Mayfield Magic

         

CHAPTER 25

AND ABOVE ALL…HAVE FUN

 

FRIDAY, JULY 31

 

<Mission Sports Park>

 

The Mayfield Yard Goats and the Forest Grove Vikings quickly settled into their dugouts after the Viking game ended. Even though the game would be starting almost a half-hour late, the tournament committee told the teams they could take infield practice if they wished since there were no games following theirs. Even with the late start the teams would have plenty of time to get to Angel Stadium before the game was scheduled to start.

 

The tournament policy was that the team assigned the first base dugout would take infield first. Since the Vikings had just finished a long, intense game, Coach Knight, the Viking coach, told his team they needed to skip infield practice and rest up during the break between games, which led to cheers from his team. He sent one of his assistants to inform Coach Hallion of his decision.

 

Because the Goat players had sat for a long time waiting for the extra game to end, Coach Hallion elected to take infield. They would go through their short infield routine, which they rarely used but was a routine they had practiced and was used if the time available for infield had to be shortened. One thing the Goats noted was that most of the Vikings sat quietly in their dugout looking gloomy and tired. The loss to the Force seemed to have taken something out of them.

 

Kevin, who was going to hit the fungoes for the infield practice, yelled, “First base!” as Trent rolled the ball across the infield to Scott at third who threw it back to him. The routine of pregame infield had begun.

 

While the Goats were taking infield, Nolan was going through serious warmups in the left field bullpen. Mentally, he was intense and focused. Physically he was close to ready. Deep down he wished Mac was his catcher instead of Lenny. Lenny had been catching since fourth grade and was by far the more experienced catcher of the two. This was Mac’s first year as a catcher.

 

What Nolan liked about Mac was that he was an eighth grader, which to Nolan meant he was more mature than Lenny. The fact that Mac had caught the vast majority of the Goat games was a factor. Every time Nolan had faced the Titans or Goats and every time he had watched them play, Mac had been the catcher. Mac was more a part of Nolan’s peer group than Lenny. On the other hand on a personal basis he knew Lenny better than Mac since Lenny was often an active member of Aiden’s parties. Plus, Aiden spoke well of Lenny as a catcher, which was a pretty good recommendation in Nolan’s book.

 

After the Goats finished their brief infield practice and came off the field, the umpires called the coaches to home plate for the pregame meeting. Scott and Trent went out with Coach Hallion. Coach Knight came to the meeting alone, leaving Simon, his captain, to rest with his teammates.

 

With Coach Knight out of the dugout, Simon stood up and addressed his teammates. While Coach Knight was accepting of his team’s prejudice, he didn’t allow them to engage in hateful talk in his presence, knowing it would look bad for him if it was discovered he tolerated the talk. The two assistants had no such problems, but they generally stood away from the team when Simon addressed them. When Simon stood up to talk they shunted to the other end of the dugout.

 

“Hey, guys, I know you’re down, but we’re not out. We lost a tough game and those faggots over in the other dugout got their asses kicked and they’re running around cheering and dancing and blowing horns like the gay pussies they are. They can’t play baseball, so they make a lot of noise hoping nobody will notice.

 

“I guess they’re happy they only lost by 13 instead of by 20. Let’s give those loser queers their second five-inning loss in a row.”

 

The talk cheered his teammates up for the first time since Tim Whalen’s home run. Simon grinned as he saw that his team was starting to pull out of its funk. Not every player on the Vikings liked the anti-gay attitude of their teammates, but they went with the flow because none of them had the courage to do otherwise.

 

One of those was Koji Tanaka, the team’s shortstop, who happened to be the only gay boy on the team. He was very much in the closet, knowing what the consequence would be if any of them ever found out. The only reason he kept quiet was that he loved playing baseball. Because the Vikings were the only game in town he was willing to listen to his teammates’ bullshit and keep his mouth shut.

 

While Simon was being his usual intolerant self, the pregame meeting started. After going over the ground rules and reminding the coaches of the tournament rules that were exceptions to the professional rule book, Mike Lewis, the plate umpire, pulled his lucky coin from his pocket for the coin flip.

 

“Since Mayfield traveled the farthest, they will call the flip.”

 

“If I may object, I believe we traveled the farthest because of where we lie in Oregon. I know Washington is farther north…”

 

The umpire cut him off. “Coach, I googled it. It’s not even close; they’re over 300 miles farther away.” He looked to the Mayfield contingent. “Who’s going to make the call?” he asked.

 

Scott and Trent had already agreed that Trent would make the call because of how tails had been failing Scott on his calls. Trent had decided to follow his friend and teammate and call tails, but at the last second he called heads. Mike Lewis flipped the coin, which landed heads.

 

“We’ll take the hammer,” Trent said.

 

“We take the field,” Scott told his teammates as the Mayfield trio returned to the dugout. The Goat players cheered, and the starters grabbed their gloves and ran out onto the field. “Do those coins ever land on tails in this tournament?” he asked Trent as they grabbed their gloves and followed their teammates.

 

“Doesn’t look like it,” Trent said. He stationed himself at first, took the ball he had placed in the pocket of his glove before the meeting and threw it across the field on the ground to Scott at third who sent it back to him in the air. He repeated the routine around the infield to short and second. Out in the outfield, Mason played catch with Riley, and Miles played catch with Grant, who had come out of the dugout to be Miles’ partner. They went through the routine until the catcher called “Balls in” after Nolan’s sixth warmup pitch. Miles threw his ball to Grant, while Riley and Trent rolled their balls to Max, who was standing in front of the third base dugout to gather them up. It was time to play ball.

 

Nolan got a quick first out when Simon, the Vikings leadoff hitter, hit a routine grounder to Aiden at second on the first pitch. Aiden tossed the ball to Trent at first for an easy out. The Goats noted that instead of hustling down the line to first, Simon went into a slow trot and was out by 40 feet.

 

“The Vikings don’t look real into this game so far,” Paul Moyer said to Larry. He, Larry, and Arnie, Mac’s father, were sitting in    the back row of the bleachers behind the third base dugout. “I imagine he wouldn’t be coming out of the dugout for the rest of the game if he played for you.”

 

Larry was reluctant to criticize the actions or lack thereof from other coaches. He simply nodded his head in agreement. Paul and Arnie each got the message and grinned.

 

Koji, the shortstop, was next. He hit a 1-1 pitch through the hole between third and short for a single. The base hit livened what had been a quiet Viking bench.

 

The next batter was Gary, who was one of the leaders of the gay bashers. Nolan had decided before the game that the first of the bashers to come to the plate was going to get a little message. He let go of an inside waist-high fastball that drove Gary back away from the plate. Nolan had made sure that the pitch was nowhere near his head. He simply wanted to send a message to the Vikings that their foul mouths weren’t appreciated.

 

Gary glared at Nolan and took two steps toward the mound before hearing Coach Knight yell his name which stopped him. Gary knew that the pitch had been intentionally inside, and he also knew there was no way he’d convince the umpire it was intentional without saying why he thought so. After he was stopped, he remembered that if he gone out to the mound he would probably have been ejected which would have meant a one-game suspension tacked on to the ejection.

 

“Was Nolan sending a message there?” Arnie asked. “I understand that those Oregon kids have been pretty mouthy.”

 

“If that was a message, it was a subtle one,” Paul said of his son. “I like that he put the pitch where it would plunk the Viking kid in the ass if it got away from him. Do you agree, Larry?”

 

Larry knew the judge was grilling him. He simply answered, “Head hunting has no place in baseball.” Once again, he told Paul and Arnie all they needed to know.

 

The next two pitches were called strikes as Gary tried to get himself back together. Nolan then reached back and threw a high, hard one down the center of the plate which Gary swung under for the strikeout. Spencer, the DH, got overeager and swung at the first pitch which was a little low and a little outside. He got enough of it to hit a bouncing grounder to Aiden’s right.

Aiden snagged the ball and underhanded it to Gordy who had scooted over to second for the force out that ended the inning.

 

“Hey, Rick,” Simon called out as the Viking starters headed out of the dugout to take their position in the field.

 

“Yeah?” Rick was the starting pitcher and was pretty sure what Simon wanted.

 

“You know what to do when their pitcher comes up, right?”

 

“I do, but he bats fifth so he ain’t coming up until the next inning. So how about I knock down the blond kid Michael Grant liked so much at the concert since the two dudes who went on stage aren’t even batting—the chicken shits.”

 

“Hell, go after both the pitcher and the blond shit. One this inning and one next inning.” Simon liked Rick’s confidence in not having to face the number five hitter until the second inning. The Vikings could use a shot of confidence right then.

 

“Works for me.”

 

Gordy was the Goats’ leadoff man, as usual. He got the Goats off to a good start when he drilled a 1-2 pitch in the gap between the center and left fielders. By the time the left fielder got the ball in, Gordy was standing on second base with a double.

 

Aiden came up next. Rick’s first pitch sailed over Aiden’s head causing Aiden to duck, lose his balance, and fall on his ass.  It also sailed past the catcher’s reach and bounced off the chain link backstop. Gordy made it to third standing up on the wild pitch.

 

The home plate umpire was suspicious of Rick’s pitch, wondering if it was intentional or if the ball had gotten away from him. Even though the batter ducked and fell, the ball didn’t come close enough to him to be a threat to hit him. He wondered if there was bad blood between the teams, but since they couldn’t possibly have any history in that regard, he didn’t see how that could be the case. He made a mental note to make an issue of the next pitch that knocked down a batter no matter which pitcher threw it.

 

“It looks like we’ve got some issues brewing here,” Paul said. “I hope James has a chat with Nolan about not letting this go any further.”

 

“I’m sure he will,” Larry said. “I know how he thinks, and I doubt he’s going to let things get out of control.” Larry had been a big influence on Coach Hallion, from coaching the fundamentals of baseball standpoint to his deportment as a coach and his expectations of his players.

 

Aiden got up, brushed himself off, and stood ready for the next pitch. Rick remembered how Gary had taken two strikes after being knocked down and decided the right thing to do would be to groove a fastball while the batter tried to compose himself. He was pleased that Sean, the catcher, was thinking the same thing when he signaled for a fastball and the location of his target said to put it down the middle. Which is what Rick did and what Aiden was expecting. Aiden launched the pitch over the centerfielder’s head. Gordy scored standing up and by the time the centerfielder got the ball into the infield Aiden was sliding into third with an RBI triple.

 

Trent was the next batter. He brought in another run by lofting a fly ball to deep center which the centerfielder ran down. Aiden tagged up and scored easily to give the Goats a 2-0 lead.

 

Muddy swung at a couple of bad pitches before taking a strike down the middle for strike three. This was one of those times that Muddy’s poor strike zone judgement was put on display.

 

Nolan then came up for his first at-bat as a Mayfield Yard Goat. Rick was happy to see him since he figured Nolan had earned a knock down pitch by brushing Gary back in the top of the inning. He fired a high fastball inside. Nolan jumped back as Rick threw another pitch over the Mayfield player’s head and to the backstop. That pitch had plate umpire Mike Lewis literally jumping out of his squat.

 

“COACHES!” the umpire yelled. Coach Knight stepped out of the dugout and Coach Hallion came a few steps in from the third base coach’s box. Both coaches knew what was about to unfold. “I am warning both of you that any repeat will result in the ejection of the pitcher and the coach.” The coaches knew that was going to happen and acknowledged the warning.  

 

“There is no place for that in the game of baseball and especially in a youth baseball game,” Paul Moyer said, using his best judicial voice.

 

“And when the judge’s son is involved, watch out!” Larry added.

 

“You’d better believe it.” The judge cupped his mouth with his hands and yelled, “Hit one out, son!”

 

Nolan heard his father and suppressed a grin as he got his Mayfield athletic career off to an excellent start by hammering the 1-0 pitch over the left-center field fence for a home run and a 3-0 lead.

 

Needless to say, Paul Moyer dropped all of his judicial cool and stood up screaming his lungs out as his son circled the bases. Once Nolan crossed home plate, the Goat players let Aiden be the first one to run out and congratulate his boyfriend.

 

Viking Coach Knight finally came out to talk to his pitcher. “How is it these pussies are hitting you all over the field?” he asked Rick.

 

“I dunno. They just are,” Rick mumbled.

 

“Sean, what is his stuff like?” the coach asked his catcher.

 

“It’s not his best, but it’s okay. Well, except for that gopher ball he threw.”

 

“I need you to pitch because we’ll have a lot of games to play after we win this and I can’t yank a starter out in the first inning.”

 

‘Besides you don’t got anybody warming up,’ Sean thought.

 

“I’ll do my best, coach,” Rick said.

 

“Do better than your best, because now you’ve gotta keep us in the game so we can come back. And let’s cut the crap with the brushback pitches. That’s not how the Vikings play baseball.” The coach turned and stalked off the mound, angry about the warning, the home run, and that the Vikings were trailing one of the worst teams in the tournament by three runs in the first inning.

 

Koji had come from shortstop over to the mound and heard the entire timeout. ‘Whatever, coach,’ he thought as he returned to his shortstop position. ‘Knocking guys down isn’t part of our game, but being hateful is.’ Koji knew that the only reason he hadn’t been the butt of his teammates’ comments about gays was that he managed to keep himself deep in the closet.

 

Rick had completely lost his concentration and threw the next two pitches for balls before throwing a strike that Scott rapped up the middle for a base hit. Miles then grounded to the third baseman who threw him out at first by two steps.

 

Rick led off the second. Nolan was tempted to knock down the Viking pitcher, but knew it was the wrong thing to do. The last thing he wanted to do was face his father after getting himself ejected from the game. Instead, he struck out his rival pitcher on four pitches. He followed that up by striking out Sean, the catcher, and then Shawn, the left fielder.

 

After getting the support of his teammates in the dugout during the Viking at bat, Rick settled down and threw a 1-2-3 inning of his own, putting down Riley, Lenny, and Gordy, with Lenny being his only strike out.

 

Nolan had pitched himself into a zone and was right on top of his game. He struck out Loren and Sam to start the inning, which gave him five-straight strikeouts. His strikeout of Sam wasn’t routine, however. Sam swung and missed at a pitch in the dirt that then bounced off Lenny’s chest protector. Lenny quickly ran the ball down and fired the ball to Trent at first for the out.

 

Aiden led off the bottom of the third with a walk. Trent then bunted up the third base line. Loren made a nice play on it and threw Trent out at first. Trent was credited with a sacrifice for bunting Aiden to second. Muddy showed more discipline than he had in his first at bat and singled to left, putting runners on first and third with one out. Nolan took care of that with a single that scored Aiden. There were now runners on first and second. 

 

Scott then grounded to third. Loren stepped on the base, forcing Muddy, but couldn’t complete the double play. Miles ended the inning by striking out on a full count. The Goats now had a 4-0 lead going into the top of the fourth.

 

Nolan pitched another scoreless inning. He gave up a lead-off single to Koji before striking out Gary for the second time. He then struck out Spencer for the second out. Keven pinch hit for Rick. That and Perry Hill warming up in the bullpen indicated that Rick’s stint on the mound was over. Keven became Nolan’s eighth strike out over four innings.

 

Perry was even less effective than Rick. He gave up three runs on four singles and a walk. A two-RBI single by Trent and an RBI single by Nolan were the big blows. The Goats had brought eight men to the plate and now led 7-0 after four innings.

 

The Goat coaches now had a decision to make regarding Nolan. They had planned how they would like to use their pitchers as the game unfolded and created three plans to go to in the fourth or fifth inning. The plans were dependent on the score. When the score had been 4-0 going into the bottom of the fourth, they agreed to keep Nolan in the game for one more inning as long as his pitch count rate didn’t start going up. But now, with a seven-run lead, things had changed. When Trent had knocked in the first two runs of the inning to make the score 6-0, Coach Hallion, who was coaching third, consulted the note card he had in his pants pocket, turned toward the dugout, and told Eric to go to plan C. Eric nodded his head in understanding.

 

“Mac, put your gear on and start warming up Lance,” Eric said.

 

Lance was up in an instant and waited patiently for Mac to put his catcher’s gear on. The two players and Eric then went to the bullpen where Lance and Mac started playing catch.

 

On the field, Nolan gave up a fly ball to center which Riley pulled in for the routine out. While Nolan was pitching to Shawn, Lance took to the bullpen rubber and started throwing pitches to Mac. Nolan walked Shawn on a 3-1 pitch for his first walk. Loren then hit a grounder to Scott at third on a 2-2 pitch, who went the short way to Aiden at second for the force and the second out.

 

Coach Hallion looked over to Eric in the bullpen who gave him a thumbs up signal. Normally James would let Nolan finish the inning, but in a tournament, especially when one’s team was in the losers’ bracket, pitch count was often the driving force behind pitching changes. He asked the home plate umpire for time and signaled for Lance to enter the field and take the mound.

 

Nolan drew nice applause and cheers from the Mayfield fans in the bleachers and received high fives, pats on the back, and hugs from his teammates in the dugout. He had pitched an outstanding game, allowing only three baserunners on two hits and a walk over 4 2/3 innings pitched. Lance would be facing Sam, the Vikings number nine hitter.

 

Lance got in on some fielding action against his first batter. Sam grounded a 2-1 pitch the right side. Trent had to go to his right to field it. Lance did as he had been coached to do and broke for first base as soon as he saw Sam had hit a grounder to right. Trent fielded the ball cleanly, turned, and saw he wouldn’t make it to the base in time to get the out. But he also saw Lance running up on the base and fed him a perfect lead throw. Lance caught it just before his foot hit the base for the third out.

 

“Great job, Lance,” Trent said as he and Lance ran across the infield to the dugout. “The Mariners couldn’t have done it any better.”

 

Because of the rule stating that a pickup could only play when he was the pitcher of record in the scorebook, Coach Hallion couldn’t leave Nolan in the game as much as he would have liked to have kept his bat in the lineup. Floyd Gunther, one of the tournament committee members, told him that the committee had considered letting a coach leave his starting pitcher in the game to play another position after he had been taken out. However, the savvy committee members were afraid that an unscrupulous coach would start a pitcher, leave him in for a batter or two, and then substitute for him to get the benefit of a good bat in the lineup. The big worry was that the coach would do that in each of his tournament games, thereby circumventing the intent of the rule.

 

The Goats went into the bottom of the fifth with a 7-0 lead, knowing the game would be over if they scored a run to give them the magical eight-run lead. Skip, pinch-hitting for Miles, led off the inning. Lucas, who was a lefty, relieved Perry on the mound for the Vikings. Skip picked up two quick strikes, took a ball, and fouled off a couple of pitchers, before hitting a comebacker to Lucas who easily threw him out at first for the first out. Riley hit a high pop-up behind home plate, which Sean, the catcher, parked under for the second out. Lenny then grounded out to short to end the inning. The game would be going to the sixth.

 

Coach Hallion decided to use Lance for just the one out in the fifth and brought in Grant to pitch the sixth. Skip stayed in the game, playing right field and Mason was shifted from right to left. Max entered the game for Trent and took over first base.

 

Simon, the Vikings’ lead-off hitter, was the first batter. He singled to center on the second pitch to him. Koji followed that up with a run-scoring double. It was his third hit of the game, giving him three of the Vikings’ four hits.

 

Lenny asked for time and trotted out to the mound to settle down his boyfriend. “Hey, dude, you’re better than this. And since I’m your catcher you KNOW you’re better than this,” Lenny grinned. “No more runs this inning and you get a special treat.”

 

After giving up two quick hits and a run and after being knocked around by Torrance in the morning game, Grant was beginning to think he had to be the worst pitcher in the tournament. But Lance’s sexy promise, plus the grin he flashed, told Grant that somebody had faith in him and that somebody was his boyfriend. With the Vikings’ 3-4-5 hitters coming up Grant knew he had his work cut out for him.

 

Grant heard Cal shouting from the dugout. “Come on Grant, you stud! You can do it!” As he settled into the batter’s box. Gary felt like yelling back, “No way you’ve got studs on that team of yours.” But the scoreboard told him that the prudent thing to do was keep his mouth shut.

 

Gary, the number three hitter, had struck out twice against Nolan. Gary could see that Grant wasn’t the big dude that Nolan      was and felt confident. ‘Getting a hit off that pitcher should end his stud status in a hurry,’ he thought. Grant quickly got two strikes on him, and after a waste pitch outside, he struck out Gary on a called third strike. It was Gary’s third strikeout, earning him a hat trick. The way the umpire called out the third strike really pissed him off—it was almost like he was mocking him. However, it was the way the umpire called all of his third strikes: loudly and enthusiastically.

 

“I told you that you would do it,” Cal yelled. Feeling humiliated, Gary didn’t bother giving Grant a second look as he slumped to the first base dugout.

 

Unfortunately, Grant then had one of those bad baseball breaks that pitchers have to deal with when Spencer, the cleanup hitter came to bat.
Spencer knocked a hard-hit line drive to dead center that Riley had to move in to catch. At the last second, he lost track of the ball and had to reach for it. He had it briefly in his glove before dropping it for an error. Riley was fooled by the flight of the ball. A line drive to dead center was one of the toughest plays for any outfielder to make because it was often difficult to judge the flight of the ball. It was one even the pros sometimes had trouble with. Spencer ended up on first and Koji scored on the play, making the score 7-2.

 

Lenny asked for time and ran out to the mound. He figured that with a big lead, Coach Hallion probably wouldn’t mind that he had burned up a time out.

 

“Hey, stud. I meant you give up no more earned runs for your prize. That was an unearned run, so keep anybody else from scoring for any reason and you still get the prize,” Lenny said.

 

“You rock, Lenny. Nobody’s gonna score,” Grant responded.

 

That brought up Perry, who had been moved to right field when Lucas came in to pitch. The count went to 2-2 when Grant threw a good sinking fastball which Perry grounded to Aiden at second. Aiden fielded it cleanly, and flipped it to Gordy at second base for the force on Spencer. Gordy completed the double play with a strong, accurate throw to Max at first to end the inning. Grant threw up his hands and then pointed to the two middle infielders as they ran off the field. They all grinned as they ran off the field. He was looking forward to Lenny’s payoff.  It had been a rough inning, but he had limited the damage. He was still happy to see the inning end on a well-turned double play, also known as a pitcher’s best friend.

 

The top of the order was coming up for the Goats, with Gordy leading off the inning. Lucas remained on the mound for the Vikings. Gordy worked the count to 3-1 and then hit his second double of the game. That brought up Aiden who flied out to left for the first out.

 

Max, who had come in on defense for Trent, was now the batter. Max was 0-for-4 in the tournament, having struck out all four times. That was a big reason he didn’t start this game. But he made up for his previous ineptitude by lacing a single to right to score Gordy and bring Muddy to the plate. Muddy worked the count full before rocketing a line drive directly into the glove of the third baseman.  Grant was the next batter. He struck out to end the inning and the game was going to go the full seven innings. Neither the Goats nor the Vikings wanted to play the meaningless seventh inning, but the game was fifteen minutes away from being called due to the two-hour time limit.

 

Emmett came in to relieve Grant and finish the game on the mound. As he was tossing his warmup pitches to Lenny, Eric sat beside Cal on the bench. “It was great to hear you cheering on your teammates even though you have yet to play an inning in the tournament.”

 

“I figure that I still have a chance to play so I’d better cheer for the Goats. Especially since they’ve become my friends,” Cal said. “Besides, Rusty is cheering just as loud and he doesn’t have a chance of playing.”

 

Eric loved Cal’s positive attitude, as did Kevin and Coach Hallion. He knew without a doubt Cal had earned what he was about to receive. “Well, Cal,” Eric said to the pitcher, “your chance to play has come. You’ll be starting tomorrow morning’s game.”

 

“For real? Wow, I figured Scott would get picked next.”

 

“We picked you up to pitch and it’s time for you to do it and earn those free meals you’ve been getting. After you win your game, we’ll have Scott start the afternoon game against whoever we play then.”

 

“Then I’ll be sure to pitch my best cuz Scott’s a cool dude and a good pitcher and deserves to have his turn to pitch.”

 

“You will be on a strict pitch count, because we’re going to need you again on Sunday if we keep on winning.”

 

“We’re on a roll, coach. We all know we have to win six games in a row tomorrow and Sunday to win the championship and we’re ready to pay any price to do it. I love this team. Not that I don’t love my team, but this has been a really special week. I’m so glad you guys picked me and I’d feel that way if I never threw a single pitch…in a game, that is.” Eric knew that Cal had pitched in the bullpen with the backup catcher for an inning every game, and played catch with whoever he could when they were away from the sports park. “By the way, who’s my catcher gonna be?”

 

“We haven’t decided yet. Coach will announce the lineup before we leave to board the bus.”

 

“Looks like we’re ready to play ball,” Cal said. He looked out at the field and screeched, “You go, Emmett!”

 

Emmett made quick work of the seventh inning. Coach Knight cleared his bench by sending up three pinch hitters. Even though the three were happy to get a chance to bat, even in a lost cause, Emmett was more motivated than they were. He mixed a moving fast ball with a decent changeup to garner three quick outs. Eddie popped up to Max at first, Denny struck out, and Royce flied out to Mason in left. Emmett got the job done on seven pitches and four of those were to Denny.

 

As soon as Mason caught the last out, the jubilant Goat fielders gathered in the infield and the players in the dugout joined them. They made the traditional handshake line, not sure what the Vikings would do. The Mayfield players assumed they would be as rude as the Torrance Bulldogs had been, especially since they lost.

 

They were surprised when the Vikings lined up to shake hands. Coach Knight had told them that the scoreboard had the final word, and it said 8-2 Mayfield. As much as they didn’t like it the Vikings shook hands, but they were sparing with the compliments. As soon as the Oregon players vacated the field, the Goats made a circle, put their arms around the shoulders of the players next to them, and did a quick dance.

 

They felt that after the morning disaster against a team of ass waffles, that coming back to beat a team of homophobic ass waffles was an even bigger comeback than their comeback against Tucson had been the day before.

 

They quickly learned they would be playing Huntington Beach Wave, who had defeated the Orange Falcons 6-4 on Field 2, at nine the next morning. The Wave was coached by Dallas Baker, the former Mayfield student. It was already shaping up to be an interesting game.

 

Arnie Dixon, Mac’s father, didn’t look happy, but he applauded the win. He then turned to Larry. “Since you’ve been helping the team for the tournament, maybe you can tell me why my boy didn’t play today? He’s the first regular to not get into a game.”

 

Larry guessed what Arnie’s problem was when he saw the unhappy look on the parent’s face. “This may sound weird to you, Arnie, but I would say that Mac not playing could almost be considered a compliment to your son’s hard work.”

 

“Say what? That makes no sense.”

 

“He caught a full game yesterday and a full game this morning,” Larry pointed out. “We have the potential of playing six games in the next two days facing us. We have two catchers who’ve started games this spring and summer in Mac and Lenny. We have one catcher who has the ability but hasn’t mastered the fundamentals in Muddy, who Kevin has been doing a lot of work with. And we have an emergency catcher in Miles who I think has caught maybe seven innings in all over the school and summer season, if that.

 

“So, I would say the reason Mac didn’t play is because he is too valuable. He needed the time off. ALL of it. Oh, he would have been sent out there if it was absolutely necessary but keeping him in the dugout for the game was a good move. I would have done the same thing. Plus, Mac’s enthusiasm and encouragement is infectious. He always talking things up and the team loves him for it even when he’s not on the field.”

 

“Okay, I can see your point. But does Mac know that’s why he didn’t play?”

 

“Knowing how James and his assistants work, I’m positive Mac was made completely aware of the situation.” Larry was right about that. Both James and Kevin had talked to Mac about why he wouldn’t be playing at all in that game. They told him that it could very well happen to him again before the tournament was over and that Lenny could be in the same boat over the next two days. Mac was accepting of the decision, especially since he could see that it was what was best for the team.

 

Since there was no game following the Goats’ game, they didn’t have to evacuate the field right away. Coach Hallion called a quick meeting to give them the starters for the morning games.

 

“First, great job out on the field. You not only bounced back from the disappointments of the first game, you handled yourselves well against a team with some issues. Make that against teams, plural, with some issues.

 

“Now, real quickly, the morning starters against Huntington Beach. Cal will be the starting pitcher.” That brought whistles, cheers, and pats on the back from Cal’s teammates. The pickup pitcher had quickly made himself a popular member of the team. “Mac will be his catcher. And Mac, we appreciate your acceptance of not getting to play this afternoon.” More cheers. “The infield will be the same as the game we just finished.” The coach could read the disappointment on Max’s face. “As for you, Max, you will need to be prepared to pitch more than an inning in the morning game. With the possible games piling up you’ve become even more important to us as a pitcher, and that’s the reason you won’t be starting at first—at least in the morning game. The outfield from left to right will be Miles, Riley, and Lance. Muddy will DH for somebody. I’ll post the lineup tomorrow.”

 

With team business out of the way, the Goats would bus to the resort and rest up for a bit before heading to Anaheim for the Mariner/Angel game. When he got to his room, Aiden texted Marty: “Kick serious ass Big Bro. We lost 15-2 and won 8-2 today and are still alive. Be great if we could see each other b4 we both gotta go.” He hesitated, thinking about deleting the last sentence then decided to keep it. He knew they had missed each other yesterday for various reasons, the biggest one being him avoiding Marty because he didn’t want to talk about his feelings. Now he was sorry he had played hard to get after Marty had texted him about a possible meeting.

 

Aiden had talked Nolan to death and was realizing more and more he needed to talk to somebody who understood what it was like to be scared and want to make himself numb to kill the fear.

 

<Anaheim, California. Angel Stadium of Anaheim>

 

The Yard Goat bus arrived at the stadium at 5:00 for the 6:10 ballgame. After entering the ballpark, the Goats followed Eric and Kevin to the team’s bleacher seats. Three teams, the Bonita Eagles, San Antonio Stallions, and San Jose Blue Sox were already seated.

 

“I think it’s food time,” Nolan said as soon as everyone had claimed his seat.

 

“When isn’t it food time?” Mac asked.

 

“Oh, and by the way Riley, we found some birthday boy money lying around so you can save the money we got for food since the team is buying,” Trent said. “And the same goes for you, Max and Gordy. You can thank my mom for finding the money in the budget.” Max would 14 tomorrow and Gordy would be 13 on Monday.

 

“Hey, what about my pop?” Aiden asked. “His birthday is Monday, too.”

 

“I’ll let the coaches take care of that,” Trent said. “Just be sure to give him a big hug. Dads like stuff like that.”

 

“Sounds like a plan to me.”

 

As the boys went through the breezeway into the concourse, they came across the Vikings, who had just arrived. Gary and Spencer were leading the pack.

 

“Well, look who we have here. The Mayfield fags,” Spencer sneered. “The Angels must have real halos to let wusses like you into their stadium.”

 

Before any of the Goats could react, Gary stepped up to Spencer and said, “I don’t know about you, but the scoreboard I looked at a couple of hours ago said different. I think it said all that needed to be said since we all know who scored what in an 8-2 game.”

 

The Mayfield players were surprised by Gary’s reaction since he had been one of their chief tormentors. Simon, the team captain, stepped in with his view. “Those dudes got their asses handed to them by Torrance and then came back and kicked us. That sure doesn’t sound like a team of wusses to me.”

 

Spencer glared at his two teammates, grabbed one of his teammates by his arm, and pretty much tugged him into the breezeway. Most of the rest of the Vikings followed, leaving Simon, Gary, and Koji behind.

 

“Hey, Aiden, can I talk to you for a sec. Like, privately,” Gary pleaded.

 

Aiden was surprised to be singled out. “Yeah, I guess. But I’d like Nolan to be here too. He won’t say anything to anybody.”

 

“Then I’ll let Koji listen in, too.” Koji looked as surprised as Aiden had. “Oh, and Simon because he’s our team captain and needs to hear what I’m saying.

 

“Then Trent, who is one of our co-captains, will join us, too.” Aiden called Trent over and told him what was going on. Trent nodded and said he would be happy to join the chat.

 

They found a spot in the corridor that had room for them to stand. Because the stadium was filling up, they knew it wouldn’t stay private for long.

 

Gary started the conversation. “Look, I ain’t much for apologizing and shit like that, but you guys proved a lot of us wrong about gay guys having, like, no guts. You guys got more guts as, like, a team than anybody I’ve seen this year. So, I’m sorry for how I was. I can’t say anything for anybody else, because they’re, like doing their own thing. But my dad hates gays, and our coach hates them, and lots of guys in my school hate them, so do some guys who are, like, on the Vikings. I’m, like, just sorry for what I did.”

 

“I’m sorry, too,” Simon said. “I hope you guys keep winning. You’re a good team.”

 

“Apology accepted. But you should tell our whole team,” Aiden said. 

 

“You can, like, tell them for us,” Gary suggested. “Oh, and Koji, I’m, like, totally sorry how I treated you. Do you think maybe you and me can be, like, friends?” Gary held out his hand and a stunned Koji shook it. Gary had been harder on him than just about anybody.

 

“I’d like that. Simon’s been about my only friend on the team because they all think I’m gay.”

 

“Are you?” Gary asked. He didn’t expect the answer Koji offered.

 

“I am,” Koji admitted with quiet confidence. He figured he had nothing to lose. Since he was constantly being badgered for acting like a gay boy, whatever that meant, he might as well confess and give the assholes like Spencer and Sean what they thought they knew and come out and say he was gay. Besides, he now had Simon and Gary in his corner.

 

“Well, I know this sounds, like, totally weird coming from me,” Gary went on, “but I still want to be your friend because you’re, like, totally cool for telling us that. It’s starting to get a little crowded here, so I guess we better, like, go get our hotdogs. Oh, and Koji, I don’t care what the seat numbers on our tickets are, we’re, like, gonna sit together during the game.” Aiden, Nolan, and Trent didn’t say anything, although they were amazed by what they were hearing.

 

“One more thing. We’re sorry about the pitches we threw at you guys, although I didn’t think Rick actually threw them AT you. One was way over Aiden’s head and the other was way behind Nolan, but still, it was wrong.”

 

“I didn’t think anybody was throwing AT anybody, but it was still scary. Things happen when you do shit like that,” Aiden said.

 

“And I’m sorry for my pitch,” Nolan said. He was still upset by what the Vikings had done and couldn’t resist getting a dig in at Gary. “But at least I was throwing in the area of Gary’s ass. Lots of cushioning there.”

 

“Yeah, but that’s like throwing at most people’s heads,” Simon said, “since most of Gary’s brains are in his ass.”

 

“You are so dead, Simon McCann,” Gary countered.

 

“See what I mean? For Gary the truth is hard to take.”

 

“I’ve never seen you guys rag on each other,” Koji said. “You’re usually ragging on others, like gays.”

 

“You’re right, Koji,” Gary said. “So maybe this is the start of our reforming.”

 

“Before we go, I have two things I want to ask you guys,” Aiden said. 

 

“Ask away,” Simon said.

 

“First, can Nolan and I share this with some of our teammates?”

 

The three Vikings thought about it for a second and nodded in unison.

 

“I guess that means yes,” Gary grinned.

 

“The second thing is, I think it would be cool if you guys found Michael tomorrow and talked with him about this. He should get an apology and the Majestic guys should too.”

 

“We’ll do what we can,” Simon promised. “At least the three of us will do what we can, and maybe we’ll find another player or two.”

 

“That was, like, a great suggestion. And just like with you and Koji, I was, like, harder on him when he lived in Forest Grove than anybody was. Now, none of this means I’m, like, gay, though,” Gary said more for himself as much as anybody else. After all, there was no way he was going to tell anybody about the crush he had on Koji, or how he really felt about Michael when Michael was close to being a neighbor.

 

After stocking up on food and drinks, the players returned to their seats. Aiden checked his phone and saw he had a text from Marty: “we’ll see what can do about meeting tomorrow.”

 

‘Tomorrow?’ Aiden thought. ‘WTF is that about?’

 

The BaseBrawl section of the bleachers was full of ballplayers. They were a colorful sight in their uniform shirts and team hats, making up sections of colors. The anthem was sung by a pop singer who everyone agreed was nowhere near as good as Matthew. It was now time for the two American League West rivals to play ball.

 

Most of the BaseBrawl teams were Angels fans since they were from California. The only teams to cheer for the Mariners were the Mounties, the Goats, Tim Whalen and two of his friends on the Force, and, surprisingly, over half of the Vikings. That it was more than the three who had met with Aiden, Trent, and Nolan. Aiden wondered if they even knew that Marty was gay.

 

Wade Whalen was the number three hitter for the Mariners. He came up with one out and a runner on first. Even though as a team the San Diego Force was rooting for the Angels (except for Tim and his two friends), they cheered for Wade because he was a graduate of the Force. Wade doubled to left. The runner got a stop sign from the third base coach and the Mariners had runners on second and third with one out. Tyler Knox, the Mariner cleanup hitter then struck out.

 

That brought up Marty, who was batting fifth. There were now two outs and runners on second and third. The Goat cheers got even louder as Marty took his place in the batter’s box. With the count 2-1, the cheers hit a crescendo when Marty slapped a single to left and both runners zipped home to give the Mariners a 2-0 lead.

 

“Hey, Mayfield dummies, you can cheer all you want but that still don’t mean Marty came from your stupid town. He probably couldn’t find the dump on his GPS,” Howie from the Torrance Bulldogs yelled from three rows back with Maurice belting out a loud accompanying guffaw. He wanted to say “shit town” but even he was smart enough to figure out the ushers might come down on him.

 

Aiden, Nolan, Trent, Mac, and Mason, who were sitting together turned around to look at who the ass waffle was, although they had no doubt. What they saw was LeBron pointing out something in the program he purchased to his two teammates. What they couldn’t hear was LeBron pointing to the Mariner roster which had the players’ year of birth and birthplace listed. “As you can see, Marty’s place of birth is Mayfield, Washington,” LeBron told them.

 

“Whatever. He’s not that good anyway,” Howie poohpoohed. “Coming from that shithole there’s no way he’ll end up being fucking rookie of the year.”

 

“He just had a pretty big hit.”

 

“Big fucking deal. Fucking Goats got two runs in the first inning in our game and what did it get them? Answer me that, Mr. Big Shot who doesn’t know which team he plays for.” LeBron turned around, knowing there was no way he was going to win the oral pissing match. “Yep, you can’t defend him and that says everything.”

 

The next batter flied to center, ending the top of the first with the Mariners leading 2-0. Marty came up again in the top of the fourth with one out and nobody on and popped up to short.

 

“Wow, you guys must be right. He hit that exactly like a Mayfield player,” Howie yelled. The Angels scored a run in the bottom of the fourth to make the score 2-1.

 

The next scoring happened in the top of the seventh when Marty led off the inning with his 24^th home run to make the score 3-1. Needless to say, the Mayfield contingent went wild while most of the crowd of 35,208 sat silently watching Marty circle the bases.

 

The Angels scored a run in the bottom of the eighth when right fielder Ed Carp doubled in a run from second to make the score 3-2. The Mariners failed to score in the top of the ninth. Mario Diaz, the Seattle closer, took the mound in the bottom of the ninth. He made things interesting by walking the second Angel hitter, but he left the runner stranded and the M’s picked up a 3-2 win.

 

The Goat players were flying high as they left the ballpark. Marty had put on a good show for his homies.

 

Aiden, Gordy, Mason, and Nolan noticed Larry talking to Dallas as they walked down the ramp to ground level. “I like that they’re friendly with each other,” Aiden told Nolan.

 

“It’s going to be way different than our last two games were with the coaches liking each other and everything,” Nolan said.

 

“Well, my pop isn’t exactly a coach.”

 

“He helps coach the team and the like, so close enough.”

 

“Hey, dudes, tomorrow should be a fun game,” came a voice from behind them. The four Goats turned and saw three boys wearing Huntington Beach Wave hats. “With our coach and you guys being from the same town everybody’s gonna be playing hard,” one of them, who Aiden later learned was named Doug, said.

 

“That’s why we’re going to make it fun—everybody playing their hardest and respecting each other,” Aiden agreed.

 

“You sound just like Coach Baker,” Doug said. "We all think it’s going to be a close game right down to the last out.”

 

“So do we. We’ll see you guys tomorrow.”

 

“Can I ask you a question first?” Doug asked.

 

“Go for it.”

 

“What’s a Yard Goat?”

 

“Google it,” Aiden grinned. Doug nodded and the boys headed for the exit.

 

After the boys exited the stadium, Gary came up to Aiden in the parking lot as the players walked to their buses and wished him and the Yard Goats good luck in their morning game. The Forest Grove Vikings had shed at least some of their evil. Aiden knew there was still a lot of hatred on the team, but liked that some, like Gary, could admit they might be wrong.

 

The Goats ignored the barbs coming from some of the Torrance players. Outside of a couple of players, like LeBron, the Bulldogs appeared to be a team of hopeless assholes.

 

Aiden and Nolan sat next to each other on the bus. Aiden texted Marty congratulations on the win and on his good game. Marty soon texted him back and said he and Wade were going to sneak in to watch the Goats and the Force play their morning games. “maybe we can talk after,” Marty suggested.

 

When the Goats arrived at the Carlsbad resort, they were exhausted and ready to crash. But before they got off the bus Coach Hallion had told them he had some announcements to make before dismissing them to their rooms.

 

“As you know, our game starts at ten,” the coach told them. “Breakfast will be served at our tables rather than buffet style and will commence at eight. Be ready to board the bus by nine. If you’re late for breakfast, then I guess if you have any stadium meal money left you might find something to eat at the concession stand. Any questions?”

 

“Will we be getting wake up calls?” Mac asked.

 

“Nope. You all know how long it takes you to get ready after yesterday morning, so set your phone alarm or the room alarm accordingly.

 

“To finish up, you guys had a long day today, and you’re going to have a longer one as long as you keep winning. So, I think it would be a great idea that you go straight to your rooms, get ready for bed, and crash. You guys can go. Good night and sleep well.”

 

The team exited the bus, talking about the possibility of playing three games the next day. It was one they hoped would come to fruition, because a loss would end their season.

 

When Aiden got off the bus, he saw a man standing at the door to the lobby. He knew right away who it was and ran to him. “Dad, you’re here!” he screeched as he gave Phil a hard, loving hug, which his dad returned double. Aiden knew it was considered bad form by many to hug a parent in front of your peers, but he didn’t care. First of all, he knew most of his teammates didn’t think that way. Second of all as far as he was concerned, if they didn’t like it that was their problem. Aiden was even happier when Nolan shared a quick hug with Phil as well. It meant he and his Sugar Bear were on the same page.

 

After taking care of their nighttime routine, they climbed into bed together. They wished Mason good night and then got cozy under the covers of Aiden’s bed.

 

Nolan turned to his boyfriend. “Did you see the way Gary looked at Koji out there in the corridor?” he whispered. “I’ll bet my next allowance that Gary’s as gay as a picnic basket.”

 

Aiden kissed his boyfriend.” I don’t know about that, Sugar Bear. I can’t say I picked up on that vibe. But you never know.” Aiden reached for Nolan’s crotch and gently fondled him.

 

“I love you, Sugar Bear, and thanks for being here for me today and I feel way better now. You’re the best.”

 

“I love you and let’s kick triple ass tomorrow.”

 

A long kiss made them think about doing more but kicking triple ass the next day meant getting plenty of sleep. The naked boys wrapped themselves around each other and fell into deep, restful sleep.

 

NEXT: SoCal BaseBrawl Day 4   Triple the Pleasure.

 

1. Simon M (CF)
2. Koji T (SS)
3. Gary P (1B)
4. Spencer H (DH) Batting for Corey
5. Rick K (P)
6. Sean C (C)
7. Shawn S (LF)
8. Loren D (3B)
9. Sam K (RF)

Corey S (2B)

 

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

Mason (RF)

 

 

Game 19-Torrance Bulldogs 12, San Diego Force 7

Game 20-Surrey Mounties 2, Bonita Bears 0

Game 21-Forest Grove Vikings, Mayfield Yard Goats. See the game account (Loser to consolation bracket)

Game 22-Huntington Beach 6, Orange 4 (Loser to consolation bracket)

 

 

Consolation Bracket

Game A-Tucson Star Kings 6, St. George Utah, Dixie All-Stars 4 (loser out)

Game B-Carlsbad, New Mexico 6, San Jose 5 (loser out)