Today was the first of three days of tryouts for club teams. L will be trying out for two clubs: Excell Sports, where she played last year, and Carolina One, which gave her the cold shoulder last year.

Today was day one at Excell.

Her coach from last year was there. “L’s really improved,” he said.

The owner and head coach of Excell, Shane, talked to L and me after tryouts.

“Everyone was impressed with your hitting,” he said. “Last year, you were a baby giraffe: you had these long arms and legs and didn’t know what to do with them. You know what to do with them now.”