Date: Sun, 7 Jul 2013 08:59:30 -0700
From: Douglas DD DD <thehakaanen@hotmail.com>
Subject: Diamond Dreams  Chapter 36

Welcome back. Remember that all Chapter 1 disclaimers apply.
Please give to Nifty and be safe always.

Marty and his classmates are sophomores while Eric and his
classmates are freshman. The freshmen find success on the JV level,
but can the sophomores overcome the losing attitude of their older
teammates?


CHAPTER 36
HIGH SCHOOL BASEBALL: FINDING THE PATH

The time after Winter Break is often the most productive in the halls
of academia, and Mayfield High School was no exception. The days
were usually dark and rainy and there really wasn't much else to do
during the day but study and pay attention in class. Of course, paying
attention in class was a relative thing—it certainly did not occupy a
majority of most students' time.

All thoughts seemed to be indoor thoughts. Basketball was the in-
season sport, indoor activities were in vogue at the town recreation
center, and finding available privacy for sex was of paramount
importance. The students at the high school had grown accustomed
to being around the five gay couples who were out, who held hands
in the hall, who came to dances as a couple, who played sports, who
were good students and members of the student body, and who were
good kids who were liked and respected. There were a few
homophobic assholes, with Eddie, Steve, and Crawford being the
most vocal, but Connor and his cadre made sure certain lines weren't
crossed.

The Go to State Team was more active than ever. The low point of
the summer before had passed, and the boys in the group had
learned the importance of working together to realize their goals and
dreams. Their bank account was growing. The February general
meeting was mostly about summer tournament possibilities, both
what they would like to do and what they could afford to do.

Marty chaired the meeting, which was held at Pooh Bear's Pizza. He
told the members what items the board had discussed. "After getting
all the numbers from Mr. McCall, we decided it would be a good idea
to play our tournaments to fit our budget..."

"Sheesh, cut the bullshit and say it in English, Marty. Did you have
Noah write your speech or what?" Connor yelled out.

"Well, to put it so any ass waffle can understand it, we do a short trip
this summer and a long trip next summer."

"Great, so how short is short and how long is long?"

"Give him a chance to talk, Connor," Vince said, "you might even
learn something, hard as that is to believe."

Connor gave Vince the finger, then looked straight at Marty. "I'd learn
a lot if nerfnuts talked like one of us instead of like a fucking adult."

"Short is Missoula, Montana, and long is Reno, Nevada."

"Monfuckingtana? Why would anybody want to go there?" Connor
asked.

"To play baseball, maybe?" Noah said.

"And why Reno instead of someplace cool, like Las Vegas? They got
strippers in Las Vegas and you can see them from anywhere on the
street."

"No shit, really?" Rodney asked, his eyes lighting up with interest. "I
want to go there?"

"Two things about that," Noah said. "First, have you ever been in Las
Vegas in July?"

"Not even fucking close," Connor said.

"Well, trust me, Reno is better." Noah was thinking of the 100 plus
degree heat they would be facing every day.

"But what about the strippers?" Rodney asked.

"Rodney, the road all of the big casinos are on is called The Strip. It
has nothing to do with strippers," Noah intoned with infinite patience.

"Well, fuck, that totally sucks," Connor said.

"Yeah," Vince agreed. "That's like false advertising or something."

Marty shook his head and tried to bring order to the meeting by
hammering his gavel on the table. The gavel had been a Christmas
present to him from Eric and Noah, and this was his first opportunity
to use it.  He finally got the meeting back on track. After everybody
quieted down, Danny raised his hand and Marty called on him.

"How are we getting there?" he asked. "Are we taking the train
again?"

"There is no train to Missoula," Noah said. "We plan to rent vans. The
trip can be done in a day, but it would be a really long day."

"And we would fly to Reno," Marty said.

"Fly? Like in an airplane?" Connor asked.

"No, Connor, we expect you to flap your wings," Kevin said.

"Yeah, like he flaps his mouth," Vince added, causing Marty to whap
his gavel on the table yet again. Outsiders, seeing all the bickering,
might have thought this was a group that could not get along and
fought each other instead of discussing matters. But the bantering
and teasing was actually done in good fun and was between friends.

"Shit, dudes, let's get this over so we can have some fucking pizza,"
Marty said as the voices quieted down.

"Now you're sounding like the Marty we elected," Connor said. "But
tell me why I want to go to Reno?"

"To play baseball, maybe?" Noah asked for the second time. That
had the entire room cracking up as Noah often had a way of making
his point with a touch of humor while getting the last word in.

"Think of it this way, Connor," Jerome said. "We get to do this trip
before our senior year, which I think will be very cool."

"I've never been on an airplane," Connor said. "So, yeah, I guess
you're right. We could just go fly anywhere and play baseball. I mean
who wants to graduate from high school saying he's never been on
an airplane?"

Marty entertained a motion to accept the board's recommendation for
the next two years' invitational tournaments. Hunter made the motion
and Kraig seconded it. There was only one question before it came
up for a vote and that was from Rodney.

"What if we get past our league tournament and make it to an area or
a state tournament of some kind—do we have the money for that?"

Noah, the group's treasurer, answered the question. "Yes, we do.
That money is in a whole different budget and has been set aside."

"You guys are way too good," Connor said. "We were smart to elect
you all."

"I take it you don't remember that the entire group approved of the
budget."

"Not a clue," Connor said.

Eric called for the question and Marty put the motion up for a vote.
The motion passed unanimously.

The only other thing they talked about before pizza was brought out
was how much money they had. "We made a lot of money over
Christmas and we're in pretty good shape," Noah said. The Go to
State Team boys had worked at the Centralia Mall at the gift
wrapping counter, where they got a percentage of the money taken
in. They also helped at the Christmas tree lot run by the Mayfield
PTA, where the team received a percentage of the sales during the
hours they worked. Noah went over the finances, passing out
spreadsheets and pie charts that nobody understood, but accepted.
Marty adjourned the meeting in time for pizza.

As the teens started scarfing down lunch, the talk went to the
upcoming high school season. Turnouts would be starting in about six
weeks and there was already an excitement about baseball that
hadn't been around before the start of the previous season.
Everybody at the meeting, except for Luke, Toby, Justin, Chandler,
Korey, Mikey, and Drew, was in high school, but that didn't stop the
seven middle school players from being excited.

The Go to State Team was once again a vibrant, vital group. Eric
couldn't help but wonder what might have happened to the group if
they had flown to Salinas instead of taking the train. Would there
have been a meeting like the one in the dining car of the "Coast
Starlight"? A meeting where they would have been forced to sit
together and work things out? He doubted it, and was thankful that
he, Noah, and Kevin had pushed the idea of taking the train to
California.

<High School Baseball Season>

Turnouts for high school baseball started on February 20. Like almost
all February days in the great Pacific Northwest, the weather was
cold and damp and windy. Boys who played high school baseball in
Washington State had to have a real love for the game along with a
certain internal toughness. "Those pussies in California wouldn't last
five minutes during one of our turnouts," Connor observed. "The
fuckers would run home crying to their mommies before their coach
hit the first fungo."

Sometimes the weather got too damp and turnouts were held in the
gym. Sometimes only part of the field was useable. But the boys who
wanted to play for the Mustangs were out every day in their sweats,
Underarmour thermal shirts and pants, stocking caps and hoodies.
Thirty-two boys turned out; twenty-six were kept on the roster. Coach
Sanders listed fourteen varsity players and twelve JV players. He was
confident he would not have to pare down to one team like he had to
in his first season. He was even more confident the problem that
caused the mass suspensions the year before would not be a
problem this spring.

All of the freshmen active with the Go to State Team made the squad
and were placed on the JV. Coach Sanders and Coach Hart both felt
a couple of them were better than some of the upperclassmen on the
varsity. But if they were on the varsity, they would spend their time
sitting on the bench. By playing on the JV, they would be learning to
compete at the high school level. Ten of the twelve junior varsity
players were freshmen. They were young and would be sorely tested.

The Go to State Team sophomores were all on the varsity. That put
five sophomores on the varsity along with five seniors and four
juniors. Coach Sanders thought that was a good mix, but he was
soon to find out that, with a couple of exceptions, the upperclassmen
did not have the dedication to hard work and winning that the
sophomores did. While the entire Go to State Team was an
exceptional and driven group, the upperclassmen were not on the
same page.

Two weeks after the first practice, the varsity played in a four team
jamboree that was held in Centralia. Mayfield, Lakeshore, Meadow
Park, and Chinook all participated, with each team playing two three
inning games. The Mustangs beat the Lakeshore Sentinels 4-3 and
lost to the Meadow Park Bears 7-2 in games where nothing counted
and nobody took the scores seriously.

"Damn, it was fucking cold out there," Vince whined as they rode the
school bus back to Mayfield.

"It's hard to field when you have to knock the ice off your fucking
cup," Connor said.

"I thought you were the one calling the California boys pussies the
other day," Marty reminded Connor.

"Fuck you," Connor said. "I was out there playing. They would have
sat on the bus with the fucking heater running, trying to get their dicks
unshriveled."

On Tuesday they started playing real games. Their first three were
non-league and they lost two of the three. The second game was a 6-
5 loss to Beachwood in a game that went the minimum five innings
because of the increasing rainfall and the condition of the field.

Their first league game was at Harborview on Thursday, March 18.
Coach Sanders started Tyler, the most dedicated and talented of his
seniors. Tyler went five innings, leaving with the game tied at 3-3.
Rich relieved Tyler, but found himself a little overmatched and gave
up three runs in the sixth, leading to a 6-3 loss.

They then went two weeks without playing as steady rainfall kept
them off the field. When they finally played, it was at Kentburg. Coach
Sanders was admittedly surprised to see Ben as the starting pitcher,
since he was only a freshman. But, he was a good freshman and held
the Mustangs scoreless for six innings as Kentburg hammered senior
Robin Davidson hard in an 8-1 win.

Noah spent that night at Eric's house. The JV team had won their
game at home against Kentburg 6-3. Eric pitched six innings and got
credit for the win. The Mustang JV team had a 3-0 record.

The boys were sitting in the living room, wearing lounge pants and
sweatshirts, talking with Eric's father.

"I can't believe Ben is pitching varsity," Noah said. "You're as good as
he is," he told Eric.

"Not quite," Eric said. "I'd get eaten up at varsity. I'm surprised he
wasn't hit harder by our varsity."

"I talked with Trey Mullen's dad," Eric's father, Dennis Simmons, said.
Trey was a junior and the son of the Mayfield Police Chief. "He said
six sophomores and three seniors started for us. He thought Ben was
so effective because he was facing a lot of batters he'd seen a lot
through the years. I understand he got hit pretty hard by Lakeshore a
couple of weeks ago, so I'd say he has some things to learn yet."

"I got asked by an eighth grader if I would talk to him and a friend on
Saturday," Eric said, changing the subject.

"Oh? And who would that be?" Noah asked.

"Justin. I don't know who the friend is. I have a feeling the subject of
the talk is not going to be baseball."`

"Knowing what I know about Justin, you are probably right."

"Don't tell me," Dennis said, "Justin is about to join the ranks of the
Mayfield gays."

"Statistically there should be two or three gays in each grade," Noah
pointed out. "Things appear off beat here because the freshman class
has more gays than average and because we are all out of the
closet."

"You are probably right about that, Noah, but it still seems out of the
ordinary to me."

"It seems perfectly right to Noah and me," Eric said.

"And since you are both extremely intelligent boys, I will have to
continue to endeavor to see the world the way you two do."

"The way we currently see the world is that it's time for bed."

Eric and Noah both hugged Eric's father good-night and went up to
Eric's room. Noah had his own toothbrush and other toiletry articles at
Eric's house just like Eric has his own at Noah's. The boys took care
of their nightly brushing, washing, and cleaning and settled naked into
Eric's bed.

"I am not as good as Ben," Eric said.

"I know that and you know that, but I thought it sounded good for your
dad," Noah told him smiling. "Besides, you are a damned good
pitcher."

"Are you horny?" Eric asked, changing the subject.

"I am, but I can hold off until tomorrow night. We don't want to lose
our school night overnight privileges."

"You are always the one who walks the straight and narrow."

"I learned it from you."

"Oh, I do so love you, Noah."

The boys knew they were getting to bed a little late, and they were
both tired after a long day of school, baseball, and homework. A long
and deep goodnight kiss was good enough as they cuddled up and
fell quickly to sleep.

Saturday was the start of spring break. It was also the day Eric said
that he would meet with Justin. He texted Justin and asked if it was
okay if Noah came with him. Justin said it was cool, so he and Noah
met with Justin and Toby at Justin's house. Eric was not surprised
that the unknown second boy was Toby.

Justin told Eric and Noah that he and Toby had decided they were
gay and had committed to being boyfriends. Eric and Noah listened
and smiled as Justin nervously told them how he and Toby felt about
each other. Toby sat quietly, looking more nervous than Justin did.

"Anyway, me and Toby decided we needed to tell somebody. I mean
if we, like, need advice or something we wanted somebody we could
turn to. And you two are almost the most famous gay couple in
Mayfield, what with you being jocks and student officers and all that."

"We appreciate your trusting us," Eric said. "Do you agree with Justin
about all of this?" he asked Toby.

"Totally. I don't know if we love each other, but I know there's nobody
I like to be with more than being with him. I get a rush just seeing
him."

"Sounds like love to me," Noah giggled.

Eric and Noah talked to them about what being out was like, and they
agreed with their decision to wait until they started high school to
come out. "You all have lots of people who understand you there. In
middle school you'll be more like freaks. At the high school you're just
another gay couple." Eric couldn't help but think about his father's
perspective after saying that.

"Do you think me and Toby could sit with you guys at the Nooner on
Wednesday, even if we are only eighth graders?" Justin asked.

"Of course you can. You guys are more than just eighth graders,
you're our friends," Eric said.

"I second that," Noah said.

They talked a little about baseball and then Eric and Noah got up to
leave. Toby walked up to Eric and gave him a tight hug, and then
hugged Noah; the hugs expressing his feelings better than any
amount of talk would have done. Justin did the same and the two
freshmen left.

Noah laughed as they got on their bikes to peddle back to Eric's
house. "What's so funny?" Eric asked.

"There we were, three thirteen year olds and a fourteen year old
talking about being gay and never once did we talk about having
sex," Noah said. "Does that mean that the gay boys of Mayfield are
maturing?"

"No, it just means that you and I had three orgasms apiece last night."

"By the way, those two boys are one cute and sexy couple."

"Oh? I never noticed," Eric said with a smirk.

The Nooner came up on Wednesday as it always did during Spring
Break. It was a tradition that had been started by Coach Collins. As
per the tradition, they played a team from outside the area that was
supposed to be strong. For this game it was the Whitman Wildcats
from Eastern Washington. They were 6-1 so far in the season,
compared to the 1-4 record of the Mustangs.

Coach Sanders started Rodney to give him experience in a game
against a tough foe. He talked to both of his senior pitchers about his
decision before announcing it. Robin was upset about being bumped
by a sophomore, but Tyler said he understood perfectly. He knew
what the dream was about, and even though he wouldn't be around
to share it, he felt strongly about its success because it had been so
important to his brother Bobby.

Rodney ended up showing his potential by shutting down the
Wildcats for five innings, as the Mustangs played their best overall
game of the season in a 4-2 win. Up in the bleachers, Justin and
Toby felt grown up sitting with Eric, Noah, and most of the JV team.
Being members of the Go to State Team was a big part of it, but
being accepted as fellow gay boyfriends by Eric and Noah was a big
factor, too.

The Mustangs lost both of their league games the week after Spring
Break. Robin started the first game and again didn't pitch up to his
ability. At times he lost his concentration. Tyler pitched better, but
didn't get a lot of support in the field as the Mustangs made three
errors behind him. Coach Sanders knew that Tyler had pitched his
best even though he lost.

Two juniors, Steve and Crawford, started both games in the field.
They were sloppy in the field and at the plate, which did not please
Coach Sanders at all. He knew that both of them had a history with
the sophomores as well as the freshmen on the JV team. He could
see that they were on the field more for themselves than they were
for the team.

That Saturday afternoon Coach Sanders sat with his partner, Coach
Miller, in their large living room. He was enjoying the view of the lake
through the room's picture windows.

"I can really see the difference between the sophomores and the
upperclassmen." Coach Sanders said. "The sophomores are so much
more focused and goal oriented. I hate to say it, but those fifteen and
sixteen year olds are more mature than the seniors are, with maybe
Tyler excepted."

"Don't leave out the freshmen. Their JV might be young, but they are
4-1 on the season so far," Coach Miller said.

"That group Eric formed is the most amazing bunch of kids I have
ever worked with."

"There is a lot more to it than Eric, not to take anything away from
him."

"It was his idea that started it, and he was the one who got it rolling.
After they all bought into it, the organization has done wonders for the
whole bunch of them. Hell, even Connor has become semi-civilized,"
Coach Sanders said with a laugh.

"The whole thing almost collapsed last summer after the problems
they went through. And I am positive Steve and Crawford were a part
of that problem. I was tempted to cut them this year, but they didn't
give me a good enough reason to justify it. They know exactly how far
they can push things."

"You're right, it almost collapsed, but it didn't, which says a lot about
the underclassmen. In fact they seem to have come out of last year's
problems even stronger. Look at the JV team, it's almost all freshmen
and they've lost only one game so far."

"The trip to Salinas was where it all came back together."

Coach Miller smiled. "Your speech had a lot to do with that."

"Was that the most boring inspirational speech in history or what?"

"It worked. Somebody got pissed off and took over."

"I never expected that somebody to be Marty," Coach Sanders said.
"I thought if anybody took charge in that dining car, it would be Eric."

"Eric is an organizer. He is patient and methodical and seems to
know how get those guys to follow his lead. But words of passion are
not his strong suit. No, it needed to be somebody who could rant,
rave, cuss, and talk to his peers like they were, well, his peers. Plus,
it needed to be one of the older kids—a sophomore."

"Connor does that pretty well."

"Yeah, but he's not a leader. He's more a gadfly that gets under
everybody's skin and gets them to re-examine their thinking. Marty is
a true leader."

"Talk about a kid who has come a long way. He almost drank himself
out of middle school athletics, hell, probably out of middle school.
Now he is one of the leaders, not only of the team, but of the entire
sophomore class. I've seen his grades, and they are not the Cs and
Ds of his first semester in eighth grade. He's a damned honor roll
student."

"And, he is family," Coach Miller said, referring to Marty being gay.

"I wonder if he and Rich do it more often that we do?"

"Since they don't live together, I'd say no."

Coach Sanders laughed. "Since they don't live together, I'd say that's
the only reason it's close. Oh, to be fifteen again." He gave his
partner a sexy smirk. "Shall we head into the bedroom and make sure
we work at staying ahead of them?"

"Lead on McDuff." The two coaches headed to their bedroom to do
what they'd been doing together since they were twelve years old,
something that, even in their thirties, they never got tired of.

Saturday was also Noah's fourteenth birthday party. The party was
held at his house. The entire Go to State Team showed up and a
select few spent the night. The twins, Lars, Hunter, Danny, Carl,
Scott, Gavin, Marty, Rich, Justin, Toby, Korey, Chandler, and of
course Eric, were invited to spend the night. All of them came to the
party, but Scott and Gavin didn't stay because they were worried the
overnight would turn into some kind of sex orgy. Toby didn't stay
because he had to be up early the next morning for something at
church, but he was fine with Justin staying.

The overnight crew congregated in the cabana, of course. Nicky, who
was not quite ten, joined the party, which turned out to be a mini-orgy
with a great deal of masturbation, solo and mutual, and a fair share of
cock sucking. Everyone there had at least one orgasm. Nicky was the
only one in the crowded cabana who was dry. They all agreed before
they started that there would be no anal sex, which they all saw as
something to be done in private, or at most in a four-way.

One moment of entertainment was provided by Chandler and Lars
who took part in their favorite sex challenge; which of them could get
the most of his dick into his own mouth and who could bring himself
off the fastest by sucking himself. Everybody gave a try at sucking
himself, with Justin coming the closest. He was barely able to flick his
tongue across the head of his cock.

They all slept naked in the warm cabana, each boy choosing a
partner other than his boyfriend. Eric ended up sleeping with Justin, a
boy he liked a lot, and Noah, the birthday boy, slept with Chandler, a
twelve year old who loved to cuddle. The next day, after the crowd
had a pancake breakfast and left for home, Noah agreed with Eric
that it was another great birthday party.

"I think your birthday parties are the sexiest in the county," Eric said.

"It's weird," Noah said. "I am not that big on group sex, but on my
birthday I love it. I think agreeing not to fuck made it a lot more fun—it
was just guys getting off and enjoying each other bodies in an
enjoyable way."

Sunday afternoon found the boy, whose leadership impressed the
coaches, at the home of his English teacher, Mr. Robinson. He'd
started working with the teacher after school during the winter.
However, after baseball started, he took his lunch with Mr. Robinson
and Tyler. Mr. Robinson would work on the students' English skills
while they ate.

Mr. Robinson had told Marty that someone who was as bright as he
was, who was getting more and more opportunities to speak before
his class and before groups, should be able to express himself in
standard English.

"We used to offer a speech class here," Mr. Robinson said. "But with
the emphasis on standardized testing, it has gone by the wayside as
have so many other useful programs. School is geared to passing the
tests, not to learning how do get along in the real world."

Marty shrugged. To him, school was school. But he listened to Mr.
Robinson, and once a week he and Tyler got elocution and writing
lessons. Mr. Robinson made the lessons fun. Marty enjoyed the
company of the teacher and of Tyler.

Marty was certain that Tyler was in a sexual relationship with Mr.
Robinson, but he didn't care. It wasn't like what Coach Gardner had
done to Sara, taking advantage of her to get what he wanted. As far
as he was concerned, the coach was an ass wipe. If Mr. Robinson
and Tyler wanted to get it on, that was their business. He didn't see it
as any different from what he and Jeffrey did with each other.

But Marty had no desire to be a part of it. While he found Tyler to be
incredibly sexy, he was learning that he didn't have to jump in bed
with every boy who tempted him. Some boys, yes, but every boy—
no. Marty started to become more aware of proper grammar and
syntax, and his work started to show improvement both in the
classroom and at the Go to State Team meetings he chaired. But he
also had enough false pride to not let his new found "fancy English"
show up in his day-to-day chatter with his peers.

On Monday, the Mustangs had a home game against Clark Pass.
Coach Sanders had private chats with Steve, Crawford, and a couple
of other boys about their attitudes and hustle. But the coach was in a
good mood, because he knew for a fact that none of the high school
or middle school players had shown up at Abner's annual baseball
alumni party. He was sure it had been at least fifteen years since that
had last happened.

Steve and Crawford both heard a lecture about leaving their baggage
behind and not bringing it to practices and games. Without saying so,
he was referring to their subtle homophobic behaviors. Even though
he still didn't teach at the high school, he knew enough about the
goings on of the athletes there to be aware of how Connor kept
Steve, Crawford, and a couple of others in line. His presence
prevented them from going too far with their actions.

"I'm tired of that faggot," Steve said to Crawford and Fred, a bench
riding senior, at lunch time. "It was hilarious.  He's probably thinking
just because we didn't go to that fucking party out at the farm, we
didn't get drunk."

"You guys drank?" Fred asked. He wasn't a very talented ballplayer,
but he worked hard and the coaches liked him. He'd been one of the
boys suspended the year before, but he came back as a senior with a
good attitude. He now had a chance to earn a varsity letter and he
wasn't about to blow it.

"Hell, yes. Me and Crawford drank enough to make up for all you
assholes who were busy kissing Coach's ass, and I mean really
kissing his ass." He laughed loudly at his joke, but Fred remained
expressionless. He decided this was the last time he was going to sit
with that pair of assholes. He was going back to sitting with the other
seniors. In fact he made that decision right then, picking up his tray
and telling the two juniors he forgot he was supposed to study with
somebody.

"He is such a loser," Steve said after Fred left. "I bet he wouldn't suck
me off like you did on Saturday."

Crawford looked around to see if anybody heard that. "Damn it, you
don't have to let the whole world know."

"Sorry, I know it's not like you're a faggot or anything. You were just
drunk and helping a friend out." It was not the first time Crawford had
"helped" Steve out as a friend. It's kinda funny, Crawford thought, that
no matter how drunk and stoned we get, he never helps me out.

"I'll tell you this," Steve said. "I'm really tired of all those fucking sophs
and frosh in that stupid group of theirs thinking their shit doesn't stink.
Two state championships, my ass. They'll be lucky to win half of their
fucking games."

"I hear you," Crawford said, although he really didn't. He was getting
tired of Steve's act and tired of being Steve's shadow.

"I mean we got a faggot coach, we play with faggot players, and the
rest are faggot lovers. What did I ever do to deserve playing with all
those dickwads?"

Crawford said he didn't know, picked up his tray and bused it.

That afternoon the Mustangs beat Clark Pass. They were expected to
beat Clark Pass, and many of the upperclassmen played like they
were expecting an automatic win. The Mustangs had to score five
runs in the sixth inning to finally pull off a 10-7 win.

Robin Davidson started the game and pitched like he wasn't at all
interested in the outcome. Crawford trotted after a fly ball in the top of
the fourth that dropped in front of him. It was a ball that he would
have caught had he given even an 80% effort. In the bottom of the
fourth, Steve hit a popup to shortstop, which the shortstop had to
back up a couple of steps to catch. Steve knew it was an easy out
and trotted a few steps before turning for the dugout. The problem
was that the shortstop dropped the ball. Since Steve had given up on
the popup, he ended up being easily thrown out at first. Had he run
hard to first he would have been safe.

Robin was pulled from the game after two innings in favor of Vince,
who had nowhere near the ability of Robin, but ten times the heart.
After his lackadaisical play, Crawford was benched in favor of
Connor, who took his place in right. Steve had been playing third, but
not after failing to run out his popup. Marty took his place. Steve
would have been replaced whether the fielder had caught the ball or
not, but the fact that it was dropped made his lack of hustle look even
worse. With Connor and Marty on the field, the intensity shot up to an
entirely different level, leading to the Mustang comeback.

Meanwhile, the freshman-laden JV team had their hitting shoes on
that afternoon as they bombed the Clark Pass JVs at Clark Pass,
behind Eric's five-hit shutout. The final score was 12-0 in six innings.

That evening there was one conversation that led to a very interesting
exchange later. Steve complained to his father about his treatment by
Coach Sanders. "Benching me was so stupid," he said. "That ball is
caught a hundred percent of the time, but he benches me for not
hustling and not thinking of the team. I was thinking of the team. I was
saving myself to have more energy in the field. He just likes all the
queers and queer lovers on the team and is looking for any excuse to
bench anybody who has his shit together. He just wants that ass
kissing faggot Marty at third instead of me. I'm the one who really
belongs there. I mean would you pick a gay queer or a guy who is a
man to be your third baseman?"

His father agreed with Steve about the issue of having a gay coach
and gay teammates, but he did tell his son that, in spite of the homo
issue, he should hustle and run everything out.

That night Steve's father headed to the Roadside Inn to shoot pool
and have a couple of beers with his buddies. Monday night was his
usual night out. He was pleased to see Coach Collins at the Inn. The
conversation was soon about the fortunes of the Mayfield Mustang
varsity baseball team.

"Fucking team is next to last," Paul Richardson, Randy's father, said.
He had fought hard against the hiring of Coach Sanders. He turned to
Coach Collins. "If you was coaching them they'd be right in the hunt.
There's some good talent there begging for you to coach them."

"Amen to that," Steve's father said. "Time for us to get a petition going
to bring you back."

"I won't be able to help you boys out if you do," Coach Collins said,
"but I sure as hell won't stand in your way."

"It's the whole homosexual thing," Richardson said. "You got a couple
of queer coaches and suddenly we got an epidemic of queer kids. It
goes right back to them playing for that Sanders asshole in middle
school. I'd sure like to know what went on in that locker room after
practices with him and those boys."

"It's worse than what Coach Gardner supposedly done with that girl,"
another man piped up. "Nothing wrong with getting some young
pussy, but butt fucking boys that ain't even teens yet...that is just
wrong."

"Hey, look, I am no more happy with the current coach than you guys
are," Coach Collins said. "But I really don't think anything like that
went on with those kids in middle school, at least not with Sanders.
He's got too much integrity. Besides, how's he going to do stuff in the
locker room with Ecklund there, too?"

"Well, all I know is my boy's been benched for one of those fucking
faggots, a sophomore cock sucker," Steve's father said. "My boy and
Marty Carlson used to be friends until he found out the punk was a
drunk and queer as a three dollar bill."

Coach Collins nodded in agreement. "I could tell you stories about...,"
but he was interrupted by a man coming off one of the barstools.

"Don't you fuckers go calling my boy a drunk and a faggot," Lewis
Carlson yelled as he walked up to their table. He was somewhat
drunk. "Ain't nobody calls my son that exceptin' me, cuz he's my boy
and I call him whatever the fuck I want. Now I expect a fucking
apology before I bust somebody's nose."

The bar went silent and a couple of insincere apologies were
muttered. "We're really sorry," Coach Collins said loudly, trying to
diffuse the situation. "We didn't mean to belittle your boy."

"You better fucking not." Marty's dad turned around and sat back
down on his barstool, a lonely figure who found himself drinking alone
more and more.

"Wow," Paul Richardson said, "what the fuck got into Lewis? He calls
his kid the same things we just called him all the time."

"I think it's all about family," Steve's father said, "and I get it. It's okay
for him to rag on his son, but heaven help the outsider who says the
same thing."

What nobody knew that night, least of all Lewis Carlson, was that his
little tirade was the first step in the long process of changing his life.
For Lewis Carlson, it was just another night of sitting on a bar stool
and getting drunk, hating his sexless wife, his gay son, and himself,
but in the back of his head some little thing had changed.

The Mustangs played two more games that week. Steve, Crawford,
and Robin sat on the bench for both of them, fuming at the coach and
fuming at their teammates. The Mustangs split the two games, losing
to Lakeshore 4-1 and beating Monte 7-6, after Marty put them ahead
in the sixth with a three-run homer. They had now played every team
in their league once and were 2-5 in league and 4-7 overall. To make
it to the league tournament they would probably have to win at least
four of their remaining games.

First place Harborview was probably not the team they wanted to play
to turn their season around, but they gave it a good try. Rich couldn't
hold a one run lead in the seventh as the Tugs scored two runs to
beat the Mustangs 5-4 at Mayfield.

But archrival Kentburg ended up being all too willing to help out the
Mustangs. Rodney gave Mustang fans a glimpse of how good a
pitcher he was going to be as he gave up six hits and two runs to the
Royals over six innings. This time Rich came in and held the lead in
the seventh and the Mustangs had a 5-2 upset. The Mustangs didn't
face Ben, who had started making freshman mistakes and was sent
down to the JV. That afternoon at Kentwood, Ben did what he loved
to do best and that was shut down Mayfield. He held them to three
hits as the Royals won the JV game 4-0.

Marty made love to Rich in Rich's bed following the blown save to
Harborview. After he picked up the save against Kentwood, Marty
made sure to fuck the living daylights out of Rich. He was starting to
learn how to get his sex to match Rich's mood and Rich was learning
the same thing about Marty. There was no doubt in the minds of the
two boys that they were made for each other.

The next week proved to be a very successful one for the Mustangs.
They won all three games, avenging defeats to Meadow Park and
Chinook and beating Monte for the second time, that game by a 9-1
score. They had now won four in a row and were 6-6 in league with
two games left. They were suddenly right in the hunt for a league
tournament spot. The fact that the team started winning when most of
the seniors and juniors were benched was not lost on any of the
members of the team.

Their winning streak ended at five straight when the first place
Lakeshore Sentinels beat them 5-0 behind the 5-hit pitching of their
senior ace, Kirby Rollins. But the Mustangs bounced back to beat
Clark Pass on Wednesday ,15-1 at Clark Pass. The win gave the
Mustangs a 7-7 record in league and 9-9 record overall. They finished
in a tie for fifth with Chinook, who had lost to Lakeshore 7-3. Since
the top five teams went to the league tournament, the Mustangs
would have a one-game playoff the next day against Chinook to
break the tie. The Mayfield Mustang varsity baseball team had come
a long way, and most of that was due to the young, tightly knit group
of six sophomores.

Next: Postseason Baseball