Mayfield Magic

         

 

CHAPTER 26

SO CAL BASEBRAWL DAY 5.

TRIPLE THE PLEASURE-1

 

SATURDAY, AUGUST 1

 

<Carlsbad Resort, dining room)

 

The Goats were scheduled to play the Huntington Beach Wave at ten o’clock and were expected to be at breakfast by eight. All eighteen Goats were on time. They all knew they needed a solid breakfast to play on, which for most meant pancakes.

 

Max arrived with Lance and Grant, his roommates. He rubbed his ass before sitting down at a table with them.

 

“Hey, dude, why are you rubbing your skinny ass?” Mac asked.

 

“I’m rubbing it because those two little dorks grabbed me after I got out of the shower and spanked my naked ass,” Max said, referring to his roommates. He rose part way from his chair and rubbed his ass again through his uniform pants.

 

“It wouldn’t have anything to do with you being fourteen today, would it?” Trent asked.

 

“Well, they were counting while they each whomped me until they got to fourteen. But I didn’t hear anybody singing.”

 

“That’s because we were working hard to keep you from escaping,” Lance said. What neither Lance nor Grant said was that Max didn’t put up much of a fight, which was something their teammates suspected. They knew that even though Max would insist otherwise, he loved the attention he received from his two teammates. Positive attention was something Max craved and something he didn’t always get because of his reticent personality. Since it was his birthday, Max considered having his bare butt spanked to be positive attention. He didn’t even care that one of the results was his sprouting a 5.5” boner and being disappointed that nobody commented on it.

 

Skip, Lenny, and Riley were the last Goats to enter the room. As soon as they sat down, Trent and Scott stood up and yelled out, “Happy Birthday, Max!” Then the rest of the team stood and sang “Happy Birthday!” to their teammate whose face was split by the widest grin any of the Goats had ever seen on him.  As soon as the players sat, three members of the wait staff started around the tables, taking their orders.

 

The Yard Goats were the only Carlsbad team to play a morning game. The Mounties were slated to play Torrance at one. They were the last undefeated teams left in the tournament. The winner would be playing in the tournament championship game Sunday afternoon. The loser would play in a six o’clock loser out game. The Tucson Sun Kings played a consolation bracket game at noon against the Carlsbad, New Mexico, Cavers. And the St. George Dixies were three and done.

 

Trent and Mac had talked to a couple of St. George players at the Angel game and asked if they were heading home Saturday. They replied that they would be going to Disneyland that afternoon and would be heading home Sunday afternoon. Trent and Mac were surprised that the team was actually planning to have fun.

 

After eating, the Goats went to their rooms to get their equipment bags.

 

Up in their rooms the players brushed their teeth, primped their hair, donned their uniform shirts and caps, and gathered up their equipment bags. They would soon be on their way to what they hoped would be a long, long, long day at the Mission Sports Park.

 

When they went out of the lobby door they were pleased to see six of the Canadian team members waiting at the loading area. Warren, Tommy, and Asher were part of the group, of course.

 

“We just wanted to wish you blokes a good game,” Warren said. “You’re good enough to beat those Californians, I don’t care how good they think their shit smells, eh.”

 

“Damn, Warren, that was clever and dirty,” Tommy said. “You’ve been hanging around those Yanks too long.”

 

“Well, it is the truth. Think about it, we’ve beat two teams from here, and our teams are really close, eh. So, there’s no reason you can’t beat one of them, eh.” Warren failed to mention that while the two teams they defeated were good, they were not considered one of the top tournament favorites.

 

“You know we’re going to do our best,” Aiden said. He gave Warren a hug and led the Mayfield team onto the bus.

 

Half the team was on board when a contingent of five Sun Kings came out on the walkway. “You guys go kick some serious California ass,” Zack, the Tucson captain, yelled out.

 

“Yeah, it’s all about Carlsbad pride,” Paulo said. He was not referring to the New Mexico team.

 

The Goats finished loading and Mrs. Emerson put the bus into gear and edged out of the loading area. Seeing the other two teams come out to cheer them on was a big pick-me-up for the Mayfield players. None of them was surprised that nobody showed from the Utah team since they never got to know each other very well.

 

<Mission Sports Park>

 

The Huntington team was already at Field 2 warming up when the Goats arrived. By prior arrangement the Wave was assigned to the first base dugout and would take infield first. The Goats were soon warming up on the grassy area on the third base side of the ballfield while the Wave went through their infield routine. As soon as Cal’s arm felt right, he and Mac went with Eric and Kevin to the third base bullpen area so Cal could throw his warmup pitches, which was an entirely different routine from playing catch to warm up his arm. As Mac caught Cal’s warmup pitches, he thought of how different Cal was from Aiden, Trent, and Scott, the Mayfield starters, or even Nolan. His attitude was so much looser. He was serious and yet it was obvious he was enjoying himself. Mac was also amazed by the movement of Cal’s stuff. While his fastball was decent, it was not the same level heat that Trent and Nolan threw. But he could throw a variety of off-speed pitches that Mac was certain would fluster the Huntington hitters, just like they had frustrated the Titans and the Yard Goats in spring and summer ball. And just when the Wave hitter got ready for a breaking ball, Cal was capable of throwing his fastball right past him.

 

As soon as the Goats finished infield, the umpires called the coaches for the pregame conference. Trent and Scott went out with Coach Hallion as they always did. Dallas Baker, the Wave coach, was accompanied by his captain, Bryce Rushton.

 

Home plate umpire Ryan Herzog introduced himself as did the two base umpires. The coaches and players took care of their introductions. When Trent shook Dallas’s hand he said, “Tell your players to be nice to your old homies.”

 

“As hard as you guys play, being nice isn’t gonna work for us,” Dallas grinned. “Expect us to play hard.”

 

“Good, because that’s what we really want after our last two games; a good, hard-played game.”

 

“I take it you guys know each other?” Herzog said.

 

“Not really,” Dallas replied. “But I grew up in Mayfield, which adds a little extra to this game.”

 

“Wow, talk about coincidences. This makes things really interesting.” Herzog then went over the ground rules and pulled out his coin for the flip. “Since Coach Baker knows exactly where Mayfield is, he knows they get to call the flip.”

 

He looked at Coach Hallion, who looked at his captains. Scott yelled out, “Heads!” loud and clear.

 

“I thought you always called tails,” Hallion said.

 

“In this place, tails always fails.”

 

Herzog flipped the coin, and it came up heads. Hallion shook his head at the total randomness of coin flips. “We got home,” Scott said.

 

The meeting ended just in time for the players to head out on the field to line up on their respective foul lines for the playing of the anthems. “Please rise for the singing of the Canadian and American National Anthems by the Foothills High School Jazz Ensemble,” the PA announcer instructed. Foothills High School was in San Marcos.

 

Rory Metcalf, son of one of the assistant principals at the high school, played for the Force thirteen and under team. The assistant’s daughter, Krista, sang in the Jazz Ensemble. He thought having the home city acapella group sing at the tournament would be a nice gesture by the San Marcos School District.

 

Mr. Ellis Tate, the school’s vocal teacher, directed the ensemble. It had won or placed in numerous competitions and was considered one of the best high school ensembles in the state. He was more than willing to have his group perform for the BaseBrawl. He and Metcalf went through channels and ended up talking to Carol who loved the idea of having the ensemble perform.  

 

Quinn Murphy set up the microphones on the field for the PA system and the performance of the two anthems went off perfectly. A special quartet made up of ensemble members would perform the anthems again for the one o’clock Torrance Bulldog/Surrey Mounties game. They were the only teams playing who hadn’t had a morning game scheduled. The PA broadcast only on Field 1, where the two teams would be playing each other.

 

With the preliminaries over, it was game time. Each one was a loser out game, so the stakes were high. On Field 2, the Yard Goats were on the field and tossing a ball around the infield as Cal took his eight warmup pitches. Mac could see that Cal had mastered the changeup he had been working on and he was anxious to call the pitch when it was needed.

 

A contingent of East Harbor boys found seats in the Field 2 bleachers on the third base side. They were ready to cheer long and loud for the Yard Goats, the team that had become their favorite in this game.

 

After the eighth warmup Mac threw down to Aiden at second and the umpire called for the batter. Bryan, the Wave centerfielder, came to the plate. It was game time.

 

Cal made quick work of the Wave in the first. Bryan hit a popup to Riley in center, Nigel grounded out to Aiden at second, and Doug grounded out to Scott at third. It was the kind of precision work the Goats remembered Cal using against them during the regular season.

 

Miguel was just as quick in the bottom of the inning. Gordy hit the ball hard but right at Greg at short. Aiden fouled out to third, and Trent flied out to left to end the inning.

 

“It looks like we might be in for a low scoring affair,” Larry observed. “Cal is a smart pitcher who isn’t going to give you much to hit and it looks like Miguel might be much the same.”

 

“Too bad Mayfield can’t use Nolan’s bat,” Paul said. 

 

“I received some news regarding that. And since you’re a man of the law, I think you can keep confidences.”

 

“It’s part of my job. Why, what do you have to tell me?”

 

“I found this out when I was having a conversation with Robert Perez, the tournament director. It was something he let slip and he swore me to silence when he realized what he had done.”

 

“Then how can you tell me?”

 

“Because I asked for his okay to tell two people. One was Phil, who’s been told. The other was you. I told him that yes, you are a parent, but you also are a sitting judge in Lewis County Superior Court and I thought you could keep this to yourself,” Larry replied.

 

“Quit babbling like a lawyer and tell me what’s going on.”

 

“In a vote taken after the tournament rule book was put together, the committee discussed changing a rule for the championship game and IF game, if there was an IF game. Long story short the two pickup players would be allowed to play any position in those games as a starter or substitute. It was agreed that by that time the teams would be close to exhaustion and having fresh blood in the field would be good for everybody and make for a better played championship series. They also agreed that the committee would have to vote unanimously for the change in order for it to take effect. They did and it will.”

 

“That’s good news,” Paul said. “It will not only provide that fresh blood, as you said, but it will boost morale. From talking to Nolan I know that on the Yard Goats, at least, the players have been accepted as teammates, and even more importantly, as friends. Do you know when they plan on announcing this little surprise?”

 

“Right after the last ten o’clock game. The tournament will be down to five teams, with three moving on to play on Sunday. Robert said that this would give the remaining coaches a chance to adjust their lineups, pitching, whatever, in response to the news.”

 

The two men turned their attention to the field in time to see Cal deliver a called strike to right fielder Lucas Willis to start the second inning. “I like Cal,” Larry said. “He’s a sneaky pitcher.”

 

Larry’s comment was followed by a pitch that Lucas fouled back. Two pitches later Lucas hit a one-bouncer to Gordy at short, who fired a strike to Trent for an easy out. A routine fly ball to left followed by Cal’s first strikeout ended another quick 1-2-3 half-inning.

 

Miquel took care of business just as quickly. He struck out Muddy on a changeup.  Scott sent Bryan back a few steps to catch his fly to center. Miles ended the inning by striking out on a wicked curve.

 

“That Miquel looks pretty sneaky, too,” Paul said.

 

Phil and Arnie, Mac’s father, took the seats next to Larry. They had been sitting on the first base side to get a feel of what the Huntington Beach parents had to say.

 

“They seem like a nice group of parents,” Phil said after Larry asked him what he had learned. “They had a lot of positive things to say about Dallas and how he handles the team, especially for a young man without any head coaching experience.”

 

Cal threw another 1-2-3 inning. The first out was a first pitch grounder to Aiden by Greg the shortstop. That was followed by a grounder to short and a pop-up to Scott at third. Cal had thrown only 23 pitches in the first three innings.

 

After leaving his glove on the end of the bench and putting on a helmet, Cal went to the on-deck circle to take a few swings. He was slated to lead off the inning.

 

“Come on Cal, make your first at bat as a Goat a big base hit,” Aiden shouted.

 

Cal grinned, nodded, took Miguel’s first pitch for a ball and then rifled the next pitch between the third baseman and the shortstop to become the first baserunner of the game. The Mayfield bench went crazy as Cal rounded first and looked to second but stopped when he saw the throw come in from the left fielder. The Goats had grown to love Cal with his sunny attitude and engaging smile. 

 

The ecstasy didn’t last long, however, as Mac grounded a 1-2 pitch into a 6-4-3 double play. Riley fouled out to the catcher to end what had started as a promising inning.

 

Nobody paid much attention to the two young men who entered the sports park after paying their admission. They were big, athletic looking men, which was not unusual to see at tournament games as they came to root for little brothers, cousins, neighbors, or for the program they had played for when they were playing youth baseball. One of them was wearing a Mayfield Yard Goats hat and the other wore a San Diego Force hat.

 

“I’ll catch you after the games,” Marty said to Wade. Wade nodded and went over to Field 1 to watch his brother Tim play for the Force. The scoreboard indicated that the Force led the Bonita Eagles 5-2 in the top of the third. Marty turned the opposite way and walked over to Field 2 to watch the Mayfield Yard Goats. He was surprised to see a 0-0 score in the top of the fourth. He knew that pitching duels were rare in tournament games, especially in the later rounds.

 

He saw Larry and Phil sitting with two men he assumed to be fathers of players and knew who he was going to sit with. Larry saw Marty first and grinned when he saw his former All-State player. Everybody shifted positions to give Marty room to sit.

 

“Anybody asks, I’m a Mayfield alum named Bill or Bob or something,” Marty chuckled as he sat down. “Or even Billy Bob, so I sound like a country hick, which apparently is what everybody thinks we are.”

 

“I don’t have to ask, because I know who you are,” Paul said. “But, don’t worry, your secret is safe with me.”

 

“And the same goes for me,” Arnie Dixon said.

 

“Am I that obvious?” Marty asked.

 

“Only if you’re expected,” Larry said. He formally introduced Marty to Paul and Arnie, telling Marty he could trust them totally.

 

A few seats away, Darren Foster turned to his wife and said, “The guy who just sat down over there looks familiar.” The Fosters were Grant’s parents.

 

The umpire called out, “Play,” to signal the start of the fourth inning. After Bryan, the Huntington Beach leadoff man, flied out to left, Cal allowed his first baserunner with a 3-1 walk to Nigel. Doug, the DH, then hit a hard grounder to Gordy’s left that looked for sure like it was going to get through the infield for a base hit. But Gordy made an amazing diving stop and tossed the ball to Aiden covering second for the force. Aiden turned to throw to first but stopped his motion when he saw he didn’t have a chance of throwing out Doug. Thanks to Gordy’s great play, however, the Wave now had a runner on first with two outs instead of two runners on base with only one out.

 

Larry, Phil, Paul, Arnie and Marty were all applauding Gordy’s play at short. “Now that was a Major League caliber play, guys,” Marty commented. “Way to go, Gordy!” he hollered. “Beautiful play!”

 

Lucas, the Wave cleanup hitter, was up. Cal once again fell behind and the count was quickly 3-0. Figuring the hitter would be getting a take sign from the third-base coach, Eric signaled for Mac to call a fastball. Mac called for a fastball down the middle, which Cal threw at the knees. They guessed right and the count was now 3-1. The next pitch was one of Cal’s best fastballs on the outside corner which Lucas took for a strike. The next pitch was another hard fastball which Lucas barely got a piece of and fouled it up the third base line. With the count full, Mac called for a changeup. Cal proceeded to throw his new, improved change, which had Lucas swinging way ahead of the pitch for the third out.

 

“Good call, Mac,” Cal said as he and his catcher walked off the field. “Those dudes at the clinic knew what they were talking about.”

 

“Yeah, well, that was a wicked change up. It helped that a certain pitcher was all manic about getting that pitch down,” Mac grinned as they entered the dugout.

 

Coach Hallion came over to the battery mates and put his arm around Cal’s shoulder. “Fantastic job, Cal, but like we discussed before the game, if I am going to be able to use you tomorrow, I can’t let you go over the pitch limit and you’re just short of that limit. Riley is getting ready to warm up.”

 

“But coach, Cal has a no-hitter going,” Mac objected.

 

“But the team goal is to advance as far as we can in the tournament.”

 

“Coach is right,” Cal said. “Count me in to do whatever it takes to win this sucker, even if that means that next inning I’ll be rooting for Riley to keep putting the zeroes up.”

 

Nobody was surprised when a new pitcher came out to pitch the fourth inning for the Wave, even though Miguel had faced the minimum nine batters through the first three innings. The players and the fans were getting used to how the system worked in tournament play. The new pitcher was Rich Parker, who replaced Marcus, the left fielder, in the lineup. Miguel moved to right field and Lucas, the right fielder, was moved to left.

 

In a regular season game Coach Hallion would have stayed with Cal and his no-hitter and Dallas would have stayed with Miguel, who had allowed one baserunner that had been erased by a double play. Both pitchers had been outstanding. But tournament baseball required an entirely different philosophy. The coaches knew they would have to play five more games in two days to keep their slim chance of winning the tournament alive.

 

As the Goats went through their pre-inning warmups and Riley took the mound to take his eight warmup pitches, Coach Hallion went to the plate umpire who was standing off to the side of the plate. “Johnson for Loggins in the seven hole,” he informed the ump. The umpire wrote the change on his scorecard and then let the team scorekeepers know as well as the volunteer sitting behind home plate in the top row of the bleachers who was the official scorekeeper. Mason would be playing right field, Lance was shifted from right field to center, and Riley would go from center to the pitching mound. The coach did not have to give the umpire the position changes, only the lineup changes.

 

Gordy led off the bottom of the fourth on a somewhat controversial call, at least as far as some vocal parents were concerned. On a 1-1 pitch Rich threw a breaking ball that broke in the dirt. Gordy barely started his swing and checked it while at the same time the ball bounced up and hit his shin. The umpire held up both hands and called out “Dead ball!”. He then awarded Gordy first on the hit by pitch.

 

That set up a firestorm on the Wave’s side of the plate as a dad with a foghorn voice yelled out, “Hey, ump, the ball hit the dirt first! No way he gets first!”

 

Ryan, the plate umpire, ignored him and, after checking it, threw the ball back to the pitcher. Aiden took his place in the batter’s box.

 

“Hey, ump, I’m talking to you! Ball hit the dirt, it’s a dead ball and no bleeping way he gets first,” the dad continued.

 

“I knew umps were blind, but I thought they at least knew the simplest rules,” the man sitting next to the dad said. He was a neighbor and friend of the family.

 

“If we had a coach who knew anything about the rules, he’d be out there arguing right now,” the first dad, whose name was Roy Fredericks, bellowed. Roy was not a supporter of Dallas and sat away from the bulk of the parents. For reasons Roy couldn’t comprehend, most of the parents loved Dallas and were very supportive of the job he was doing with their sons.

 

Dallas quickly headed out to the field. In the dugout, George Fredericks was turning red with embarrassment at his father’s antics. It was not the first time his dad had yelled at an umpire, but he was taking it to a new level on this one.

 

Dallas approached the plate umpire who braced himself for a stupid argument from the coach. Instead, Dallas said, “That was the right call, Ryan. I’ll try to shut the idiot up.”

 

“If he doesn’t shut up right away, I’m tossing him,” Ryan Herzog said, happy that the Wave coach had a clue about the rules.

 

Dallas walked up to the chain link screen separating the field from the bleachers. Roy had hassled umpires before, and Dallas had had more than one discussion with him on the subject. But this was the first time he had taken his hazing to the level that was being threatened with ejection.

 

“Roy, the call was the right call. So, cool it or the umpire will be ejecting you from the ballpark,” Dallas said sternly.

 

“He can’t eject me, he doesn’t have the power to do that,” Roy barked back.

 

“He can and he will,” Dallas assured Roy. He then turned around and headed for the Wave’s dugout. The situation was now in the hands of the umpires.

 

“I guess all of the parents aren’t as nice as the ones I talked to,” Phil noted.

 

“I think there’s a reason that Roy dude is sitting away from most the fans,” Larry said. “I doubt there is much love lost between him and those parents you met and talked to.”

 

“Does the umpire have the authority to toss spectators?” Paul asked.

 

“You better believe he does,” Larry replied. “It’s rare, but I’ve seen it happen. And I’ll tell you this, I’ve never trusted a parent who sits apart from the crowd. More often than not they’re the ones who cause problems.”

 

“But there are also those who like to sit in the crowd and impress everyone with their ‘knowledge’ of the game,” Phil pointed out.

 

“What if things get physical?” Arnie asked.

 

“Well, I happen to know that here at the tournament there is always a county sheriff on the grounds who is in plainclothes and is here as a volunteer,” Larry said.

 

Paul pointed to the field. “I believe we had a game break out down on the field.”

 

The adults turned their attention to the field where Aiden had just taken ball one. Before the next pitch, Coach Hallion flashed the steal sign. Aiden had the option to swing but decided to take the pitch to give Gordy a chance to steal second. It was a good call by Aiden. Rich’s pitch was way outside and Adam, the catcher, had to reach for it. He got the throw off but didn’t get a lot on it and Gordy stole the base easily.

 

Aiden then fouled off the next pitch to make the count 2-1. Rich then overthrew a fastball that sailed over Adam’s head and to the backstop for a wild pitch. Gordy went to third standing up. The Goats now had a runner on third with no outs.

 

“Hey, Roy, that ball ended up hitting the ground when it came off the backstop, so isn’t it a dead ball?” Fritz asked his friend.

 

“No, it’s only dead if it hits the batter after it hits the ground,” Roy answered, knowing his answer was bullshit. But he couldn’t think of a better one. Fritz was beginning to think his friend might not be the rules expert he made himself out to be, which happened to be the case.

 

Aiden now had a 3-1 count. He could hear the East Harbor contingent yell, “Go! Go! Goats!” as he waited for the pitcher to throw. He received the fat fastball he had been hoping for and took a perfect swing and hit the ball hard into the left-center gap. Neither the left fielder nor the center fielder could get to it. Gordy crossed the plate and Aiden ended up with an RBI triple. The Goats had broken the scoring ice and had a 1-0 lead.

 

Marty, Larry, Phil, Paul, and Arnie, along with the rest of the Mayfield contingent, were up on their feet cheering loudly. The Goats once again had a runner on third with no outs. Trent took care of that with a deep fly to center which was caught on the run by Bryan. Aiden tagged up and scored and the Goats now had a 2-0 lead.

 

Dallas went out to the mound for a visit to settle down his pitcher who had obviously been shaken up by the bruhaha involving Roy and the umpire. “Take some deep breaths and calm down, kiddo. You’ll be just fine. Nobody on base. Keep it that way and limit the damage. We have plenty of time to come back from two runs down.”

 

Rich took his coach’s advice and took a deep breath. Once the umpire called out “play” Rich went to work with a new purpose. He struck out Muddy and got Scott to ground out to third on a sinking fastball.

 

Riley was now the pitcher for the Goats. After striking out Bryce, the Wave’s number five hitter, he gave up a single to Adam. It was the first base hit of the game for the Wave. But they couldn’t take advantage of it. After a pop fly to the left fielder and a line shot caught by the first baseman the top of the fifth ended with the score still 2-0.

 

Rich was completely in charge in the bottom of the inning, pitching like the pitcher the Wave had been used to seeing. He struck out Miles and Mason for the first two outs. Mac ended the inning with a long fly ball that backed Lucas to the left field fence which he caught for the third out.

 

Grant took the mound for the Goats in the top of the sixth. The cheers from his mother and father in the bleachers were extra loud. Grant went into the six spot in the lineup, replacing Miles. Riley returned to center field and Lance was moved from center to left, replacing Miles in the field.

 

Roy’s son, George, came to the plate as a pinch-hitter for Rich. George lofted a towering high fly ball to left, which Lance lost in the sun even though he was wearing sunglasses. When he finally picked up the ball he made a run for it, but the ball bounced off his glove and onto the ground for a two-base error.

 

“Shake it off Lance, I’ll get us out of it,” Grant called out to his boyfriend who was doing his best not to hang his head. Bryan, the Wave leadoff batter, then grounded out to Gordy at shortstop and George had to stay at second. Nigel then picked up George with a line shot that fell in front of Mason who almost made a great diving catch. Even though he couldn’t make the catch, he kept his composure and blocked the ball with his body, keeping Nigel from taking an extra base on the play. But he couldn’t make a play on George who scored the Wave’s first run, cutting the Mayfield lead to 2-1.

 

Grant mentally kicked himself for giving up the hit. He wanted badly to have Lance’s back after the error, but it wasn’t to be. He complimented Mason on his good hustle in the field and got ready to face Doug, the DH. What happened next was a complete turnaround from the way the inning had been playing out. Doug grounded an 0-2 pitch to the right side of the infield and to the right of Trent at first. Trent was able to field the ball and quickly fired the ball to Gordy at second. What happened next was one of the toughest infield plays in baseball, but one Coach Hallion and Kevin (along with Larry in a couple of practices) had worked on in pitcher’s fielding practice (PFP). And in the top of the sixth inning in a crucial and close game in Southern California, the practice on this play paid off.

 

As Trent went to his right to field the grounder, Grant took his route to first as pitchers were supposed to do on a ball hit to the right side of the infield. When Gordy caught Trent’s throw for the force at second, he saw Grant approaching first ahead of Doug and his eyes lit up. Gordy fired the ball to Grant who kept his right foot anchored to the base as he caught the ball for the double play. The Goats had completed a tough to execute 3-6-1 (first to short to pitcher) double play ending the inning. The Mayfield fans went nuts, especially Larry, Phil, and Marty, who knew how tough that play was to execute. As they came off the field, Trent and Gordy traded high fives with Grant—it was his alert covering of first that allowed the double play to be executed. The Goats led 2-1 going into the bottom of the sixth.

 

Russell Livingston, who was called “Doc” by his teammates, came in to pitch the bottom of the sixth. He struck out Skip, who was pinch-hitting for Riley, for the first out. Gordy then ripped a shot past the shortstop into left field for a single. Aiden followed that with a single of his own and the Goats had a threat going. An insurance run would look good here.

 

Trent then hit an opposite field fly ball to deep right. George made the catch and threw the ball to the relay man. Gordy had tagged up at second and broke for third on Coach Hallion’s signal. He slid in just ahead of the throw from the relay man. The Goats had a runner on third with two outs.

 

Muddy, who had struck out his first two at bats, tightened up his swing some and laced a single to left, scoring Gordy with the much-appreciated insurance run. The score was now 3-1 with Muddy on first and Aiden on second. The inning ended when Scott hit a grounder to Grady at short. Grady went the short way, throwing the ball to second to force Muddy for the third out.

 

Coach Hallion brought in Max, the team’s closer, to hold the two-run lead and finish the game. The inning got off to a good start when Max struck out Lucas, the Wave cleanup hitter. But trouble began when Aiden let an easy grounder off the bat of Bryce to go through his legs for an error.

 

“The kids look tired out there,” Paul said after the error.

 

“It’s because they are tired,” Larry agreed. “Aiden is usually Mr. Automatic on plays like that.” ‘And I hope he’s able to shake it off.’ he thought.

 

“And if they hold the lead and win, there’s another game waiting for them,” Arnie reminded them.

 

“Let’s take it a batter at a time right now,” Larry advised. “It’s time to give Max some vocal support. One thing about him is James has done a good job of saving him, and he’s coming into the inning fresh. So, it’s up to us to help give him a boost.” The adults could hear the Goats talking it up on the field and in the dugout to support their closer. The team was tired, but not dead.

 

Adam was the next batter. He took the first two pitches for balls. The Wave’s threat went up a notch when Bryce stole second on the 2-0 pitch. Max then fed Adam a fat pitch that he slammed up the third base line for an RBI double. The Wave was now a run down with the tying run on second base and only one out. Mac asked for time and headed out to the mound. He told Max to throw strikes and let his defense take care of the rest. Despite their two errors in the last two innings, Mac was certain that the Goats’ defense was as good or better than the other defenses in the tournament. During the time out Dallas brought Avery into the game to pinch run for Adam.

 

Max nodded and got set after Mac took his position behind the plate. Max could feel the pressure of the situation and took a deep breath. This wasn’t the first time he’d been in a tight spot in the seventh inning; he was the closer, after all, and it came with the territory. His first two pitches to Greg barely missed, and he found himself down 2-0 in the count. He was way off the mark on the next pitch and hit Greg on his left shoulder. Greg headed for first. The Wave now had the go-ahead run on first.

 

That brought up Grady. Max settled down and threw two quick strikes before throwing a waste pitch inside to make the count 1-2. The next pitch was a breaking ball on the outside corner that Grady got a piece of, lofting a high pop-up that Gordy could see was going to go over his head. He went out to short left center in an attempt to catch it and Lance ran in from left field. The ball landed between the two. Lance picked up it up and saw that Avery was rounding third, ready to head home with the tying run. Lance fired a perfect throw to Mac at home. Seeing that the catcher had the ball, Avery scrambled back to third, barely beating Mac’s throw to Scott.

 

The Wave now had the bases loaded with one out. George came to the plate in what was without a doubt the biggest at bat of his young life. Roy was screaming like mad for the Wave to score. Cheering for his son was way more fun than screaming at the umpires or the coach.

 

“Come on Georgie, get the big hit! You can do it!” Roy shouted. George hated being called Georgie, but he couldn’t hear it this time because of all the noise being created.

 

What happened in George’s at bat was going to be a big topic for the rest of the day and into Sunday. The tension was building for both teams and James came out to the mound to make sure his fielders knew what was expected.

 

“This has been a rough couple of innings,” Marty said. “Both runs against us are unearned and now a friggen bloop hit loads the bases.”

 

“Yep, but in the end unearned runs count as much as earned runs,” Larry pointed out.

 

“Something you always enjoyed telling us back in the day,” Marty grinned.  “Bases loaded, one out. This is as tough as it gets.”

 

“No matter what, let’s hope we come through here or in the bottom of the inning if the Wave ties it. Our pitching staff certainly doesn’t need to pitch extra innings,” Phil said.

 

“Not at all.” Marty stood up and yelled out, “GO GOATS!” 

 

James returned to the dugout and George readied himself for the Max’s first pitch. It came in over the plate, but low, for ball one. George then fouled a breaking ball back to the screen to make the count 1-1. The noise from the stands, from the dugouts, and from the Goat fielders was a steady din. A fastball outside and a fastball up in the zone that George swung and missed, evened the count at 2-2. Max then threw the hardest fastball of his outing, but it was shoulder high for ball three.

 

“That’s about as far as you can go!” Marty screamed over the roar of the crowd. “Bases jammed - full count!” He and Larry exchanged high-fives. “GO GOATS!”

 

Then came the swing that everybody would be talking about for a long time. The pitch was a sinking fastball that looked like might catch the bottom of the strike zone. George chopped at it and hit the ball down at the plate. The ball struck the plate and bounced straight up in the air. George could hear Dallas yell at him to run but thought that since the ball hit the plate it was foul. He did notice that Avery, the runner on third, had broken for home.

 

Mac jumped to his feet, stood on the plate, and caught the ball as it came down. The plate umpire immediately pointed fair, meaning the ball was a fair ball, and called Avery out. George gave the umpire a ‘WTF is going on look’ as Dallas once again screamed for him to run. It was then that George realized the umpire had never called the ball foul. He turned and broke for first, but Mac was able to tag him for the second out of the play and the third out of the inning.

 

Mac had remembered the adage that had been drilled into him since he started playing ball which was to always complete the play and let the umpire make the call. He also had drilled into him that if the ball was foul the umpire threw up his hands and called “Foul ball,” but pointed fair and said nothing if it was a fair ball. As a result of his staying aware in a confusing situation, Mac had just completed an unassisted double play. The game was over, and the Goats had a hard fought 3-2 win. Or so they thought.

 

Roy and others on the Wave were screaming that the ball had hit the plate and was foul. Dallas, who wasn’t quite sure of what had ensued at the plate  came down to ask the umpire what had just happened. The players on the field weren’t sure whether or not to shake hands, so they just stood and watched the goings on at the plate until they learned whether or not the game was over.

 

“What just happened, Ryan?” Dallas asked the plate umpire. James came over to listen in. He wasn’t certain what had happened either.

 

“Well, coach, the ball was chopped off the plate and shot up into the air. The plate is in fair territory. The Mayfield catcher was standing on the plate when he caught the ball as it came down. It was a fair ball, and I emphatically pointed fair. Since the catcher was standing on the plate holding the ball in a bases loaded situation, we had a force play that forced the runner at the plate. The batter-runner apparently didn’t realize the ball was fair and hesitated before breaking for first. The catcher was able to get a tag on him and that completed a double play ending the game.”

 

Dallas looked at the umpire and said, “That’s what I was afraid you’d say. But I will say this:  this may have been the most bizarre ending to a game I have ever seen.”

 

“Coach, I think I have to say the same thing,” Ryan grinned.

 

“It was a great call, but it sure was one hell of a way to get bounced out of the tournament.” Dallas faced the field. “Okay, guys, the game’s over. Shake hands and we’ll meet in the central area as soon as you clear the dugout.”

 

“But what happened coach?” George asked. He knew he had screwed up by assuming the ball was foul when the call had never been made. In the excitement of the moment, he had forgotten about the adage to finish up a play until the umpire makes a call that says otherwise.

 

“I’ll explain it when we meet,” Dallas said.

 

Dallas was crushed by the sudden and strange ending of the game and knew he had to put up a positive front for the meeting. After all, his players had played their hearts out over seven innings of what was a great youth baseball game. Unlike most of his peers he respected the Mayfield baseball team. His hometown had a great baseball program and were never to be taken lightly. And that was the big thing that took away some of his depression over the loss. His players hadn’t taken Mayfield lightly—they got beat by a good team that played a great game. He hated to lose, but losing to a team he respected took away some of the pain.

 

Coach Hallion was huddled with his team on the other side of the field. He congratulated them on playing a gutsy game to beat an outstanding team in a nose-to-nose battle.

 

“Coach, did we win that on a fluke play?” Cal asked.

 

“That was no fluke,” James answered. “Max made a heck of a pitch in a tough situation and Mac, knowing it was probably fair, gets credit for an unassisted double play and the team gets credit for two outs and a big win. Nothing fluky about it. Hard work and smart baseball got a win.”

 

“And it sure was fun,” Nolan said. A chorus of cheers from his teammates followed.

 

The Goats watched the Wave leave the field for the last time in the tournament and as a team, since like most of the teams in the Brawl, their season ended with the tournament.

 

“Tough way to lose. I feel sorry for them when at the same time I don’t,” Mac said. “Anyway, who do we play?”

 

“The score’s tied six-six going into the bottom of the seventh,” came a voice from behind the scrum. Heads turned and the players saw it belonged to Kevin. “San Atone is the home team.”

 

“Then let’s get the next game set up and maybe we might get a chance to watch an extra inning or three,” Coach Hallion said. “There’s no game coming up on this field, so park your butts in the outfield and I’ll give you the starting lineup and any other info you might need. Oh, and I have it on good authority that sandwiches, cookies, and juice are on the way. We’ll eat at the picnic area.”

 

The team picked out places to sit on the grass and Coach Hallion gave them the starters. Nobody was surprised that Scott would be the starter. He was the only one of the five pitchers everyone considered to be the starters who hadn’t pitched yet.

 

The outfield lineup was juggled from the Huntington Beach game. Mason would be starting in right field but wouldn’t be batting and Miles would be starting in left. Lenny would be the starting catcher, giving Mac some rest since he would be starting the six o’clock game if the Goats beat San Antonio. A big surprise was that Muddy would be starting at first base and Trent would be the DH. Muddy had played first on a limited basis during the season. He knew the basics of the position and was sure handed. But he wasn’t nearly as agile as Trent or Max. When it came to making non-routine plays, he wasn’t as adept at getting to wide throws or digging throws out of the dirt. Still, it was a good call by James. And if the game was close down the stretch, he could always drop the DH position and move Trent to first for defensive purposes. Another surprise change was Lance starting at third base. He had started a few games there for the Titan JV team but not for the Goats. He did reps at the position during practices, however.

 

“Okay, let’s move our stuff to Field 4 and take a look at what’s happening on Field 3,” Coach Hallion said. “It’s ten to twelve and our game starts at one. We won’t be taking infield, so figure to be ready to warm up your arms at twenty to one. Now, let’s go get lunch.”

 

Marty caught Aiden’s attention and pointed to a place in the bleachers where they could sit and talk. “I’ll be quick, bro,” Marty said. “Nice game and that ending was sick.”

 

“For sure, but it worked,” Aiden grinned, happy to be sitting with his big bro and mentor, Marty Carlson.  

 

“So, what’s bugging you?” From the texts he had received from Aiden, Marty had a pretty good idea what was on his little bro’s mind, but he knew he had to ask.

 

“The Torrance game. I sucked and I sucked even before the game started because, well, because I was scared because everybody kept talking about how good the California teams were. Plus, they were a bunch of assholes saying shit all the time. I couldn’t get anywhere near my zone.”

 

“And you let everybody and the assholes all get into you head rent free and take it over, right?”

 

“Yeah. And I thought this was why people like to drink because they were scared like I was when I was eight and started drinking shit.”

 

“Well, all I can say in a short meeting is to turn it all over to your higher power and let him know what you’re grateful about. Tell me one thing you’re grateful about first.”

 

“That the Goats are still in the tournament. We haven’t been knocked out yet.”

 

“And I know you’ve been hitting great and doing a good job at second.”

 

“I booted an easy play, though.”

 

“Welcome to the club. Get your butt down where it belongs and watch the ball. You kicked an easy one away, and you learn from it. Now you gotta go get to lunch and get ready for your game.”

 

“I love you, bro,” Aiden said with quiet sincerity. “I hope the Mariners kick ass tonight.”

 

“I love you, too, and I hope the Yard Goats kick ass two more times today.”

 

Marty gave Aiden a big hug and a kiss on the forehead and left to meet Wade. Aiden took off to join his teammates, feeling better about himself because he had talked to Marty. The chat felt like more than enough to raise his already rising spirits even higher.

 

On the way to the picnic area, Eric and Kevin saw Dallas talking to Larry. Eric shook Dallas’s hand. “Tough loss, coach. Your team played a great game.”

 

“They got beat by a great team,” Dallas said. “And let me tell you, outside of the Force, your team is the best coached team in the tournament, which is a big reason you guys are still playing. Oh, that and those little imps you’re coaching have some giant hearts. Not a lot of kids would recover from that ass kicking Torrance put on them the way your guys did.

 

“I’d better get with my team and get them on the bus home. They wanted a player’s only so they could cry on each other in private. I’ll have a quickie meeting to make sure we end on a positive note.

 

“If you guys win this game coming up,” Dallas went on, “I plan on watching you play at six. I may bring a few of my players with me. It’s their call. I can handle six of them in my van.” Because Huntington Beach was only a little over an hour drive away, the teams had stayed home rather than at a hotel, which hadn’t been Dallas’s call. His feeling was that staying together during a tournament was a great learning experience, but the sponsors disagreed. While they were willing to pay generously for food, they wouldn’t pay for lodging.

 

Just as Dallas turned to leave, Miguel and Russell, two of his pitchers, and Bryce, the team captain, walked up. “We’re ready to load the bus coach,” Bryce said. Bryce recognized the three Mayfield coaches. “Good game, coaches. I hope you guys go all the way.”

 

“Thank you, son,” James said. 

 

“That big hunk in the Mayfield shirt standing behind them is the head high school coach at Mayfield High. He was the coach when I was there,” Dallas told them.

 

“Great to meet you, coach,” Bryce said. “We all think Coach Baker is the best, and I bet he learned a lot of his stuff from you.”

 

Dallas put his hand on Eric’s shoulder and grinned. “This is Coach Simmons, and this young man played his high school ball for Coach Sanders. He pitched a game that became an instant legend in Washington State.”

 

“Oh? What did he do?” Miguel asked.

 

Eric used to shuffle his feet in embarrassment when the game came up, but a lot less was being said about it now and he was used to it. “To make a long story short, he pitched a perfect game in the State Championship game.”

 

“No shit?” Russell gasped. He turned an instant red and quickly said, “Oh, sorry coaches.”

 

“You’re forgiven,” Dallas grinned. “The Mayfield coaches are good guys.”

 

“And so are their players,” Bryce said. “Some of the best guys we played all year. But, back to Coach Simmons. For real, you, like pitched a totally perfect game?”

 

“Yes, I did. And Coach Corcoran over there was my catcher, not to mention one of my best friends,” Eric said.

 

“I keep getting more and more impressed by Mayfield. And fu…er, nuts to all those teams who think they’re just a bunch of sucky little kids. You guys are ballplayers, and it sounds like you’ve been for a long time.” Bryce turned to Dallas. “Coach, I don’t know about Miguel and Russell, but I want to come to the evening game with you if these Goats are playing.”

 

Russell looked at Miguel who nodded. The two had been best friends since first grade and could almost read each other’s minds. “We want to come, too. Damn, a state championship won on a perfect game. That’s so radical—you guys rock. If we’re going to get knocked out of the tournament, I’m glad it to, like, a team like Mayfield and not those assholes from Torrance. Oh, no offense coaches,” Russell said a big insincerely.

 

“Oh, could you guys tell us one thing before we go?” Bryce asked.

 

“What’s that?” Eric responded.

 

“What is a Yard Goat?”

 

“As the players like to say, google it,” Eric grinned.

 

On that note, the Wave contingent turned and hustled off to meet the rest of their team.

 

Instead of sitting at the picnic tables, the Goat players grabbed their sandwiches, pocketed a couple of Alex’s cookies, and hustled over to Field 3 to watch the conclusion of the San Antonio/Chula Vista game. They saw that it was in the bottom of the eighth and Chula Vista had a 7-6 lead. They sat at the end of the bleachers on the first base side. They weren’t sure who to root for but figured they’d rather play a team from Texas than a California team. Coach Hallion and Kevin sat in the front row of the bleachers. Eric sat with Larry at the picnic area where they guarded the players’ equipment bags.

 

As the players took their places in the bleachers, the Chula Vista pitcher finished his warmups, and the San Antonio batter took his place in the batter’s box. Since this was an extra inning, the Stallions had a “ghost runner” at second base. The professional rule book allowed a team to put the last out of the previous inning at second at the start of its offensive half inning.

 

It didn’t take long for the game to be decided. Roberto, the first Stallion batter, doubled in the “ghost runner” to tie the score. Davey, the next hitter, singled Roberto in and just like that the game was over. The Stallion players hugged and jumped up and down as winning teams in close games tended to do, then quickly went to meet their coaches and get lunch.

 

Coach Hallion and Kevin took off for the Admin building where there would be a meeting for the coaches of the five teams that were still in the tournament. Eric stayed behind to keep watch on the team’s equipment and supervise the team, not that they needed much supervision.

 

Along with Coach Hallion, the coaches of Torrance, San Antonio, San Marcos, and Surrey attended the meeting. None of them had any idea of what the meeting was about. But all five of them were ecstatic to learn about the rule change regarding the use of the pickup pitchers in the championship series.

 

“That was a meeting you guys didn’t even need to attend,” Frank Parker, the Torrance coach said to James and Kevin on their way out of the building. “Even you gotta admit you’re lucky to get this far, and playing tomorrow? Forget it, no way you’ll win one more game let alone two.”

 

Kevin was about to open his mouth in rebuttal, but James squeezed his shoulder and Kevin got the message. KMS-Keep Mouth Shut, was the watch word.

 

“I soooooo wanted to tell that asshole what I thought of him and his team,” Kevin griped after they were out of the building and out of hearing range.

 

“We don’t want to add fuel to the Torrance fire,” James said.

 

“You’re right coach, but the guy really pisses me off.”

 

“I feel the same, but we’re not the ones who should put him in his place.”

 

“Yep, it’ll be up to those Goats who swing the bats and throw the balls. But we gotta get to where we can play them first.”

 

“It won’t be easy, but it can be done. But I can tell you this—you can see why Parker’s players seem to have a total lack of sportsmanship. Now, let’s hustle over to Field 4 and help Eric and Larry get our guys ready for the game.”

 

Kevin was ready to hear James say “shitty attitude” but that didn’t happen. He wondered if James Hallion had ever cussed in his life.

 

A man came up behind them. It was Coach Shelby Malone of the Mounties. “Coach Hallion, I must say I admire the self-control of you and your assistant. I was ready to punch him in the nose, and he wasn’t even talking to me. Since we’re playing him, I have a feeling that he was talking to both of us, eh. Anyway, you have a good group of boys. Best of luck to you and I hope we meet on the field tomorrow.”

 

“Thanks, Shelby. The feeling is mutual. Our players have become good friends. Good luck in shutting the Torrance mouths,” James said.

 

“We’ll do our best.”

 

The coaches arrived as the players were playing catch to warm up their arms. Eric had just called Scott and Lenny over to tell them they would be going to the bullpen as soon as Coach Hallion and Coach Corcoran arrived. Since they had just stepped on the field, he simply told them to get ready for their pitching warmups.

 

Kevin told Eric and Larry about the remarks of the Torrance coach. Larry shook his head and said, “He’s the worst I’ve ever seen in all my years of coaching, and it’s not even close.”

 

Scott threw with his easy, confident motion as he warmed up as a pitcher for the first time in the tournament. Eric liked the way the teen threw and felt he would be a solid high school pitcher next season.

 

When the home plate meeting time arrived, plate umpire Marco Griffin went through the introductions and the ground rules. He learned from Coach Gagne, the San Antonio coach, that San Antonio was 100 miles farther away from San Marcos than Mayfield was. James didn’t dispute him because he had looked it up that morning.

 

Greg Richardson, the Stallion captain, called the flip. It was the first time in the tournament that Mayfield didn’t have the call. He called tails and the coin came up heads. Since Scott was the starting pitcher, he didn’t attend the meeting. Trent, who had come out with Coach Hallion, his coach and dad, deferred the choice of at bat to his dad, who took the hammer.

 

The Stallions drew first blood. Nelson, their leadoff hitter, singled. After Morgan, the pitcher, flied out to center, Benjie, the Stallion catcher, doubled home Nelson. Scott then got a strike out and a grounder to short to limit the damage to one run. His smooth, easy delivery continued to impress Eric.

 

The Goats quickly answered the Stallion’s run. Gordy drew a leadoff walk on a 3-1 count and stole second on the first pitch to Aiden. The pitch was a ball and Aiden ended up walking on four pitches.

 

“It looks like San Antonio may have run out of pitching,” Paul observed.

 

“Don’t be too quick to judge, Judge,” Larry grinned. “I’ve too often seen a pitcher get off to a start like that and suddenly find the strike zone and become unhittable. And here comes the Stallion coach to see if he can make that happen here.”

 

Except that Morgan finally threw two strikes in a row, Coach Gagne’s visit didn’t appear to have much of an effect on his pitcher. After going 0-2 on Trent, Morgan came in with a fat pitch. A fat pitch on an 0-2 count is one of the worst sins a pitcher can make, and he made it. Trent made him pay for it by hitting the ball to the outfield fence for a stand-up, RBI double as he knocked in Gordy. Aiden made an aggressive turn at third and was ready to head home when he saw that Coach Hallion had both hands up. He came to an abrupt stop. The Stallions had done a great job of getting the ball back into the infield quickly.

 

Muddy then singled to knock in Aiden and give the Goats a 2-1 lead. A walk to Lenny loaded the bases with nobody out.  Scott hit a grounder to Luis, the shortstop, who was playing in. He threw home to Benjie to force Trent for the first out. The catcher saw he wouldn’t be able to throw Scott out at first and held the ball. The Goats still had the bases loaded with Muddy, Lenny, and Scott occupying the bags with one out.

 

 Miles hit a soft grounder to Luis, the shortstop, who was once again playing in. He and Benjie, the catcher, reprised their previous play and forced Muddy at home, but once again Benjie couldn’t complete the double play. The Goats’ speed on the bases was paying dividends. They still had the bases loaded, with Lenny, Scott, and Miles now on base with two outs. 

 

“It looks like the big rally is starting to fizzle,” Paul said to Larry.

 

“Don’t be so quick to kill the rally,” Larry told him. “Look at the situation here. We have one twin at third and the other twin at home. Could there be a better scenario for a big hit than that?”

 

“Um, we have Lenny at bat and Lance on the bases, right?” Arnie asked.

 

Larry checked the scorecard he’d made out at the start of the game. “Try switching them,” Larry chuckled.

 

Two East Harbor boys who became huge fans of Lance and Lenny were twins Cooper and Connor. They quickly discovered that they had something in common with the Goat players—they were identical twins. That discovery had Cooper and Connor become big-time Yard Goat fans and the desire to find a way to meet the Mayfield twins after the game.

 

Lance worked the count to 3-1 and then laced a down-the-middle pitch over the shortstop’s head to score his twin which led to a lot of hooting and hollering and gleeful shouting by the Goats and their fans. Lenny’s run lengthened the lead to 3-1, and the Goats weren’t finished. Riley walked, forcing in Scott, to make the score 4-1. Gordy kept the line moving with a bloop single to right scoring Miles. The inning finally ended when Aiden lifted a fly to left that Nelson, the left fielder, barely got to for the third out. The Goats had a 5-1 lead at the end of the first inning.

 

Scott made quick work of the Stallions in the second inning with a strike out, a fly ball to left, and a popup to the shortstop. James was surprised when Morgan returned to the mound, and like Paul had in the first, wondered if the Texas team was running short on pitching.

 

Trent singled to open the inning. Muddy then doubled to left, but Coach Hallion held Trent at third. After Lenny struck out, Scott picked up Trent with an RBI single. Miles and Lance both grounded out and the Goats now had a 6-1 lead after two innings.

 

Scott threw another 1-2-3 inning in the third, picking up his second strikeout of the game when he struck out Morgan, the pitcher, for the third out. But when the Stallions took their places in the field, the Goats learned that Morgan was no longer the pitcher. He was now the right fielder. Pedro, who took Connor’s place in the lineup, was now the pitcher.

 

Pedro was not a hard thrower like Morgan was. He threw up a selection of junk that had the Goats flummoxed and he put together a 1-2-3 inning. After three innings, the score was still Goats 6, Stallions 1.

 

Scott came back out to pitch the fourth. Coach Hallion had the tough job of juggling the present with the future, and as much as he wanted to have Scott available to pitch the next day, he also had to win this game for the next day to mean anything.  He had discussed the pitching situation with Larry and Eric at breakfast. They agreed on a pitching plan with the understanding that even with a plan James had to meet the needs of the current game as much or more than plan for possible future games.

 

The impatient Stallions presented Scott with another low pitch inning. He gave up a two-run single and induced three infield outs. The score remained 6-1.

 

Things changed for the Goats in the bottom of the fourth. They sent eight men to the plate, scoring three runs on four hits and a walk. They now had a 9-1 lead.

 

Skip replaced Scott on the mound in the top of the fifth, which got Rita Emerson to yell out, “That’s Skip pitching! That’s my grandson, Ralphie!” intentionally mixing her pet names for him.

 

“You tell them, Rita,” Larry grinned. He had known Rita Emerson from the time he started teaching at Mayfield Middle School, where she worked as the lunchroom supervisor and he had been the JV baseball coach. She had always been a positive force in his life.

 

Skip gave up a single to Frank, who was pinch-hitting for Pedro, to start the inning. “That’s okay, Ralphie, you’ll get the rest of them!” Rita shouted.

 

Which is what happened. A diving catch by Aiden of a line drive off the bat of Zach led to the first out. Aiden leapt to his feet ready to double Frank off first, but Frank had done as he had been coached and froze on the line drive. Aiden saw that he had no play.

 

The second out came on a great play as well.  Drake, the number nine hitter, sent a sinking line drive to right field. This time Mason, who had substituted for Skip in the field, was the one to make a diving catch as he slid along the grass on his belly to snag the ball in his outstretched glove for the second out.

 

The Stallions knew they had to score a two-out run or the game would be over because of the eight-run rule. Nelson, the leadoff hitter, was not about to let that happen. He hit a hard fly to deep left field just out of the reach of Miles. Frank came around to score and Nelson slid into second with a double. The Goats’ eight-run lead was gone and the game would continue into the bottom of the fifth. Kurt came in to pinch hit and Skip struck him out to end the inning. The score was now 9-2.

 

 The Goats came up to bat in the bottom of the fifth needing only one run to end the game early, something they would love to do. It would preserve their pitching and give them all much-needed extra rest. But if the game went longer, Coach Hallion was ready to clear his bench in the top of the sixth to give a rest to his starters who were going to have to come back to start again in three-and-a-half hours.

 

Coach Gagne brought a new pitcher, Brett, in to pitch. As Larry had guessed earlier, the San Antonio coach was scraping the bottom of his pitching barrel. Brett was right down at the bottom of that barrel. He had a good fastball, poor off-speed stuff, and horrible command.

 

It didn’t take the Goats long to take care of the inevitable. Aiden led off the inning with his fourth triple in five games. It was a shot over the head of the centerfielder. Aiden turned on his speed and slid into third, easily beating the tag.

 

That brought up Trent, who was three-for-three with two doubles and three runs scored and an RBI. The first pitch from Brett was a fastball that looked like the size of a grapefruit to Trent who gave it his best swing. After the ball landed in the grass on the other side of the left field fence, Trent had added another run scored and two more RBI along with a home run to his totals. Plus, he had ended the game as the scoreboard read Mayfield 11, San Antonio 2. The eight-run rule was invoked.

 

The Goats would be playing the San Diego Force, the team many picked to win the tournament, at six. Since the Force didn’t have a one o’clock game, the players and coaches had watched the Goats beat the Stallions from the third-base bleachers. The Force was hoping to play the Goats because they liked the players, especially the players they’d had contact with. Tim Whalen was also a big part of that as he had made friends with many of the Mayfield players. Unlike their California brethren, the Force also respected the Mayfield Yard Goats as a baseball team. They had just seen an exhibition of hitting that was enough to make any team respect them: 11 runs on 13 hits, that included four doubles, a triple, and a home run. Every starter except for Miles, who walked and scored a run, had at least one hit. As the teams the Goats had   played learned, except for their game against Torrance, the Goats had hit the ball hard every game.

 

Coach Hallion felt the Force would be their toughest competition yet, even tougher than Torrance. For one thing, he knew that they had the respect of the Force, which made them more dangerous than a team who looked down at them. The Goats were not going to be able to sneak up on the Force.

 

Trent was going to be the starter. James was going to stretch his son to the maximum pitch limit since there was no way he would be pitching the next day no matter how few pitches he threw. Trent’s challenge would be to shake off the Tucson debacle and throw as hard as he could for as long as he was allowed to.

 

As Mason helped Calvin and Miles clear the Goats’ dugout, he heard a voice call his name. He turned in the direction of the voice and saw Michael in the stands. “Hey, Michael!” Mason grinned.

 

“Congrats on your win. You guys kicked some ass today,” Michael said as Connor and Cooper appeared at his side.

 

“Where are the twins?” the East Harbor twins asked as they tried to peer into the dugout.      

 

“Heading for the bus, I suppose,” Mason answered. “Me, Miles, and Cal volunteered to help clear the dugout cuz Coach gave Rusty some kind of other job to do.”

 

“What are you guys doing now?” asked Michael. “Maybe we could hang out?”

 

“We’re heading back to our hotel to get some rest and food before our game tonight,” explained Mason. He was torn between spending time with his new friends and doing what he needed to do for his friends and teammates.

 

Michael saw his dads Lars and Zach talking to Larry and Phil.

 

“Sorry to interrupt, dads, but we were wondering if there is a way for us to hang out with the Goats until their next game?” asked Michael. He used his finger to indicate the “we” meant Michael, his brothers Craig and Oliver, the twins, Alex and Jaden, Mason, Calvin, and the rest of the Yard Goats. It was a rather liberal interpretation, but he was pretty confident everyone would like the arrangement.

 

“Where will the Goats be spending their time?” asked Lars.

 

Lars directed his question to Michael, but Larry offered an answer. “We’re heading back to the hotel to rest and have a meal before the game.”

 

“Larry, do you think James would mind if they came to hang out? It would give us the chance to spend some more time to visit with Lars and Zach.”

 

Larry turned as Phil put his arm around his husband. “You know, sometimes you have really great ideas.” Turning back to the others, he added, “You guys wait here. I’ll go talk to Coach Hallion.”

 

The parents and coaches agreed that having the Mayfield and East Harbor boys spend some time bonding at the hotel would be a great way for the Goats to unwind before getting cranked up for their next game.

 

The boys got together and hung around the pool. The Goats were under strict orders to not get into the pool. “Don’t even dip your toes,” Coach Hallion admonished them.

 

Michael sought out Mason and pulled him aside, telling him he wanted to tell him something privately. The boys waved to Larry, Phil, Lars, and Zach, who were chatting and took off for the central courtyard. As they found a couple chairs to sit in, Mason wondered what Michael seemed so eager to talk about.

 

“So, what do you want to tell me?” Mason asked.

 

“Well, it’s more asking you than telling you.”

 

And that’s when Michael asked Mason if he would be interested in recording music with At the Majestic. As the idea got bounced around between the two, Mason found himself thinking music instead of baseball. He shook his head as if to clear it, realizing that he wanted what Michael was offering, but right then baseball had to be his priority.

 

But he did let Michael know in no uncertain terms that he was interested in the recording offer. Mason asked Michael to not say anything to anyone about the offer until he decided to tell them.

 

One of the most interesting groups consisted of the two sets of identical twins. Neither had had any significant contact with other twins. Connor and Cooper, the younger pair of the two, were the most excited about getting the opportunity to meet two other boys they had twinhood in common with.

 

“We never thought we’d ever get to meet some other twins,” Cooper said excitedly. “And then in the game I thought Lenny was Lance but Jaden said that wasn’t Lance I was cheering for, it was Lenny…”

 

“…and we saw that you guys were twins…” Connor continued.

 

“…and Connor and I yelled ‘TWINS’ at the same time.”

 

As with Lance and Lenny, Connor and Cooper often completed each other’s thoughts and sentences.

 

“And now here we are eating together and talking to each other and getting to know each other,” Lenny said.

 

“Aiden says it’s called bonding,” Lance added.

 

“Me and Cooper are getting to know each other really good and I mean really good. We keep wondering if what we do is twins stuff,” Connor said.

 

“Maybe it is, cuz Lance and me are bonded, like, really close,” Lenny said. 

 

Both pairs of twins wondered if they were talking about the same thing. They were pretty sure they were, but they didn’t want to spoil one of the greatest things to happen to them by being wrong.

 

“When are you guys going home?” Cooper asked.

 

“We got a flight home on Monday,” Lance replied.

 

“Dang, it would be so cool if we could get together on Sunday after the games and everything.”

 

“It wouldn’t bother me none,” Lenny grinned.

 

The conversation had to come to an end at that point when word came that the Goats needed to get their gear and load the bus for their six o’clock game. On a whim, Lance stepped up to Connor and gave him a big hug. Lenny and Cooper followed their example and did the same. Lance followed up with a hug of Cooper and Lenny hugged Connor.

 

The group hug was brief. As soon as it ended, Lenny looked at Lance. It was a look full of twin “language” and Lance read it perfectly. It said, ‘Time for us to be all about baseball bro.’ Lance nodded and Lenny knew what the nod meant. Twins time was over—it was time to play ball.

 

Next: SoCal BaseBrawl Day 5. Triple the Pleasure-2

This will feature the second game of the Day of the Goats

9:00am game

 

1. Bryan R (CF)
2. Nigel C (2B)
3. Doug V (DH) batting for Miguel G (P)
4. Lucas W (RF)
5. Bryce R (1B)
6. Adam C (C)
7. Greg L (SS)
8. Grady Y (3B)
9. Marcus F (LF)

 

1.Gordy (SS)

2. Aiden (2B)

3. Trent (1B)

4. Muddy (DH) batting for Lance (RF)

5. Scott (3B)

6. Miles (LF)

7. Calvin (P)

8. Mac (C)

9. Riley (CF)

 

 

Game 23-San Diego Force 6, Bonita Eagles 4 (Loser out)

Game 24-Mayfield Yard Goats vs Huntington Wave. (see game account) (Loser out)

Game 25-San Antonio Stallions 8, Chula Vista Explorers 7 (8 innings) (Loser out)

 

Consolation Tournament-

Game C-Pacifica Cougars 10, Las Vegas Royals 6 (6 innings) (Loser out)

Game D-Orange Falcons 8, Forest Grove Vikings 4 (Loser out)

 

1:00 PM game

 

1. Nelson P. (LF)
2. Gordon C. (P)
3. Benjie M. (C)
4. Enrique G (CF)
5. Luis G.(SS)
6. Cordon S. (DH) batting for Omar B (2B)
7. Connor Z. (RF)
8. Zach C. (3B)
9. Drake N. (1B)

 

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

 

Afternoon Scores

Game 26-Mayfield Yard Goats vs San Antonio Stallions. (see game account) (Loser out)

Game 27-Torrance Bulldogs 9, Surrey Mounties-3

 

Consolation Tournament-

Game E-Tucson Sun Kings 7, Carlsbad NM Cavers 2 (loser out)

Game F-Orange Falcons 7, Pacifica Cougars 6 (8 innings) (loser out)

Game G-Tuscon Sun Kings 5, Orange Falcons 4 (9 innings). Winner wins the Consolation Tournament, Loser finished second.