid out by the director. Technically they were, but they found a loop hole in the system. The "real" ruling was that no child can pitch more than 6 innings in 2 consecutive games. This meant that if a player pitches 6 innings, (which is how long the games were being played) he couldn't pitch for 24 hrs. What Henryville was doing was if they had a double header, they pitched their best pitcher the 1st game for 6 innings, and then came back the next day and pitched him again. This is totally wrong, and its going to hurt this kid in the long run. He pitched 105 pitches on Saturday at 9 am and then came back and pitched again on Sunday at 2 pm. Technically that is 24 hrs, but the rule should have stated no player can pitch more than 6 innings in 2 consecutive days. This would of solved the problem. So basically Henryville made it to the finals on Monday, and they ended up winning. I got lots of thanks and praise on Monday for all the work that I did, and Karen was begging me to come back this next week to help her with the 8U tournament. Thats the end of my internship, and boy I couldn't be happier, now it's time to find a real job! Oh joy!