The Lone Girl: Brianna the Baseball Player — Coming Soon

The Lone Girl: Brianna the Baseball Player is nearing completion. This heartfelt story follows Brianna, a determined young athlete who faces doubters on and off the field and learns what it takes to triumph against the odds.

The book is expected to be released in time for the holiday season, making it a perfect gift for sports-loving readers and anyone who enjoys stories of resilience and belonging. Keep an eye on this page for updates, sneak peeks, and release announcements.

In the meantime, here's the opening chapter to give you a glimpse into Brianna's journey:

Chapter 1: Mi Abuelo

I was ten years old when I first got to fly to Guanajuato with my family. The last few times they went, they left me in San Diego with my cousins while they got to vacation in Mexico, but this time my dad insisted that I go. Guanajuato is where my dad was born and where his parents remained after he left Mexico to live and work in California. San Diego and Guanajuato were quite different cities, with San Diego being right on the coast and Guanajuato being perched up high in the mountains of Central Mexico. June in San Diego was usually relatively cool, with something we called "June Gloom" bringing fog and mild weather to the city. Guanajuato, on the other hand, was hot and tropical most of the year. Guanajuato was also one of the most colorful cities in the world, with buildings in bright turquoise, orange, pink and so many other wild colors that we'd never see back in San Diego.

When we first got to the city, my dad took us all to a street vendor selling tamales. "These tamales are the best in the world. Don't tell abuela I said that, she thinks hers are better." My dad laughed as he bought each of us a tamale, mine being a basic one with just cheese inside. I took a bite and was immediately transported to a world of wonderful flavor and textures. It was like nothing I'd ever tasted before and I instantly knew why my dad had to stop here before we went to my grandparents' house. Their house was a modest home, but still nicer than what we lived in back in San Diego. Like the rest of the city, it was very colorful and had a welcoming feel to it.

We rang the doorbell and the door swung open almost immediately as if someone was sitting right next to it waiting for a visitor. "Hola nieta" my grandmother, who I called Abuela, said as she scooped me up for a hug. She was a tiny woman, likely not taller than 4'8" and if she didn't look like an old lady, you might think she was a child. The last time I saw her, I was only four so she probably still thought of me as a tiny baby even though I was probably only six inches shorter than her. Their home was exactly as I had pictured it. There were crosses and pictures of Jesus everywhere, little knickknacks and modest furniture. I also noticed that they didn't have a TV. I suddenly realized that I might be very bored on this trip. Without TV and without WIFI, I wasn't sure what I would do. I'm pretty confident my grandparents had never used the internet before, they didn't even have cellphones and were very old school about everything. Inside their home it was 1975, not the 2000s like it was everywhere else.

The moment we all got inside, Abuela looked at my dad and shook her head. "Ya comiste, ¿verdad?"

"No, estaba reservando mi apetito para tu comida, mamá." My dad lied to his mom, telling her he was saving his appetite for her food when he had just eaten three tamales.

"Mentiroso" Abuela called my dad a liar in Spanish, shook her head and left the room. As the door opened to the small kitchen, the aroma of Spanish rice, carne asada and homemade corn tortillas filled the air and immediately brought my appetite roaring back.

We ate again, and my father was clearly pushing through some pain as he tried to prove to his mother that he was hungry and ate a full plate of rice, beef and tortillas. My abuelo looked at me and just blurted out "wanna see mummies?"

I was taken aback by the question and stared at him blankly for what felt like five minutes before I responded "what mummies, Abuelo?"

"The Museo de las Momias is here in Guanajuato. It has a bunch of mummies, but not like the Egyptian kind." I was intrigued by this.

"What kind of mummies are they?" I asked my grandfather.

"Back in the 1800s there was an outbreak of a disease called cholera here in Guanajuato and they buried people very quickly after they died so they wouldn't spread the disease to others. Because of the very unique environment here, their bodies were turned into mummies." I was fascinated hearing this story.

"Yeah, that sounds cool Abuelo, let's do it!"

We left the house and went to the museum. It was a fascinating place full of dozens of mummified corpses. I had always been into stuff like that. Mummies, zombies, werewolves…basically anything usually associated with Halloween was something I would be into. I loved scary movies too. The museum was super creepy, with their faces frozen in terror, but it was also really fun and silly. They had coffins we could pose in for pictures and of course I took a photo in one. As we finished the museum, Abuelo told me he had a baseball game in a few hours and would have to go home to get ready.

A couple of hours later we drove to the baseball field. It was much bigger than I expected. I thought it would be some dusty field in the middle of nowhere, but instead it was at this incredible stadium complex. There were mountains on two sides and views of the city on the other two sides. There were a bunch of people there because it was not just a baseball field, but an entire sports complex. There were buses parked along the road and the stadium looked like one where professional teams would play. My grandfather was not a professional, but he was a lifelong player and his team was very successful in amateur tournaments over the years.

Abuelo started the game playing second base for his team, Las Flamas, and the very first play was a ground ball hit in the space between him and the first baseman. He took a sharp angle back behind the base, slid onto his knees and in one motion scooped up the ball and threw it to the pitcher who was running over to cover the base because the first baseman had also gone after the ball. OUT! One play in and I was already enthralled by the game. I always liked baseball, but seeing my Abuelo make such a good play made it even more exciting. The next two batters got out and it was time for Las Flamas to bat.

Abuelo was the third batter in the lineup. The first batter was a short man with a large mustache and he hit the very first pitch to left field for a single. The next hitter was struck out on three pitches and it was time for Abuelo to bat. He walked up to the plate with a determined look in his eyes. He dug into the batter's box and the pitcher threw a fastball just off the plate for ball one. Another fastball was thrown, this time it was low and was called for ball 2. The third pitch sailed right into the strike zone and Abuelo took a mighty swing at it. CRACK! He crushed a line drive into the gap in left-center field and the leadoff hitter flew around the bases the moment the ball was hit. By the time the fielders got to the ball, Abuelo was already rounding second base and as the throw came into the infield, he slid into third base for an RBI triple.

He popped out to the shortstop in his next at bat as the game settled into a rhythm and neither team seemed to make anything happen. Abuelo's team was up 1-0 going into the 7th inning (they played only 7 innings when the field was in heavy use, which it usually was during the summer) but the other team still had three outs left. The first batter walked on four pitches as it looked like the starting pitcher had run out of gas. He was replaced with the team's oldest player, a 77 year old man with a knuckleball. The first pitch danced into the strike zone and the batter swung as hard as he could, sending a foul ball rocketing towards the seats behind third base. The next pitch floated into the strike zone for strike number 2. His third pitch of the at bat was well outside the strike zone, but the batter swung anyway and missed it by about a foot for strike three. The next batter walked on six pitches and suddenly Las Flamas were on their heels with Los Peloteros sending one of their best hitters to the plate, a lefty named Domingo. He already had two of the team's three hits and this time there were runners on base for him.

He took a mighty cut at the first pitch and missed wildly because he was so early on his swing. He fouled the second pitch behind 1st base. The third pitch came in and he took a mighty swing at it and sent the ball rocketing into right field. It rolled to the wall and Domingo was able to go into second with a 2 run double, giving Los Peloteros the lead. The next two batters hit pop ups in the infield and the inning ended, but the damage had been done and Las Flamas had only one chance to make their comeback. Abuelo was the fourth batter in the lineup that inning but after the first two hitters struck out, it looked like he was not going to get an opportunity to hit. With two strikes on Luis Gallito, the batter before Abuelo in the lineup, the pitcher let a fastball loose and it sailed away from the strike zone and directly into the hip of Gallito.

Abuelo stepped up to the plate with 2 outs and one runner on base and his team was down by one run. The first pitch was a fastball on the outside corner and Abuelo watched it go by for a called strike. The next two pitches missed the strike zone by a mile and the count stood at two balls and one strike. Abuelo looked over at me and tipped his helmet and then turned his focus back to the pitcher who was already starting his pitching motion. The pitch came in and it was a slow curveball that didn't curve, also known as a 'hanger" and Abeulo took a huge swing at it and sent the ball flying to center field. Because there were already two outs, the runner had taken off the second the ball was hit and was already rounding third when the ball hit the dirt and made the hit and tying run official. Abuelo had no intention of stopping at second base as the center fielder scooped up the ball and threw it into the cutoff man. Abuelo was halfway to third base as the ball was thrown ahead of him, but as Abuelo slid into the base the third baseman missed the throw and the ball went careening towards the wall, Abuelo immediately jumped up and skittered towards home plate. As the throw came in, he dove to the side of the catcher, avoiding the tag and slapping home plate with his outstretched hand. LAS FLAMAS WIN!!!

As his teammates mobbed him at home plate, I just sat in awe of my grandfather. He was so amazing in the game and willed his team to victory with his never-give-up mentality. That was the moment I knew what I wanted to do with my life. I wanted to be a baseball player.