Mayfield Magic

CHAPTER 3

FEDERAL WAY-2

 

SATURDAY, JUNE 20

 

<Federal Way Baseball Complex-Field 1>

 

Wyatt Bradford, who had been the losing pitcher in the Hoggers’ 1-0 league loss to the Goats, was the starter in the two o’clock game against the Goats. Aiden was in the lineup as the starting pitcher for the Goats. Wyatt was confident he could handle the Goats again. The Goats were a good team but hitting wasn’t their main strength. He felt that the skinny kid pitching for them was not going to shut down the Hoggers like Trent had. Even though he was not a cocky kid, Wyatt thought everything added up to a Tenino win and all but guaranteed it to his teammates.

 

The Goats had the first base dugout for this game and started their warmups. Because of lunch, there was a three hour and fifteen-minute difference between the starting times on the field (10:45 and 2:00) instead of the usual two hours and fifteen minutes, so they didn’t have to wait for the field to be cleared since the previous game had ended at 12:30.

 

Trent and Scott accompanied Coach Hallion to the home plate meeting. When the time came for the coin flip, it was determined that Mayfield was farther away from Federal Way than Tenino, so they got to call the flip. Not wanting to mess with success, Trent had told Scott before the meeting that the coin flip would be his.

 

“Why? You can call tails as easy as I can,” Scott said.

 

“But you’ve got the lucky streak going, so you call it,” Trent responded.

 

“It must be my aura.”

 

When the umpire flipped the coin into the air, Scott called tails, and that’s what came up when the coin hit the ground.

 

“Tails never fails,” Scott said yet again. Trent grinned and traded high fives with his co-captain.

 

Since the Yard Goats were the home team, Aiden headed for the mound to warm up. Lenny was the starting catcher, and the two friends went right to work. Before Aiden threw his eighth pitch, the umpire said, “This one down,” reminding Lenny the eighth pitch was coming and to throw the ball down to second base once the pitch was completed. Lenny caught the pitch, yelled out, “SECOND!” where Mason, who was the starting second baseman, was covering the base, and Gordy, the starting shortstop backing up the throw. It was all part of an age-old baseball ritual the defensive team went through after the last warmup pitch between each half inning.

 

Even though the tournament was serious business, it also had more of a fun element about it than a league game. League went on for the entire season, while the tournament was just a weekend. Aiden felt much more relaxed than he did pitching in a league game. He was ready to have fun.

 

As a result, he was sharper than in any start that season with either the Titans or the Goats. It took him only nine pitches to mow down the Hoggers on a groundout hit to Mason at second, a pop foul caught by Scott at third, and a groundout hit to Trent, who had to go to his right to field the ball. As had been drilled into him since he became a pitcher, Aiden broke for first base and took a quick throw from Trent. By the time Trent fielded the ball, he was too far from first to beat the runner there, which was why the pitcher was always ready to head to first and cover the base on any ball grounded to his left. Aiden made a perfect cut and had the heel of his right foot on the base as he caught Trent’s toss, which beat the runner by three steps for the third out.

 

The Goats scored a run in the bottom of the inning when Aiden, who was batting second, walked and stole second base with one out. Trent flied out deep to center. Aiden tagged up and slid safely into third. Muddy, who was the designated hitter, singled Aiden in to give the Goats a 1-0 lead.

 

Aiden was sharp on the mound, but not unhittable, and Tenino, who were a good hitting team, combined two singles and an error at third by Scott to tie the score in the top of the second. While Aiden didn’t like being scored on, he wasn’t concerned. As Eric had reminded him when he came off the field, he had limited the damage. He did throw fourteen pitches that inning, however.

 

In the third inning, Aiden needed only a miserly seven pitches to throw a 1-2-3 inning. He had thrown 30 pitches over his three innings of work. If he could keep his pitch count under 45, he could come back to pitch the next day if the Goats weren’t eliminated. Eric convinced James to let Aiden pitch the fourth inning, or until he threw 45 pitches, whichever happened first.

 

Aiden made it through the inning on 12 pitches, giving up only a two out single. Coach Hallion gave him a pat on the butt as he entered the dugout. “Great job Aiden. Your job is done tonight. Emmett will start the fifth and will take your place in the batting order, but you’ll be batting this inning if your turn comes up.”

 

“Thanks, coach. Is it okay if I go to the bathroom?”

 

“Just take a teammate who’s not playing right now with you and be quick since you bat sixth if we get that far through the lineup.”

 

Aiden nodded, asked Grant to accompany him, grabbed a paper cup and poured some Gatorade from the jug, then headed to the hub with Grant so he could take a pee. When Coach Hallion presented his team rules for the tournament, one of them was that nobody should wander alone in the complex at any time. After the incident with Burien, he made sure to emphasize that rule strongly.

 

Grant went into the men’s room with Aiden and took a piss in the urinal next to him. He figured as long as he was there, he might as well make use of it, not that he had much to piss out. When the boys returned to the dugout, they saw that the Goats had runners on first and second with no outs. Mason had singled and Riley, who was playing left field, had drawn a walk. Aiden sat on the bench and watched as Lance flied out to left and Rusty hit into a force play at second, putting runners on first and third with two outs.

 

Gordy was next up, which meant Aiden was on deck. He grabbed his bat, donned his helmet and watched from the on-deck circle as Gordy rapped a solid double to left center that scored Mason and Rusty. Aiden came to the plate and after fouling off two pitches singled in Gordy to make the score 4-1. Having the lead made Aiden the pitcher of record, meaning he would be credited with the win if the Goats won the game without giving up the lead first. Trent flew out to center, ending the inning. Aiden sat on the dugout bench knowing he would probably be a spectator for the rest of the game.

 

Emmett struggled some in the top of the fifth, giving up a run on two hits and a walk, but stayed out of serious trouble. The Goats failed to score in the bottom of the inning. The score was 4-2 going into the sixth. Grant threw a scoreless top of the sixth.

 

With the score still 4-2, Coach Hallion called on Lance to finish the game to have Max rested for Sunday. Lance was pleased to be able to pitch to Lenny. Mac was given the game off since he was facing what could be a busy Sunday. Lance gave up a long one-out home run to Danny Perkins, the Hoggers’ cleanup hitter, making the score 4-3. But that was the extent of the Hogger rally, and the Yard Goats had another one-run win over Tenino. Aiden was the winning pitcher and Lance earned his first ever save.

 

The Goats saw that the game on Field 2 was still being played. They planned on scooting over there as soon as they made their way through the handshake line since they would be playing the winner of that game. As Aiden went through the line, he and his Tenino buddy Brad met and exchanged an actual handshake.

 

“Damn dude, another one-run win,” Brad said to Aiden. “I guess we’ll have to get you in the league playoffs.”

 

“You wish,” Aiden grinned. Aiden overheard a couple of parents discussing what had happened to the West Seattle team. They were two and out, losing both games by one run. That was the toughest way possible to get knocked out of a tournament in two games. Aiden felt sorry for the Donkey, who would probably be glad he missed the second disappointing loss.

 

The Goats picked up their equipment and moved to field two to check on the game, which was between the East Olympia Senators and the Surrey Mounties. The game was in the top of the fifth and the Mounties held a 13-9 lead. The players found some room to sit at the end of the bleachers on the third base side, which was the Senators’ side. The first base and home plate bleacher sections were packed.  The Canadian team had brought a large following across the border with them.

 

The Mountie batter popped up to third ending the top half of the inning. “Oly is gonna have to tie it or win it here,” Trent said.

 

“Why? It’s only the fifth inning and they’re just four runs behind,” Mason asked.

 

“The two-hour time limit is why. Their game started at two o’clock like ours did and it’s three fifty-four according to the scoreboard clock.”

 

“That means they have to score four runs in less than six minutes,” Emmett pointed out. “That’s impossible.”

 

“The rule says that no new inning can START after two hours,” Aiden reminded them. “So, they have as long as they need to try to score four runs, but if they don’t do it, then the game is over.”

 

“You score that many runs, it’s tough to not have the time limit come into effect.” Trent pointed out.

 

“So, who do you want to play, Oly or the Canucks?” Mason asked.

 

“Well, I think the Canadians are a better team, but East Oly is in our league and would be fun to play,” Trent answered. “But I came to the tournament to play new teams and I think playing the Canadians would rock.”

 

“Then I’ll root for them to get three quick outs so we can get to the hotel and shower and get dinner.”

 

“Plus, now you can be jones’n over Canuck cocks,” Aiden chuckled.

 

“Why not?” Mason asked. “Then I can become an international cock sucker.”

 

A walk put the first Senator batter on base. The two-hour time limit passed during the second at bat. When that happened, the umpire signaled to both coaches that this was the last inning unless the score was tied at the end of the inning. The second batter singled, which meant the on-deck hitter was now the tying run. But next two batters struck out and the Senators had to get four runs across the plate with two outs. The obvious became official when the fifth batter in the inning hit a sharp grounder to second. The second basemen easily threw the batter-runner out and the game was over.

 

“Looks like you got your wish,” Mac told Trent. 

 

“I’m looking forward to it. They’re a good team. I guess I’ll be the opener for that one.”

 

“We’re the last two undefeated teams left,” Aiden pointed out. “The winner of our game will be one win away from the championship.”

 

“As always, Aiden has the standings figured out,” Gordy said.

 

“Hey, the bracket is posted at the concession stand. Any of you guys can read it.”

 

“Did you guys win?” came a voice from the field. The Goats saw that it was a Mounties’ player.

 

“Yeah, we won 4-3,” Trent shouted back. Trent, Aiden, Gordy, Mac, and Mason rose from their bleacher seats and stepped down to field level. The player had been joined by one of his teammates.

 

The first player introduced himself. “I’m Thomas Ashford, but everybody calls me Tommy.”

 

“And I’m Warren Harper, and everybody calls me Warren,” the second boy grinned.

 

“You guys seem friendly, which means we should have fun playing you guys, eh, Warren?”

 

“Like you said, Tommy.” Warren responded. “They gotta be friendlier than those Portland players. Their coach wouldn’t let his players talk to us in the hotel and we weren’t even playing each other. He said if players get friendly with other teams, then it’s hard to beat them.”

 

“Yeah, but if both teams are friendly with each other, wouldn’t it come out even?” Aiden asked.

 

“You would think.”

 

“Well, our coach is big on having fun and getting to know other players,” Trent said. “He says that’s why guys play ball. We all have a friend or two playing for other teams in our league.” Trent didn’t bother mentioning that his father was the coach.

 

“Can Warren and I join you for dinner if we eat at the same time?” Tommy asked.

 

“It works for me, but in the end, we still need to ask our coaches,” Aiden said.

 

Both groups had been joined by more players. Trent and Tommy each said they’d ask their coach about sitting together at dinner.

 

Coach Hallion met with the Goats before they piled into their cars. He said he had called the hotel and arranged for the team to meet in the party room at six. Aiden asked if a couple of Mountie players could eat with them. As expected, the coach replied he had no problem with it.

 

“It’s all about improving international relations,” Scott grinned.

 

<Holiday Inn>

 

After arriving at the hotel, the players went to their respective hotel rooms. In room 301, Aiden, Gordy, and Mason stripped down naked and then agreed to use the finger matching game to determine the order of their showers.

 

“We could all shower together, you know,” Mason said.

 

“It would be pretty crowded in there if all three of us showered at once,” Gordy pointed out.

 

“And that’s a problem, because?” Aiden asked even though he knew the answer.

 

“Well, because I just want to shower and dress and go eat. And we all know what would happen if we were all rubbing against each other naked.”

 

“And that’s a problem, because?” Aiden asked again as he stifled a giggle.

 

“Look, why don’t you shower first, Gordy, and then me and Aiden will jump in right after you,” Mason suggested.

 

“I’ve got no problem with that. If Aiden doesn’t mind, then let’s do it that way,” Gordy said.

 

Aiden didn’t mind, so Gordy went into the bathroom to take his shower while Aiden and Mason settled next to each other on one of the beds. “It would be cool if Tommy, or Warren, or both came to our room after dinner,” Mason said.

 

“You want to see a Canuck cock really bad don’t you?” Aiden grinned.

 

“Hell, yeah I do.”

 

“Just remember, they have two eyes, two ears, a nose, ten fingers, and all that, just like we do. I’m willing to bet their cocks and balls are like ours too.”

 

“It doesn’t stop me from wanting to see them,” Mason said. Aiden couldn’t help but notice the I-also-want-to-suck-Canadian-cock gleam in Mason’s eyes.

 

“Yeah, but what if they don’t want to show them to us?”

 

“Then I guess I won’t see them.”

 

At that point Gordy came out of the bathroom. “It’s all yours, boys,” he said. “Just don’t take all night.”

 

“Hey, Gordy, would you get mad if we asked Tommy or Warren to join us?” Mason asked.

 

“No, I wouldn’t get mad. I know what you guys are like. I will get mad if you guys don’t hurry up and shower since it’s almost six.”

 

“You don’t have to wait for us, you know,” Aiden told him.

 

“I know I don’t have to wait for you, I want to wait for you.”

 

Mason had a boner when he and Aiden entered the shower. “Don’t worry, dude, I don’t want to mess around. I got this from thinking about Canuck cock.”

 

Aiden couldn’t help but laugh. “I love you, Mason. You are one special kind of horn dog.”

 

Gordy was pleased when Aiden and Mason came out of the shower quickly. He was dressed and ready to go and they were ready to join him within a couple of minutes.

 

 When they arrived in the party room most of the Goat players were already seated and the Mountie players were just starting to arrive. Tenino was playing a 5:30 game as was Portland, although not against each other. They had eaten an early dinner in the party room.

 

Aiden, Rusty, and Gordy had held seats at their six-person table for Tommy and Warren, who walked over to the table on the Goats’ side of the room and sat in them. “Coaches are all good with this, which makes it even more fun to be playing in a tournament,” Tommy said. Rusty sat down and Aiden introduced him to Tommy and Warren.

 

“How did you guys end up coming to Federal Way for this tournament when there are tournaments in the Seattle area to play in? This isn’t exactly the big city,” Aiden said.

 

“Even we know that this is sort of the Seattle area. But anyways, we were going to play in Bellingham, which is right across the border from us, but that tournament was full already, and that was like back in January. Coach saw the opening in Federal Way the same weekend so here we are. As for the big city, we’ll be staying two nights there. That’s being paid for by the parents instead of our sponsor.”

 

“Sounds like a fun time to me.”

 

The boys perused their menus and were ready to order when the waitresses came into the room. After ordering they discussed the tournament. “Tenino and East Olympia are playing each other right now and the loser is out,” Tommy said.

 

Aiden and Gordy were impressed with how much Tommy was into the tournament and what was happening in it. Not to be outdone, Aiden said, “And Portland is playing Renton right now with the loser out and winner plays the Redmond Redbirds at eight and the loser of that one is out.”

 

“But the big game is on Field 1 at ten in the morning,” Tommy grinned.

 

“Hmm, I wonder who is playing in that one?” Aiden asked. “Gordy, do you know who’s playing?”

 

“That would be that Mayfield team against those guys from Canada,” Gordy answered.

 

“I think he’s right,” Warren nodded. “Your league has some weird names in this tournament. Tommy and I could figure out the Senators since they’re from your state capital, but what’s with Yard Goats and Hoggers?”

 

“One of our sponsors is the Centralia, Clark Pass, and Pacific Railroad,” Aiden, the train expert, answered. “A yard goat is a locomotive that moves cars around a railroad yard. A hogger is what railroad engineers call themselves. Tenino is a small town, but the Northern Pacific used to have a big yard there plus their mainline went right though Tenino.”

 

“You know a lot,” Tommy marveled.

 

“Aiden loves trains. He takes pictures of them and follows them online and loves riding them,” Gordy explained. “Guys who like trains that much are called foamers.”

 

“Foamers?” Tommy giggled. “I like that, but what does it mean?”

 

“Foamers are peeps who foam at the mouth every time they see a train,” Aiden told him, eliciting a pair of chuckles.    

 

“We’ve heard from Aiden and Gordy, who I guess are good friends,” Warren said. “But we haven’t heard anything from Rusty since he got introduced.”

 

“I’m not much of a talker,” Rusty said. “Besides, you guys have been interesting to listen to. I always like listening to Aiden because he knows so much.”

 

“I don’t know that much,” Aiden said modestly. “I just don’t mind talking about what I do know.”

 

Rusty left after dessert when Max and Muddy, his roommates, stood up to leave the room. “Nice meeting you guys,” he said to Tommy and Warren. “Good luck tomorrow as long as you don’t have too much of it.” He joined his roommates and left the room.

 

“Nice guy, but he sure is quiet,” Tommy said.

 

“He’s had kind of a tough life, but he loves baseball and sticks with it,” Aiden responded.

 

“Did you guys ask your coaches about Warren and me paying you a visit in your room.”

 

“We did,” Gordy answered. “He said it was cool as long as you were out by nine, which is a half-hour before our lights out.”

 

“He’s nicer than our coach. He said we had to be out by eight-thirty, which is in about an hour and a half,” Tommy said.

 

“Then what are we waiting for?” Aiden asked. “I’ll go tell Mason what’s going down and then we all can go.”

 

“Who’s Mason?” Warren asked.

 

“The little blond-haired dude the second table over.” Gordy answered.

 

“What’s he got to do with this?”

 

“He’s our third roommate.”

 

“Wait, you guys have three to a room? So, you gotta sleep in the same bed with somebody?” Tommy asked incredulously.

 

“We have a roll-in bed, so, no, we don’t have to.”

 

“Why didn’t he sit at our table?”

 

“I know this won’t make any sense, but he was worried about you guys…um…distracting him from his dinner.” Aiden replied.

 

“Why, because we like to talk a lot?”

 

“I told you it wouldn’t make any sense. Now, let’s go to the room before eight-thirty comes around.”

 

Aiden, with Tommy trailing him, went to Mason’s table and tapped him on the shoulder. Mason had been sitting with Miles, Riley, Emmett, and Lenny. Mason nodded, stood up and told his teammates good night, and headed out the door with Aiden. Lenny had been talking about how he was ready to get to bed early since he hadn’t caught a full game since the end of the Titan JV season. He stopped when he saw Tommy.

 

“So, I know he’s with the Mounties and is going to be playing us tomorrow,” he said, “but who is he?”

 

“Who is who?” Aiden turned around and saw Tommy standing behind him. “Oh, this is Tommy and Tommy those are Lenny the catcher, Miles, and Riley. And, this is Mason. Guys, this is Tommy who says he will be pitching against us tomorrow.”

 

Everybody exchanged greetings and Mason accompanied Aiden and Tommy to room 301. Gordy and Warren were already there when they walked in.

 

Mason sat on the extra bed while Aiden and Gordy sat together on one of the queen beds and Tommy and Warren sat on the other. “Okay, I gotta know. How come Aiden said you sat at the other table because you thought we might distract you?”

 

Mason wasn’t shy about discussing his reasoning with two boys he would probably never see again after the next day. “Because I think you guys are sexy and I wanted to concentrate on eating,” he replied.

 

Aiden and Gordy were ready to dive under their bed in embarrassment. Only Mason would give a completely honest answer to that question. Aiden wished he had never mentioned Mason being distracted during dinner.

 

“Cool. Does that mean you’re gay?” Tommy asked.

 

“Yeah, I am for sure.”

 

“Well then you guys won’t mind if I tell you that Warren and I are gay, too. In fact, we’re boyfriends. And yeah, we’re out to our teammates, and in school, and to our parents. We figure we’ve got nothing to be ashamed of.” Tommy and Warren scooted closer to each other until they touched and then held hands.

 

“I’m gay, too,” Aiden said as he quickly recovered from his momentary embarrassment.

 

“And is Mason your boyfriend then?”

 

“No, but I’ve got a boyfriend. But he’s not on the team. He doesn’t even live in Mayfield.”

 

“Does he play baseball?”

 

“Yep, and he’s really good. He’s going to move to Mayfield with his family next month.”

 

“Is he a foamer ,too?” Warren asked.

 

“He likes trains, but he’s not a foamer like I am. He’s really big on model railroading, though.” Aiden grabbed his phone. “I’ll show you a couple of pictures of him.”

 

Aiden opened up his phone and showed them a couple of pictures of Nolan wearing just board shorts.

 

“That chap is REALLY hot,” Warren said. “It looks like you’ve got yourself a winner.”

 

Tommy looked at the pictures over Warren’s shoulder “No nudie pics?”

 

“I’d have a couple, but I don’t need that kind of trouble. I did take a couple on my camera which isn’t connected to the internet and stuff. I’ve got them on a flash drive, but I don’t carry them around with me.”

 

“What about you, Gordy? Are you gay?” Warren asked.

 

Gordy shook his head. “No, I’m not gay. I’ve got a girlfriend, but I don’t mind messing around some with my friends.”

 

“We’ve got one other gay boy on the team,” Tommy said, “but he’s only out to Warren and me. Do you have any others?”

 

“Yeah, we have a few,” Aiden replied. “We might be the gayest team in Washington State. Everybody says it’s because of the water.  Not everybody else is gay, but we have two other pairs of boyfriends on the team.” Aiden briefly considered that their assistant coach, Eric, was gay and had a husband, but he wisely decided to leave that out of the conversation.

 

“That’s just amazing, eh?” Warren nodded in response.

 

“I never thought I’d be meeting some gays coming down here for this tournament, but it looks like I was wrong,” Tommy mused. “I wonder if we’ll meet any in the California tournament we’re going to.”

 

“California?” Aiden asked. “We’re going to a California tournament next month. Ours will be in San Marcos and it starts on Thursday the twenty-third.”

 

“You’re joking, right? I mean, that’s where and when we play. Now I know we’ll know some gay boys there because we’re in the same fucking tournament.”

 

“Your team wasn’t on the list of teams I saw last month.”

 

“That’s because we were on the waiting list. We were about to get into a tournament in Oregon when our coach got called about doing this one. They call it the SoCal BaseBrawl.”

 

“Yep, that’s the one,” Aiden nodded.

 

“Where did you get the money at the last minute to go?” Gordy asked.

 

“We took part in some fund raisers and earned more than enough money for Oregon. Our sponsor said he’d make up the difference. What about you small town guys?”

 

“The Mayfield Baseball Club got a lot of money when this rich dude in town who loved kids’ baseball left them a lot of money in his will when he died a few months ago. So, that’s paying for everything except individual stuff, like, you know, souvenirs and stuff,” Aiden said.

 

Tommy asked about the Mayfield Baseball Club and Aiden explained how the players ran the club. “I’m on the board. We have adults who do some of the work, like taking care of all that money, to make us legal. It’s been around for over ten years now. All the summer teams belong to it.”

 

“Sounds like fun to run something like that,” Warren said.

 

“It is, plus it’s hard work.”

 

“That tournament is going to be tough,” Tommy said. “Lots of good players come from California—Major League player types. There’s none that I know of from Surrey or Vancouver, and I bet there’s nobody from Mayfield.”

 

“Oh yes there is,” Aiden, Gordy, and Mason said at once, although not in exactly the same words.

 

“No way. A Major League ballplayer from your little town. Who is it?”

 

“Marty Carlson with the Mariners,” Aiden responded.

 

“You mean the third baseman who’s, like, one of the best rookies in the American League? That Marty Carlson?”

 

“That’s the one. He was a senior at the high school around six years ago. He played for my pop, Larry, who’s still the high school baseball coach there. And they won the Class A State Championship and have won two since then.”

 

“It’s sounds like baseball is really big in your little town.”

 

“Yep. Eric and Kevin, who are the assistant coaches for us, played on that team and the one the year after that were State Champions, too.”

 

“Wow, back-to-back. That’s pretty awesome,” Warren marveled.

 

“That’s the goal of the Goats that when we get to high school we’ll do the same thing,” Aiden said. “That’s why we don’t mind playing tough teams, like you guys are going to be tomorrow.”

 

“And you aren’t bad either,” Tommy said. “I think the game is going to be close and fun. We’ve about forty-five minutes left before we have to go and I’m thirsty after all that talking.”

 

The rest of the boys said that they were also thirsty. They all got off the bed, each making sure they had a couple of dollars, and headed down the to the vending machines. They all settled back in within five minutes.

 

Before the conversation restarted, the phones came out and they took pictures of each other. “Nolan is gonna love seeing you two sexy Canucks,” Aiden smirked. 

 

“Do you guys know Marty?” Tommy asked.

 

“Aiden does,” Mason answered. “Him and Marty are buddies and Marty is like his baseball teacher. They chat on the phone and text a lot and meet with each other when Marty comes to visit. And me and Gordy met him at a Mariner game. He’s really nice.”

 

“You guys are so lucky.”

 

Mason then asked the question Aiden and Gordy were certain he was going to ask sometime during the evening. “Hey, Tommy and Warren, do you think I can see your dicks?” Even though they had been expecting the question, Aiden and Gordy turned red with embarrassment yet again.

 

Tommy didn’t seem phased by Mason’s shameless question. “So, you want to see what a gay Canuck’s cock looks like?”

 

“Yeh, kinda.”

 

“Mason is a fan of cocks,” Gordy said. Aiden and Gordy had recovered their poise quickly when they saw Tommy didn’t have a problem with Mason’s question.

 

“You mean like a cock foamer?” Tommy asked.

 

“That works,” Aiden chuckled. “Or just a plain old cock hound.”

 

“Only I like foaming all over a guy’s dick. I’m a really good cock sucker.” Mason noticed Aiden cringe again. “Not that I’m asking you to let me suck your cock, I was just saying,” he hurriedly added.

 

Tommy glanced at Warren. “I got nothing to be ashamed of, how about you Warren?”

 

“Let’s show him what Canuck teen cock looks like,” Warren said as he opened and unzipped his shorts, yanking them and a pair of baby blue boxers down to his ankles. His five inches were rock hard. He was uncut. He had a line of wispy pubic hair along the center of his pubis and low hanging balls.

 

Tommy followed his lead, only he pulled his shorts and his white boxers dotted with red maple leaves completely off. His cock was five-and-a-half inches. Aiden estimated he was almost as big as Nolan. Like Warren he was uncut. He had a thick bush of black pubic hair above his cock and smooth, but low hanging balls.

 

Aiden also noted that Warren and Tommy had the same contrast as he and Nolan did. Warren’s hair was brilliant blond and Tommy’s was black. Tommy’s glans was showing above his skin and leaking precum.

 

“How old are you guys?” Aiden asked.

 

“We’re both thirteen, what about you?” Tommy answered.

 

“We’re all twelve, but are almost thirteen,” Aiden replied. The three Mayfield boys had followed Tommy’s lead and shed their pants. Warren then pulled his pants and undies the rest of the way off.

 

“We’re the under part of thirteen and under,” Mason grinned.

 

The Canadian boys noted that Gordy was the only one of the three Yanks who was uncut. He also had a nice bush of pubic hair almost as thick as Warren’s. They saw that Mason had some wisps of hair and that Aiden was completely smooth. Like Warren, Gordy’s cock was five inches; it was not as thick as Warren’s was, however. Aiden and Mason were both around four and a half inches.

 

“So, Tommy and Warren, do you think I can taste of your Canadian dicks?” Mason asked

 

“Wow, Mason, your friends weren’t joking about you and hosers,” Tommy chuckled. “You’re more than welcome to sample mine, mate, as long as you’re willing to sample the product as well.” Tommy pulled off his t-shirt and was now completely naked.

 

“Thanks,” Mason said as he moved from his bed to the queen that the Canadian boys were sitting on. He slid between Tommy’s legs and without any hesitation wrapped his lips around the Canuck’s dripping cock.

 

“Oh, shit, that is nice,” Tommy moaned. Warren pulled off his shirt and was now naked as well. He started jerking off as he watched Mason tonguing and sucking his boyfriend’s willie. “Fuck, War, he’s really good, I mean really, really good and now I’m gonna shut up and enjoy it.”

 

Aiden and Gordy were masturbating each other as they watched the action on the other queen bed. Aiden was naked as well, leaving Gordy and Mason as the only ones still wearing their shirts.

 

Tommy had been turned on before Mason started to orally manipulate his cock. He didn’t hold out long, shooting his sweet pubescent cum into the sexy Yank’s mouth. Mason swallowed it eagerly, released Tommy’s cock, and commented on how tasty Canuck cum was.

 

“Are you ready, Warren?” Mason asked.

 

“You mean you’re going to do me, too?” Warren responded.

 

“Why wouldn’t I?

 

“We told you Mason was a cock hound,” Aiden said.

 

“Go for it, Yank, but only if you’re naked like T and me,” Warren rasped. Mason did as asked and pulled off his t-shirt and then took Warren into his mouth. Mason moaned into Warren’s willie when Tommy placed his lips around Mason’s cock and set to work on him.

 

Watching Tommy and Mason both sucking cock was all the incentive Aiden needed to go down on Gordy. The international mini orgy found a teen cock and two tween pubescent cocks being sucked by a teen and two tweens. It wasn’t long before Warren was shooting into Mason’s mouth. Mason followed him within seconds, taking another load of Canadian cum. Gordy followed by shooting into Aiden’s mouth.

 

Aiden was the only one who hadn’t had an orgasm. He started to furiously pound his pud, but Mason stopped him and took care of his needs, seeing to it that all five boys in the room left their emissions in somebody’s mouth—three of the five cumming in Mason’s mouth.

 

The boys sat back savoring the experience, saying nothing for a couple of minutes. Tommy broke the silence. “That was an experience,” he grinned. “I wouldn’t have missed this for anything. I hope we get a chance to do it again in California.”

 

“We’ll need to trade guys off, though,” Mason said.

 

“What, and miss the best boy cock sucker on the west coast?”

 

“Hey, T, you keep saying I’m pretty good,” Warren reminded his boyfriend.

 

“You’re really good, but Mason was new and different and really good, too.”

 

“Aiden really knows what he’s doing,” Mason said.

 

“And remember, I’m not gay and don’t suck guys very often,” Gordy told them.

 

“Hey, let’s not worry about it,” Warren said. “The California tournament is, like, a month away, eh. Right now, all I have to say, this was a great evening, but it doesn’t change that I want to kick your butts tomorrow.”

 

“Oh, I’m sure when we hit the field, we’ll all have our minds on baseball,” Tommy said. “I know I will.”

 

Warren and Tommy proceeded to get dressed, exchanged hugs with their three new friends, and headed back to their room.

 

“Whoever would have thought we would have done something like that here at the tournament?” Aiden asked.

 

“Nobody, but you guys owe me one big time,” Mason said with a wicked grin.

 

“For what?” Gordy asked.

 

“Shit, you’d still be sitting here making google-eyes and small talk with those two hotties if I hadn’t come right out and said let’s suck some cock.”

 

“We’d have gotten around to it,” Gordy said lamely.

 

“Oh bull—you’d still be wondering what they looked like naked,” Mason retorted. “Trust me, their cum was excellent. And you may not have noticed but I had Warren dude’s low hangers in my mouth, too. They were yummy.”

 

“With Mason around, we all know anything can happen,” Aiden said. “Now, let’s get ready for bed so we have a good night’s sleep for tomorrow’s game.” The Goats would be playing the Mounties at ten in the morning. Reporting time for breakfast was eight.

 

“Since Aiden and I slept together last night, how about you sleeping with Mason tonight,” Gordy suggested.

 

“Sounds good to me,” Aiden responded.

 

“Me too,” Mason grinned. “Naked?”

 

“That sounds good to me, too.”

 

Tommy and Warren stripped naked as soon as they entered room 225. They took care of brushing, washing, and pissing, talking about what a great experience they’d had as they completed their night routine.

 

“They probably wanted to wear you out since they knew you’d be pitching,” Warren said half-seriously.

 

“Nah, that was something that just happened because they’re cool guys and because you and me are so sexy. Of course, they’re pretty sexy, too, eh” Tommy said. “But, let me tell you this. They didn’t wear me out, instead they’ve got me even more ready to go tomorrow, and that’s the truth.”

 

SUNDAY, JUNE 21    

 

<Federal Way Baseball Complex>

 

All four teams staying at the Holiday Inn had ten o’clock games, keeping the café busy. Mayfield was playing Surrey and Portland was playing Tenino. The Goats and Portland Pilots were assigned to the conference room while the Hoggers and Mounties would be eating in the private party room. Sunday was a busy breakfast morning, or they would have seated a team or two in the main dining room.

 

The Goats tried to strike up some friendly conversation with the Portland players, but they were their usual standoffish selves. Other than a polite reply to a greeting they made it very plain that they had no desire to socialize. “It sure can’t be much fun to travel without meeting new peeps,” Mason observed. “I like the Canucks way better—way better.”

 

“And how is it we’re not surprised after last night,” Miles said. Mason had told him how the evening with Tommy and Warren had played out.

 

Since the conference room wasn’t connected to the dining room, except through the kitchen, the Mayfield and Surrey players didn’t have much opportunity to exchange greetings, but they did what they could. Tommy and Warren made sure to talk to Mason, Gordy, and Aiden. They did one thing they had failed to do the night before and that was exchange contact information. Aiden and Tommy did the exchange and would share it later with their friends when they had the time.

 

“You were right,” Aiden said to Tommy. “Those Portland players are kind of stuck up.”

 

“I don’t think they really are, even though they act that way,” Tommy responded. “My dad talked to one of their dads, yesterday, and he said that their coach makes them be that way. I guess he thinks his team shouldn’t be friendly with the team they’re playing or they lose their edge or something like that. They can’t even talk to their friends before a game if they’re on the other team.”

 

“What a bunch of bullshit,” Aiden said. “That takes half the fun out of playing, especially when you’re playing against guys you know. Think about it, my boyfriend plays on another team in our league, and we just played each other before coming here. They beat us 6-1 and Nolan stopped us dead. And that was after we hugged each other before the game. As my dad said, if once you step between the lines you leave everything but playing the game behind you’ll be just fine.”

 

“That’s what Warren and I are going to do about an hour from now.”

 

“Same with me,” Mason said. “I don’t care how good you tasted.”

 

“We need somebody like you on our team,” Tommy chuckled. “You are a lot of fun and that’s even before we get into your hidden talents.”

 

“Thanks,” Mason grinned.

 

Warren lowered his voice into a conspiratorial whisper. “By the way, I don’t know if that Trent kid on your team is gay or not, but Tommy and I both think he’s one hot dude.”

 

“Trent’s a good guy,” Aiden replied noncommittally in a tone of voice that said ‘I’m not going to say anything one way or the other about Trent’. “He’s our co-captain and a good one.”

 

After getting their gear from their room, Aiden and Gordy came across Brad in the lobby. “I hope you guys kick some Portland ass,” Aiden told the Tenino player. “It’s hard to like those guys, and I totally like you guys.”

 

“I hope we kick their ass too since we’re done if we lose,” Brad said. “And we could play you guys again if we win.”

 

“You’ll only play us if we lose, so I hope you win but won’t be playing us.”

 

“If we win our game then you’ll be playing the Canucks,” Gordy said.

 

“Fine with me. They’re a bunch of cool dudes,” Brad said.

 

“Must be because it gets cold in Canada,” Mason told them as he joined the conversation.

 

“Well, they sure warmed up to you,” Aiden said.

 

“Say what?” Brad asked.

 

“Nothing. Mason got along pretty well with Tommy and Warren when they visited our room.”

 

“But then, Mason gets along pretty well with just about everybody,” Gordy said as he to steer the talk away from Mason before somebody said something about their adventure on the beds the night before. It ended up not mattering because the three Mayfield coaches stepped out of the elevator.

 

“Okay, guys, time to end the socializing and get loaded into your vehicles,” Coach Hallion said. “We have a game to play.”

 

“Who’s the starting pitcher for this game?” Aiden asked.

 

“I’ll let everybody know everything once we get to the ballpark. We’ll have a quick pregame meeting before we start warmups.”

 

James Hallion, Eric, and Kevin had gone over the pitching possibilities for what seemed like a thousand times. The biggest factor in their thinking was the fact that they had four league games the week the tournament ended, on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Saturday. The Wednesday game was the makeup of the rainout with Kentburg.

 

“When you put everything together, there is no way we can win this tournament,” James said. “We simply do not have the pitching.”

 

“Everybody left playing is in the same boat,” Eric said. “With no pickup pitchers allowed, nobody has the pitching to get through a sixteen-team true double if they lose early—or lose at all for that matter. If we lose to Surrey we’d have to win three straight games to win the tournament and we have to save pitching for league.”

 

“Exactly. League play trumps tournament play because that’s what we play the long season for. Tournament play is just a weekend.”

 

“So what do you tell the kids?” Kevin asked. “Do you tell them they don’t have a prayer?”

 

“Oh, hell no. We tell them we have as good a chance as anybody. What we don’t do is tell them that having four games in six days after the tournament puts quite a crimp in how we use our pitching,” James said. “Having said that, I really think our kids are pretty sharp. They know our pitching is tight although they probably haven’t gone over it a thousand times like we have.”

 

“We’ve got a couple of guys, like Rusty, who haven’t pitched since grade school who might find their way to the mound,” Eric pointed out.

 

“And when that happens, we may have to close our eyes in order to miss the carnage,” Kevin chuckled.

 

When they finished batting several possibilities around, they came up with a plan. Part of the plan meant giving Riley and Lance what they might construe as bad news. Coach Hallion took them aside during warmups with Eric to back him up.

 

“I’m going to give you two some news you might not like at first,” Coach Hallion opened. “I’m sure you all have talked about how we may have to burn through pitching today and how we have four league games coming up in six days.” The two nodded, wondering what it had to do with them since they weren’t frontline pitchers. They didn’t like the news, but then it was the same news everybody had been talking about since their last game the day before.

 

“So, why is this bad news for us?” Lance finally asked.

 

“No matter how things work out, I just want you to know neither one of you will be pitching today and I want you to understand why.” He could see the disappointment on the faces of the two young boys and quickly kept going in order to assuage the temporary pain. “We play Parkview on Tuesday and I have slated the two of you to be our number one and two pitchers for that game. I haven’t decided yet on who will be the starting pitcher, but rest assured that you will be the first two, and very likely the only two pitchers I use. Questions?”

 

“You’re right, I didn’t like it at first,” Lance said. “But when you told us how come we won’t be pitching, I totally understand.”

 

“Whatever I need to do to help the team is good with me,” Riley said.

 

“You’re good kids,” Eric said. “Now get back to your warmups. Just because you won’t be pitching doesn’t mean you won’t be playing.”

 

Coach Hallion’s message to the team pretty much echoed what he had told Lance and Riley. They had their work cut out for them, but they had shown all season that they were a good team with a lot of guts, and he knew they’d do their best. “Grant will be starting the game and we’ll see how it goes from there,” he told the team. The three coaches had agreed to save their best pitchers for the second game of the day since if they lost their first game, they’d still have another chance to get to the championship game.

 

At the home plate meeting it was determined that Surrey came the farthest and would call the flip. They called heads, which is what came up, and took home team.

 

“What happened to tails never fails?” Mac asked Scott.

 

“I didn’t call it, so it doesn’t count,” Scott replied.

 

“Whatever.”

 

The Goats went down in order in the top of the first inning. Grant gave up a one-out single in the bottom of the inning, but the Mounties couldn’t cash in. Tommy was as good a pitcher as Warren said he was and set the Goats down in order again. Over the first two innings, he was overpowering. The game remained scoreless until the bottom of the third when the Mounties got their bats going and scored two runs.

 

A single by Aiden and a two-run homer by Muddy tied the score in the top of the fourth. The Mounties answered with two runs of their own in the fourth off Grant, who was obviously tiring as he neared his maximum pitch count for the tournament. Coach Hallion had Emmett relieve Grant with two outs in the fourth. He gave up a run in the fifth and a run in the sixth, which was all the scoring for the game, a 6-2 win for the Mounties.

 

“Good luck to you guys,” Tommy said as he went through the handshake line. He had pitched a complete game and was done pitching for the tournament. He stopped and chatted with Aiden and Gordy. “We just heard that Portland clobbered the Hoggers 7-1, so you’ll be playing them. We’ll be rooting hard for you—it will be more fun playing you blokes than them.”

 

The loss was the Hoggers’ second and put them out of the tournament. There were just three teams left: the Pilots, Goats, and Mounties. The Pilots and Goats would be playing a loser out game at 12:15, with the winter playing the Vancouver Mounties for the tournament championship.       Scott accompanied Coach Hallion to the home plate conference even though he knew Portland would be calling the flip. Their captain called tails, but the coin came up heads. The Goats would be the home team.

 

“What a great time for tails to fail,” Scott told Mac after he returned to the dugout.

 

The Pilots had a bigger pitching problem than the Goats since they had played five games to the Goats’ four. Trent and Scott combined for a 6-0 win over the Pilots with both the Mounties and the Hoggers sitting high in the top row of the third base bleachers cheering madly for the Goats. Trent pitched four innings of two-hit ball and Scott followed, giving up three hits in his three innings. Trent and Mac had the biggest hits for the Goats, each hitting a two-run double.

 

The pitching job by Trent and Scott made the coaches’ decision to save them for the second game of the day look much better than it had when they first announced it. The Goats threw their top two pitchers against what the Pilots had left to throw, and they were not top tier pitchers.

 

The 12:15 game ended a little after two with the championship game scheduled to start at 3:00. Lunch was sandwiches purchased at a nearby deli by Gordy and Trent’s mothers. The Mayfield Baseball Club would reimburse them for the purchase.

 

Because the tournament was played until every team, but one, had lost two games, the championship game was, in essence, a best of three series with the undefeated Mounties starting with a 1-0 record. The Goats would have to win two games to win the tournament while the Mounties only needed to win one.

 

Recorded versions of “Oh Canada” and “The Star-Spangled Banner” were played before the game and the entire roster for both teams was announced. The Goat players agreed that the tournament committee should have had Mason sing both National Anthems; he would have been way better than the recorded versions.

 

Aiden was the starting pitcher for the Goats. He hadn’t had time to worry about getting his head screwed on right or about zones or anything like that. Once again, he simply pitched. When he got on the mound the game was about him and the catcher, in this case Lenny, and that was it. Mac had caught 5 innings of the first game of the day and all seven of the second. Coach Hallion gave him some badly needed time off, although he was ready to bring him into the game if he felt he needed to.

 

The game ended up being a nailbiter. It was 2-2 after four and a half innings. Coach Hallion knew he had to relieve Aiden, who had been outstanding. He had reached his pitch count for the tournament. Throwing only 44 pitches in his five innings had been a huge help. Max was brought in to finish the game with Mac catching him since the two had a good pitcher/catcher rapport.

 

“Dang, War, that skinny little Aiden dude is one damn good pitcher,” Tommy observed.

 

Warren agreed. “Perry is keeping us in the game. Now we need to light up that reliever.”

 

They lit him up for a run in the sixth, giving them a 3-2 lead. It was a lead they held going into the bottom of the seventh. James Cutler came in to pitch for the Mounties and got lit up three times as bright as Max. A single by Gordy was followed by a sacrifice bunt by Aiden, moving Gordy to second. Trent singled him home, tying the score. Muddy then belted a 2-0 pitch over the left center fence, giving the Yard Goats a hard-earned 5-3 win and setting up THE winner take all championship game.

 

The umpires announced that the second game would begin in a half hour. The players from both teams headed to the hub to use the restrooms and raid the concession stand for snacks and soft drinks.

 

 Tommy and Warren, along with their teammate Vic Parker, approached Aiden and Miles. “Good game you guys,” Tommy said. “I knew you guys were good and you proved it.”

 

“You can really pitch,” Warren told Aiden. “You’re really smart out there. You just keep throwing strikes. You must be the best pitcher on the team,” Warren added. Mason and Gordy joined them and listened it.

 

“Trent’s our best pitcher and one of the five best in our league. No doubt about that,” Aiden stated. “He totally shut down the Pilots. And, in case you’re wondering, I put my boyfriend Nolan in the top five, too.”

 

“Is he one of the best in bed, too?” Tommy smirked.

 

“Tommy, that was rude. We should be thinking about baseball, not sex,” Warren chided his boyfriend.

 

“Are all you Canucks hung up on sex?” Miles asked, having just met Tommy and Warren.

 

“Why shouldn’t we be?” Tommy asked. “It’s even more fun than baseball. Too bad we couldn’t meet your boyfriend, Aiden. You should bring him up to Canada someday.”

 

“He’s probably going to be one of our pickup pitchers when we go to California,” Aiden said. “You’ll meet him then.”

 

“Very nice.” Tommy turned to Vic, a good-looking boy with short cut brown hair, and said, “See I told you they were great guys. Too bad we have to go kick their arses now.”

 

Their sexy discussion was brought to a halt when the coaches of both teams called for everyone to return to the field for the next game. Eric walked up to them. “Nice to see you all making friends,” Eric said, “but now it’s time to get serious.”

 

The teams set up for a quick warmup. Coach Hallion had all but run out of pitchers and had Rusty warming up to pitch. He would use Miles to follow Rusty, and then go with any of his remaining pitchers who had pitches left, except for Riley and Lance. Hallion had no doubt the Goats were going give up a lot of runs. The Goats had played one more game for than the Mounties, making them shorter on pitchers. The coach knew that the Goats’ offense would be ready to produce plenty of runs.

 

Eric told Rusty and Miles to throw strikes and make the Mounties swing their bats. “I know that, except for scrimmages and BP (batting practice) you guys haven’t pitched since last summer,” he said. “Your teammates have your backs, so just go out and do your best.”

 

Rusty and Miles nodded. Both boys were excited to be able to play an important role in a big game and vowed to Eric and to each other that they would play hard all the way no matter what.

 

The Mounties lost the coin flip, and the Goats chose the hammer. The Mounties were short on pitching as well, something that happened all too frequently in a 16-team true double tournament when teams couldn’t carry pickup pitchers. The remaining pitchers for the Mounties were a little more talented and experienced than the Goat pitchers. Rusty and Miles pitched as asked by the coaches and their teammates but facing hitters the caliber of the those in the Mounties’ lineup was something new to them.

 

Rusty pitched the first three innings and left with the Goats trailing 7-3. Miles pitched the next two and a third innings but got tired and lost his command—the score was 10-6 when he was relieved by Emmett. He was charged with a run when Emmett gave up a single to the first batter he faced. Since the time limit rule was not in effect for the two championship round games the game dragged on to a final 11-7 win by the Mounties.

 

After the teams went through the handshake line they mingled on the field and chatted with each other while waiting for the trophy table and the public address electronics to be set up.

 

The Hoggers received the fourth-place trophy, the Pilots third place, the Yard Goats second place, and of course, the Mounties received the championship trophy. Trent, Muddy, and Aiden were named to the tournament all-star team. Tommy and two of his teammates were picked from the Mounties. Brad, from the Hoggers, was named an all-star as well.

 

Aiden was stunned to be named an all-star. He wasn’t sure what he had done to deserve it. But, as Eric pointed out, he had pitched well in an important game, hit well the entire tournament, and played magnificent defense at second base. “Plus, you played some very smart baseball,” Eric said. Aiden’s teammates weren’t surprised by the award at all and were all over him with praise and congratulations.

 

Coach Hallion held a brief meeting before sending the players off to their rides. He congratulated the team on playing a great tournament. “Not too many people expected much from a team hailing from little old Mayfield. I think we showed them that some mighty good baseball is played in small towns.” He congratulated his three all-stars and gave Rusty and Miles an extra boost for stepping up in a tough spot.

 

“What do you think we learned in this tournament, especially on the pitching end?” Eric asked the team.

 

“We learned that with two extra pitchers and the guys we have we’ll do good in California,” Grant said.

 

Mac had a different answer. “Oh, no, we learned something even better than that. The best thing we learned is that guys like Riley, Lance, Grant, and Emmett can pitch in tough spots if we need them for our most important games—the Southwest League playoffs. Not only that, but Miles and Rusty know with a bit of work the next couple of weeks they can step up. We learned that even with three league games in four days coming up, our pitchers are ready to take us to those playoffs. Forget the tournament bullshit—those are for fun and we had a lot of fun playing here. But then, winning is a lot of fun anywhere,” he grinned. “California is somewhere south of us—the league playoffs are three weeks away. That’s when it’s going to be ass kicking time.” Mac’s speech was met with a lot of enthusiastic shouts.

 

Not for the first time, Coach Hallion shook his head thinking about how far Mac had come since the start of the school season. He had moved from team punk to team leader in a matter of three months. “No practice tomorrow,” the coach announced, eliciting a round of cheers.

 

It was time to go home and get ready for league play and traveling the road to the Southwest League Tournament.

 

Next: It’s Like Everything is Totally Baseball