Mayfield Magic

 

 

CHAPTER 2

FEDERAL WAY-1

 

FRIDAY, JUNE 19

 

 <Larry’s minivan>

 

Aiden and four other players piled into Larry’s Honda Odyssey. Gordy, Miles, Scott, and Emmett had been assigned by Martha Hallion, who had taken charge of the logistics for the trip. Eric Simmons rode in the front with Larry.

 

Eric had applied for and received the weekend off so he could coach in the tournament. Since the railroad was one of the team’s sponsors, they were happy to give him the time off. His husband Noah wasn’t quite as fortunate regarding Sunday games, if the Goats made it as far as Sunday. Since Eric drove a pickup truck, he wouldn’t be much help with transportation. He saw no reason to drive to Federal Way by himself and elected to ride with his old high school coach.

 

“It’s lame that we have to have three guys to a room,” Emmett groused as Larry turned onto Highway 12.

 

“It’s what the team could afford without charging each player a fee,” Eric said. “You’re lucky it isn’t four to a room.”

 

“Well at least the hotel is putting in a rollaway bed, so we won’t have to share a bed with somebody.”

 

“Both from my listening to you guys and from my own middle school experience, I have a feeling all of you have shared a bed with another boy and it’s happened more than once,” Eric chuckled.

 

“Besides, the regular beds are queen size and plenty big enough for two of you,” Larry pointed out.

 

“You’re rooming with Lenny and Riley, right?” Aiden asked.

 

“Yeah, and before you ask, I’ve spent the night with Lenny, and Lance too, so it’s not a big deal. I’m just saying the bathroom will get crowded and we aren’t used to each other and stuff like that,” Emmett responded.

 

“Emmett, rooming with your teammates is part of the fun of going to an out-of-town tournament,” Larry said.

 

“Exactly. I loved it, right through high school,” Eric said. “And even in college we had a roommate on road trips.”

 

“Well, there are only, like, three guys on the team who are seventh graders next year, and that’s me, Lenny, and Lance. So, at least I get to be with one of them,” Emmett said. One thing Emmett was thinking but didn’t say because of the presence of two adults in the car, was that since Lenny and Riley were boyfriends, they might want to have sex together and he didn’t know what to do if they did.

 

“And no matter who you’re with, you’re going to be with a teammate,” Aiden said.

 

“Do you guys know anything about Everett that Coach Hallion didn’t tell us yesterday?” Miles asked Larry and Eric. “Coach didn’t have much to say.”

 

“It’s because he didn’t know much,” Scott said. “They have a 4-7 record is about all he told us.”

 

“Well, since I think I was asked, I will say that they are a good hitting team and hit the ball hard, but are really short on pitching,” Larry volunteered.

 

“I don’t think a team that is short on pitching will get very far in a tournament,” Aiden said sagely. “We’ve got a lot of guys who have pitched, but a lot of them, like Emmett, pitched JV ball for the Titans during school season, but haven’t pitched much for the Goats.”

 

“Or haven’t pitched for the Goats at all. Like me,” Emmett said.

 

“Guess what guys?” Aiden asked.

 

“What?” came the return chorus.

 

“All of this talk about pitching means nobody knows who’s gonna do what no matter what their record is, which means this tournament is gonna be a load of fun to play.”

 

“You got that right Aiden,” Eric said. “Go out and have fun playing baseball. If you play hard, play smart, and…”

 

“PLAY TO WIN!” came another chorus.

 

“Exactly. Do all of that and you’re going to have loads of fun, just like Aiden says.”

 

When the team arrived at the Federal Way Holiday Inn, the staff was ready for them. The players and coaches were soon in their assigned rooms, all of which were on the third floor. Trent, Scott, and Mac were sharing a room. The foldout bed was between one of the queen beds and the window. Scott would be sleeping on the foldout. Since the first day was Mac’s fourteenth birthday, it was agreed Mac would sleep in one of the queen beds. Trent and Scott did a finger match to decide who would sleep on the pullout. This consisted balling up their right fist, counting to three while shaking their fist up and down, and shooting out either one or two fingers. If Trent matched Scott, he would be the winner. Both boys stuck out two fingers which gave Trent the queen bed. The next discussion was on whether they would actually be using all three beds for sleeping after the game.

 

<Federal Way Baseball Complex—Field 2>    

 

One advantage of the entire team staying in a hotel was that everyone arrived at the field at about the same time. The Federal Way baseball complex had four fields and the Goats would be playing their first game of the tourney on Field 2. The warmup routine began as soon as the equipment was unpacked in the dugout. The dugout each team would use was on the schedule. The Goats were playing Game #2 on the schedule and were assigned to the first base dugout.

 

Riley looked over at Field 1 and saw the Bison players on the field. He stayed behind one of his teammates as much as possible to avoid being seen by any of his old teammates.

 

As soon as the players had baseballs in their hands and started warming up the routine of pregame helped calm whatever jitters they had.

 

Larry took a seat in the bleachers and was surprised when Mac’s father, Arnold, sat next to him. He was even more surprised when he heard the voice of Mike Boyer, aka The Donkey, calling up to him from ground level.

 

“Hey, Coach. I heard Mayfield’s thirteen and under boys were playing in this tournament and I had a feeling you just might be here to watch since Aiden probably played on this team,” Mike called out.

 

Larry looked down and saw Mike as well as his son, Justin who was standing next to him looking up into the bleachers. “You had that right. But what brings you here?”

 

“A West Seattle thirteen and under team is playing on Field 4. Most of the boys played on my middle school team so I came to support them. I brought the mini-Donkey along to watch some good baseball.” He turned to Justin. “Say hi to Coach Sanders, Justin.”

 

Justin waved and said, “Hi Coach Sanders, is Aiden playing in this game?”

 

“Yes, he is,” Larry grinned.

 

“Daddy, can I please watch Aiden’s game?” Justin pleaded.

 

Mike looked up at Larry who nodded to indicate he was willing to look after the nine-year-old. “I guess that will work out just fine,” Mike said. “Field 4 is the one right behind this one if you need to find me.” He looked back up at Larry. “I better go over there and let my kids see that I’m here to support them.”

 

“Where’s Ryan?” Larry asked, inquiring about Mike’s husband.

 

“The Dawg is cooking himself some exotic dish only he could understand and like. It will get him into shape for the mini-Donkey’s big game tomorrow. And where is Phil?”

 

His team is playing this evening. He’ll be at the rest of the games.”

 

Justin clambered up the bleachers and claimed the place next to Larry. “Good to see you, Justin,” Larry said as he gave the young boy’s shoulder a squeeze.

 

“Is Aiden pitching?”

 

“Not this game. He’ll be starting at second base.”

 

“I was hoping I’d see him pitch, but second base is good. I like playing second base, but I like pitching best. We play a game tomorrow, so this is the only time I’m coming to the tournament. But I’m coming with my Donkey Daddy and some of my friends to visit you on the Fourth of July.”

 

“And we’re looking forward to seeing you and your friends come and stay with us, Justin,” Larry responded.

 

“Here comes Aiden,” Justin clapped as the Yard Goats took the field for infield practice. “GO AIDEN, YOU ROCK!” he yelled out. Larry couldn’t help but grin. There was no question that Justin idolized Aiden.

 

“It sounds like you have a fan up in the stands,” Mason, who was taking infield at second along with Aiden, remarked.

 

Aiden looked at where his pop was sitting and saw that Justin was sitting next to him. “Wow, that’s Justin who’s doing the yelling. I wonder what he’s doing here.”

 

Larry introduced his noisy neighbor to Arnold, telling him that Justin was the son of a former player. Arnold was impressed by Larry being greeted by a loyal former player from more than ten years in the past.

 

As soon as both teams completed their infield, the umpires called for the coaches. Co-captains Trent and Scott accompanied Coach Hallion and Eric. The Everett Dawgs were represented by their head coach and their team captain, Ramone Rodriguez.

 

The home team for each game would be determined by a coin flip. Tradition dictated that the team that traveled the farthest to the tournament would call the flip. Mayfield came a farther distance than Everett. Scott called the flip. He chose tails and when the quarter hit the ground everyone saw it was tails. “Tails never fails,” Scott told Trent. Coach Hallion elected to take the hammer and picked home.

 

Riley was without question the most nervous player on the Goats. Sure, he had started Titan JV games, but this was different. While Coach Hallion had said he was the opener rather than the starting pitcher, as far as he was concerned, he was the starting pitcher.

 

Before Riley ran out to the mound, Eric reminded him to throw strikes. “From what we’ve heard you’ll give up some hits to these guys, so don’t give them any free passes to fill up the bases with.”

 

Riley was a talented pitcher, but he was also inexperienced. He started concentrating so much on throwing strikes he overcompensated and threw too many fat pitches. The first three batters hit sharp singles and the Dawgs started the game by loading the bases with nobody out. After the third single, Lenny trotted out to the mound.

 

“A strike doesn’t have to be down the middle of the plate,” Lenny reminded his pitcher. “You’re better than that and I know you can hit the corners.” Vern Townsend, the Dawg’s cleanup hitter, was at the plate. He was a big kid with a build like Muddy. Lenny wondered if he was wild swinger like Muddy was and decided to find out. “Let’s start this guy off with an outside corner pitch at the knees.”

 

Before Lenny left the mound, Lenny noticed that the infield was playing back. He didn’t know that Coach Hallion had signaled them to play back. “Do you want the infield in, coach?” he called out to the dugout where Coach Hallion was standing at the opening. 

 

“I signaled them to stay back,” Coach Hallion replied. Lenny didn’t understand the strategy of playing the infield back with the bases loaded and nobody out, but he accepted it.

 

Lenny crouched behind the plate and gave Riley a signal that was meaningless since he had called the next pitch on his visit. He set an outside target. It didn’t matter that Riley came in a little too outside and his pitch was a couple inches off the plate. Based on what he’d seen Riley throw the first three batters, Vern was expecting the first pitch to be a fat fastball down the middle and was prepared to swing. He wasn’t prepared to swing at an outside pitch and his hard swing missed completely.

 

“Why is the infield playing back?” Mac’s father, Arnold, asked Larry. Larry was surprised and pleased that Arnold had started taking a lot of interest in Mac as a baseball player and, as a result, as a son.

 

“The skinny on Everett is that they hit well but are weak on the mound and in the field. I think James wants to send the message to the kids that being down a run to these guys isn’t going to be a disaster. The idea is to give up a run for an out if they have to in order to prevent a big inning,” Larry replied.

 

“That’s putting a lot of faith in a bunch of young kids.”

 

“That’s the case no matter what strategy you try,” Larry chuckled. “I think this strategy has the best chance of working.”

 

“Have you ever coached kids this age?”

 

“I started out coaching at Mayfield Middle School.”

 

“That means the answer is yes and then some,” Arnold grinned.

 

“I hear that today is Mac’s birthday.”

 

“Yep. He’s fourteen and aged me at least twice as many years. I often wondered if we’d make it to thirteen. But you know what? Your baseball program has made a new person out of my son. A way better person than I ever dreamed. And now I’m here to support him and show him I’m proud of what he’s done.”

 

“Have you told him that?”

 

“I have. And he might have even been listening.”

 

As Arnold and Larry chatted, Riley had thrown a ball inside to Vern, moving him away from the plate and then another outside pitch that was pulled foul, making the count 1-2. Lenny looked over at Eric, who signaled him to call for a high fastball. Lenny wasn’t surprised since this was the kind of situation Eric and Kevin Corcoran had discussed with them. Riley threw a fastball at eye level, which tempted Vern. He started to swing but checked it in time. The count was now 2-2.

 

Eric signaled for a low breaking ball. Eric was calling the pitches because James felt Eric and Kevin knew more about pitching than he did. For the most part, the head coach liked his catchers to call the game, but there were certain situations where he wanted Eric or Kevin to make the call, especially when the battery was inexperienced, like Riley and Lenny were.

 

Riley uncorked his first breaking ball of the game. It looked like a belt high pitch, but before reaching the plate the bottom dropped out of it. Vern took a hard swing at what he thought was going to be a fat pitch but ended up bouncing in the dirt just in front of the plate. The wild swing was strike three. Before Vern started back to the dugout, he looked at Riley and said, “Good pitch.”  Riley acknowledged the sportsmanlike compliment with a nod.

 

The bases were now loaded with one out. A double play would end the inning and the Goats would have worked themselves out of a bases loaded, nobody out, situation without allowing a run. They weren’t able to pull it off, however. The next hitter hit a slow grounder to Gordy at shortstop. Gordy scooped it up and flipped the ball to Aiden at second for a force. Aiden turned to complete the double play, but the ball had been hit too softly for him to attempt it. The force had been the second out, but it also scored the runner from third. The second guessers speculated that Gordy would have had a play at home if the infield had been playing in. None of those second guessers had kids playing for the Yard Goats.

 

The Dawgs had runners on first and third with two outs. Riley attacked the next batter with the zip on his fastball that Lenny was used to seeing. It was like Riley had suddenly remembered what had made him a good pitcher for the Titan JV team. The sixth batter in the inning struck out on four pitches. Riley had limited the damage and the Goats were ready to make up the 1-0 deficit and then take the lead.

 

“He did a good job of pitching, didn’t he?” Justin asked Larry.

 

“Yes, he did. The idea is to not let the other team score a lot of runs when you get in trouble. Riley got into big trouble, but only allowed one run. It’s called damage control,” Larry said.

 

“Damage control,” Justin mused. “I’ll have to remember to have good damage control when I get in trouble. Does that mean it’s not bad to give up a run sometimes?”

 

“Everybody gives up runs, Justin. You just don’t want to give up a lot of them.”

 

The Goats took care of business by scoring three runs in the bottom of the first inning and had a 3-1 lead at the end of the inning. Justin almost yelled himself hoarse when Aiden lined a single in his at bat and later scored the Goat’s second run. On neighboring Field 1, the game between the Burien Bisons and Redmond Red Birds was tied 1-1 in the second.

 

The Bisons and Red Birds were considered two of the stronger teams in the tournament. After the blind draw held the week before had been concluded, some of the committee members were upset at how the brackets played out.

 

“I think this draw confirms my stand that we should seed the teams,” Bruce Langley, one of the committee members, said. “We have Burien and Redmond, two teams that everyone agrees are two of the best in the tournament, playing each other in the first-round while Mayfield and Everett, maybe the two weakest teams in the tourney, play each other on the neighboring field. That is just wrong.”

 

“Well, at least the loser of the Burien, Redmond game will have an easy game in the losers’ bracket,” Archie Hubbard, another committee member said. “I’d like to agree with you, Bruce, but how do we decide who the strongest teams are? We have a team from Oregon, a team from Canada, a team from east of the mountains, and from all over the west side. How do you seed 16 teams from so many different leagues in so many different places?”

 

“Watch what happens to those four teams,” Langley contended. “The loser on Field 1 will be playing for a trophy on Sunday and neither of the teams on Field 2 will go beyond three games. It’s possible to figure out by picking up a phone and talking to people.” And so the debate went as the four opening games were proceeding on the four fields.

 

Lance took over the pitching duties from Riley in the bottom of the third inning. He loved being able to pitch to his brother for the next two innings. Lance took Mason’s spot in the lineup and Riley moved to left field.

 

In the bottom of the fourth, with the Goats now holding a 5-1 lead, two of the Bison players, Jon and Darren, received permission to leave the field to use the restroom.  The bleachers didn’t run the length of the field and as they walked out on the walkway between the fields, they were able to look at left field on Field 2.  

 

“Hey, Jonny boy, look at who’s in left field,” Darren said.

 

“Holy crap, it’s the little faggot himself. Mini-dick Riley,” Jon exclaimed.

 

“More like tight ass Riley,” Darren laughed. “I hope we play them tomorrow so we can kick their asses, which will be just as much fun as fuck-the-queer was.”

 

“We better hurry to the can before coach wonders if we went to piss or to jerk off.”

 

The two Bisons trotted to the bathroom. They couldn’t wait to tell Akeem and Tucker who they saw.

 

“I could suck your dick now,” Jon whispered as they stood at the urinals.

 

Darren gave Jon the finger. “Shut up and piss and let’s get out of here.” Darren felt a distinctive surge in his cock as he finished his piss.

 

The Goats finished with a 7-2 win in a game that hadn’t been as tight as they’d expected. Riley, Lance, and Grant pitched two innings each and Max finished off the game in the seventh. Coach Hallion praised the pitching for holding down a team that he’d heard was a good scoring team.

 

 

As soon as the teams started the handshake line the Tacoma Tigers and Auburn Royals came onto the field. They would be playing the eight o’clock game. The Goats quickly picked up their jackets, individual equipment, and team equipment and cleared out of the dugout which the Tigers would now be using.

 

Larry and Justin waited for the team to exit the field. When Justin saw Aiden come out of the gate, he waved to him. Aiden set down his equipment bag and gave Justin a big hug. “Thanks for doing a great job of cheering us on,” Aiden told his young friend.

 

“Thanks for playing a good game,” Justin said. “I’ll be visiting you real soon and me and Marco can’t wait. Will Skip be there?”

 

“We’re going to have a good time for sure. And I don’t know if Skip will be there, but I’ll tell him he’s invited to come.”

 

“Thanks. I like Skip. Oh, there’s my Donkey Daddy. I’ve gotta go. I’ll see you in July on the second.”

 

Mike waved at Aiden, who waved back. Aiden picked up his bag and followed his teammates to the lawn where the team would have a quick meeting.  

 

After meeting with the coaches on the lawn outside the outfield fence, the players scrambled to their cars for the rides back to the hotel. Coach Hallion had a quick meeting with his assistants after the players cleared the field. Eric summed up what they had all been thinking when he said, “We managed to get through the first game without using our three best starters plus everyone who pitched is still eligible to pitch tomorrow.” Riley’s 32 pitches were the most any of the four pitchers had thrown. Under the complex pitch count rules of the tournament, the four of them could each throw up to forty pitches the next day. Max was actually good for fifty pitches.

 

“It looks like we play Riley’s old team,” Eric said.

 

“That we do, and we’re going to have a team meeting before we leave the hotel tomorrow,” Coach Hallion said. The Goats would be playing the Bisons at 10:45 on Field 1, which was the premier field of the four. It had more seating, a small press box, and an electronic auxiliary scoreboard.

 

After stashing their personal gear in their hotel rooms, the players met in the hotel’s café for a late dinner. Six of the tournament teams were overnighting, four of them at the Holiday Inn: Mayfield, Tenino, Surrey BC, and Portland. Port Angeles and Yakima were staying at the Comfort Inn.

 

The Surrey Mounties and Portland Pilots had eight o’clock games, but Tenino had played a five forty-five game. The hotel set aside the café’s conference room for both teams to eat. Having played each other the week before, the Mayfield and Tenino players had a passing acquaintance. The Yard Goats had edged the Hoggers 1-0 at Mayfield the previous Friday.

 

The players had no problem mingling with each other. It was no surprise that they talked baseball.

 

“How did you guys do?” Trent asked Brad Leach, the Hoggers’ captain and one of the team’s best players.

 

“We knocked off West Seattle 3-2,” Brad said proudly. “The bad news is I went the distance and won’t be able to pitch the rest of the tournament. The good news is, we didn’t want to be a two and out team, and now we get at least three games for the tournament.”

 

“Pretty cool that you guys knocked off a team from the big city.” Trent couldn’t help but notice Brad’s green eyes.

 

“Well, if you end up playing them, they can’t hit breaking balls at all. I heard on the way in that you guys won, too.”

 

“Yeah, we beat Everett 7-2.”

 

“Nice. And now you play Burien?”

 

Trent nodded.

 

“They’re one of the favorites to win. And they beat Redmond, another favorite, which I guess helps the rest of us some. Redmond has a lot of games to win if they want to make it to the championship game. We play Renton and they scored 11 runs in their game. But I don’t know how good Puyallup was.”

 

“Good luck to you guys,” Aiden said. “We’ve got three teams from our league in the tournament. Everybody says we suck because we come from small towns, but so far we’ve won two games with East Olympia playing Yakima right now.”

 

“Just because we come from small towns don’t mean we can’t play good baseball,” Mac said. “We play hard, smart baseball.”

 

“I heard a parent or somebody from Burien say after the game that they don’t know why a team from a place like Mayfield even bothers playing against the big boys. He said everybody knows you don’t have a chance,” Brad said.

 

“Well, there’s one team that thinks otherwise,” Aiden said. “And that team is us.”

 

The Goats’ bedrooms were quiet that night as the boys were thinking more about baseball than sex. Added to that they were worn out from the long car trip that afternoon and their hard-fought games. Even though their game wasn’t until 10:45 they knew they would be getting wake up calls at 7:30 so they could do their morning showers, get their uniforms on, eat breakfast, and be at the complex by no later than 9:30.

 

They weren’t sure they would be able to hold out for two nights without at least jerking off. Two of them, Max and Mason, shot their loads before falling asleep. Aiden noticed Mason going at it but didn’t care. Muddy and Rusty fell asleep quickly and didn’t hear Max rustle his sheets. Lenny and Riley humped each other to orgasms. 

 

Some boys did sleep together, however. Trent and Mac, Lance and Grant, and Lenny and Riley shared queen beds. Riley, who was nervous about playing his old team, desperately wanted to be held. Two naked boys holding each other in bed ended up doing the inevitable, which was getting off. They weren’t worried about Emmett hearing them—he’d seen them have sex at Lenny’s house. But it was moot since Emmett fell right to sleep.

 

SATURDAY, JUNE 20

 

<Federal Way Tournament, Field 1>

 

The Yard Goats and the Hoggers each had 10:45 games. The Goats were playing Burien on Field 1 and the Hoggers were going up against the Renton Tigers on Field 2. The teams entered the café around the same time and were guided to the conference room across the hall for breakfast. The Surrey Mounties and Portland Pilots had both won their games the night before and would also be playing at 10:45. They were being served in a private dining area connected directly to the café.   

 

Aiden, Gordy, and Scott sought out Brad, who was sitting with Mikey, his best friend on the Hoggers. Menus had been set out on the tables and the boys quickly gave the waitress their breakfast orders.

 

“Go figure the odds,” Trent said as the waitress and her assistant started serving their drink orders. The hotel and restaurant were geared for large groups, including school and youth athletic teams. Having 60 boys as guests was not the norm since most youth tournaments didn’t have as many teams coming from long distances as this one did.

 

“What odds?” Mac asked.

 

“That there are four winners’ bracket games, there are four teams staying in this hotel, and all four won their first game, but each one will be playing in a different game.”

 

“I wouldn’t know how to figure that.”

 

“And neither does anybody else. Leave the math to somebody who cares and enjoy your breakfast,” Brad said. Which is exactly what everyone did.

 

One discussion topic was what would happen if the Goats and the Hoggers each won their game. They would end up playing each other a week after their nail-biting league game at Mayfield. The players thought that sounded exciting and vowed to root for each other.

 

As soon as James Hallion saw the Tenino coach, he walked over and greeted him and said he wanted to have a team meeting after everyone had finished eating. “One of our players played on the Bisons last year, and it wasn’t a pleasant experience for him. I wanted to address the issue with the team and make sure everyone knows what’s expected of them.”

 

“We’ll get out of your way as quickly as we can,” the Tenino coach assured James. “And good luck to you, both in avoiding trouble and in winning the game. It would be great if we both won and played each other as two of the final four undefeated teams. That might shut up the idiots who think our league is made up of a bunch of weaklings. And with the Senators winning last night, it makes us look even stronger.” East Olympia had won its opening game 6-3 over the Yakima Lynx.

 

Because the tournament was a true double, the tournament continued on until every team, but one, had two losses. The final four wasn’t a true final four as in a single elimination. Even a team that lost its first game was still in the running mathematically and could come through the brackets and win. But that would take a lot more pitching than most teams had, especially since pickup pitchers weren’t allowed.

 

“Good luck to you, too,” James said. “A rematch between the two of us would be a great game.”

 

Once the Hogger players left the room, Coach Hallion addressed the team. “I know that all of you know that Riley had problems with some of the players on the Bisons. I will be talking to their coach about both of us making sure our teams leave that in the past and just play ball. I have total confidence in how you’ll carry yourselves during the game.

 

“Should there be any problems I want you to let the coaches handle them. If you hear anybody say anything to Riley, tell us right away. And that goes for you too, Riley. Come to me, Coach Simmons, or Coach Corcoran right away. Any questions?”

 

Being the coach’s son as well as the team captain, Trent knew what his father was going to say. He stood up and faced his teammates. “Guys, the Goats are going to do things the right way. The right way is the only way we know how to do things. Riley is our teammate and our friend and we’re going to go out and win this game to show those assholes what a team can do that’s totally together. End of story.”

 

The Goats yelled and cheered in support of what Trent said as well as for their teammate, who they knew was jumpy. As the team started out of the conference room, Riley received a quick hug from every one of his teammates, including Muddy, who tended to be reticent. 

 

The Goats arrived at the complex at about the same time as the Burien Bisons. The Goats were assigned to the first base dugout. They gathered on the lawn on the other side of Field One’s left field fence. Conversely, the Bisons gathered outside the right field fence.

 

They couldn’t go onto the field because the game between the Redmond Red Birds and the Everett Dawgs was still in progress and was in the top of the fifth. The Red Birds were the visiting team and were leading the Dawgs 15-6. If the Red Birds could score at least one more run and then hold the Dawgs scoreless they would win the game because the mercy rule would take effect. Since both teams had a loss, this was a loser out game.

 

The Goats and the Bisons started warming up their arms. Darren was warming up with Tucker, who would be his catcher. He saw Riley warming up with a teammate.

 

“Hey, Tuck, check out our favorite little faggot,” Darren told his friend. “Shall we wander over and tell him we’re letting bygones be bygones?”

 

“Are you serious?” Tucker asked. “I thought you were planning on knocking his ass into the dirt.”

 

“Oh, I’m gonna do that for sure. I just wanted him to maybe relax a bit before I, like, threw a high hard one over his noggin. We’ll see how fast his ass hits the dirt.”

 

“Sure, I’m willing to go over there with you and give him my best fake smile.”

 

Darren pointed to the area behind the left field fence. “There’s a couple of big guys over there. I bet they’ve, like, bullied the shit out him and fucked him just like us. They probably hate queers as much as we do and won’t give us any shit. I don’t think we’ll have any problem having a little chat with nerf nuts.” He glanced around the right field area. “I don’t see no coaches watching, so let’s wander over,” Darren said.

 

Darren, Tucker, Jon, and Akeem had made all kinds of plans the night before regarding Riley. They finally settled on Darren, who would be the Bisons’ starting pitcher, sending Riley a message telling him what they thought of little faggots letting people fuck them in the ass. “He took my cock up his ass, so now I’m gonna drop him onto that sorry butt of his,” Darren had told his friends.”

 

Mac and Trent were the pair of Goats closest to the Bisons, a position they took intentionally. They spotted Darren and Tucker coming their way. “Here comes trouble,” Trent said. “Don’t say anything unless they do, but let’s follow them and let them know we’re here.”

 

Eric and Kevin were on the other side of the warmups and noted the intruders. They started to make their way over.

 

Darren and Tucker saw Mac and Trent trailing them. They stopped and turned to face them. “Just in case you wanted to know, we’re coming to see Riley,” Darren said. “He was on our team last summer and we wanted to say hi to our old buddy.”

 

“We know. He told us he played with you guys,” Mac said.

 

“And just in case you wanted to know, Riley is our teammate and more importantly, he’s our friend,” Trent added for emphasis.

 

“Yeah, and I bet I know what kind of friend he is, too,” Tucker grinned.

 

“The best thing you two can do is wave to him and go back to your warmups,” Trent said calmly.

 

“Really? Are you guys for real?” Darren asked. “We know you know what he’s like. All we want to do is say hi and let him know we miss his sweet ass.”

 

Trent could see Mac ball up his fists and gave him a slight shake of the head. “Like I said, how about you go back to your team and work on just playing baseball.”

 

“After we say hi to our butt buddy,” Tucker said. “And your butt buddy too.”

 

Trent and Mac were joined by Aiden and, surprisingly, Muddy. Muddy stood close to the two Bison players and glared at them. Eric and Kevin arrived right after them. “Do you have your coach’s okay to be here?” Eric asked.

 

“No, but he would have said it was okay if we’d asked,” Darren said.

 

“Well, then I suggest you go back to your area and ask him.”

 

“Yeah, whatever.” Darren turned, took a few steps, and stopped. He pointed to Trent and Mac and said, “We’ll see you fuckers on the field.” He and Tucker then took their time walking away. Eric and Kevin stayed right behind them. Coach Hallion, who had been talking with Larry and Phil while watching the conclusion of the Redmond game, hustled to the field as soon as Grant and Lance let them know there was possible trouble behind the field.

 

Coach Hallion had a quick meeting with his coaches after the Goats resumed their warmup. “It looks like I’ll be needing to have a chat with the Bisons’ coach,” Coach Hallion told them. “As well as the umpires.”

 

“Another quick chat with our team wouldn’t hurt,” Eric said. “I didn’t like the attitude of those two bozos, and I can see trouble coming. We need to emphasize that kids HAVE to keep their mouths shut.”

 

“KMS will be our theme,” Kevin said.

 

“KMS?” Coach Hallion asked.

 

“Keep Mouth Shut,” Kevin grinned.

 

After talking with his coaches, Coach Hallion asked Larry and Phil if they had any advice about what he should say at the home plate conference before the game. He listened to what they had to say, which was essentially to tell the umpires that there was some possible bad blood between members of the two teams and he just wanted to give them a heads up.

 

That was what Hallion did at the home plate meeting. He came to the plate with Eric and Scott. Trent was the starting pitcher and he and Mac were completing his warmups in the bullpen area. Coach Stan Wells and his team captain, Arnie Hatcher, represented the Bisons.

 

After introductions, Joe Easterbrook, the plate umpire, who was also the umpire in chief during the game, performed the coin flip for home team. Since the Goats had traveled the farthest, Scott called tails, and won again. Easterbrook then went over the ground rules. He was a young umpire, in his mid-twenties. Donald Keys, the base umpire was just short of forty.  After he finished his usual spiel, the plate umpire asked if there were any questions. James Hallion spoke up.

 

James had considered airing his issue privately to the umpires, but Larry told him that in any conference with an umpire, the opposing coach should have the option of being present. “It can alleviate a lot of misunderstanding should the issue come to a head,” Larry said.

 

“I think you gentlemen should be aware that one of my players was a member of the Bisons last year. There was apparently some bad blood between him and some of the current players.” Larry had told James to make the problem sound neutral. Even though Riley was a victim and not an instigator in this case, he would get more cooperation from the umpires if he didn’t point his finger at the players on the other team. “I just wanted to make you aware of the situation.”

 

Coach Wells quickly spoke up. “I wasn’t aware of any problems. My players have been coached to follow the highest standards of sportsmanship, so if a problem arises, it won’t be caused by anyone on my team.” He stared at Coach Hallion and said, “How dare you, the coach of an overmatched team from the middle of nowhere, try to prejudice the umpires against us. It’s going to take more than gamesmanship to make up the talent gap between us. Riley left on good terms because his family moved, so any problems are his, not ours.”

 

“That’s enough, coach,” Joe said. “Let’s all shake hands and have a good game.” The coaches and players shook hands. Arnie Hatcher was a good kid and unaware of the drama surrounding his four teammates and Riley. He remembered Riley as a quiet kid who didn’t seem happy. He was a slap hitter with no power, a good pitcher, and a very good outfielder.  Unlike the coaches and the Mayfield players, his good luck handshake was a sincere one.

 

“Nice call on the flip, Scott,” Eric said.

 

“It was easy—tails never fails,” Scott grinned.

 

Riley started the game in left field. Coach Hallion wanted to start him to show that a couple of hoodlums couldn’t intimidate Riley onto the bench. On top of that, Riley was one of his best defensive outfielders.

 

Trent didn’t waste any time showing the Bisons that he was not overmatched. He used only eight pitches to throw a 1-2-3 inning, and that included striking out Tucker, who was batting second.

 

Gordy led off the bottom of the first with a single off of Darren and stole second on the third pitch to Aiden, who was batting second. Aiden grounded to second, moving Gordy to third. Trent batted next. With the way pitchers would be changed during a game as the tournament played out, Coach Hallion wanted his best hitters batting where they would do the most good, even if they started the game on the mound.

 

Trent came through with a hard-hit RBI double. Darren gave Trent a look that said he was a pissant who had no business standing on second base. “Enjoy the lead, cuz it ain’t gonna last long,” Akeem, who was the shortstop, said.

 

Knowing what Coach Hallion had said at the plate conference, Donald, the base umpire, thought it would be a good idea if he spoke up. “Let’s knock off the trash talk and play ball.”

 

Muddy got the next word in with a double of his own, scoring Trent who beat an ill-advised throw home to make the score 2-0. Scott then flied out to left and Mac struck out swinging to end the inning.

 

“Just about anybody but Muddy would have gone to third on the throw,” Larry told Phil.

 

“Hey, he may not win very many footraces, but he did his job with his bat. You can’t ask for much more than that,” Phil said. “Muddy can bat cleanup for me any time.”

 

Trent pitched another 1-2-3 inning, this time striking out Darren for the third out.  As Darren took his five warmup pitches, the umpire noted that the on-deck batter was number six, who would be Riley, the boy the Bisons apparently disliked. The Mayfield catcher had filled him in about number six being bullied by the Burien players when they were teammates, and that for some reason they wanted to continue their bullying.

 

Darren grinned inwardly when he saw Riley come to the plate. He had been waiting for this moment. From the way Riley’s teammates reacted when he and Tucker came into their territory, he figured Riley must have told them about what they did to him during last summer’s baseball season, or at least most of what happened. He also figured out Riley probably lied to them about what they did, leaving the sex out of his story. Squealing to his teammates with a story full of lies was reason enough to throw what he and Tucker had planned.

 

The Yard Goat players and coaches were worried that Darren might throw a knockdown pitch at Riley. Coach Hallion was hoping he hadn’t endangered his player by starting him. But Eric and Kevin had reminded him that Darren was a middle school bully, which made him mostly talk with little action to back it up. When Darren’s first pitch was a breaking ball that sailed outside for ball one, the head coach breathed a sigh of relief.

 

Riley was literally quaking in his cleats. He knew what kind of assholes Darren and Tucker were and knew that Darren wouldn’t hesitate to knock him down with a pitch if he thought he could get away with it.

 

Since the number five hitter made the last out of the first inning, the Goats would be batting their 6-7-8 hitters in the bottom of the second. Darren and Tucker knew that meant Riley would be leading off the inning unless their coach pussied out and pinch hit for him. One thing they felt they had going for them was having a young umpire. In their limited experience they came up with the impression that they could get away with more when a young umpire was working than some dude who had been around for a long time.

 

Darren’s next pitch was in the dirt, making the count 2-0. When Tucker gave Darren their private sign, Darren knew the count was going to go to 3-0. Darren reared back and fired a high, hard fastball that came in the general direction of Riley’s head, although it was intended to sail well over it. Riley didn’t know that, however. He let go of his bat and joined it in the dirt as the ball sailed to the backstop. The Mayfield fans erupted in a chorus of boos.

 

Plate umpire Joe Easterbrook rose out of his crouch, shot his right hand high into the air. “Pitcher, YOU ARE GONE!!!” He quickly dropped his hand so his outstretched index finger pointed to the third-base dugout. Darren gave the umpire a disbelieving look. He stayed on the mound as if he were waiting for the umpire to throw him the ball for the next pitch.

 

At the same time, Coach Wells jumped out of the dugout and rushed toward home plate. The base umpire left his position behind first base so fast that he was standing next to the plate umpire when Wells reached home. “Come a step closer and you’ll be joining him, coach,” Easterbrook told him.

 

“What did you throw him out for?” Wells yelled. “A pitch gets away from him and you throw him out of the game?”

 

“In my judgement he knocked the batter down intentionally.”

 

“Yeah, with an inside pitch that got away. I teach my kids to stand up for themselves, and he’s been hearing nothing but crap from that team of nobodies since before the game started. But I do NOT teach my kids to intentionally throw at batters.”

 

“I saw it otherwise, and your pitcher is out of the game.”

 

“That is pure BULLCRAP!!”

 

Easterbrook gave the same signal he’d used for Darren, whipping his hand over his head and pointing to the dugout as he yelled, “YOU’RE GONE, COACH!” The Mayfield fans roared their approval.

 

“I’m protesting your prejudiced actions and I’m taking my proof that you weren’t at all impartial straight to the tournament committee. By the time I get done we’ll be replaying this game.” At that point, the coach had the good sense to turn and walk away, signaling Darren to follow him.

 

Since Coach Wells didn’t have an assistant, a parent had to be found to take over the team. Steve Hatcher, the father of Arnie, the Bison captain, volunteered to take over. “I coach my younger son’s ten-and-under team, so I am qualified to coach,” he told the umpires and the tournament committee chairman. He pulled his league’s coach certification card out of his wallet. The South King County Leagues were the only leagues the umpires knew of that had a training program for coaches, hence the certificate. The umpires accepted Hatcher as the Bison’s head coach for the remainder of the game. He then sent his son to the mound to take over the pitching duties.

 

The rest of the game was remarkably free of the controversy. The Bison players, outside of Tucker, Jon, and Akeem, didn’t like Darren much anyway. Even though their hearts weren’t really in the game, the Bisons settled down and played good ball. But the Goats, behind the pitching of Trent, Scott, and Max, held on for a 5-3 win. They would be playing the Tenino Hoggers at two o’clock on Field 1. The Hoggers had eked out a 6-5 win over the Renton Tigers.

 

Coach Hallion worried about an altercation breaking out in the handshake line, as did Coach Wells. Both coaches cautioned their charges to display proper sportsmanship as their teams lined up for the traditional postgame meeting. James held Riley out of the line, which didn’t bother him at all. Riley had seen enough controversy to last him a lifetime. Tucker refused to get into the line. Instead, he stood in front of the dugout with his arms folded and glared at the Goats’ line. Everyone else showed the best of sportsmanship, including Jon and Akeem.

 

The concession stand was in a one-story building located in the hub created by the home plate end of the four fields coming together. Most of the building dealt with selling and storing the concessions, but there was an office and a meeting room which was used mostly by tournament committees when the field hosted a tournament, and a room for keeping tools that might be needed in a hurry. The building also held restrooms and had an umpires’ locker room, complete with showers.  

 

It was in the meeting room that the tournament committee met with Coach Wells. He was all but laughed out of the meeting room when he said he wanted to protest the game because of the bias of the umpires, and that ended his little stunt.

 

Since four games had ended at about the same time, the concession stand was swamped with kids, coaches, and parents. There was a large grassy area beyond the outfield fences, which had picnic tables, two other sets of restrooms, and a storehouse used by the maintenance crew. The field was operated by the Federal Way Parks Department.

 

The Goats’ pitching counts had come out looking good at the end of the game. Trent pitched three innings, throwing only thirty-one pitches. Scott threw forty-four in his three innings and Max threw fifteen in his one inning.

 

The Goats players, coaches, and parents took four of the eight tables outside of Field 1 where they would be playing the Tenino Hoggers at two o’clock. The Hoggers claimed the other four tables.  Many of the parents set up lawn chairs to lounge in. Martha Hallion, the coach’s wife and Trent’s mother, had put Phil and Flo Lansing, Gordy’s mother, in charge of providing sandwiches for lunch, for which they would be reimbursed from the Yard Goats’ tournament fund. The players and their families purchased drinks from the concession stand.

 

“Are you okay, Riley?” Trent asked when everyone had settled down to eat.

 

Lenny squeezed Riley’s shoulder as he answered. “That whole thing kinda shook me up big time, but I’m okay now. That pitch looked worse than it was—it missed me by a lot.”

 

“It went by high, fast, and noisy,” Lenny added. “That would scare me and any of us, and I know it scared my boyfriend.” All the boys, along with the coaches and the parents who were tuned in to the conversation, noted Lenny’s use of the word ‘boyfriend’.

 

“I told the coaches I’m ready to play in the next game and now I’m telling you guys the same thing,” Riley said.

 

“You rock, Riley,” Mac called out. Larry thought it ironic that Mac yelled out his support. Not long ago, he would have been in Darren’s corner if they played on the same team.

 

“One thing you kids don’t know since your coaches didn’t tell you,” Coach Hallion said. “The tournament rule is that anyone, player or coach, ejected from a game is suspended for their next game.”

 

“Why didn’t you tell us?” Max asked.

 

“Because we felt it would not be an issue, at least as far as the Goats are concerned. You guys are way too classy to get yourselves ejected from a ballgame.”

 

“They should kick them out for the whole tournament,” Miles groused.

 

“Because teams could have a different number of games remaining depending on their brackets, that would be unfair. One game works for almost everybody.”

 

“Almost?”

 

“Not much they can do if it’s a team’s last game,” Aiden pointed out.

 

“Gotcha,” Miles nodded.

 

The chatter then turned to the upcoming game against the Hoggers and to the success the Southwest 13 and Under League was having in the tournament. “This sounds unbelievable, but the Southwest League that everybody was laughing at being a weak league, hasn’t lost any games yet,” Aiden said. He was referring to the fact that the East Olympia Senators had defeated the Portland Pilots 7-6 on Field 4.

 

“What makes it totally unbelievable is that the Senators had a losing record coming into the tournament,” Trent said.

 

“But we all knew they were better than their record, which is what makes them a scary team to play,” Scott added.

 

“So, three of the four teams that are still undefeated are from the Southwest League. That is so epically unbelievable,” Aiden said, trying to outdo Trent’s description.

 

“And one of the final two undefeated teams will be from our league for sure, since two of us are playing each other in about a half hour,” Mac said.

 

“Who would’ve known that Mac was an expert on statistics,” Aiden chuckled.

 

“Eat your heart out Aiden,” Mac said as the two teammates bumped fists.

 

“But wouldn’t it be awesome if the Senators knocked off the Canucks and two Southwest teams end up playing each other to go into the championship bracket?” Trent asked.

 

“Yep. Who wudda thunk it?” Mac chuckled.

 

On that note the coaches told the boys it was time for them to clean the eating area and start their warmups. Everyone was expecting the Yard Goats-Hoggers game to be like their first meeting—a battle right down to the last out.

 

Next: Federal Way-2