Inside Pitch: Why Grace White Believes “Avengers: Endgame” Is the Movie for Athletes in Their Senior Year

Grace White, a longtime blogger for Extra Inning Softball’s “Inside Pitch” series, just recently played her last softball game as a senior for her Division II Union University Bulldogs and, as we recapped in her previous blog, she ended her final senior game with a hit.

Two days later, on May 6^th, Grace received her diploma after she majored in Journalism and is now “entering the big girl world!” as she puts it. She was also the Sports Editor for the Cardinal & Cream, the school’s student publication, and has a younger sister who plays in the Virginia Unity club organization.

But she’s still—fortunately for all of us—sharing her experiences, thoughts and ideas, and today compares the Marvel blockbuster “Avengers: Endgame” to what it’s like for seniors finishing out their athletic careers…

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I watched my first Marvel movie (“Captain America: Civil War”) in Dec. 2018, over 10 years after “Iron Man,” the first film in the Infinity Saga, was released.

I was immediately hooked, and I couldn’t believe I hadn’t started watching the movies sooner. I watched all of the ones that aired on TV. (Disney+ wasn’t available with its Marvel library yet.)

And I read on Wikipedia about the ones I hadn’t seen.

That was also my senior year of high school, so in the time that I wasn’t transforming into a Marvel superfan, I was doing school and practicing and playing softball. I was worried about the next phase of my life because, honestly, I wanted to stay where I was at.

In the midst of the stress, however, there was a beacon of excitement.

“Avengers: Endgame,” the finale of the Infinity Saga and the culmination of the 22 films that had come before it, was set to premiere on April 26, 2019. I couldn’t wait for it to come out.

I watched the trailers over and over. I rewatched previous movies. I was probably as excited as I’ve ever been to see a movie (besides when “Black Widow” came out in 2021).

Here’s the trailer to Endgame:

The movie itself didn’t live up to my expectations, mainly because (spoiler alert!) my favorite character died. I’ve never cried that much over a movie before or since. I literally had tears in my eyes when I was standing in the on-deck circle the day after I saw it!

But even though it’s not my favorite film in the franchise, it occurred to me, even before it came out, that this movie is the movie for athletes in their senior year.

The whole premise of “Avengers: Endgame” is that the group of heroes only has one shot left to bring all of their loved ones back who were lost when Thanos, the maniac that thought getting rid of half the population would be a great idea, used the infinity stones to carry out his evil plot in “Avengers: Infinity War.”

Now, obviously, senior athletes aren’t trying to stop a big, bad supervillain, but this is their last chance to make an impact in their sport and to go as far as they can into the postseason.

Near the end of the second trailer, one after another, Captain America, Hawkeye, Black Widow, and Iron Man each utter the line: “Whatever it takes.”

Now anybody could say those words. Athletes and coaches say something to that effect all the time when they’re in the middle of a tough game. However, it’s another thing to act on those words.

The four Avengers that uttered that phrase in the trailer definitely acted on it:

• Captain America stood wounded and alone before Thanos and his enormous army and was willing to take them on by himself before his friends were finally brought back.
• Hawkeye served as a test subject in the group’s attempt to journey back in time. He also fought Black Widow, his best friend, to be the one to sacrifice themselves for the soul stone.
• Black Widow ultimately “won” the battle, falling to her death all because she wanted Hawkeye to be reunited with his family and the rest of the world to be saved.
• Iron Man also made the ultimate sacrifice when he used the infinity stones to get rid of Thanos and his minions. Even though he knew his body couldn’t handle the power of the stones, he chose to use them anyway because he cared more about his family and friends than he did about himself.

I don’t think senior athletes should sacrifice their lives for their sport, but I do think they should make sure to leave it all out on the field every time they’re out there. And not only seniors, but also every other athlete—no matter what grade or age—should always give their best.

Having regrets is one of the worst feelings in the world. If Black Widow hadn’t taken the opportunity to help save the world, I can just about guarantee that she would’ve regretted it. You don’t want to have to wonder “what if?”

What if I dove for that ball up the middle? What if I had pushed myself to the limit in the weight room? What if I had hit every day for at least 30 minutes?

May all of us strive to live our lives aiming to have no regrets and to carry out the phrase “Whatever it takes!”

— Grace White, Extra Inning Softball correspondent

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