Mayfield Titans

 

CHAPTER 50

OPENING DAY

 

SUNDAY, MARCH 29

 

<Aiden>

 

“Did you boys have fun last night?” Chase asked Aiden as Aiden was finishing up his piss. Chase had just entered the bathroom through the door to his adjoining bedroom.

 

“I bet you know the answer to that,” Aiden replied as he shook his penis.

 

“You should have let me shake that for you.” Chase stood in front of the toilet for a moment. “Before I piss, do you want to shower with me?”

 

“Why, so you can piss on me?” Aiden knew from firsthand experience how much Chase was into water sports.

 

“The thought occurred to me.”

 

“You can do it with Logan or Dillon, this time.”

 

“I thought you didn’t mind doing it.”

 

“I don’t, but I have to be in the right mood, and I’m not in that mood this morning.”

 

“Okay. I’ll let you have first shower. Eddie would be my first choice for a pissing match since he likes it almost as much as I do. Dillon next, but I think he does it because he’s my boyfriend. And Logan is like you—he has to be in the mood.”

 

“What about Curt?” Aiden asked.

 

“That would be a big no.”

 

“You can still shower with me if you want as long as you promise not to pee on me.”

 

“Can I kiss you and cum on you?”

 

“That works.”

 

 Chase pinned Aiden against the tiled wall of the shower and Frenched him as the warm water sprayed on them. Chase and Aiden may have had their orgasms before falling asleep, but they woke up horny. It didn’t take Chase long to cream over Aiden’s belly or for Aiden to shiver and loosen his watery tween emission on his older cousin. The shower water quickly washed away the evidence of their passion. The boys finished washing and then Chase turned off the water.

 

“About time you guys got done,” Logan said impatiently. “A guy might think you were both getting off in there.”

 

“I didn’t know you wanted to shower that bad,” Chase told his younger brother. “You could have joined us, you know.”

 

“It was more fun listening to your grunts and groans,” Logan giggled. “Besides, I got me a shower partner.”

 

“Who?”

 

Chase’s question was answered when Dillon entered the room. “Ready to go?” he asked Logan.

 

“I’m ready for an epic cum,” Logan smirked.

 

“I’m happy to make it happen.” Dillon looked at Chase who was drying Aiden’s back. “Gotta keep my brother-in-law happy,” he told his boyfriend as he stepped into the shower.

 

Chase slapped his brother’s smooth bare ass as the hairless eleven-year-old followed Chase’s fourteen-year-old lover into the shower.

 

“What do you think they’re going to do?” Aiden asked Chase as the two walked into Chase’s bedroom.

 

“Probably about the same stuff we did. It was quick and clean. But no matter what they do, it won’t be as good as ours.”

 

“Why not?”

 

“Because they aren’t kissing cousins,” Chase chuckled.

 

Chase ended up being right about the quick session in the shower, right down to Logan squirting out a couple of drops of clear cum.

 

Aiden slept in the backseat of the car almost all the way home. He had enjoyed a better weekend than he had anticipated. He had been able to attend Justin’s party and had a great time there. He had made a new friend in Tony. He had enjoyed sex with both of his blood cousins. He hoped that next time he could mess around with Curt and Eddie, his adopted cousins—especially Curt. Aiden thought Curt was sexier than Eddie, mainly because he and Curt didn’t have a somewhat checkered past together.

 

MONDAY, MARCH 30

 

<Coach Ecklund>

 

Coach Dean Ecklund arrived at Mayfield Middle School a half-hour before school was scheduled to start. He wanted to make sure all the required paperwork for baseball was in perfect shape before the Titans’ first game on Tuesday. He liked to tell people he was retired, but in reality he had seven more years left until he could retire. He was on a leave of absence from full-time teaching. He was getting half pay to substitute teach, serve as the Middle School’s athletic director, and coach baseball. Usually, he would receive extra pay for coaching and the administrative job, but the terms of his leave stipulated that those duties would be part of his salary.

 

Since he didn’t have his own classroom to work in, he had been given one of the conference rooms in the main office to set up an office. He entered the office, said hello to Edith Jackson, the head secretary (although her official title was Office Coordinator), and went to his mailbox, which he hadn’t checked since lunch on Friday. He was pleased to see that two of the three athletic contracts still outstanding were in his box.

 

He exchanged some gossip with Edith and then went to his little office. Edith had worked for the school district for twenty-seven years and was in her twentieth year at the middle school.  Dean always loved talking with her because nobody knew school district gossip or the ins and outs of students and their families better than the secretaries.

 

The contracts in the coach’s mailbox were from Mac Dixon and Titus Baker. Jared Finn was the only player who hadn’t turned in his contract. Dean was hoping he would miss the deadline and have to sit out the first game. He was hoping the same about Mac Dixon, but Mac surprised him by turning in his contract. He knew that Jared and Mac weren’t popular with their teammates, but he hadn’t realized how much things had deteriorated since last spring.

 

Titus was a sixth grader who had needed a nudge in the right direction, which obviously worked. Dean figured Mac and Titus had placed the contracts in his mailbox between the end of school and before practice on Friday.

 

Dean checked to make sure the contracts were signed and stopped when he saw Mac’s signature but no parental signature. He filed away Titus’s contract but kept Mac’s on his desk. Dean could see he would need to have a chat with Mac and decided calling him out of homeroom would be the best thing to do. He would need to talk to Jared as well.

 

Coach Ecklund talked to Mac’s and Jared’s homeroom teachers, asking if they could send the boys to the office so he could talk to them. The teachers both said it wouldn’t be a problem.

 

Mac was the first to arrive. Dean beckoned him into the little office and told him to take the seat next to his desk.

 

“Is there a problem coach?” Mac asked a bit haughtily.

 

“Nothing big, Mac. You seem to have forgotten to get a parent’s signature on your contract,” Coach Ecklund told him.

 

“What’s wrong with just me signing it?”

 

“Since you are under eighteen, it requires a parental signature. In essence he is guaranteeing that he will enforce the edicts of the contract. Meaning you won’t drink, use drugs, or get involved in illegal activities. You won’t bully students, you’ll show good behavior in school, and you’ll maintain a 2.0 grade point average.”

 

“I know all that, coach. I mean you pretty much read it to us at the first meeting and we have to sign this stupid thing for every sport we play. Well, I signed it to make you happy, but my dad said he won’t sign it.”

 

“Oh? And why not?”

 

“Because he says the school can’t keep him from giving me alcohol. And if my dad won’t sign it, my mom sure won’t sign it.”

 

Dean paused for a moment to give Mac some time to wonder what he was going to tell him, and then said, “That’s all well and good, Mac, but if he doesn’t sign it you don’t play.”

 

“He says if I don’t play, he’ll come talk to you with his lawyer.”

 

“Fine. I still need the contract signed before we board the bus for tomorrow’s game. Tell your dad to feel free to call me.” He handed Mac the unsigned contract. “Head on back to home room, Mac. I need to talk to Jared.”

 

Dean had no intention of getting into a pissing match with Mac. He was fully aware of Mac’s reputation as a party boy. He knew that Mac was one of the few athletes who wasn’t a member of the “no matter what” club, which was a group of athletes who pledged among themselves not to use drugs or alcohol at any time of the year, “no matter what!”

 

As Mac left the office he muttered, “I can’t believe this shit,” to Jared, who regularly attended Mac’s keggers. Jared entered the office, knowing why Coach Ecklund wanted to talk to him. He had a feeling his visit would be short and much more positive than his friend’s had been.

 

“Hey, Coach,” Jared said in his usual informal manner. He set his contract on the coach’s desk. “I bet you want to see me for this.”

 

Coach Ecklund picked up the contract, checked that it was properly signed and dated, and thanked Jared for bringing it in.

 

“Sorry it took so long. I had it ready on Friday but kept forgetting to turn it in.”

 

Coach Ecklund nodded. Having raised three boys, he understood adolescent forgetfulness, but the fact that Jared had the contract at Friday’s practice and still didn’t turn it in baffled him. But Dean finally gave him the benefit of the doubt considering the chaos surrounding the rain-shortened practice, which may have caused Jared to miss his general reminder to turn the document in. He knew that Mason heard it, since he produced the document right after the announcement.

 

“Thanks for having it ready to go. No harm done. I’ll see you after school at practice,” Coach Ecklund said. As he watched Jared leave the office, he thought about how he was a good kid when he wasn’t hanging around the likes of Mac, Russell, and Roger. But Jared was also a follower and the cynic in the coach wouldn’t have been surprised if Jared and Mac had dared each other to see who would be last to turn in his contract.

 

As for Mac, he was a talented athlete who could easily become an elite athlete with serious work. He had been working hard in practice or he would have joined Roger and Russell and not made the cut. It was obvious that outside of Jared, Muddy, Brody, Yonder, Barry, and Max, he had no friends on the team, and he noticed that Barry and Max were keeping their distance compared to the year before. Yonder had turned out but quit after three practices. The kids Mac hung out with were the dregs of the seventh and eighth grades—the ones who enjoyed his parties.

 

<Aiden>

 

Coach Ecklund met with the varsity and JV after practice. “Great pre-game practice, guys,” he told them. “We have to be sure to thank the grounds crew for having the field in good shape after the rains. JV players, follow Coach Seaver and he will go over tomorrow’s game with you and my guys, stay right here with me.”

 

After the JV left, Coach Ecklund went over how the pitching would work in the game the next day. Except for the pitchers, Coach Ecklund usually did not name the starters until before pregame warmups. Aiden knew his pop, who had once been Coach Ecklund’s JV coach, followed the same philosophy. “Since we don’t have practice games to give pitchers a chance to face a few batters, what we did in our scrimmages will have to do. I do want to give as many pitchers as possible some game experience in our two games this week.

 

“The plan for tomorrow is for Trent to start the game and pitch the first three innings. Aiden will come in for the next two.” Aiden’s ears perked up on hearing his name; he wasn’t expecting to pitch until Friday. “Everett will go the last two. Those innings are subject to pitch counts and the flow of the game, of course, but you’ve all played enough ball to know how that goes.

 

“I also want to announce that I am bringing up two players from the JV for this game. Lenny and Grant will be riding the bus to Winton with us, so be sure to congratulate them.”

 

Coach Ecklund then dismissed the team except for the three pitchers. So that they could prepare themselves mentally, Coach Ecklund told Everett he would be starting in left field and would play there for the first four innings. He told Aiden that he would not be starting the game at a position but would probably take a position in the field the last two innings. He let Trent know he would probably be playing third base after his stint on the mound.

 

After the meeting the three pitchers followed their teammates into the locker room. Trent, Scott, and Gordy came up to Aiden and congratulated him on getting one of the opening game assignments. “Other than in practice scrimmages, this is going to be my first time pitching in a real game from 54 feet,” Aiden said. Aiden and all the seventh-grade pitchers had pitched from 46 feet the year before. Some middle school leagues had their pitchers go from the standard pitching mound at 60 feet 6 inches, but the Seamount League felt the players could play a smoother game on a smaller field. The bases were 80 feet instead of the standard 90.

 

“You pitched tough in the scrimmages. Just don’t try to blow the ball by people and I think you’ll be fine in a game,” Trent said. “I’ll be giving up the ball to a good pitcher.”

 

“I can hardly wait for tomorrow. I don’t care where I play, I’ve been ready for baseball for so long, I can taste it,” Aiden said.

 

“You and me both,” Gordy grinned.

 

Aiden walked to his locker and found Riley Newman sitting alone on a bench in the alcove across from his. He was dressed in his practice shirt and a pair of olive-green boxer shorts. Riley was a new seventh grader who had moved to Mayfield the first week in March. He gave the impression of being a loner and had been difficult to get to know. Aiden, Gordy, and Mason all invited him to sit at their table during lunch, but he sat off by himself.

 

Aiden was not only surprised when Riley turned out for baseball, he was even more surprised that the quiet boy who said so little was a fireball on the baseball field. While still quiet, he was one of those players who loved getting dirty and had no problem diving after balls. What really struck everyone is that when Riley dove for a ball it was more than show—he often came up with the ball and completed a highlight play. In scrimmages he made some plays that had everybody shouting trying to high five Riley who looked around like he couldn’t figure what all the fuss was about.

 

“Hey, Riley, you can come talk with us anytime,” Aiden said, not for the first time. “You don’t need to sit here alone—you’re a Titan now.”

 

“Thanks, Aiden,” was all Riley said as he stood up and pulled on his jeans. Aiden saw what looked like a nice bulge in Riley ’s underpants and wondered how he could see more. He mentally chewed himself out for harboring such thoughts for         someone he would like to get to know better, and not for the purpose of getting into his pants; although, that would be a nice bonus. Aiden mentally slapped himself again thinking his brain had been around Mason too much. He knew Mason was smitten by Riley, but Mason was smitten by almost anybody with a cock and balls.

 

The night before, as Aiden said his gratitude prayer before going to bed, he thought about how grateful he had been when, as a little eight- and nine-year old, he had quickly met good friends like Gordy, Miles, Muddy, and Mason. He decided he needed to find a reason to invite Riley to his house. He got his Pop’s okay to invite some friends over for a party the Saturday after next to kick off Spring Break. His reason went beyond his cadre of close friends—it would be his reason for inviting Riley to his house.

 

“I’m having some of my friends come to my house the Saturday after next for a party to start spring break. Most of them are on the baseball team. I have a huge games room, a hot tub, and if it doesn’t rain, a lot of things we can do outside. And, most important, there will be lots of food.”

 

“That’s nice,” Riley said as he pulled his backpack out of his locker.

 

“The reason I’m telling you is that I want to invite you to come so we can get to know you better.”

 

“Why would anybody want to know me better?”

 

Aiden was stunned by Riley’s rejoinder. Riley clearly had what his dads called a low self-image. “Well, we want to get to know you better because you’re our teammate. Like I told you before, you’re a Titan, and we’re Titans, and we want you to be more than our teammate. We want you to be our friend.”

 

“Nobody on my old teams liked me because they, well, I don’t know why.”

 

“How about you give us a chance to like you. I mean, you’ve heard us cheer your great plays in practice. And you pitched really good in our last scrimmage. We want you to be our friend,” Aiden repeated.

 

“I’ll ask my parents if it’s okay.”

 

“That would be awesome.”

 

“I don’t know if they will say yes after what happened at my old school.”

 

Aiden detected a mystery that might need solving, but right now all he wanted was for Riley to give him a chance. “This isn’t your old school, Riley.”

 

“I know. Nobody ever cheered for me there. See ya later.” Riley turned and headed for the exit.

 

“I heard what you were saying,” Gordy said after Riley left. “I wasn’t trying to eavesdrop or anything, but my locker is right on the other side of his.”

 

“Gordy, you’re the last person I would think is sneaky, so don’t worry about it.”

 

“You were really good. Just like the Aiden who became my first ever best friend. And what was weird about you and me is that you were the new kid in town and not me,” Gordy chuckled. “And yeah, your party sounds great and I’ll check to see if I can come. Too bad it’s too early to open the swimming pool.”

 

“No worries, we’ll have a special pool party for that.” Knowing that Gordy had accepted the invitation before it was made, Aiden said, “Oh, and how would you like to come to a party full of food and games at my house on the first Saturday of Spring Break? Oh, you said yes? Great, it wouldn’t be right without you.”

 

Gordy laughed and gave Aiden a hug. He knew he was yanking his chain.

 

Miles, Mason, Grant, and the twins were still in the locker room, and they received their invitations before Aiden texted his dads that he was ready to be picked up.

 

After finishing his homework that evening, Aiden chatted online with Marty and then with Nolan. He thought it would be cool to set up a three-way chat in the future.

 

“So, your manager was okay with you leaving practice at one?” Aiden asked Marty. They were discussing Marty and Rich coming down to watch opening day for the Titans.

 

“You weren’t listening, little bro. I said practice was over at one, but since I usually put in extra work after practice, I thought I’d tell Scott that I would be leaving right at one, just so he would know why I was gone so quickly.” Marty was referring to Scott Pierce, the Mariner manager.

 

“You did that because you like to do things the right way,” Aiden stated.

 

“I suppose that’s one way of looking at it. Anyway, if traffic is good, Rich and I should make it by game time. And since you said you probably wouldn’t be pitching until the fourth inning, I know we’ll be there in time to see you pitch.”

 

“Thanks. You’re the best big bro in existence.”

 

“Flattery gets you everywhere. Now, I’ll let you do whatever it is you do online with your boyfriend, and I’ll see you tomorrow.”

 

“Okay, I love you Marty.”

 

“I love you, too Sport.”

 

Aiden called Nolan as soon as he and Marty disconnected. He was happy to learn that Nolan would be the starting pitcher against Gardner Middle School. Gardner was a new school in the town of Long Beach. It had no eighth-grade class for the first year and had skipped fall sports. They played basketball in a travel league. Baseball and softball would be their first venture into school sports. Since they had no eighth graders, most observers felt they would field just a JV team, but they decided to give the kids they had varsity experience, even if it meant getting spanked by their opponents. As a result, the school did not have a JV program in baseball or softball.

 

“It shouldn’t be too tough,” Nolan said. “Some of their seventh graders played school ball for Long Beach last year, but most of their players have never played school ball.” Long Beach was the other middle school in the town of Long Beach. It had become overcrowded, resulting in the new school being built. A new high school would be opening in Long Beach next fall. The old one would close but the school district would keep both middle schools open.

 

“Well, give me a report on how many cute boys they have,” Aiden smirked.

 

“You really are a gay boy, aren’t you?” Nolan chuckled.

 

“And you know you love every cell of my gay body.”

 

“Not to mention a poet. I’ll write down the three cutest numbers on the team, and you do the same when you guys play them, and then we’ll compare notes.”

 

“And we tell each other what we would do with those cute boys behind the dugout if we had a chance.” Aiden’s comment opened a string of erotic commentary which led the boyfriends into a furious masturbation session. After squirting on themselves, they blew kisses at each other, professed their love for one another, and turned off their computers.

 

For Aiden it was time to clean up, take a piss, take care of dental business, and cuddle up in bed with Horace to help focus him. With Horace’s aid, Aiden planned to prepare his thinking so he would be in his pitching zone by game time tomorrow.

 

TUESDAY, MARCH 31  

 

<Aiden and Kalie>

 

Aiden sat in his usual seat next to Kalie after boarding the school bus in the morning. Kalie ignored the urge she had to stuff her hand into Aiden’s Dockers. She knew her time would come, maybe even on the bus, but she also knew the morning of a game was not the time for Aiden. On game day, outside of the thinking he was required to do for school and casual chatter about the game with his teammates and friends, his mind was focused on baseball.

 

“We won’t be on the same game bus,” Kalie told Aiden after they greeted each other.

 

“Whoa. That means you must be suiting up varsity,” Aiden grinned.

 

“Yep, and starting at first base.”

 

The girls’ softball team followed the same schedule as the boys’ baseball team. In order to split up as many boy/girl pairs as possible on the bus, the girls’ JV team and the boys’ varsity team would be riding to the away school together and the boys’ JV and girls’ varsity would be playing at home. These pairs were always paired together on the road or at home depending on how the schedule read.

 

“I’m going to have a boy/girl party over Spring Break,” Kalie told Aiden.

 

“Tell me more about it tomorrow. Just don’t have it the first Saturday because I am having a boys only party that afternoon.”

 

“Don’t worry, it will be on a weeknight.” Aiden nodded. “And one of these days you need to have a mixed party. I mean nothing happens when we all get naked together at my house, so why are your dads so uptight about having girls for a naked party at your house?”

 

“I dunno. They just are,” Aiden answered lamely. He didn’t have a big problem not having girls at his naturist parties, but he also wouldn’t mind having them there either.

 

Kalie didn’t like the indifferent tone of Aiden’s reply, but she let it go. “Where are you starting today?”

 

“I’m not starting,” Aiden replied. “I’ll be coming into the game in the fourth to pitch two innings and then will play somewhere in the infield.”

 

“Coach Loomis said I’ll be pitching on Friday.”

 

“Awesome. It’s cool that we’re both playing varsity as seventh graders.”

 

“I didn’t even know I made varsity until yesterday’s practice.”

 

The bus arrived at the school. Aiden and Kalie gathered their stuff and filed down the aisle. Mrs. Emerson wished them good luck as they stepped off the bus.

 

<Aiden and Riley>

 

Riley was standing off to the side of the main concourse as Aiden came through the door. He took a deep breath, started toward Aiden, and then stopped. He took another breath and caught up to his teammate, hoping Aiden was still as friendly as he had been after practice the day before. He’d had teammates at his old school who would be nice one day and then be mean to him the next day, which was one way they bullied him.

 

“Hi Aiden,” Riley said shyly as he approached Aiden from behind.

 

Aiden was taken aback for a moment. This was the first time Riley had initiated contact with him. On top of that he hadn’t seen Riley approach.

 

Riley knew right away what Aiden’s silence meant. It meant he was the same kind of asshole as the baseball players at his old school. “Sorry I bothered you,” he muttered as he turned his back on Aiden and started to walk away.

 

“Riley, wait. You just surprised me—I didn’t see you coming,” Aiden called out.

 

“That means you don’t want to talk to me, right? That everything you said yesterday was so you could trick me, wasn’t it?” Riley realized that he had said too much and was afraid that he had just made things worse for himself. At least at his old school he knew who his enemies were. They were the big-time jock stars like Aiden.

 

“I do want to talk to you. Like I said you surprised me, and I didn’t know who was talking to me at first. You kind of snuck up on me from behind.”

 

Riley was so desperate for a friend, any friend, that he stopped, took deep breath number three, and turned to face Aiden. “Were you really serious about inviting me to your party?” he finally spit out.

 

This time Aiden surprised Riley by putting his arm around his teammate’s shoulder. The boys were close in height with Aiden being maybe an inch taller. Aiden knew that Mason and Brody were the only seventh graders on the baseball team shorter than him, and it looked like Riley made it three. He had a thought flash through his head that focused on whether Riley had pubes yet. The thought quickly took control of him, which upset him. He was supposed to be getting into his zone, after all.

 

“It sounds like things on your old team were pretty rough, but it’s not like that here in Mayfield, dude,” Aiden assured Riley. “If I say you’re invited to my party, it means you’re invited to my party. Period.”

 

“But you’re, like, really popular, and important, and stuff and the big star on the team so why would you want me to come to your party?”

 

“First, I’m not a big star and I’m not important—I’m just a member of the Titans. Guys like Trent and Max are the big stars.”

 

“But what about that club where you’re an officer or something like that?”

 

The bell signaling students to start to home room rang. “Let’s talk about that some other time—we gotta get our asses to home room now. And a quick answer to your question is I want you to come to my party because you’re my teammate and my friend and I want you to have a chance to become friends with my friends.”

 

Riley didn’t completely trust Aiden, especially after what two of the eighth graders on the team had said about him. He tried his best to stay away from him, thinking he was like Casey and Donald on his team last summer who were the lead bullies on the Swatters. But Aiden acted way nicer than Mac and Jared said he was—Riley felt shivers run through him when Aiden placed his arm around him.

 

“I just wanted to make sure of stuff,” Riley said, even though he wasn’t feeling all that positive about Aiden’s motives. “I’ll ask my parents if I can come to the party.” He decided that he had to try something. He was tired of being alone.

 

Aiden and Riley were in the same homeroom. They walked in together after going to their lockers. Miles, Gordy, Rusty, and Mason cast glances at each other as they watched the two enter the room happily chatting about something. It appeared that Aiden had found a way to thaw the iceberg that was Riley Newman.

 

When lunch came, Riley sat at what was now considered the baseball team table since it was baseball season. It was his first time sitting among his teammates. The boys sitting there were pretty much the boys who had occupied the table for the entire school year. Riley was surprised by how warmly he was welcomed at the table. It was apparent that the invitations he had been receiving from the boys on the baseball team were sincere. He was beginning to understand that Mac, Jared, sometimes Everett, did not represent the attitude of the entire team.

 

Just as Riley sat down with his lunch, Aiden, Gordy, Mason, Miles, Lance, Scott, Trent, Barry, Emmett, Grant, and Collin all stood and sang Happy Birthday to Brody, who turned bright red; it was Brody’s thirteenth birthday. As the singers, whose loud and enthusiastic vocals more than made up for them being off key, sat down, many of the students in the lunchroom applauded, even those who didn’t know Brody.

 

Riley thought that this must be a great team to be on if so many of them can stand up in the lunchroom to sing to a teammate. He didn’t care much for Brody because he often hung out with Mac and his friends. On the other hand, Brody had never been mean to him, either. 

 

Mrs. Emerson came to the table with a cupcake that had one candle poked into the frosting. The candle couldn’t be lit, of course, but it still emanated a birthday aura.

 

<Winton Middle School baseball field>

 

Because of the length of the bus ride, the Titans were dismissed early from their fifth period class and would miss sixth and seventh periods. Following protocol, the girls sat in the front half of the bus and the boys in the back.

 

Aiden sat with Gordy on the bus. The two seventh-grade friends were as good as anybody on the team at using a bus ride to get focused for a game. Both were comfortable sitting together and not talking to each other. They knew each other so well they understood what the long silence was about.

 

The players on the boys’ team noted that Mac did not board the bus. They weren’t surprised after hearing Mac saying every chance he could that he did not bring his contract. “But it’s not my fault. My old man wouldn’t sign it, so what am I gonna do since Ecklund says I gotta have it signed to play.”

 

The game did not get off to a good start for the Titans. They went out 1-2-3 in the top of the first with Scott grounding to second, Gordy flying out to left, and Barry striking out.

 

Trent was not sharp. He walked the first two batters on ten pitches and then gave up a run-scoring single.     After getting a force at second, he gave up another run-scoring single and a walk before finally striking out the number eight batter with the bases loaded. The Titans were fortunate to only be two runs down.

 

The Titans went down in order again in the second, and then Trent gave up back-to-back two-out doubles. The second inning ended with the Titans down 3-0. The Titans went down in order once again in the third, but Trent settled down and allowed no baserunners in the bottom of the third. One highlight in the third inning was Grant getting his first varsity at bat. Grant, who was the DH, popped out to short for the second out in the inning.

 

“We can hit this guy,” Max said at the end of the third. “He’s just throwing fastballs and he’s gonna get tired soon. He can’t keep fooling us with that stuff.” His teammates agreed with him with shouts of encouragement.

 

Max looked omniscient when Gordy doubled with one out for the Titans’ first hit and Muddy belted a two-run homer over the left field fence to cut the Wildcats’ lead to 3-2. The Titans scored four runs in the top of the fifth to take a 6-3 lead and gave one back in the bottom of the inning, making the score 6-4. Another run in the top of the sixth made the score 7-4. That run came courtesy of an RBI single by Lenny in his first varsity at bat. Aiden and Gordy made sure that the ball was taken out of play to give to Lenny after the game.

 

That score held up through the seventh and the Titans ended up with a 7-4 win. They had battled hard to come back from three runs down for the opening day win. Aiden was the winning pitcher and Everett earned a save. Gordy had a big offensive game, going 3-for-4 with a double, an RBI, and a run scored. Muddy provided fireworks with his big home run.

 

Aiden was ecstatic to see Marty waiting to congratulate him. “Thanks for coming Marty. I didn’t have a great game, but the team did.”

 

“I thought you pitched well, especially from a distance you’re not used to. And you hit the ball hard to the opposite field twice. It’s not your fault their right fielder made a couple of nice plays to catch them.”

 

“Where’s Rich?”

 

“He got called to play teacher. When he learned he would be assigned to the Donkey’s school, he totally wanted to take the assignment. Plus, since he was gone for a while to come to spring training, he didn’t want the school district to think he wasn’t interested in working.”

 

Their chat was interrupted when Aiden’s teammates noticed who Aiden was talking to. Most of them then had to make sure they were noticed by the Mariner third baseman. Marty was more than happy to oblige.

 

Aiden sat next to Grant after they boarded the bus. “That was a great bunt you dropped in the fifth,” Aiden told Grant.

 

Grant had dropped a sacrifice bunt in the fifth that moved the Mayfield runners to second and third. They both scored when Everett followed with a two-RBI double. “Thanks,” Grant grinned. “I was hardly able to sleep last night when coach said I was going to travel with the varsity. He said he liked my hustle and that I’ve been hitting good. And then I come up with Max and Trent on base and coach flashes the bunt sign my heart went zooming even harder than it already was. I thought for sure he was going to pinch-hit for me.”

 

“Well, he didn’t send a pinch hitter up and you came through.”

“Coach told me I’ll be playing JV on Friday so I can play in the field. But he told me he was happy with my hitting.” Grant had hit a soft liner to short in the third. But the fact he made contact with two strikes after letting two pitches off the plate go by was a good sign. He could have gotten overeager and swung at one of those pitches.

 

Coach Ecklund and Coach Springer, who was the girls’ JV coach, stood up as the bus pulled out of the parking lot and announced an anonymous donor had purchased sliders and soda for everyone on both teams. Aiden knew the donor had to be his big brother, Marty. The announcement led to cheers. 

 

“Hey everybody, Lance just texted. The JV won 9-6,” Lenny announced. That set up another round of cheers from both the boys and girls.

 

“Can I ask you a question?” Grant said after the noise died down.

 

“Any time you want, dude. You know that,” Aiden responded.

 

“How come Winton changed its name? Didn’t they used to be the Red Roosters?”

 

“Yep. According to my Pop the name has to do with Winton being a huge chicken and egg farming area. The junior high and the high school were the Wildcats, so when the junior high became a middle school, they became the Red Roosters. But the girls didn’t like being called roosters and the boys sure weren’t going to want to be the Red Hens, so the name was changed back to the Wildcats. So now they’re the Winton Wildcats.”

 

“And we learned in English that’s called an alliteration, right?”

 

“Exactly. Like the Mayfield Mustangs at the high school.”

 

Aiden’s phone informed him he had received a text. He wasn’t surprised it was from Nolan. “we beat the gardeners 11-0. they had 3 total cuties on the team I pitched all five.”

 

Aiden was pleased that he and Nolan started the season 1-0. Things were going to be tough for the Titans on Friday, however, as they played Kentburg in their home opener. The Coyotes would have it easier with a game against Clark Pass, who he saw got clobbered by Kentburg 8-2.

 

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 1

 

<Aiden>

 

Aiden was surprised when he received a note in homeroom from Coach Ecklund asking him to stop by the office before going to his first period class. As soon as homeroom ended, Aiden stopped by the school office and found the coach in his little office.

 

“Thank you for coming in, Aiden. I won’t keep you for long.” Aiden stood in front of the table that passed as a desk happy he wasn’t being asked to sit down. When somebody is asked to take a seat it usually means the meeting will be a long one. “I had a talk with your dad this morning.”

 

“You mean my Coach Sanders dad?”

 

“Yes. Sorry. Your having two dads sometimes slips my mind. Anyway, we agreed on a punishment for what happened in yesterday’s game.”

 

“What happened at yesterday’s game?” Aiden asked with a confused look.

 

“What happened is going to cost you three laps around the field before practice today.”

 

“What did I do?” Aiden asked with an impatient edge to his voice.

 

“You went oh-for-two at the plate. That would be two laps.”

 

“But…”

 

Coach Ecklund held up his hand. “You also gave up a run in your two innings of pitching, which would be another lap. You’re fortunate you didn’t make any fielding errors since they are two laps apiece.”

 

“When did this so-called punishment start?”

 

“It started when I talked to your father this morning.”

 

“He never said anything to me about being punished for making outs and giving up runs. Is everybody else going to have to run laps too?”

 

“Nope. They don’t have a baseball coach as a father.”

 

“Then you better talk to Trent’s dad because he’s going to be the Yard Goats coach this summer. Anyway, I want to hear my dad tell me this, too.”

 

“If we wait until later, I can guarantee you that the punishment will double.”

 

Aiden was about to do something he rarely did with an adult, and that was throw a total fit (his fathers excepted). But an instant before he embarrassed himself, his eye caught the tear out desk calendar on the coach’s desk, which gave him an instant reminder of what was going on. He kicked himself for not catching it earlier. On the other hand, he had never had a teacher or coach do what Coach Ecklund had just done.

 

Aiden took a couple of steps to the side of the desk and pointed to the calendar, which read April 1. Coach Ecklund looked down at Aiden’s finger and then looked up into his eyes and started to roar with laughter.

 

“Is my dad in on this joke?” Aiden asked.

 

Coach Eklund nodded and then caught his breath. “It was his idea,” he chuckled. “April Fool.”

 

“I’m gonna get both of you. But I gotta say it was a pretty good joke even if it made me mad.”

 

“Here’s a note to first period. Be good to your teachers and make it a good day. I’ll see you at practice.”

 

Aiden left the office shaking his head. He had been prepared for dumb April Fools jokes, but not one from his baseball coach. He was serious about getting revenge. He didn’t know when or how but he would figure out something, maybe with a little help from his friends.

 

At practice, Aiden worked at second base in scrimmage situations and infield drills. Even though Coach Ecklund didn’t announce the starters, except for the pitcher, until game day, everyone had a good idea of who they would be from the way practices were organized.

 

Aiden had mentioned that to his Pop more than once, knowing Larry followed the same rule except that he also announced the starting catcher. “Other than what the batting order will be, the starters aren’t much of a mystery, so why make it one?” he would inquire.

 

“Tradition,” was Larry’s reply.

“Yeah, a tradition you learned from Coach Ecklund. It doesn’t make any sense.” As Aiden saw it, tradition all too often won over common sense in the adult world. “Oh, and speaking of coach Ecklund, you know I’ll be waiting to get back at you for that April Fool joke.”

 

“Me? What did I do?” Larry asked innocently.

 

“You know what you did, and you’re going to end up being the one to run laps.”

 

As he walked away, Aiden worked hard not to break into a smile as he heard his pop roar with laughter.

 

Next: “No Matter What”