We photographers shoot many, many high school sporting events through the seasons. I’ve been to countless games over my half-decade career. Like anything, the more you shoot it the better you get because you learn to anticipate what will happen.

Honestly, most events are the same during the regular season. It’s during the post season that you get the real emotion because every game, every point is make-or-break.

I shot this softball game a couple weeks ago. It had gone into extra innings and Lakota West needed one run to win. The player dominant in the photo scored that one run. She immediately leapt into her teammates arms.

It was pure luck that her helmet, which she threw into the air, landed right in the frame. I did manage to see her jump up but didn’t notice the helmet until looking at my photos on my computer. We call those “happy accidents.”

The other photographers present at the game were standing at third base, while I was at first. I don’t know if they got this shot, but I know, at least, I wanted to risk getting something from where I was standing.

West went on to lose their next game and lost the chance to compete in the state tournament.