Chapter 22 – Deeply, Madly
Saturday March 15
TODAY’S GAME WAS GOING to be cold. The forecast high for the day was forty degrees. A cold front had come through and it was expected to rain at some point. I love baseball. I don’t love being wet and cold. I pulled out my Range gear for cold weather, which included a thermal sweatshirt and sweats that were formfitting. I would wear them under my uniform. And speaking of uniforms, we got ours on Friday. They were definitely well-worn. When Mom saw the stains on mine, she suggested I use it as rags. But when I came down to breakfast, it looked like she had worked her magic and got the worst of it out.
“I hope you don’t think we’re coming to your game today,” Dad warned me.
I was sure that Mom was in no shape to sit in bleachers in the cold and watch us play.
“Don’t worry, Dad, this is baseball. There are a lot of games you can catch when the weather’s better.”
Coach wanted us at the field at eleven for our noon game. The varsity would play right after our game finished. Today’s opponent was Lang Academy. They were the school parents threatened to send you to if you didn’t straighten up. It was the dreaded military school.
Dad drove me to the game, and when we arrived I found that most of the guys were there already. Coach Herndon was out on the field with Coach Haskins and Coach Hope. Moose was sitting on the bench, watching the guys stretch. I dropped my duffle bag in the dugout.
“Hey, Moose, are you ready for a little baseball today?” I asked, and he gave me a smile.
“You nervous?” he asked.
“Nope, we’re just going to have some fun today. Nothing better than playing baseball,” I told him, and headed out to the outfield.
Coach Haskins waved me over.
“It’s a little chilly today. I want you to jog them around the outfield to get warmed up.”
“Sure thing, Coach,” I told him.
Everyone was in high spirits. We were jogging around the outfield when Eve showed up. She gave me a big smile when she saw me. The other guys all noticed and started to give me a hard time. Eve gave them a look that stopped their teasing quickly.
Before I knew it, we were sent out to the field to get started. We had all expected a high-scoring game. It turned out just the opposite. Justin was having a heck of a game pitching. Lang had a big kid who was throwing some serious heat. He also had a big breaking curve. He struck me out with three curves in the second inning. I was still learning to hit that pitch. I was sitting in the dugout during our at bat in the third inning in between Justin and Mike.
Justin was focused on the other pitcher as he faced Jake who was up to bat. Before the first pitch, Justin mumbled “fastball.” Sure enough, it was a fastball. The second pitch was the same. On the third pitch, he said “curve.” I was next on deck, so I was curious what their pitcher’s tell was.
“How do you know what pitch he’s throwing?” I asked Justin.
“I’m not a hundred percent sure, but if he nods his head, it’s a changeup. If he nods twice it’s the curveball, and no nods is his fastball. I’m just trying to see if it’s true before I tell coach.”
Jeff had hit a sharp single to get on base. Wolf was up and I was on deck. I watched to see if Justin was right. The first pitch there was no movement of his head and it was a fastball. Then I watched the catcher. He was only giving location. The pitcher was deciding on the pitch. If this was the case, then maybe they did that with all of their pitchers. Wolf hit a pop-up to the first baseman and was out.
I got up and got set in the batter’s box. Two nods meant curveball. I laid off of it, and sure enough, he threw the curve, but for a strike. The second pitch, two nods. This guy was going to keep throwing them until I proved I could hit a curveball. I needed to be aggressive and fight it off. I swung where the last ball had ended up, and to my surprise, I ripped it into the gap between center and right field.
Jeff was off on the contact. I had an easy stand-up double, but Jeff was going to try to score, so I didn’t slow down. Their second baseman went out for the cutoff and expected to see us on second and third. When he saw me halfway to third, he got his head in the game. He then saw Jeff heading towards home. The pitcher saw that there wasn’t going to be a play at home, so he cut off the throw. He turned and fired the ball to third that was going to get me. I slid and the ball was in the dirt. It skipped off the third baseman’s glove and rolled into left field.
I popped up and ran for home. It was going to be close. Jake was in the batter’s box, giving me the signal to slide. It was a bang-bang play. I heard the pop of the glove and the tag came down as I touched the first-base side of the plate. I felt him tag my hip as I had made him reach as far as I could. Did I beat him?
“Safe!” the umpire yelled.
Yes! We took a 2–0 lead. When I went back to the bench, I told Justin what I figured out. We shared the tell with everyone. Knowing what pitch was coming was a big help. Everyone began to make contact. By the end of the fourth inning, we were up 13–3.
I noticed that the stands were starting to fill up. People must have come to see the varsity game. The girls from my dance class arrived as we took the field for the top of the fifth inning. They all waved at me, so I tipped my hat to them. I looked closer at the people in the stands; they seemed to be all girls.
I didn’t have time to think about it as we started the game again. When the final out was called for Lang’s at bat, the announcer introduced the Lincoln High Dancers. The girls came out on the field. We stayed out and everyone on the bench joined us. They cued up the music and the violins started for Carly Rae Jepsen’s Call Me Maybe. When they got to the line that talked about ripped jeans, a group of girls joined us. They looked a little younger and were all in the same dance clothes as the girls in my high school class.
Each time the line about ripped jeans was sung another group of girls came out that seemed even younger. Then I saw the moms videotaping us. These had to be girls from local dance school. Later my classmates fessed up that they’d been bragging about dancing this afternoon. Their Saturday dance teacher had talked them into letting the rest of the classes join in.
The guys from Lang Academy all thought we were nuts. That just made it more fun. We tacked on three more runs in the bottom of the fifth and were up 16–3. Justin had reached his pitch count, so Bert was brought in. Bert was having a bad day. They scored eight runs with only one out. It was now 16–11. Coach brought Mike in. He gave up another 4 runs before getting us out of the inning. We were still winning, but it was now a game. It was 16–15 with two innings to go.
Coach Herndon had me warm up while we were at bat. Lang Academy had brought in their ace since the game was within reach. He only threw fastballs. Even if you knew it was coming, you still had to hit it. I watched him mow down our side on only eleven pitches. Before I went out, Coach Herndon gave me some advice.
“Just throw strikes,” he offered.
Well, that helped. I was in luck: I had the bottom of their order. During warm-ups, all I threw were fastballs. I noticed that the guy in the batter’s box was timing my pitches, so I tried to be as consistent as I could. The ump called last pitch and I gave Tim a high one so he could get up and throw to second. The rest of the players threw the ball around the horn. I looked back and Jeff was playing shortstop. Bert had gone to right field and Mike was back at second. Justin was normally our infield replacement, but since Bert had been on the bench when he came in, Justin was out of the game.
The first batter dug in; he had a cocky grin on his face. He even went so far as to point to center field. What a dork. Tim wanted me to knock him down. I shook him off. I kept shaking him off until he indicated the changeup. I could tell he wasn’t happy. The poor kid about screwed himself into the dirt overswinging at the pitch. Tim now had a smile on his face.