Mayfield Titans

 

CHAPTER 68

THE CHAMPIONSHIP GAME

 

<Centralia Sports Complex>

 

The Centralia Athletic Federation worked hard to make the Seamount Middle School Championship Game something special. Both teams had been given the pregame protocols at the beginning of the week so they could give them a quick run through. There were two events the teams needed to be ready for before the game started.

 

The first was the announcing of the player rosters and the starting lineups. As the visiting team, Mayfield would be announced first. Both teams had rehearsed the procedure in one of their practices and were ready to run out. The announcer got the attention of the fans who had filled the seats.

 

“First the substitutes for the visiting team, the Mayfield Titans, as announced by Coach Dean Ecklund.” The announcer then started naming the five substitutes who came out as they heard their name, lining up on the first baseline.  Mason, the first player announced, stationed himself halfway up the first base line from home, facing the infield. The next player came out of the dugout, ran onto the field to the left of the first player. The teammates traded high fives as the second player positioned himself to the right of the first player. And so it went, just like they had rehearsed.

 

After the five subs, the announcer then named the ten starters, starting with Gordy, who would be batting leadoff. The starters went through the same routine as the subs, coming out to the left of Mason and then trading low fives with every teammate he passed until he reached his spot. Gordy was followed by Aiden, who would be the number two batter. This continued until Jared, who would be playing right field but not batting, was announced. The Mayfield fans cheered loudly, but the Monte fans showed their appreciation of the Titan players by applauding as well.

 

MAYFIELD TITANS starting lineup.

 

1. Gordy-SS
2. Aiden-2B
3. Scott-3B
4. Muddy-DH
5. Trent-P
6. Barry-CF
7. Mac-C
8. Max-1B
9. Rusty-RF

Jared plays left field.

 

The Monte Bulldogs went through the same routine. Like the Monte parents, the Mayfield fans showed their appreciation and good sportsmanship by applauding the Monte players.

 

MONTE BULLDOGS starting lineup.

 

1. Will-CF
2. Virgil-3B
3. Skyler-P
4. Zeke-1B
5. Kelly-C
6. Steve-LF
7. Greg-2B
8. Taylor-SS
9. Parker-RF

 

 

The second event was the singing of the National Anthem. By this time word had spread throughout the Mayfield crowd that Mason would be singing it. The Mayfield fans were proud to have one of their own singing the Anthem, while Monte fans wondered how a Mayfield player was picked for the honor. Many of the parents from both sides doubted that a middle school boy could do justice to the difficult to sing anthem. The Mayfield parents knew that Mason was a hard working but mediocre bench player. Most did not know he was also a very talented singer.

 

The PA announcer started his introduction. “Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, please rise and remove your hats for the singing of our National Anthem which will be performed by a talented young singer and member of the Eastern Conference champion Mayfield Titan baseball team. Please give a warm round of applause to twelve-year-old seventh grader Mason Johnson.”

 

When the Monte fans saw the lean little boy walk to home plate, where he was handed a portable microphone by Mr. Carter in exchange for his baseball cap, their doubts increased. They hoped that the recorded music that would accompany him would be loud and powerful to make up for what was no doubt going to be a disappointing performance by the unimpressive looking little boy, who had the gall to not at least be a teenager and an eighth grader.

 

Mason stood at home plate, facing the flag flying on its pole beyond the center field fence. When Mason belted out the opening words in his clear, precise soprano voice everyone’s attention was on him especially when it became apparent he would be singing a capella.

 

“Ohhhh, say, can you see
By the dawn's early light       
What so proudly we hailed
At the twilight's last gleaming?”

 

Some sang along, but most stood enthralled by what they were hearing. Attitudes had changed almost instantly.

“Whose broad stripes and bright stars
Through the perilous fight
O'er the ramparts we watched,
Were so gallantly streaming?

And the rockets' red glare
The bombs bursting in air”

He almost made the word bursting burst as he gave it just the right emphasis. The Titan players could feel extra adrenaline pump through them as one of their teammates, one of their friends, gave the performance of his life before more than 200 fans, staff, and parents.

“Gave proof through the night
That our flag was still there”

As he prepared to sing the final stanza, Mason heard some of the crowd already beginning to applaud. He was filled with a renewed feeling of confidence, pride, and patriotism. He swallowed hard, took a deep breath, slowed the tempo just a bit, and continued.

“Oh say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O'er the laaand of the FREEEEEEE and the home of the BRAVE!”

 

The crowd spontaneously erupted into applause, yelling, cheers, and calls of praise. Mason’s mother burst into tears as did Mr. Carter and Mrs. Beck. Quite a few had their video going for the performance, as did Mr. Carter’s daughter Theresa, who was on the field recording the performance on her first-class video camera. The camera not only produced high-definition video, it also recorded stereo audio. Theresa, who was a college senior, had done video recording for her father since she was in middle school and was good at it. A member of the Federation also recorded the performance.

 

Mr. Carter dried his eyes and returned to the field, taking the microphone, and returning Mason’s hat. Mason turned and faced the crowd, waving his hat over his head, causing the         crowd to bellow out another roar. Mason had never felt as elated after a performance as he did that evening. He was floating as the players broke their formations to return to their dugouts. He heard a couple of Bulldog players shout their praise, and his teammates might have swamped him if Coaches Ecklund and Seaver hadn’t admonished them to stay in control of themselves.

 

Coach Ecklund had a momentary fear that Mason’s singing the Anthem might have destroyed their focus, but when he saw the determined looks on their faces, he could tell that just the opposite had happened. They were ready to give a winning performance to match the one that Mason had just given.

 

When Skyler finished his eight warmups the plate umpire called out, “PLAY BALL!” and Gordy came to the plate. Four pitches later he returned to the dugout after he struck out swinging. Aiden followed by taking a called third strike, and Scott went down swinging. Skyler had started the game by striking out the side. The Titans were not surprised their first three batters went down in order;  that had happened before in the first inning, and Skyler was a good pitcher. What was surprising was that they all struck out. The three of them were excellent contact hitters and did not strike out often.

 

“Skyler is filthy today,” Aiden said as he started out of the dugout.

 

“It looks like he’s dealing,” Mac agreed. “Now it’s time for Trent to show what he has.”

 

Will, the first batter Trent faced, grounded out to Gordy at short. The count went full to the next batter, Virgil, the third baseman. Trent’s 3-2 pitch came above the knees and, at least in Mac’s opinion, it caught the plate. He started to stand up to throw the ball down to second base, which was the standard response by the catcher on a strikeout with less than two outs and nobody on base. When the umpire barked out, “Ball,” Mac stopped in mid motion and took a deep breath.

 

Mac was tempted to ask, “Where was that, ump?” but he held his tongue and threw the ball back to Trent. Kevin had told him he had to learn not to ask that question. “The umpires do not like it when you question them like that, and you never want to piss off an ump.”

 

“Nice pitch, Trent,” Mac yelled as he threw the ball back to the pitcher. Like Kevin said, that carried the message in a polite, indirect way.

 

Trent couldn’t believe the umpire missed that pitch, but he also knew that umpires, no matter how good they were, missed pitches. The umpire didn’t have a chance to miss the next one—the runner took off on the pitch, which ended up being a fat one, and Skyler launched it over the center fielder’s head for a run-scoring double. The Bulldogs had gotten off to a quick 1-0 lead. Trent then struck out Zeke.

 

Kelly, the catcher, was the next hitter. He let two pitches go by for balls before taking a swing at a 2-0 pitch in the middle of the plate. He hit the ball hard to left field, but Jared chased it down and made a good running catch for the third out.

 

Skyler struck out Muddy and Trent to start the second inning. But after Skyler struck out the first five batters, Barry became the first Titan to hit a fair ball. It was a hard grounder to third which Virgil fielded cleanly. He fired a rocket to first and Barry was out by four steps to retire the side.

 

Trent had an easy second, striking out Steve, the left fielder, swinging and Greg, the second baseman on a called third strike on a pitch that Greg obviously disagreed with. Mac and Trent     both thought that the pitch had been inside. They had no problem admitting to themselves that the umpire’s call had been a gift when they received the benefit of a missed call. Taylor, the shortstop, singled to left, and stole second on the first pitch to Parker, the right fielder.  With Virgil and now Taylor taking off on the first pitch after they reached first, it was apparent that Monte planned to play a running game. Two pitches later, Parker hit a high fly to Rusty in right to end the inning. The score was Bulldogs 1, Titans 0.

 

“You gotta start throwing over to first, dude,” Mac told Trent as they walked off the field to the dugout. Everyone but the pitcher and catcher ran off the field at the end of an inning. There was nothing to stop those two from running, it just wasn’t expected.

 

“I’ll get to it,” Trent said.

 

“And I’ll give you a signal if I think the runner is way off.”

 

“We need to throw the ball over to first,” Max said as Trent and Mac entered the dugout.

 

“We were just talking about that,” Mac told him.

 

Coach Ecklund came up to them to remind them of the same thing, but Mac was way ahead of him. “We’re on it coach,” he said before Ecklund could utter a word.

 

Skyler struck out Mac and Max for two quick outs to start the third. Then Rusty hit a squibber to right. A squibber was the baseball term for a fly ball to the outfield that drops in for a hit. The Titans had their first baserunner. Rusty died at first when Gordy hit a hard line drive directly to Virgil at third for the third out.

 

The Bulldogs were now back to the top of their order. Will almost hit his own squibber, this one going to center but Barry ran in on it and made a sliding catch for the first out. The Mayfield crowd cheered loudly, and Miles yelled out, “ESPN,” from the dugout. But Virgil hit the first pitch from Trent hard to left for a double and Skyler followed with another deep fly which bounced off the fence in left center. The ball eluded Barry and Jared and by the time Jared could grab the ball and throw it in, Virgil had scored the second Bulldog run and Skyler was sliding into third with a triple. Trent then struck out Zeke for the second time and Kelly popped up to Aiden at second. Trent had limited the damage to one run.

 

Aiden led off the Titan fourth with a hard-hit grounder up the middle for a single. He stole second on the third pitch to Scott who then lined the ball to left for a single, putting runners on the corners (first and third) with nobody out. Muddy lofted a fly ball to center and Aiden tagged up. He left third on the catch and scored standing up. With Scott still at first, Trent struck out, but Barry followed with a single to right. Scott rounded second and made it to third. Mac then struck out to end the inning. The Titans had left two on base but managed to cut the Bulldog lead in half.

 

Trent threw his first 1-2-3 inning of the game in the bottom of the fourth, getting two strikeouts and a ground out. Mac thought that in the inning Trent looked like the pitcher who had won his bet by shutting out the Bulldogs the last time he faced them.

 

Skyler was just as sharp in the top of the fifth as he set the Titans down in order on eight pitches. Trent matched him in the bottom of the inning, putting down the side in order on ten pitches.

 

It was now the top of the sixth. The score was still Bulldogs 2, Titans 1, and the game was entering crunch time. The bleachers were full and the crowd was loud. This had been a true championship game for the first five innings. It had been hard fought and well-played, and everyone was on the edge of their seats waiting to see who would come through in crunch time. Kalie and Brittany, who were sitting together in the bleachers, were reminded of their 3-2 game the day before as they cheered themselves hoarse.

 

Aiden led off the inning. He was 1-for-2 with a run scored against his Monte friend. On a 2-1 pitch, Aiden made that 2-for-3 as he got every bit of power into the pitch that his little body was capable of. The ball sailed into the gap between the left and center fielders and landed just short of the fence. It bounced off the fence and out of the reach of Steve, the left fielder. By the time Steve gathered it up and threw it to Taylor, the shortstop, who was the cutoff man, Aiden was standing on third base with a triple. Knowing a good throw to the cutoff man would have had a good chance of getting Aiden at home, Coach Ecklund had given Aiden an emphatic stop sign.

 

Coach Leingang had his infield “playing in” to discourage Aiden from coming home on a ground ball. Playing in meant the fielders positioned themselves just inside the baselines. The disadvantage to the infielders playing in was that while they could cut off a grounder hit in their vicinity and hold the runner on third, they wouldn’t be able to cover as much ground as they could by playing back. The strategy worked when Scott rapped a grounder to the shortstop who looked Aiden back to third and then threw Scott out at first. One down.

 

Muddy was next and the Bulldogs kept their infield in. “If Muddy gets all of a pitch could he easily take somebody’s head off,” Phil said to Larry.

 

“The key is to duck fast,” Larry chuckled.

 

Muddy did get hold of a pitch, a 2-0 pitch right down the pipe, and walloped it just over the center fielder’s head. Aiden scored easily, tying the score at 2-2. Muddy plodded into second with an RBI double. The Mayfield fans went berserk when Aiden’s left foot touched the plate.

 

The umpire called time once the dust settled, and brushed the plate as Trent came to the plate. Even though Trent threw right-handed, he batted from the left side. His father, James, had thought about changing Trent to the right side when he was just starting to play, since that was his dominant side. But after doing some research, he decided to let Trent stay with what he felt comfortable with. He could always change to right-handed, or even switch hitting when he was older. So far, as a thirteen-year-old, Trent had shown no desire to change. Since Trent had proved to be an outstanding hitter, James saw no reason to make any changes as either Trent’s father or as his coach.

 

Coach Ecklund sent Riley into the game to pinch run for Muddy. Speed was not one of Muddy’s strengths and since he represented the go-ahead run at second, the coach wanted a speedy runner in scoring position. Riley had shown himself not only to be one of the fastest runners on the team, he had also proven to be a smart runner.

 

The count went to 2-and-2 on Trent. He fouled off three straight two strike pitches. He hit the next pitch on the ground hard up the first base line. The ball bounced over the base and then landed on the foul side of the line. The first base umpire signaled fair ball. Riley had taken off for third as soon as the ball was hit and when Coach Ecklund saw it pass first along with the umpire’s fair ball signal, he waved Riley home.

 

Parker, the Bulldog right fielder, fielded the ball cleanly and fired a bullet home that was a bit offline. Riley and the throw arrived at close to the same time and Riley did a feet-first slide away from the catcher, who had to reach for the throw. Riley dragged his hand across the plate an instant before the catcher slapped the tag on him. The umpire, who was in prefect position to call the play at home, signaled safe and the Titans now had a 3-2 lead.  Riley jumped up with his arms raised and a shit-eating grin on his face as soon as he heard the umpire call out, “SAFE!” Trent had taken second base on the throw home.

 

Coach Leingang came out to question the call. The umpire told Leingang what he saw, which satisfied the coach, and he returned to the dugout. Barry struck out and Mac popped to short to end the inning. Skyler had gone over the 80-pitch limit during Mac’s at bat which meant the Titans would be seeing a different pitcher in the seventh inning. Skyler had given up seven hits and three runs over six innings, while striking out ten and walking nobody.

 

Trent had thrown 63 pitches over the first five innings, meaning the sixth inning would probably be his last. The reason for having nothing scheduled the week of the championship game became apparent at this point in the game. The coaches had all their pitchers available, which meant Scott, as the team’s number two pitcher, would be relieving Trent.

 

To have Scott ready in case he was needed in the sixth, Coach Ecklund made some defensive switches. He pulled Scott, who was playing third, out of the game. He moved Barry from center field to third base, Rusty from right field to center, and sent Mason into the game to play right. Mason almost hyperventilated when he heard Coach Ecklund call his name and tell him to go out to right field. Going out on the field to play baseball was making him more nervous than singing the National Anthem before a big crowd.

 

Fortunately, Aiden knew his friend well enough to be able to quickly settle him down.  He put his right arm around Mason’s shoulder and said, “You’re going to be great out there, Mason. Take a deep breath and then let’s run out onto the field and have fun.”

 

“Yeah, let’s have fun and kick ass,” Mason responded. Aiden was happy that his sometimes emotional friend was able to make one of his quick recoveries. The two friends ran out of the dugout together. As Trent took his warmup pitches and the team went through the between inning warmup ritual, Lenny donned his catcher’s gear and went to the bullpen area to warm up Scott.

 

Skyler led off the bottom of the sixth with a double, his third hit and second double of the game. His other hit had been a triple. That brought up Zeke, who turned on a 2-1 pitch and lined it just fair into the right field corner well out of Mason’s reach, scoring Skyler.  Zeke chugged into second, just beating Mason’s accurate throw. With the scored tied at 3-3 and Trent obviously tiring, Scott started warming up in earnest. The game’s momentum had changed in a hurry.

 

“Is Scott ready?” Coach Seaver, who had been watching Scott warming up, asked Lenny. Lenny was a sixth grader who played mostly JV ball during the season. He didn’t feel he knew enough about Scott to give a knowledgeable opinion, so he looked directly at Scott, who nodded that he was ready.

 

“Yeah, he’s ready,” Lenny replied. While Coach Seaver was a first-year coach, he had been around baseball long enough to know Scott was ready. But he had always asked Lenny for his opinion on the pitchers during a JV game and wanted Lenny to understand that his opinion as a catcher was still valued, even in a varsity game. He hadn’t missed the silent exchange between Scott and Lenny and was pleased by the communication between the two.

 

Seaver strode to the dugout and told Coach Ecklund that Scott was ready. Ecklund waited for Trent’s next pitch, which Kelly, the Bulldog catcher, lined to Barry at third for a hard-hit out.

 

The home plate umpire granted Coach Ecklund’s request for a timeout and the coach hustled out to the mound where he was joined by Mac. Trent had thrown 75 pitches, and while he could face another batter by rule, Ecklund knew that in reality, he was done. Trent had allowed three hard-hit balls in the inning and was fortunate that the third of them had been an at-‘em ball. Mac knew the situation and figured it was best he keep his mouth shut unless the coach asked him a question. There was no question that Trent was done. He had pitched well but hadn’t been as dominant as he had been in his regular season start against Monte.

 

Trent handed Coach Ecklund the baseball, received a pat on the butt from his coach, and walked off the mound to the cheers and applause of the Mayfield fans. Trent had given up five hits, four of them for extra bases, over five and one-third innings. He had walked one and struck out seven. He had allowed three runs and was responsible for Zeke at second. That meant if Zeke scored, the run would be charged to Trent. As he went into the dugout, Trent heard applause from the Mayfield crowd, and got high-fives and fist bumps from all his teammates when he entered the dugout. He had done a good job against a tough team.

 

Coach Ecklund gave Scott the ball, patted him on the butt, and headed back to the dugout while Mac returned to home. The umpire reminded Mac that Scott had eight warmup pitches coming. Mac got into his crouch and Scott threw his first warmup. While Scott warmed up, Coach Ecklund made the necessary defensive changes. The re-entry rule said that a starter re-entering a game after being substituted for had to re-enter in the same place in the batting order he had started the game in. That meant that Scott would be replacing Mason, who had to come out of the game. Mason ran off the field, as happy that he had a chance to play in the championship game as he had been to sing before the game. Barry was moved back to center field, Rusty shifted to right, and Trent went to third. The Bulldog coach entered eighth grader Vic Penney to pinch run for Zeke to get more speed on the bases.

 

The first batter Scott faced was Steve, the left fielder. He struck Steve out on a changeup for the second out. That brought up Skyler’s boyfriend, and Aiden and Nolan’s friend, Greg. Greg got hold of a 1-2 fastball that came in a little fat and shot a single through the left-side of the infield that moved Vic to third base.

 

Taylor, the next batter, swung at the first pitch to him and hit a dribbler that traveled twenty feet.  Scott called Mac off the ball. Mac knew he would only need to make a slight turn to make the throw to first while Scott would have to make a full turn to make the throw. He screamed at Scott that he would take it. His shout was too late for Scott to change direction. The miscommunication led to them bumping each other and by the time Mac picked up the ball Taylor had reached first, and Vic had scored the go-ahead run.

 

“My fault,” Mac said. “It was too late to call you off, I should have let you have it.”

 

“No, it was my fault. We’ve practiced that play and it should be the catcher’s ball. I thought I was closer,” Scott responded.

                                     

“Get the this guy out and we’ll come back in the seventh,” Mac said as Parker came to the plate.

 

Mac noticed that Taylor was taking a large lead off first. He signaled to Scott to throw to first, which he did. He did not use his best move, but his toss to the base let Taylor and the Monte base coaches know he and Mac were aware of Taylor.  When Scott went to his stretch, Taylor came off the base by a couple more steps. Scott made a quicker move, but still not his best.

 

The crowd was enjoying the cat-and-mouse game being put on by the two players. Mac knew what Scott was doing because he had seen the pitcher use the same strategy in two previous games. Mac had no doubt that Scott was the smartest pitcher in the league.

 

Feeling good about how easily he had returned, Taylor extended his lead. He grinned inwardly when he saw the third base coach flash the steal sign. Taylor’s reaction was to make a youthful mistake by leaning toward second as Scott engaged the pitching rubber. This time Scott didn’t come to his stretch—he turned and flipped the ball over to Max at first. Taylor made a desperate dive back to first, but Max was waiting for him ball in his glove and his glove on the ground in front of the base. The umpire quickly pumped Taylor out. The inning was over and the Bulldogs held a 4-3 lead.

 

Zeke North took the mound for the Bulldogs. The players for both teams were shouting encouragement as were the fans in the bleachers and on their lawn chairs. The Titans had their 8 and 9 hitters coming up. The bottom of the order was going to have to initiate a one run rally for the Titans to stay alive.

 

Before leaving the dugout for the third base coach’s box, Coach Ecklund called Lenny and Rusty over. “Lenny will be hitting for you, Rusty. You’ll be going back to left field at the bottom of the inning.” The Titan players noted that their coach had spoken as if their tying the game or going ahead was a given. Rusty nodded. Even though he knew he was a poor hitter, he was disappointed he had not been given the chance to come through in the clutch.

 

But he shook off his disappointment and slapped Lenny’s ass. “Go kick ass, dude,” he told his younger teammate. Even though he was disappointed, he also understood the Titan mantra and knew his team didn’t end up playing for the league championship by being selfish. The coach also told Miles that if Max got on base, he would be pinch running for him.

 

Max led off the inning. He was a great fielding first baseman but a mediocre hitter at best, sporting a .225 average for the season. He was a strong boy and often hit the ball a long way in batting practice, but games were a different story. Zeke was a big kid and a hard thrower, but he tended to be wild. Max took advantage of that bit of information that had been given to the team by Coach Ecklund at yesterday’s practice. He was normally impatient at the plate and would go after pitches out of the strike zone. Before getting set in the batter’s box. He took a deep breath and admonished himself to be patient. He took the first two pitches for balls and took a swing at the third pitch, hitting the ball hard but foul up the third base line to make his count 2-1.

 

Coach Ecklund, who was coaching third base, yelled to the Titan dugout for Lenny to get on deck. The next pitch was a high fast ball which was followed by an inside fastball that drove Max back away from the plate. That was ball four and the Titans had the tying run on base.

 

Coach Ecklund asked the home plate umpire for time and walked toward home to announce his changes. Coach Seaver, who was coaching first, knew the plan and confirmed that Miles would be running for Max. The run on first was the tying run and Coach Ecklund wanted a faster runner on the bases.

 

“Gomez running for Bishop at first,” Coach Ecklund told the umpire, who noted that change on his lineup card. “Hazen batting for O’Rourke.” The umpire noted that change, and then announced the changes to the official scorekeeper, who was sitting up in the press box.       

 

Rusty was a quick, sure handed outfielder, but was not an accomplished hitter. Normally in a situation like this, Coach Ecklund would let Rusty bat and learn from his mistakes. But this wasn’t a normal situation, this was the seventh and last inning of the league championship game with his team one run behind. He wanted a more consistent hitter in this situation, especially now that there was a runner on first and he was going to call for a sacrifice bunt. He decided a sixth grader was the one to do it.

 

Lenny’s heart started racing at what felt like a thousand beats per second. He remembered that Aiden always said “pause” when things were heating up and Coach Ecklund kept telling them to slow the game down by “pausing” and taking a deep breath when the nerves started to hit. Lenny took a deep breath and looked to Coach Ecklund in the third base coach’s box for a sign. That helped slow him down as well.

 

Lenny saw the coach flash the bunt and run sign and nodded in acknowledgement. The bunt and run meant that Miles would take off for second on the pitch and Lenny would try to lay down a bunt. It was not a play used often, but if properly executed it could catch the defensive team by surprise with the runner taking third on the bunt. While Lenny was a sixth grader and mostly a JV player, he was also a smart and fundamentally sound player.

 

Coach Ecklund knew that a lot of Mayfield fans would question him substituting a young sixth grader for a more experienced seventh grader with the season and the championship on the line. Ecklund knew what Lenny was capable of and was confident he had the ability to lay down a good bunt. Missing Everett and Collin, his two experienced eighth graders, Coach Ecklund found himself relying on a sixth grader who played mostly junior varsity ball.

 

Zeke saw Miles taking a lead off first and threw to the base. Miles dove back into the base and had his hand on it when the first baseman tagged him. This little ritual was re-enacted twice before Zeke decided to throw the pitch.

 

Miles read the pitcher’s movement correctly and headed for second when he released the pitch. Lenny turned to bunt and laid down a beauty up the third base line. The third baseman charged the bunt. The shortstop should have hustled over to third to cover the base, but when he saw Miles leave first base, he had started toward second to back up a throw from the catcher. Because Lenny had successfully laid down his bunt, there would be no throw to second. When Miles saw that third base wasn’t covered, he didn’t hesitate at second and sprinted straight to third. The third baseman fielded the ball and threw Lenny out at first, but he didn’t have time to get to third to take a return throw from the first baseman. The successful execution of the sacrifice bunt and run had put the tying run on third base with one out.

 

The top of the Titan lineup was now up, and Gordy stepped up to the plate.

Zeke knew he needed a strikeout here to ensure the tying run wouldn’t score. Once again, the infield was playing in to make it difficult for the runner on third to score.

 

Gordy was the Titans’ leadoff hitter, but Zeke wasn’t impressed. Even though the little runt who had pinch hit had dropped a good bunt, there was no way this kid was going to hit the ball hard off him. Zeke threw strike one, a fastball down the middle that Gordy took. Gordy then swung and missed at an outside breaking ball—one of the few off-speed pitches Zeke had served up since entering the game. Gordy was now in an 0-2 hole, which didn’t bother him a great deal. He knew he was good at making contact and needed to concentrate at not swinging at a pitch outside of the strike zone.

 

The next pitch was a curve in the dirt, but Gordy didn’t bite, and the ump called ball one. Gordy fouled the next pitch back to the screen and then grounded a foul ball outside the third base line. The next two pitches were balls, making the count full and then Gordy fouled off two more pitches.

 

Zeke was getting pissed at the little gnat in the powder blue uniform standing at the plate. I’m throwing you strikes, so either hit the fucker fair or swing and miss it, Zeke grumbled to himself. Kelly, the catcher, signaled fast ball and gave a target a little up in the zone certain that Gordy couldn’t hit a high strike. Zeke decided to give this pitch everything he had. You’re getting my best heat fucker, so let’s see you hit it, Zeke growled as he mentally challenged Gordy. Zeke reared back and threw the ball so hard he grunted on the release. In his excitement, he overthrew it and the ball sailed on him. He went over Gordy’s head and over Kelly’s reach as he popped up out of his crouch trying to catch it.

 

The pitch was ball four and Gordy ran hard to first while at the same time Miles raced for home. Zeke ran down to cover the plate as he was supposed to do while Kelly went to the backstop to retrieve the wild pitch that had hit high off the chain link fencing above the wooden backstop. The ball had taken a bounce to the right and Kelly could see he would have to hurry his throw home to have a prayer of getting the runner out. He picked up the ball and tossed it to Zeke as Miles slid by him before he could apply the tag. Zeke looked down at the ball in his glove wondering what had just happened. The score was tied.

 

While all the action was happening, Gordy had run hard to first on the walk. When he saw Coach Seaver pointing to second he didn’t hesitate. He made the turn to second, making sure he touched first, and kept right on running. With Greg yelling, “SECOND BASE! SECOND BASE!” Zeke came out of his funk, turned toward the infield and fired the ball to second even though there was no way he was going to throw out Gordy. The problem with his throw was that he did the same thing he had done with his last pitch—he overthrew it and it sailed. Greg leapt for the ball, but it was too high and landed in the outfield.

 

Since Gordy had come into second base standing up, he took off for third on the overthrow. He slid into the base, just beating the throw from Will, the centerfielder.

 

“Dang, Gordy just turned a walk into a triple,” Mac bellowed in the dugout.

 

“That’s called PLAYING HARD,” Trent called out.

 

“And PLAYING TO WIN! GREAT HUSTLE,” Aiden yelled from a few feet away from home plate where, as the on-deck hitter, he had been taught to direct incoming traffic.

 

The entire crowd was on its feet to watch the play. “GREAT HUSTLE! I LIKE THE DIRTY UNIFORM! GO TITANS!” came the screams from the stands and the Titan dugout.

 

Aiden was the next batter. Zeke was obviously rattled. Coach Leingang asked for time and he and Kelly went to the mound where the coach worked to settle his pitcher down. After the coach finished his talk and started back to the dugout, Kelly gave Zeke a pat on the ass. “You’re better than these guys, so show ‘em what you got,” Kelly told his pitcher.

 

“Don’t worry, I’ll get ‘em,” Zeke assured his catcher.

 

Zeke still hadn’t settled down, however. After his wild pitch and wild throw, he tried to be too careful to Aiden and threw him a fat pitch. Aiden was too good a hitter not to take advantage of it and hit a solid shot up the third base line and into the corner for a run-scoring double. The Titans now had a 5-4 lead.

 

“That’s the first time you pussies hit the ball solid all inning!” a big mouthed Monte parent shouted out. “You ought to be embarrassed to be ahead!” Before he could say anything else he saw Mr. Pritchard, the Monte Athletic Director standing in the aisle three seats away from him. Pritchard glared at him. “One more word and I will personally escort you out of here,” he barked.

 

“Asshole,” the man grumbled quietly to himself, but he kept his mouth shut the rest of the way.

 

Kelly came out to the mound and stood nose to nose with Zeke. “When I said you were better than those guys, I meant what I said—so quit fucking around and pitch like you can,” Kelly said. He turned and went back to the plate without waiting for an answer.

 

Zeke took a deep breath. Fucking Kelly is right, he told himself. I gotta pitch like I can.

 

Scott was the next hitter. He grounded out to second, moving Aiden to third with two outs. Muddy couldn’t bring him in as he flew out to deep center on a 1-2 pitch. The game would now go to the bottom of the seventh with the Titans holding a precarious one-run lead.

 

The Bulldogs had their 9-1-2 hitters coming up. Scott wanted a three up-three down inning badly. There was no way he or anyone on the team wanted to see Skyler coming to the plate with runners on base.

 

Liam Archer came up to the plate as a pinch hitter. He grounded to third on a 1-0 pitch. Will, the number one hitter, popped up to second on the first pitch for the second out. That brought up Virgil. He was one for two for the game, doubling and scoring in the third inning. Coach Leingang reminded Virgil to be patient and make the pitcher pitch. Two outs on three pitches when down a run in the bottom of the seventh was not smart hitting.

 

Virgil let the first pitch go by for a strike. Scott threw two balls before Virgil swung and missed at a curveball. Mac called for a fastball, Scott nodded, and Virgil lined the pitch to left for a single. The Bulldogs had the tying run on base and the winning run at the plate. That winning run was the player no Titan team member or fan wanted to see—Skyler. The Bulldog fans screamed loudly as Skyler took his place in the batter’s box.

 

Skyler waved his bat back and forth waiting for the first pitch. He knew that Scott was a good pitcher but was not overpowering. Skyler was confident that he could hit him. The first pitch looked good to Skyler and he swung hard. The ball sailed for the left field fence; there was no doubt that if it stayed fair it would be the game-winning home run. Everyone in the bleachers and in both dugouts were on their feet waving it to either go fair or go foul, depending on who was doing the waving.

 

Apparently, the Titans had the more accomplished wavers as the ball passed outside the foul pole by just over a foot. The cheers of the Titan fans and the groans of the Bulldog fans mixed in as an unintelligible rumble. The hit was nothing more than a long, loud strike.

 

Scott’s next pitch was a strike on the outside corner, making the count 0-2. The Titans were one strike away from being the Seamount Middle School League champions. The Titan and Bulldog players were all standing in their dugouts and cheering their lungs out.

 

Scott then threw a breaking ball outside. He and Mac were hoping that Skyler would fish for a pitch off the plate, but to no avail. That made the count 1-2. Scott then uncorked a pitch that wasn’t as down as he wanted it and Skyler laid into it, sending a low flying line drive that looked ready to land in center field. Again, everyone stood up and some fans were blocked off from seeing Gordy moving quickly to his left, leaving his feet and snagging the liner, and then hitting the infield in a cloud of dust.  As he came down, he squeezed the ball in his glove and then held it in with his throwing hand.

 

As soon as his skid stopped, he jumped to his feet holding up his glove to show he had the ball. The third base umpire signaled the out and the Titan players exploded out of the dugout. As the players raced out of the field, Aiden ran over to Gordy and gave him a long, hard hug. It was all he could do not to kiss him, and he finally said fuck it, and gave his best friend a kiss on his right cheek.

 

There were hugs and shouts mingled with cheers from the first base side bleachers as the Titans won a heart stopping championship game 5-4. And it was indeed a championship game complete with turns of momentum and lead changes. Habit took over on the field as the handshake lines formed—the Bulldogs showed their sportsmanship by wiping away tears and quickly traded fist bumps and high fives while congratulating the champions. When Skyler and Aiden met, they exchanged a full handshake and a hug.

 

“Congrats dude. If I had to lose I’m glad it was to you. You guys have a great team,” Skyler said.

 

“So do you,” Aiden responded. “That was an amazing game.”

 

“Yeah, it was. Now, go celebrate. Me and Greg will be seeing you and Nolan soon.” Greg also gave Aiden a hug. The entire handshake ritual took less than two minutes, but it felt like two hours to the Titans who wanted to celebrate with each other.

 

Soon the field was full of parents and students offering their congratulations and hugs. Aiden was surprised when Calvin Loggins, the Clark Pass pitcher with the long blond hair, came by and traded fist bumps. “Hey, thanks for coming,” Aiden told him.

 

“You’re the best team we played this year,” Calvin said. “Not only because you play awesome baseball but because you’re awesome dudes too. You guys just go out and play ball and don’t talk trash and crap.”

 

“Thanks for saying that.”

 

“I said it because it’s true. Now I’ll let you celebrate and go find your shortstop. That catch was just sick—everybody thought that was a base hit.”

 

“I’ll see you this summer,” Aiden said, referring to their Southwest League travel teams.

 

“You know it.”

 

Calvin was surprised when a boy he recognized as a Meadow Park player, who he thought was extremely hot, came up behind Aiden, who he also thought was extremely hot, wrapped his arms around him, and gave his neck a quick nibble. “Nice game, sweet cakes. Congrats on being the champs. I’m proud of you and your team.”

 

Aiden was surprised at Nolan’s forwardness. He wriggled out of Nolan’s grasp, turned, and planted a quick kiss on Nolan’s left cheek. “I love you, Sugar Bear. I wish you could share it with me.”

 

“Seeing you win and celebrate works for me. You look better in that uniform when you’re not playing against me—not that you look bad in it then.”

 

“You’re the best. I love you.”

 

“I love you, too.”

 

Aiden wondered if Nolan was going to carry things further, but the quick kisses on the cheek looked like the limit for the day. He then saw Calvin standing a couple of feet away with a perplexed look on his face. Calvin wondered what kind of relationship the boys from two different towns had. Whatever it was, he could tell that there was more to the little scene than just two boys from two different cities who happened to be casual friends.

 

Aiden wondered what Calvin was thinking. He decided to pretend that the little scene between him and Nolan was nothing special unless Calvin called him on it. “Hey, Calvin, have you met Nolan? He plays for…”

 

“…I know, he plays for Meadow Park,” Calvin grinned. “Good to see you, Nolan.”

 

“Yeah, good meeting you.” The two exchanged a fist bump.

 

“I see you guys are friends.” Calvin wasn’t sure what the exchange he’d witnessed was all about, but he did know it had given him an instant boner.

 

“Yeah, we met because our parents became friends.” Aiden recited the short form of the story.

 

“Come on Calvin, we gotta go,” came a teen voice from the crowd.

 

“I guess I better jet. Laters, guys.” Calvin turned and left to join Roy, his teammate, who had called to him. Calvin and four other Clark Pass players had ridden to the game with the head baseball coach.

 

None of the players wanted to ride home with their parents, even though three of them had the necessary signed note. They all wanted to be on the bus celebrating together.

 

Mrs. Emerson, who had rooted as loudly as anyone in the crowd, congratulated each player on the win as they boarded. She stood up and gave Mason a special hug of his own. “You were beautiful, Mason, simply beautiful.”

 

“Thank you, Mrs. Emerson,” Mason said, his face flushed from embarrassment. He had heard enough praise for his singing. He was ready to go back to being Mason, a player on the Seamount League Champion Mayfield Titans.

 

The ride back to Mayfield was happy and noisy. It was a huge contrast from the bus ride after losing the league championship game in basketball. Winning this game had been their goal from that bus ride until today, when they actually pulled it off.

 

Mac sat next to Trent on the way home. “Are you still spending the night tomorrow?” Trent asked Mac.

 

“You bet. It will keep me away from this.” He showed Trent the text he had received from Jared, who had been the silent player in the game since he was the player Muddy had batted for as designated hitter. But he worked hard in the field and had made a good running catch in the first inning.

 

Trent read Jared’s text. “u need 2 party 4 real mac. my house 2nite at 10,” it read.

 

“I’m so glad that loser isn’t on the Yard Goats,” Trent said. “What do you think about this?”

 

“Jared did play a good game out in left today, he’s not a total loser,” Mac said.

 

“Close enough to it for me to think it.”

 

“I think I’m glad I’m not doing that shit any more. I can party with you and Scott and you said maybe his cousin and maybe your brother and feel and enjoy all of it,” Mac responded. “I take it Jared isn’t in the No Matter What Club.”

 

“Nope. He said it’s a waste of his time. So, who of the Titans, do you think would go to that? Everett? Max? Barry?”

 

“I know Barry won’t go if he wants to live long enough to go to high school. Are those three in the club?”

 

“All three are. And, yeah, Barry’s parents are really strict about where he goes. And I think Everett and Max take the club seriously. Poor Jared is going to end up being with real total losers like Russell and Roger and Zane and you name it.”

 

“Well, I don’t care who goes,” Mac said. “I just care about having a good time at my friend Trent’s house tomorrow.”

 

Trent, Scott, and Mac weren’t the only ones who had plans for Friday. Aiden would be on the morning train to Seattle heading to the Cousin Dozen Blowout with Nolan. Riley and Grant would be spending the night with Lenny and Lance. Mason would be visiting Freddie, his straight friend from church. Everett and Max would NOT be going to Jared’s kegger—instead they would enjoy spending the night with each other at Max’s house. Jared would wake up Saturday with the hangover from hell. Gordy would spend the night with Miles.

 

What was missing was a big celebration party the team could have together. What wasn’t missing were some busy mothers who were already planning for a Monday night bash at The Bear Pizza so the boys could celebrate their win while it was still reasonably fresh. With so many people having so many different plans, that was the best they could do. As far as the players were concerned when they got word of Monday night pizza together, their moms’ best couldn’t get any better. “Sometimes our moms get things right,” Miles would tell Trent at the Bear. Trent was in total agreement.

 

As the bus approached Mayfield, Trent asked the players in the seats in front, behind, and to the side of him to pass copies of a note around the bus.

 

Surprisingly, when the bus pulled into the Mayfield driveway, only Mason and Muddy had to zip up their pants. Mason’s exciting and fulfilling day had made him horny. He jerked off as the mouth that had so recently sung the National Anthem was now filled with a big teen cock. Mason came over Muddy’s uniform pants as his teammate filled his mouth. Muddy’s cum tasted as good as ever. Trent stood up before the bus came to a complete stop and yelled out, “How did we play today?”

 

“We played hard,” came the return as the varsity repeated the script Trent had the players pass around the bus.

 

“How did we play today?”

 

“We played smart!”

 

“How did we play today?”

 

“We played to win!”

 

“And what happened?”

 

“We had fun!”

 

“What else happened?”

 

“WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS!” which ignited a cheer from both the varsity and the JV players.

 

Next: Four Days in May.