Bases Loaded (11 page)

The Giants all ran to the dugout and gathered around Coach.

“Okay, here's the batting order,” he said. “We're starting with Carlos, then Graham, Raymond, and Luke. The rest of you guys, be ready. And everyone cheer your teammates.” Then he jogged over to third base. Luke's dad was standing by first. I looked up at the bleachers. Diane and Gramps were cheering and giving each other high fives. Heidi gave me a smile and a little wave.

Now the other team was in position on the field.

“Hey, look,” I said. “David's not pitching.”

“No way!” Graham said. “This is going to be easier than I thought.”

I looked at the other dugout and saw David sitting on the bench, not looking very happy. Suddenly, a whole new level of confidence filled my body.

Carlos walked up to the plate. Coach gave him a “swing away” signal, and on the very first pitch, he hit a line drive into right field. It hit the ground and then bounced back to the fence. Carlos made it to second base for a double. We all cheered.

Graham walked confidently to the plate. He looked at Coach Parker, who gave him the “swing away” signal too. Graham pointed over at Kelly and yelled, “This one's for you!” Kelly turned away like she was pretending not to hear.

“What?” came a voice from the crowd. “This one's for
me
?” It was Gramps. He must have thought Graham was talking to him, since he was sitting right behind Kelly.

Graham looked over at the bleachers. “No, I said it's for—”

“Strike one!” the umpire yelled. Graham wasn't paying attention, and the pitcher had thrown a perfect pitch right down the middle. Now Graham was mad. He dug his feet into the dirt.

“Give me another one like that if you dare!” he growled.

“Strike two!” yelled the ump after another near-perfect pitch.

“That was outside!” Graham complained. The next pitch was high, but Graham swung anyway.

“Strike three, batter's out!” Graham hit the ground with his bat and kicked up some dirt.

“It's all right, bud,” Coach called from third base. “You'll get it next time.” Graham stomped back to the dugout and pulled off the batting helmet. His face was red and his hair was sticking up like flames.

“Don't worry,
hermano
,” I said. “That second pitch really was outside.” He didn't answer. He just sat down at the end of the bench.

“Hey, partner,” Gramps yelled down to Graham. “Next time you dedicate something to me, let's make it a hit!” Then he laughed and slapped himself on the knee. Grandma whapped Gramps with her purse.

Now it was my turn to bat. I knew I could get a hit off this guy. I pulled the bat back and waited for the perfect pitch. The first two throws were balls.

“Give it a ride, son!” Dad cheered. “A home run gets you five dollars from Gramps!”

“What?” Gramps said.

The next ball was perfect. I hit it hard to the shortstop, and it went through his legs. The Pirates' coach screamed, and I was safe at first. Carlos also ran home and scored our first run. I looked over to see if Heidi had seen my hit. She and Diane were turned around talking to my grandpa. At least my dad saw. He and my mom were standing up and cheering.

Luke was up next. He hit the ball to the second baseman, who picked it up and stepped on the base to get me out. Our next batter struck out. The first inning was over, and it was 1–0 for us.

The next few innings were tough. The Pirates clobbered us in the second inning and scored four runs. Coach pulled us all together and gave us a pep talk.

“This is it, men,” he said. “I've coached most of you for three years now. You've worked hard, and you deserve to win this championship. But it's up to you to step up and play your best. Luke, remember that home run you hit a couple of games ago?” Luke nodded his head. “Let's get out there and do it again. You're up first. Keep your eye on the ball and hit it hard. That goes for the rest of you too. Let's give it all we've got. Now get your hands in here. On the count of three, in your loudest Giants voices, I want to hear you scream, ‘Hit, run, score!'”

We all huddled up with our hands in the middle.

“Hit, run, score!”
we screamed. The Pirates looked jealous of how pumped we were.

Luke got up to the plate and smacked the ball on his first swing. He didn't get a home run, but he did get a double.

“Nice hit, Puke Man!” our bench cheered. Luke smiled and gave us a thumbs-up.

We were so pumped up we couldn't sit down. Our entire team was at the fence screaming, and everyone started hitting the ball. The Pirates' coach finally pulled out their pitcher and put David on the mound. But the damage was already done. By the end of the inning, not only were we back in the game, we were up by two runs.

IT WAS DOWN
to the last inning.

The last few innings had been really intense. No one had scored any runs at all. Every time we hit the ball they were able to get us out, and we did the same to them. Graham even threw off his catcher's mask, ran all the way to the Pirates' dugout, and dove to catch a foul ball. Both teams were playing like we were in the real World Series.

Now the Pirates were up. We were ahead 6–4. All we needed to do was hold the Pirates to one run or less and we would not have to bat again. We would win the game.

Kevin was pitching for us now. I took his place in center field. The first batter hit the ball over second base and straight to me. I dove to catch it, but missed. Luke ran over from left field and picked up the ball.

Kevin struck out the next two batters and then walked one. There were two men on base when David stepped up to the plate. He looked serious. There was no making fun of our pitcher or any other trash talking. We were one out away from winning the championship.

The first pitch was inside. It almost hit David, but he didn't even flinch. The next was in the dirt. Again, David just watched it go by. He was waiting for the perfect pitch. Kevin's next throw was exactly what David was waiting for and he smacked it. I followed the ball with my eyes. It was coming straight toward me. But instead of coming down, it kept on sailing higher and farther. I ran back to the fence, but knew in an instant that it was gone, a home run. David punched his fists into the air as he jogged around the bases. I felt my heart sink. We were now losing by one run. Kevin struck the next batter out, and we all ran into the dugout.

Coach Parker stood in front of our bench. “You all know what we need to do,” he said simply. “Let's do it.” Then he walked down to third base. We were back to the beginning of our lineup. It would be Carlos, then Graham, and then me.

The first three pitches were balls. Coach gave the “don't swing” signal for the next pitch. Carlos stood there and watched the next pitch hit the ground in front of the plate.

“Ball four. Take your base,” the umpire shouted. Carlos ran to first.

“Go get'em,
hermano
,” I said to Graham.

He grabbed his bat and walked up to the fence in front of the crowd. “Okay, this one is
really
for you,” he said, pointing to Kelly. Gramps opened his mouth and was about to say something.

“Not you,” Graham said, stopping him before he could say anything. “This is for Kelly.”

Diane and Heidi and most of the crowd started laughing. Kelly looked really embarrassed. Graham didn't care. He walked up to the plate and yelled, “Come on, wimp. Throw the ball!”

No one ever called David a wimp. His face was red as he started his windup. He threw the ball straight at Graham, who just stood there with a smile and didn't move. The ball hit him in the leg. Now Graham's face turned red. I could tell he was in some serious pain and wanted to scream. Instead he just kept that stupid smile on his face and gently set the bat down on the ground. He gave two thumbs up to the crowd, who all cheered him down to first base.

Now David was
really
mad, and unfortunately, I was up next. This would probably be my last time up to bat in Little League. We were so close to winning the game and finally beating David. I just had to hit the ball.

Carlos and Graham were leading off their bases, getting ready to steal. Coach gave me the sign to swing no matter what. The first pitch was almost in the dirt, but I swung anyway and missed. Carlos and Graham both ran. The catcher threw the ball to third base to get Carlos out, but it went over the third baseman's head. Carlos kept running and slid home for the tying run. Graham made it to second base safely.

“You're going down,” David yelled at me.

The next pitch almost hit me in the head. I hurled myself to the ground to avoid getting killed. Suddenly, it felt like the first game of the season again. The next pitch was a strike, but I didn't swing.

I stepped away from the plate and took a deep breath. I glanced over at Heidi and Diane. They were both smiling at me. Heidi had her fingers crossed. My mom had her hands over her eyes, like she was too nervous to watch. Gramps was stuffing a handful of caramel corn into his mouth.

This is it
, I thought.
I can do this. My friends are here, my family is here, even my grandma and caramelcovered Gramps. I'm ready.
I stepped back up to the plate.

David said something, but I didn't pay attention. Then he wound up and threw the fastest pitch I had ever seen. I didn't have any time to decide if it was a strike or a ball, so I just swung as hard as I could. I felt the ball hit my bat and send vibrations up my arms.

“Run, run!” I heard everyone shout. I dropped the bat and ran to first as the ball sailed over the shortstop's head. The left fielder picked it up and threw it to third base, trying to get Graham out. Fortunately, Graham slid and was safe.

I couldn't believe it. I'd finally gotten a hit off David! Our crowd stood up and cheered. I hoped Coach Cunningham had seen my hit.

“Time-out,” the Pirates' coach yelled. He walked out and had a little chat with David.

Graham yelled “Way to go,
hermano
!” from third base. Luke's dad whispered to me, telling me to take a big lead and to try to steal second base on the first pitch. I took about five steps off the base.

“Way to go, Raymond!” I heard someone call out from the stands. I looked over to see if it was Heidi.

Diane and Heidi were trying to say something to me
. Probably trying to tell me I did a great job
, I thought. Now more people were telling me something . . . and pointing. Luke's dad was yelling something too, but with everyone screaming it just got all jumbled up. I turned to see what they were pointing at, only to see David running straight for me with the ball. I turned to run back to first, but it was too late. David had tagged me. “You're out,” he shouted.

David stood there laughing in my face. The crowd went silent. I looked up at David and wanted to say something, but what could I say? I felt like I was going to die. But as I stared into David's mean black eyes, I caught a glimpse of something behind him. It was Graham, and he was heading home from third base. David and everyone else had forgotten all about him. Now it was the other team's crowd that was screaming. My smile must have given it away, because David quickly turned around. With Graham almost to the plate, David threw the ball to the catcher. The sound of the ball hitting the catcher's mitt echoed through the park just as Graham slid, raising a cloud of dirt. All eyes were on the umpire. It seemed like time stood still as we waited for the call.

“Safe!” he finally shouted.

Our entire team ran out of the dugout and jumped around like crazy. We ran over to Graham, who was still on the ground at home plate. We tried to pick him up and put him on our shoulders, but we all fell down, so we just kept jumping around instead. We gave the other team a cheer, and both teams met at home plate to shake hands. I saw David coming toward me. I turned quickly and walked away to shake someone else's hand. The last thing I wanted was a slug on the arm to ruin this moment. But I wasn't quick enough.

“Hey, Raymond.” I turned.

He was standing there with his hand stretched out toward me. “Good game,” he said. I was waiting for the punch line or maybe just the punch, but it never came. I looked at his hand and then up at his face. He was serious.

I reached out and shook his hand. “Yeah, good game,” I answered. Then we both moved on and shook hands with everyone else.

The crowd came running onto the field. I gave my mom and dad hugs. Grandma gave me a wet kiss, and Gramps pulled off my hat and rubbed my hair like he was trying to rub it all off. Even Geri gave me a little, friendly sneer. Then Coach brought us together with our parents and told us how proud he was of us and what a great season we'd had. He said something nice about each player. He seemed as happy as we were. My dad called out, “Let's hear it for Coach Parker!” All the parents and players gave Coach a cheer.