Mayfield Magic

                                                                  

CHAPTER 27

SO CAL BASEBRAWL DAY 5.

TRIPLE THE PLEASURE-2

 

SATURDAY, AUGUST 1

 

 

 

In a battle between the last two undefeated teams in the Brawl, the Torrance Bulldogs knocked off the Surrey Mounties 9-3. The Dogs took a 3-0 lead in the first and dominated the game to the end. It was the first game of the tournament that they hadn’t scored in double figures, which irked the players. They were also disappointed that they didn’t shorten the game with the 8-run rule. But after four games, the Bulldogs were 4-0, having outscored their opponents 47-12.

 

The only question for them was who they would be playing in the championship game and how badly they would clobber that team. The had defeated all three of the teams left in the tournament: 15-2 over the Mayfield Yard Goats, 12-7 over the San Diego Force, and now 9-3 over the Canadians.

 

Torrance head coach Frank Parker and Ellis Rohrs, his chief assistant, chatted with some of the parents on their way out of the park.

 

“It’s been a great tournament so far,” Larry Floyd, the father of team captain Carl Floyd, said.

 

“Better than great, we’ve dominated this sucker,” Frank grinned.

 

“It looks like the Dogs have a great chance of winning it.”

 

“Forget great. It’s almost a perfect chance. The only team of the three that are left that could give us a problem in the finals is the Force, and we would’ve ended our game with them in six innings if I hadn’t emptied the bench.”

 

“Showed them a little mercy, did you?” Larry chuckled.

 

“They’re a great team and a classy group, unlike those wannabes from up north,” Frank said, referring to the Goats. “And I know we won’t be seeing them tomorrow because the Force is gonna kick their sorry asses. I mean, really, can either of you give me a reason why those losers are still alive?”

 

“I would say luck, but they have been putting on a hitting clinic. They hit the ball all over the field against Texas from what I’ve heard,” Ellis said.

 

“Yeah, you got it, against Texas. It’s not like they’ve been on fire against anybody from California. I say that the Force wins it in five,” Frank predicted.

 

“And what if you do see them on Sunday?” Larry asked.

 

“Damn, Larry. Since when did you enjoy spouting nonsense? But in the unlikely event it happens, I will predict this right now. There will be no IF game because the first championship game in the history of this tournament is gonna end in five. Think about it, they have to beat the Force and they have to beat the Canadians, who are actually a half-way decent team. Ain’t gonna happen. You can take it to the bank.”

 

 

 

The Goats, who had been assigned the third base dugout on Field 1 before leaving for dinner, had their gear and the players equipment bags in the dugout by twenty after five. They stood on the infield ready for a quick meeting where Coach Hallion would give them the starters and the lineup. They had their baseballs ready so they could start their warmups as soon the meeting was over. Because of the over two hours the team had off doing nothing but sitting, talking, and eating, Coach Hallion planned on having the team take infield.

 

The coach got right down to business. “I know you all know that Trent and Mac will be the starting battery. Since this will be Trent’s last game pitching I will be using him until he’s pitched the maximum number of pitches he’s allowed. Since Lenny only had to catch five innings last game, I may use him for a couple of innings in the middle of the game. We’ll see how that works out. Coach Simmons, Coach Corcoran, and I thought it would be a good idea to change up the defense to start to give some of you a different perspective. The infield will be Max, Aiden, and Lance on the bases and Scott at short. From left to right the outfield will be Riley, Gordy, and Grant. Muddy will be hitting for Grant. Questions?”

 

“Wouldn’t everybody at their usual position give us better defense?” Max asked. “I mean, our regular defense is, like, dope, you know.”

 

Coach Hallion answered the question with a question. “How often this season, has what you call our usual defense started a game together? Nobody is playing a position they haven’t played frequently during the year. We’ll have a solid defense out there. Now, let’s get to your positions so we can take a quick infield practice.”

 

Since the Force hadn’t had a one o’clock game, they took a fifteen-minute infield practice at five and, except for Will, the starting pitcher, and Eddie, the starting catcher, the players were given a half hour break, which they used to chill. The pitcher and catcher would meet with Coach Harley Wood and Coach Chuck Barnes, the pitching coach, at five-thirty.

 

The umpires called for the coaches at ten to six. Coach Wood and Coach Hallion came to the plate with their captains. Scott came out for the Goats since Trent was still going through his warmups. Tim Whalen and Eddie Kelmer came to the plate for the Force. Red Smithson, the home plate umpire led the introductions.

 

“Did you guys already work today?” Coach Wood asked the umpires.

 

“No, we get the interesting flip. We’ll work this game and then come back and umpire the morning game tomorrow. Which means whoever wins this game will see us again.” Red then went over the usual spiel regarding the tournament rules that differed from the rule book and the ground rules. “I have a feeling that Mayfield may be few feet farther away from home plate than San Marcos, so they get to call the flip.”

 

Scott called, “Tails!” He had decided that since heads had come up pretty regularly, it was time to go with tails. He left out the, “Never fails,” part of his routine, however. The coin came up heads. Scott shook his head wondering why his favorite coin flip had become a total failure. The Force took home, of course.

 

As soon as the game started, Will showed why he was one of the top two pitchers for the Force. Like James was going to do with Trent, Coach Wood intended on riding with Will until he reached his pitch limit. Will fired two hard fastballs at the knees to Gordy. After throwing a waste pitch, he struck Gordy out swinging. The same strategy worked on Aiden. Will had started the game striking out the two hardest to strike out players on the team.

 

After taking a strike, Trent fouled the next pitch to the backstop. He then hit a fair ball, a comebacker to Will, who easily threw Trent out at first.

 

Trent’s first inning wasn’t nearly as effective as Will’s had been. His first pitch was a waist high fastball that had too much of the plate, resulting in a lead-off single to left for Eddie, the shortstop. The next batter was Mike, the centerfielder. Eddie took off on the first pitch which Mike took for a strike. Mac made a strong, accurate throw, which wasn’t in time to nab the speedy shortstop. On the next pitch, Mike hit a routine grounder to second, which Aiden fielded and threw to Max for the first out. Eddie advanced to third on the “productive” out.

 

Eduardo, the catcher, lofted a fly ball to deep left that Riley hauled in for the second out. Eddie tagged up and scored to give the Force a quick 1-0 lead as the Force scored their first run in a textbook example of small ball.

 

The next batter was Gregg, the designated hitter. He was a big six-foot one eighth grader who had a muscular build. Even with his big strike zone, he ended up drawing a walk on a 3-2 pitch.

 

Tim came to the plate. As much as he liked the Goat players, with a couple even becoming his friends, when he stepped between the foul lines he was all business. And that showed when he laced a 2-2 pitch that was just off the outside corner into the left-center gap for a run-scoring triple.

 

The Force now had a 2-0 lead. Trent couldn’t help thinking that this game was quickly turning into a repeat of the Tucson Sun King game for him. Mac thought about asking for time but decided to let Trent tackle one more batter. His pitch to Tim had been a great two strike pitch, but Tim just reached out and managed to make solid contact.

 

Trent took a deep breath and told himself that this was NOT going to be a repeat of the opening game. He would see to it that his teammates would only have to come back from two down instead of six down. He got off to a good start in that regard when he got two quick strikes on Will. A curve ball that broke inside moved Will away from the plate. A fast ball just off the outside corner, almost in the spot as the one to Tim had been, had Will swinging and missing to end the inning.

 

“No problem, guys, we’ll get them back,” Aiden said as the Goats hustled off the field.

 

“We’ve got your back, Trent,” Scott said.

 

The second inning didn’t give the hint of a comeback. It was almost a repeat of the first inning as Muddy struck out swinging, Scott fouled out to the third baseman, and Mac struck out looking.

 

“Is anybody surprised as to what’s going on down on the field?” the Torrance coach asked. He was sitting with his team, his assistants, and a couple of parents on the far end of the field. “An inning and half into the game and the Force is making mincemeat of those Goats. I just hope the game goes the full seven to make those guys work a little.”

 

“This is what happens when you invite second rate teams like Mayfield to a big-time tournament like this is supposed to be,” assistant coach Rohrs said. 

 

“I’m sure the committee is learning their lessons,” Coach Parker said. “This is their first go-around after all.”

 

Trent put together a much better inning in the second. He put the bottom of the lineup down in order with a strikeout, a fly ball to Gordy in center, and a grounder to Lance at third.

 

Riley was leading off the third for the Goats. He had some extra incentive since a special person was sitting in the stands: his father, Thomas. He had intended to be in San Marcos in time for the ten o’clock game, but his flight was cancelled because of mechanical problems. The first replacement flight he could get wouldn’t have him in San Diego until quarter to five.

 

He had thought about asking for a refund, but then the image of his happy son floated through his head. Riley had never been as happy as he had become since the family moved to Mayfield, and it was all because of Mayfield baseball. He decided he would do whatever it took to get to San Marcos that day even if he could only give his son a commiserating hug because they had been knocked out of the tournament. Riley had kept him up to date with texts, some of which he couldn’t read while he was in the air. His flight left Portland before he could receive a text with the score of the one o’clock game. He was ecstatic to learn that the Goats had won their afternoon game. He was going to get to see his son play!

 

Riley was walking on air as soon as he heard his dad call his name about fifteen minutes before game time. What had looked glum had turned into something golden. Riley was positive that the Goats would make the same thing happen on the field. He got things started with a single off the first pitch from Will, who thought he could sneak a fastball down the middle past the kid who looked like he should be in fifth grade. Riley’s dad jumped up and was almost dancing as he cheered his son’s base hit.

 

Max hit a line drive to Eddie at short and Riley barely made it back to first ahead of the throw from Eddie. Lance then drew a walk, and suddenly the Goats had something going. Gordy hit a fly ball to deep left-center that Mike, the center fielder, made a great running catch on. Riley and Lance each tagged up and advanced a base. Aiden couldn’t bring them in though as he grounded out to third for the third out, leaving the score at 2-0.

 

Trent had another good inning as he worked around a one-out single to Mike. Riley gave his dad something else to cheer about when he made a spectacular diving catch on a sinking line drive for the second out. When the inning ended, Eric doubled checked his pitch count against the count of the official pitch counter. The numbers were identical. He told Coach Hallion that if Trent could maintain his current pace, they could pitch him for five innings or even a couple of batters more.

 

“That lousy team is keeping things close,” John Whalen, Tim’s dad commented. He had snuck into the section the Torrance party was sitting in so he could tune in to whatever brand of nonsense they were spouting.

 

“It’s called luck and it’s spelled with a capital L,” Coach Parker said. “That catch by the center fielder? I mean, come on, you really think that little shit is that good? Yeah, right. Take a long look at the kid playing center for the Force. Now THAT kid is a player. His catch came from being a great player, not from being a lucky one.”

 

John thanked him for the analysis and went back to the crowded section behind the first base dugout where the Force fans were sitting. “Well, what did you find out?” Pablo Garcia, Tino’s father, asked him.

 

“That the entire outfit has a number of screws loose upstairs. I hope we win this one and get a chance to kick their sorry rear ends.”

 

“I thought us winning this game was a foregone conclusion. Everyone says that team isn’t good enough to go any farther.”

 

“That’s what some think, like the crew sitting together over there, but let me tell you this, and Timmy agrees, there is a lot more to the Mayfield Yard Goats than people think.”

 

“Can you even tell me what a yard goat is?”

 

“Yep. Timmy told me. It’s a bit of railroad jargon. A yard goat is the name for a locomotive that works in the switching yards. A local railroad is a major sponsor of the team, hence the name. Once you know that, the locomotive logo on their uniforms and hats makes sense.” John glanced at the scoreboard and saw that the count was 1-1. “And we seem to have missed a couple of pitches.”

 

Trent was at the plate. He took a good hack at the 1-1 pitch and hit a hard bouncing grounder to Ron at second.  Ron made two fundamental mistakes on the play. First, he didn’t get his butt low enough and the ball didn’t bounce as high as he anticipated. As a result, he didn’t get the ball solidly into his glove and bobbled it. By the time he got control of the ball, Trent was just a few steps from the base. But Ron tried to make up for his first mistake by throwing the ball when he should have held it and conceded the base. A great throw might have gotten Trent, but this wasn’t even a good throw as he overthrew Tino at first. The ball zipped over the first baseman’s glove and bounced into the dugout. The scorekeeper scored two E-4’s (error second baseman) into her scorebook. The first base umpire awarded Trent second base on the overthrow.

 

“That was a rather inauspicious start,” John said as the Mayfield fans let off a loud roar on the play.

 

“Will is pitching really good,” Pablo said. “He won’t let this bother him at all.”

 

In order to keep Trent fresh, James sent Emmett in to pinch run for him. Muddy was the batter and let a high fastball go by for ball one. Will was surprised Muddy had taken the pitch since the report he’d heard was that the Goat DH was a wild swinger who would swing at anything coming into the plate that was round.

 

As the catcher threw the ball back to Will, Emmett looked at the coach to see what the sign said, if anything. He was surprised to get the steal sign. ‘Wow, he wants me to steal third,’ Emmett thought. ‘Well, if that’s what he wants, that’s what he’ll get.’ As soon as the pitcher went into his motion, Emmett broke for third. Eduardo had to throw around the right-handed batter but got off a strike to Tim at third. Emmett was a fast runner, however, and slid into third just before Tim got the tag on him. The umpire yelled, “Safe,” and then called time. Emmett stood up and wiped the dirt off his uniform. He was now standing on third base with nobody out.

 

“Jeez, why doesn’t the Force just give Mayfield the game now, since they seem to want to give it away,” Coach Parker fumed as Emmett was dusting himself off.

 

The pitch to Muddy had been ball two. Muddy fouled off the next pitch but made good contact with the following pitch. He knew he didn’t hit the ball hard enough for it to go out, but he hoped to get a double off of it. That ended up not being the case as Sammy went back and made a nice catch a few feet short of the fence.

 

Coach Hallion raised his right arm and yelled for Emmett to tag up, which he did. As soon as Sammy touched the ball, the coach dropped his arm and yelled, “Go! Go! Go!” and Emmett raced for home. Sammy’s throw got to Eduardo before Emmett reached the plate, but it was a little off line. Emmett slid away from the catcher and scored before he could be tagged. The Goats had cut the deficit to 2-1. Coach Parker and Coach Rohrs were even less happy after Emmett scored on the sacrifice fly. Scott followed that up with single up the middle, but that’s where he stayed as Mac popped up to second and Riley grounded out to third. 

 

Trent went out to pitch the bottom of the fourth. At first, he was a little peeved at his dad for having Emmett come out to run for him, but after sitting on the bench for the rest of the inning he realized giving him a breather had been a good move. He struck out Tim on a called third strike for the first out and then got Will swinging for the second out. He learned later that Tim was the toughest player on the Force to strike out.

 

Will was Trent’s third strikeout in a row, but Sammy broke the string when he ran out a weak ground ball to third. Lance charged it, but when he picked it up, he saw he had no play and Sammy had in infield single. Tino took the strike out, instead, when he swung and missed a 3-2 pitch for the third out. Trent had struck out the side and had six strikeouts in four innings.

 

“I’ve got Trent with 14 pitches left,” Eric told James. “I’ll double check with the official counter.” She was sitting on the other side of the backstop. She agreed with Eric’s count when he asked her. She was a junior at San Diego State and thought Eric was mega-cute as she gave him a long look through the chain link backstop.

 

“That should get him through the first two batters in the fifth,” James said. “I want to give Mac the fifth inning off, so I’ll have him warm up Lance.” Only in the life of a catcher does getting a one-inning break mean he’s going to be warming up a relief pitcher. Doing so was much less stress than actually catching a game, however.

 

Coach Wood sent Will back out to pitch the fifth. Like Trent, he didn’t have enough pitches left to complete the inning, but the coach was going to get everything he could from the pitcher while he was eligible to pitch.

 

Max led off the inning by grounding out to the first baseman who got the unassisted putout at first. Skip came to the plate, batting for Lance, who was warming up. He knocked a hard shot up the middle for his second pinch-hit single of the tournament. Gordy then singled to right and Skip busted his ass in a great run from first to third. The Goats were threatening to tie the score.

 

“The Force pitcher looks tired,” Larry observed.

 

“I think their coach agrees,” Phil said as Coach Wood came out to the mound. He held up his left hand, signaling for Drake Wood, his twelve-year-old son to come in to pitch. Drake was a lefty who had good stuff, but inconsistent command. He wasn’t one of his father’s regular relievers, but like everyone else, except maybe the Torrance Bulldogs because they had only played four games, pitching was becoming thin for the Force, even with each team having two extra pitchers.

 

Aiden was the first batter Drake faced. It took only two pitches for him to give up a hard-hit drive into the gap in left center field. As soon as they saw that the ball wasn’t going to be caught, Skip and Gordy hustled around the bases and both scored. Because the ball ricocheted off the fence in the opposite direction the center fielder had anticipated and Oliver, the right fielder, was slow in backing up the play, Aiden made a mad dash to third and slid in with his fifth triple of the tournament. The Goats now had their first lead of the game at 3-2.

 

“I think our boy is going to set a tournament record for triples that might never be broken,” Phil told Larry.

 

“It has been something to watch,” Larry responded. “Think about it, that’s the number of triples he had in 29 games all season.”

 

“Aiden has certainly put on a show of power and speed,” Paul said. 

 

Over in the first base seats, Coach Parker kicked the seat in front of him. “That little peckerhead seems to get a triple every time he has a bat in his hand,” he raged. “No way do we let him eat us up like that.”

 

“You make it sound like we’re going to be playing them, coach,” Coach Rohrs said.

 

“Shit, those little bastards twisted my balls so hard in this tournament I don’t even know what I’m saying.”

 

Trent followed Aiden’s hitting display with a single of his own, scoring Aiden and giving the Goats a 4-2 lead. That was the last of the scoring in the fifth as Muddy hit a hard line drive up the left field line that the left fielder made an outstanding running catch on. Scott followed that by grounding out to short, with Eddie going the short way to Ron at second to force Trent and retire the side.

 

Coach Hallion then made a host of substitutions, some of which were just position changes and some were new players entering the game. Trent came out to pitch the bottom of the fifth. He would face two batters for sure and maybe a third. Lenny replaced Mac at catcher. Mac was in the bullpen area warming up Lance who would be replacing Trent on the mound. Gordy moved into the infield to play shortstop and Scott moved from short to third, replacing Lance. Riley moved from left to center and Skip stayed in the game to play left field. Coach Hallion had informed everyone before they took the field that there would be more shifting when Lance replaced Trent on the mound.

 

Oliver led the bottom of the fifth with a routine ground ball to Aiden at second. Trent needed only two pitches to get through the at bat. Eddie the leadoff batter was next. He was a much more patient hitter than the hitters at the bottom of the Force batting order. Still, Trent threw only five pitches to him as he ended his at bat with a fly ball to Riley in center. Trent had seven pitches left, so Coach Hallion left him in to hopefully finish the inning. Mike gave Trent a tougher at bat, but the Goat pitcher finally got a strikeout on nine pitches to complete a 1-2-3 inning. (When pitcher hits his pitch maximum during an at bat, he can finish the at bat.) In a big turnaround from his first start, Trent had pitched five innings, giving up two runs on four hits, while striking out seven and walking only one batter.

 

Even though Mac would be catching the sixth inning, James let Lenny lead off the inning for the Goats. The decision paid off when Lenny singled to left. Riley then laid down a beautiful bunt to the left side of the infield. The pitcher made a good play on it and threw Riley out at first, but the sacrifice bunt moved Lenny to second. Max then hit a long fly to right that Oliver, the right fielder, ran down. Lenny tagged and made it safely to third.

 

Skip came up for the second time in the game. The Mayfield fans and friends were screaming loudly for Skip to get a hit and he obliged with a single up the middle that Eddie just barely missed making a great play on. Lenny scored standing up to make the score 5-2. Gordy ended the inning with a hard-hit liner to the left fielder.

 

Coach Hallion made some more moves in the field to start the bottom of the sixth inning. Lance re-entered the game to pitch, sending Skip back to the bench. James made sure to give Skip an “attaboy” for his two big hits during his time in the lineup. Trent was moved to third base which sent Scott to right field. Grant, who started in right, was now on the bench. On Kevin’s advice, James elected to let Lenny stay in the game to catch his brother, who would be pitching just the sixth inning.

 

Up in the bleachers the talk was about the changes being made. “James is certainly making a lot of use of his bench this game,” Phil noted. “He’d better be careful not to paint himself into a corner.”

 

“He still has Mason and Miles eligible to play,” Larry pointed out. “Max and Riley can both pitch. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Max pitch the seventh. Aiden can pitch in an emergency. I think he’s doing a great job juggling a team that’s playing its third game of the day. I’m sure he’s been getting a lot of good advice from Eric and Kevin.”

 

“Do you wish you were one of the coaches in the dugout?” Paul asked.

 

Larry gave Paul a big grin. “Come on, Paul, you know as well as I do that it’s always fun to second-guess the coach or the manager. But no, I’ve enjoyed helping James out between games, but in the end this is his team. He doesn’t need me in the dugout looking over his shoulder.”

 

Paul nodded. His respect for Larry had grown daily during the tournament. As the judge who had approved of Aiden’s adoption, Paul was immensely pleased at what fantastic fathers Larry and Phil had become for the boy.

 

The first batter in the bottom of the sixth was catcher Eduardo De Leon. Lance, who had been gaining in confidence as a pitcher during the tournament thanks to his being placed in some tough situations, worked him with his two best pitches—his fastball and his changeup. While Lance’s fast ball didn’t have the velocity of Trent’s, Nolan’s, or Scott’s, it did have good movement and better than average zip. With the count at 2-2 Lance threw Eduardo a changeup that had him swinging early. He got a piece of it and sent a slow grounder up the third base line. Trent charged the ball, gloved it, and made a great throw on the run to get the first out on a bang-bang play. Lance gave Trent a thumbs up and a smile. Like all the Mayfield pitchers, Lance loved the Goat defense. The Force along with the spectators would soon be given another example of that defense.

 

“Too bad Marty wasn’t here to see that play of Trent’s,” Phil remarked. “As a third baseman, he loves seeing kids make that play especially when they just barely nip the runner at first. He would have been cheering his head off.”

 

“They don’t call it the ‘hot corner’ for nothing,” Larry agreed.

 

Gregg, the designated hitter, was next. The big eighth grader was one of leading hitters in the tournament having gone 7-for-12 with three doubles and six RBI for a .583 average. He improved on that quickly when he hit Lance’s second pitch into the right centerfield gap, earning himself a standup double. Gregg took off for third on Lance’s first pitch to Tim Whalen. Lenny’s throw was in time but wide, and Trent couldn’t get the tag down in time.

 

Tim, who was hitting 5-for-11, and had a first inning triple in this game, sent a towering drive to deep left field on a 2-1 fastball. Riley, who had been stationed a few steps deeper than usual by Coach Hallion, turned and angled to the fence, keeping his eye on the ball.

 

“That sucker is GONE!” Eddie yelled from the Force’s dugout. Bulldog coach Parker thought the same thing and was standing up to do a little jig. The smalltown pretenders were about to get their comeuppance.

 

But Riley had other ideas. While Tim’s drive had been hit hard and high, it had too much air under it and not enough distance. When Riley got to the fence, he leaped high, snagged the ball in his glove, hit the fence and dropped on his ass to the ground. The crowd went silent for a moment and the umpire hesitated to make the call until he knew where the ball was. Riley quickly leaped to his feet holding the ball high in the air. The umpire signaled the out and most of the crowd stood and cheered the spectacular catch. Gregg had tagged up and scored on the run, but for most getting the out was more important than the lone run that scored. The Goats still had a two-run lead while the Force now had two outs with nobody on base.

 

“That was ESPN,” Lance called out to his friend and teammate, referring to the nightly ESPN fielding highlights from the Major League games.

 

At the far end of the third base bleachers, Huntington Beach players Russell, Bryce, Grady, and Miguel sat with Dallas Baker, their coach. They had been openly rooting for the Yard Goats. It wasn’t that they had anything against the Force; the teams had been fierce competitors the two times they met during the season. They were two talented, evenly matched teams, who respected each other as opponents. Some of them had played against each other since 11 and under baseball.

 

“Dang, those Goats have been laying down the leather,” Russell observed after Riley’s catch.      

 

“Well, in Riley’s case, I’d say he raised the leather,” Dallas chuckled.

 

“Coach is always making funnies like that,” Bryce said as if that phrase hadn’t been stated dozens of times during the season.

 

“Maybe someday he’ll actually be funny,” Russell said. He looked at Dallas and grinned. “I can say that now, because now that we’ve played our last game of the season, Coach Baker can’t bench me. But seriously, those guys are, like, dope the way they field the ball.”

 

Drake was the next batter. His at bat seemed almost anticlimactic. A spectacular play wasn’t needed as Drake struck out on a 1-2 changeup to end the inning. The Goats went into the top of the seventh leading 5-3 and hoping to manufacture a couple of insurance runs.

 

Southpaw Lars Hellman entered the game as a relief pitcher. Aiden greeted him rudely with a line drive single up the middle. He then stole second base on the second pitch to Trent to put an insurance run into scoring position. Trent took care of scoring the run with an RBI single to left center. Mike and Tim executed the relay play home perfectly, but Aiden’s speed along with a great slide allowed him to avoid Eduardo’s tag. Trent advanced to second on the throw. The Goats now led 6-3 with Muddy coming to the plate.

 

Lars fell behind 3-1 on Muddy and Coach Wood decided with first base open he would put the power hitting DH on first with an intentional walk instead of his getting a pitch he could hit a long way. This way, the Force pitcher could pitch to Scott, instead, who the coach didn’t see as nearly as big a threat.

 

Scott lifted a pop up to the shortstop. The umpires invoked the infield fly rule which meant Scott was automatically out. Even though Scott was out Eddie cradled the ball because the ball was live and he didn’t want to see what would happen if he didn’t catch it.

 

Coach Hallion re-entered Mac for Lenny. Lenny had been assigned to warmup Max in the bullpen, so Mac was placed back in the lineup. Arnie was happy to see his son back in the game and became even happier when Mac hit a seeing-eye grounder just out of the reach of the second baseman for a single. The bases were now loaded with one out.       

 

That brought Riley to the plate. Lars had been struggling with his command all inning and Riley’s smaller strike zone seemed to bother him. He fell behind 3-0 before throwing a strike to make it 3-1. But his next pitch missed, and Riley walked to force Trent home. The score was now 7-3.

 

“I don’t believe it. I friggen don’t believe it,” Coach Parker groused. “The Force comes back ready to win a game that is theirs to win and they give the Goat Cheese two runs. How lucky can those guys get?”

 

Max was due up next, but he was warming up in the bullpen. When it had been time for Max to go on deck, James had asked Eric, who was supervising the warmup, if he thought Max could bat. Eric said he thought Max would be better off continuing his warmup and keeping his rhythm. While James didn’t want to burn one of his last two remaining subs to pinch hit for Max, the Goats did have a four-run lead and their closer would be pitching the bottom of the seventh. He told Miles to grab a bat since he would be pinch-hitting for Max. Miles did so, happy to get a chance to play. He grounded to Tino at first who threw home to Eduardo to force Muddy at home for the second out.

 

Lance ended the inning by striking out. The Yard Goats were going into the bottom of the seventh with a 7-3 lead and Max pitching.

 

Max came out throwing smoke. He struck out Sammy on four pitches to start the inning. Tino followed with a lazy fly to Scott in right for the second out.

 

“Max is looking good,” Larry said. "James has done a good job handling him. He didn’t overuse him and he’s going into the last games of the tournament looking fresh.” Larry knew that Eric had a big influence on how James handled his pitchers.

 

Max went 0-2 on Oliver, threw a waste pitch a bit high and bit outside, which Oliver didn’t bite at, and then blazed a pitch at the knees past the number nine hitter, who stood frozen at plate as the Mayfield crowd stood and yelled, clapped, and stomped their feet. Home plate umpire Red Smithson stuck out his right arm and then called a loud and enthusiastic “Strike Three!” as he rang up the batter and ended the game. The Mayfield Yard Goats would be one of three teams playing on the last day of the tournament.

 

“I don’t believe what I just saw,” Coach Parker moaned as he left the bleachers with Coach Rohrs. “Those fuckers are playing tomorrow morning.”

 

“The good news is, we have the tournament wrapped up,” Parker’s assistant pointed out. “The Canadians aren’t a hell of a lot better than Mayfield.”

 

“There is that, but it would have been nice to get at least a little competition. The championship game could easily be an eight-run affair, especially if we play those idiots down there celebrating a win they know they didn’t deserve.”

 

The Mayfield Goats yelled and cheered and danced and hugged. They had gone farther than they ever imagined. But they also knew there was more to come if what they did was to have real meaning. And they felt that there would be no real meaning until they showed the Torrance Bulldogs that they were without a doubt a good team. They might not beat the Bulldogs, but they wanted to play a competitive game and show the arrogant twits that the Mayfield Yard Goats were more than a lucky bunch of yokels—they were, in fact, a good baseball team.

 

After the on the field handshakes and celebrating, the Goats were met by Mayfield fans, East Harbor boys, coaches, strangers, and a few players from other teams in the tournament, mostly from the Mounties, Wave, Sun Kings, and Force. All of them were amazed at how the Mayfield team had bounced back from their 15-2 nightmare against Torrance.

 

All of them recognized the fact that if the Mayfield Yard Goats defeated the Surrey Mounties the next morning, they would be facing off against the Torrance Bulldogs for the tournament championship. Most observers felt the Goats matched up well against the Mounties and had a good chance of moving on to play the Bulldogs. But they also felt that while the Goats would be fortunate to play a competitive game against the Bulldogs, they stood next to no chance of beating the Bulldogs and forcing the IF game. And nobody, outside of the Mayfield fans, felt they could knock off the Bulldogs twice in a row and win the championship.

 

As the Goats exited the complex, a group of Torrance players and young fans stood to the side of the walkway, staring at the Mayfield players. As the Goats walked past them, they chanted, “No Mercy! No Mercy! No Mercy! No Mercy! No Mercy!” five times.

 

Eric and Kevin, who brought up the rear of the Goats’ line, could see no sign of any of the Torrance coaches. All they saw were about half the Torrance team and around a dozen other kids about the same age as the players.

 

“You guys better hope you lose to those Canucks tomorrow morning, cuz if you win and play us…well, it ain’t gonna be pretty,” Carl Floyd, the Bulldog captain shouted.

 

Mac started to raise his right arm to flip Carl off when Trent grabbed Mac’s wrist and held the arm in place. “Come on, Mac, you know where we make our statement.”

 

“We make it on the field. But, fuck Trent, the bitch is asking for it.” Mac was trembling with exasperation.

 

“All the more reason not to give him the satisfaction.”

 

“You know, you can be a real hard ass,” Mac said as the team reached their bus.

 

“That’s what makes us best buds.”

 

“Whatever. I just hope they have snacks at the resort. I’m ready to scarf on something sweet.” He noticed Trent’s smirk. “And don’t get your hopes up, best bud.”

 

 

 

When the bus arrived at the resort, Coach Hallion instructed the team to take their gear to their rooms and then report to Meeting Room A for a ten-minute meeting. He told them the topic would be the lineup for the morning game. James had decided to discuss only the morning game against the Mounties and to take everything a game at a time. He knew that the players knew that if they lost, their season was over and if they won they would be playing in the championship game against the Torrance Bulldogs.

 

“What about snacks?” “Do we get snacks?” Mac and Lenny asked simultaneously.

 

“Right now what you get is a meeting and the quicker you get to the meeting room the sooner the meeting will be over,” Coach Hallion replied. Trent knew his father well enough that he surmised that snacks would be served after the meeting, an observation he shared with his teammates as they trudged up the stairs.

 

The boys were settled in the meeting room in less than five minutes. One of the many things they liked about their coach was that when he said a meeting would be ten minutes that meant ten minutes or less, unless they started asking questions that ended up making it longer. That was now something they rarely did.

 

Coach Hallion told them he would give them the starters for the morning game against the Mounties and then they would be free to find out whether or not snacks were available. “Calvin will be the starting pitcher.” All of the Goats noted that Coach Hallion was calling Calvin by his full name of Calvin more often than by his nickname of Cal. “We’re hoping to get four innings from him and then it will be the usual string of pitchers we’ve been using. Mac will start at catcher but will be splitting the time with Lenny.

 

“Around the infield will be Trent at first, Aiden at second, Lance at third, and Scott at short.” Lance would be making his third straight start at third and appeared to be settling in there.

 

The outfield will be Riley in left, Gordy in center, and Grant in right. Muddy will DH and hit for Grant.” The Goats were pleased that Riley had become a regular in the outfield. “You are expected to be in your rooms by nine-thirty and lights out will be at ten. Any questions?”  Coach Hallion interpreted the silence to indicate nobody had any questions. He ended the meeting and dismissed the team. The time had now come for the Goats to head out on the great snack hunt.

 

The Goats were not disappointed when they found treats laid out for them on the long table in the dining room. “Hey, looks like they heard me hoping for snacks,” Mac said.

 

“Either that or they know what teenage boys need after a dinner with no dessert and a hard-fought baseball game,” Nolan said.

 

“What are we waiting for? Let’s stuff our faces as my dad might say,” Aiden said as he grabbed a couple of oatmeal raisin cookies and a chocolate cupcake.

 

The Canadian boys soon arrived at the resort from Mission Park where they had been watching the Goats defeat the Force.

 

“Looks like a great feast,” said Edmund Stone, the Mounty captain. “Mind if we join you?”

 

“I think there’s more than enough for everybody,” Trent responded. “Come on in and join us. We sure don’t want to piss off the team we’ll be playing tomorrow morning.”

 

“We’re happy you guys won. It’s amazing how we end up playing each other in a big game in a tournament for the second time this summer, eh.”

 

“Who’s pitching for you guys tomorrow?” Aiden asked as the Mounty players lined up to grab cookies and cupcakes.

 

“The Aussie has the bump,” Warren answered. “And how about for you blokes?”

 

“So, it will be Asher for you. It will be Cal for us. We’ve both got pickup pitchers going.”

 

“Asher pitched well for us in his one start.”

 

“And Cal has done the same for us.”

 

“It’s too bad we have to get to our rooms and to bed so early,” Mason said. “It looks like we won’t be having any fun in bed together.”

 

“Leave it to Mason to get right to the heart of the matter, eh,” Tommy grinned.

 

“Yes, he does,” Warren said. “But we all know it can’t be tonight. And one of us will be playing against the Bulldogs tomorrow, and for two games, I hope. And after that, we’re flying out for Vancouver at 19:30, so that takes care of doing anything tomorrow night.”

 

“We’ve got to find a way for us to get together sometime soon,” Aiden said. “We live close enough to maybe pull something off.”

 

“Yeah, but we live in separate countries, which makes it a lot harder to get together,” Warren pointed out.

 

“Where there’s a will, there’s a way. Or at least that’s what my parents like to say,” Nolan said.

 

“Well, from now until around eleven tomorrow morning, I declare us official enemies,” Warren said. “So, we’ll talk again then, eh.”

 

“Deal,” Aiden said. “Now, it’s time to eat and run and get psyched up for our international rivalry.”

 

And so, the cookies and cakes were eaten, and the Goats and Mounties retired to their rooms. It was another quiet day sexually, although there was a little bit of action.

 

 

 

Emmett and Rusty each jerked off in his own bed. Scott had fallen asleep in his bed almost instantly, but was awakened by a wet dream that filled his boxershorts with teen cum. While his dream of being fucked hard by Trent was a bit disturbing, he decided it had been worth the mess.

 

                         

 

Aiden, Nolan, and Mason slept together in one of the king beds with Aiden being in the middle. Nolan and Mason humped Aiden. Mason and Aiden rubbed their hardons together and came almost simultaneously over each other’s bellies and crotches. Nolan rubbed Aiden’s butt cheeks and ended up cumming just after Aiden and Mason, cumming in Aiden’s crack.

 

 

 

Lance fucked Grant who had been feeling a little down because his poor performance on the ballfield was letting his teammates down. “Hey, dude, you ain’t letting anybody down. You come through when we really need you and don’t you forget it. Besides, you’re a pretty good fuck. Your boyfriend has spoken.” Seeing as it was his boyfriend Lance who just said that, it was as good as the gospel truth for Grant. He was as determined as ever to play his best the next day. On the other side of the room, Max tried to fake indifference to the sex his two roommates were enjoying, but ended up whacking his pud and staining his sheets with a satisfactory orgasm.

 

 

 

For the most part, the Mounty players were sexually quiet. Five of the boys jerked off under the protection of their covers, and the three players in Room 501 each sat naked on their beds in a session of masturbation show and tell.  Tommy, Warren, and Asher, the horny gay trio in Room 504, piled naked onto Warren’s bed and had a circle suck. Tommy sucked Warren who sucked Asher who sucked Tommy. They came relatively close to each other. Warren tasted cum first as the Australian filled his mouth with his light cum.

 

Asher knew his Canadian friends took pride in their staying power and enjoyed telling his new mates that an Aussie could hang just as well as a Canuck.  So, he stayed and continued to suck Tommy. He tasted Tommy’s sweet cum a minute after his own orgasm. Warren blew his load into Tommy’s mouth seconds after Tommy’s orgasm.

 

“Well, that certainly set us right for a good night’s sleep,” Warren said after everyone had recovered and climbed under his own covers.

 

The three chatted for a few minutes more. They all agreed that circumstances had kept them from enjoying the treats their American friends had to offer.

 

“We’ll have to find a way to do it soon after we come back home, eh,” Warren said.

 

“Yes, but first we’ll have to make sure we’ll be going to bed with them with us as winners,” Tommy said.

 

And while they weren’t together to say it—Mason, Aiden, Nolan, and Gordy, their American friends, were thinking similar thoughts.

 

Next: Chapter 28. BaseBrawl Day 5-International Fun

 

 Mayfield Yard Goats (26-8)

1. Gordy (CF)
2. Aiden (2B)
3. Trent (P)
4. Muddy (DH) batting for Grant (RF)
5. Scott (SS)
6. Mac (C)
7. Riley (LF)
8. Max (1B)
9. Lance (3B)

 

1. Eddie Kelmer (SS)

2. Mike W. (CF)

3, Eduardo De Leon (C)

4.  Gregg P. (DH) batting for Ron J.(2B)

5.  Tim Whalen (3B)

6. Will Nagtalon (P)

7. Sammy K. (LF)

8. Tino G. (1B)

9. Oliver Williams (RF)