Date: Tue, 9 Jul 2013 23:23:36 -0700
From: Douglas DD DD <thehakaanen@hotmail.com>
Subject: Diamond Dreams  Chapter 37

Disclaimers always apply. Be safe. Please, donate what you can to
the Nifty archive.

The Mustangs are young and hungry. The sophomores and freshman
are loaded with talent, but short on experience. Are they good
enough to play in the postseason? And if they are good enough, how
far can they go?


CHAPTER 37
POSTSEASON BASEBALL

The bus ride home from Clark Pass would take close to an hour, so
the boys had a lot of time to talk about their end of the season surge
as well as their playoff game the next day. The girls' varsity softball
team rode in the front of the bus while the boys rode in the back,
almost the same setup as in middle school.

Marty and Rich sat behind Connor and Vince. Rodney was in the seat
across the aisle from Connor and Vince. "Damn, I can't believe how
we came together at the end," Marty said. Nobody wanted to say out
loud on the bus what they thought the cause of that surge was.

"Well, whatever the reason, we have to win tomorrow," Rodney said.
"It sucks that we have to play on their crappy field." Mayfield had one
of the best high school fields in the county, while Chinook was one of
the worst; it was rough and uneven with bare spots in the infield
grass. The teams had split their two league games, which was the
first determiner of home field advantage. Chinook had outscored
Mayfield 8-6 in the two games, and run differential was the tie
breaker.

"It was weird that Coach didn't announce the starting pitcher," Vince
said. "He always announces the starter the day before a game."

"Maybe he just fucking doesn't know," Connor said. "I mean he didn't
know we were going to be playing until today."

"He's a pretty smart coach," Rich said. "He knew there was a chance
of a game tomorrow, so I'm sure he has a plan."

"Well, it can't be me," Rodney said. "I went five innings against
Lakeshore."

"It can't be Trey, he pitched today," Marty said. Trey was a senior and
the son of the Chief of Police. He was a decent pitcher. He and Tyler
were the two upperclassmen who had truly showed senior leadership.

"That leaves only two pitchers," Rich said, "Tyler and Robin."

"Can't be Robin," Connor said, "because the dweeb sucks the hind
one. So any fool can see it's gotta be Tyler."

"Unless he brings somebody up from the JV," Rodney said, "like Eric
who's kicked ass for them."

"Do you want a fucking freshman pitching ahead of a good senior in a
game we gotta win?" Connor asked. "I don't care how fucking good
he is, he's still a frosh which makes him a weenie. And don't forget
about Rich."

"Rich always pitches in relief," Rodney said. "We'd be lost without him
at the end of a game."

"So if we know who has to pitch tomorrow, why doesn't Coach just
come out and say so?" Vince asked. "And don't even begin to think
about me. I am the emergency pitcher."

"And this isn't a fucking emergency?" Connor asked.

"Somebody will have to pitch this weekend," Marty pointed out. "If we
win it's a loser out play-in game on Friday. Maybe that's what he's
thinking about."

Everybody agreed that Coach Sanders had some serious thinking to
do and would probably have a sleepless night thinking about it.

Coach Sanders did do some tossing and turning that night, but for the
most part he slept soundly. He had called Coach Hart, his JV coach
after getting home. He also discussed the issue with Phil Miller, his
partner and summer team coach. They both agreed with how he
wanted to set up his pitching for the playoff game. They felt he had
covered all of the possibilities that could happen in the league
tournament.

Eric stayed at Noah's house that night, and baseball was their big
topic of discussion as well. Kraig and Hunter had pitched against
Clark Pass as the JV won at home 8-2 to finish their season with a
11-3 league record and 12-3 overall. The team was comprised of
almost all freshmen and they all felt good about how their season had
gone.

"It's so great how the varsity finished," Noah said.

"They play a game to go to the league tournament tomorrow. Which
is right where we all want to be next year—the league tournament,"
Eric said. There were no postseason games at the JV level.

"Who's going to pitch tomorrow?"

"Probably Tyler," Eric said. "But it is weird Coach Sanders never told
anybody." The texts, tweets, and Facebook posts between the
sophomores and freshmen had been going back and forth ever since
the varsity had boarded the bus at Clark Pass.

"Maybe he'll pick you," Noah said laughing. "You didn't pitch this
week, so you have all of your innings."

"No way that a freshman with no varsity experience pitches in the
postseason, just no way at all. Besides, he would have told me by
now." Of course, after Noah said that, Eric had visions of being the
big freshman hero, even though he knew that wouldn't happen.

"I know that, I'm just stroking your ego," Noah said. "Not that it needs
that much stroking."

"Keep going like that and I could cut you off tonight."

Noah planted a big kiss on Eric's lips. "You wouldn't dare," he said,
after coming up for air.

"You're totally right about that," Eric said. Noah gave Eric all he
wanted before the two turned in for the night.

<Thursday, May 13, at Chinook>

The team boarded the bus for Chinook mid-way through fifth period.
Chinook did not have a lighted field, so they had to play an afternoon
game. The mood on the bus was restrained as the players focused
on the upcoming contest.

That morning, Coach Sanders had gone to the high school for some
serious talks. The middle school assistant principal covered his home
room and first period class. Coach Sanders met with Tyler and told
him that he would be the starting pitcher that afternoon. Tyler wasn't
surprised. He'd prepared himself the night before like he would be the
starter.

He talked to Steve, next. That talk was what was known as a difficult
conversation.

"You haven't progressed at all, son," Coach Sanders said as they sat
in a side office off the foyer of the main office.

"Why should I?" he asked. "You'd never play me anyway, so why
should I progress?" he asked again, putting a snide emphasis on the
word progress. "Besides, it takes good coaching to help players get
better."

Coach Sanders ignored his last statement. "You might try finding out
what hustling in practice would do for you. It worked for your friend,
Crawford."

"Crawford tries too hard to be an ass kisser. Besides, he doesn't hate
you like I do."

"So why did you even bother to stick out the season?"

"Even though my dad hates you too, he says he doesn't raise
quitters."

"Well, I'm bringing up a couple of JV players. I already have one
available roster spot, but I need another. I've picked you to sit out
today's game. And you know your attitude has everything to do with
that decision."

"You can go fuck yourself, too, coach. No offense." Steve stood up
and walked out of the office, never bothering to wait to find out if he
was going to sit out any more games if the Mustangs won. He had
just done what Coach Sanders expected, which was quit. It made his
job of cutting out the cancer on the roster easier.

Coach Sanders then talked individually to Kevin and Eric. He told
Kevin he would be starting at catcher that afternoon. Tyler was the
usual starting catcher, with Vince catching when Tyler pitched. But
Vince wasn't the polished catcher that Kevin was, which Vince was
aware of.

Vince was not surprised when Coach Sanders told him about his
catching decision. But he wasn't angry either. He had been learning,
as part of the Go to State dream, what being a member of a team
was about.

"I'll try to get you into the game," Coach Sanders said, "but no
guarantees."

"Do what you need to do to win, coach. It says Mayfield, not Vince, on
the front of my uniform."

Coach Sanders then met with Eric. He told him that he would be
suiting up varsity and allowed him to call his parents so they would
know. "I doubt you will play today, if at all," Coach Sanders said. He
knew that statement wasn't entirely true. He had plans for Eric if the
Mustangs won; he just didn't want to get the young boy to start
feeling any pressure when he didn't need to. "But I feel you deserve
to sit with us and get a feel of what playing on the varsity is all about."

Eric thanked the coach. It was obvious he was almost jumping out of
his shoes with excitement. When he finally caught up with Kevin, after
third period, the two exchanged fist bumps, high fives, and finally the
forbidden hug in the hall. They made sure the hug was a quick one.
Kevin told Eric he was glad he didn't find out he was starting until that
morning.

"I would never have slept last night. I mean I had no clue this was
going to happen."

"Me either," Eric said, thinking of what Noah had said the night
before.

Needless to say, Noah was as excited as Eric, even if Eric never
played an inning. "Nobody on the JV deserves it more than you,"
Noah said.

As the bus pulled into the Chinook High School parking lot, all of the
boys' minds were focused on the game. Well, almost all, since Robin
kept wishing he was someplace else. He was trying to figure out why
he hadn't quit two weeks ago. He'd only appeared in three games
since his talk with Coach Sanders, twice as a relief pitcher and three
innings at first base. Steve had the right idea, he thought, and I
should have followed him and quit. This trip is a total waste of my
time.

The team went through its normal warm-up routines. As Tyler
warmed his arm with Bryce, he thought about what had transpired the
night before. After the game, he had called Mr. Robinson after getting
off the team bus. "I need you," was all he said.

Tyler rarely spent a school night at his teacher's house, but this was
one of those rare nights. He told Mr. Robinson he was sure he was
going to be the starting pitcher the next day, but the coach hadn't
made the announcement.

"Shouldn't you maybe go through your normal pregame night; what
you go through when you're the starting pitcher?" Mr. Robinson
asked. He and Tyler were sitting next to each other on the couch, the
teacher's arm draped around the senior's shoulder, the boy's head
resting on the man's chest.

"That usually consists of finishing my homework, jerking off, and
going to bed and tossing and turning," Tyler said.  Mr. Robinson
laughed, giving Tyler's shoulder an extra squeeze.

"If I pitch tomorrow it will be the biggest game of my life. I've never
pitched in a big game before. I mean this game is huge and I'm
scared. I just wish I knew if I had something to be scared about. And
with so many juniors and seniors not giving much of a shit, I don't
want to be the senior who fucked things up." Tyler had no problem
cussing in front of his teacher. After all, the man was fucking him
pretty regularly.

"Just go out and do your best. If you do that, things will fall into
place."

"Make love to me, Dave. I need you in me. I need you making me feel
safe. I need to cuddle with you and...and...," he took a deep breath,
then whispered, "...I need your love."

That was how Tyler ended up sleeping naked with his English
teacher on a school night, after having the man make wonderful
sweet love to him. That was how the often lonely teen felt wanted and
cherished as Mr. Robinson dropped him off at his mother's apartment
before dawn. And that was how he felt ready for the biggest game of
his life.

"I can't believe I'm going to be pitching to a freshman," he told Kevin
the next morning, but not in a derogatory way. It was his way of
saying that Kevin must be pretty damned good to be making his
varsity debut in a loser out playoff game.

It turned out Kevin was pretty damned good. The sophomores, who
comprised most of the starting lineup that day, all knew and
respected Kevin. Tyler learned quickly to have that same respect.  He
saw Kevin's ability behind the plate and his leadership ability first
hand.

Tyler pitched the game of his high school career as he shut out the
Chinook Totems 4-0. He gave up four hits and two walks while
striking out six. He felt totally in control and totally comfortable with
Kevin as his catcher. Being a catcher himself, he appreciated what
Kevin did throughout the game. Having his mother and Mr. Robinson
in the stands rooting for him was always an incentive in itself.

The win over Chinook put the Mustangs into the league tournament.
The good news was the tournament was being held in Mayfield. The
Mayfield ballpark was one of the few in the league that had lights and
enough seating capacity to hold the tournament. Their first game was
the next day, Friday. Their opponent was fourth place Meadow Park
in another loser out game. The winner would play first place
Lakeshore on Saturday afternoon.

After the win over Chinook, Coach Sanders talked to Robin in the
dugout.

"I want you to start tomorrow, if you can assure me you'll give your
teammates your best effort," he told Robin.

"Oh, so you're running out of pitchers and suddenly you need my
help." Robin had been waiting for this moment, the moment to let his
pent up anger at the coach come to the surface. It was anger against
the coach who took the jobs away from Coach Collins and Coach
Gardner; anger against the coach who benched him because he had
a couple of bad games, the coach who forced his friend and
teammate Steve to quit the team. Now was the moment when he
would avenge all of them.

He glared at Coach Sanders with the hatred and venom that only an
adolescent could muster. The eighteen year old took two steps out of
the dugout, turned around, and said with quiet anger, "You can take
tomorrow's starting pitching assignment and shove it up your ass,
coach. I'll be riding home with my uncle, not on the stupid team bus.
Have a good life, since you seem to love fucking up everybody else's
life."

As Coach Sanders watched the eighteen year old stomp away, he
was happy he had a plan B. The team was waiting on the bus. They
noted that Coach Sanders got on the bus, but Robin didn't.

Eric sat next to Kevin on the ride home. The two friends were the only
two freshmen on the bus. "Damn, it was so great seeing you being
the starting catcher," Eric said. "You were so cool and calm like you'd
been the varsity catcher all year. How do you stay so cool?"

"Fuck, Eric, I was so scared my knees were shaking before the first
pitch. I was afraid I wouldn't be able to squat. My shin guards were
banging together. I thought I was gonna collapse right down in my
knees and not get up."

"You didn't look that way to me."

"Plus, I was catching a big ass senior who was also the starting
catcher when he wasn't pitching. Talk about friggen pressure."

"Yeah, but that pitcher was Tyler, and he was Bobby's brother. He
might be a senior, but he is practically one of us." Eric was referring
to the Go to State Team.

"You got that right. Once I figured out he was ready to work with me,
even if I was just a frosh, I got more confident."

"Well, you looked like your usual self out there."

"Thanks, Eric. I hope you get a chance to play, tomorrow." Eric had
not gotten into the game that afternoon.

"So do I." It would not be long before Eric got a lesson in the adage
his father liked to use: "Be careful what you wish for, you might end
up getting it."

When they arrived at Mayfield, Coach Sanders held a quick meeting
on the bus. "Vince, you will be the starting pitcher tomorrow. I'll be
throwing you, Bryce, Jerome, and Rich. None of you will go more
than three innings so I can use you again. It's pitching by committee.
We've done it before, we'll do it again. All of you get a good night's
sleep. The game starts at seven, so be at the ballpark by six."

<Friday, May 14, Mayfield High School>

"So, in two days, two assholes quit the varsity," Noah said at the
baseball lunch table.

"Noah, I don't think I've ever heard you call anybody an asshole,"
Kevin said laughing. "You usually have some fancy ass term to throw
out at us."

"It is what it is; I can't think of any word that fits better."

"The thing that really pisses me off about them is that they waited so
long to quit," Marty said. "They were pissing me off sitting in the
dugout scowling at all of us nobodies."

"Well, you know Steve never liked you anyway," Rodney said.

"Nope, not since back in middle school. But I can't figure out what
Robin's hang-up was."

"From what I heard," Connor said, "the fucker liked Collins and
Gardner and was pissed Sanders was the coach. I figure Gardner
was probably diddling him when he couldn't find any sophomore
pussy."

"Connor, you possess such a pornographic mind," Noah said.

"Like yours is pure and clean."

"What about Crawford?" Rodney asked. "Is he quitting, too. I mean he
and Steve are practically husband and wife, and those two are
straight as hell."

"Crawford is hanging in," Marty said. "He actually is an okay dude
when he isn't holding on to Steve's cock. He'll be fine with Steve
gone."

Vince and Jerome came over to the table. They had been sitting with
their girlfriends during the first part of lunch.

"Well, here comes the emergency pitcher," Marty said to Vince. "I
guess today constitutes an emergency."

"Yeah, with Robin deciding to bail on us," Vince said.

"We're better off with all of you guys pitching instead of that fucking
loser," Connor said.

"Coach should be starting Eric," Kevin told them.

"I don't think we need a freshman pitcher in a big game," Eric said,
blushing some.

"He called you up for a reason," Kevin said.

"And it sure as hell wasn't for his good looks," Connor put in, which
broke up the table. The bell rang, ending the conversation.

Eric ran into Scott on the way to class. "You guys kick some serious
ass, tonight," Scott said. "I am so proud of you, getting called up to
varsity."

"It should have been you or Carl," Eric told him. "You guys were the
heavy artillery all season."

"And you were our best pitcher and our team captain. You and Kevin
were the best choices. Kevin can catch, like he did yesterday, and
you can pitch. Me and Carl can't do anything any other guy on the
varsity can't do."

"Well, I doubt I will get to play at all."

"That's cool. You're there," Scott said. "Hey, guess what?"

"What?"

"Tama said it will happen soon."

"Tama's said that since you first kissed her in seventh grade.  She's
got you right by the balls and you know it."

"Maybe, but we're making progress."

Eric laughed as he turned into his classroom. He knew Tama, the
bitch, was what led Scott to break up with him, although it would have
happened eventually. But he had no bad feelings toward either of
them, because the two of them paved the way for him and Noah to
become boyfriends.

The team was supposed to be at the ballpark no later than six, but
everybody was there by five. With Robin and Steve gone, it was like a
cloud had lifted from the team, and their attitude only got better. They
had split with Meadow Park in league play, losing 9-3 at home, but
winning 6-4 at Meadow Park as part of their late season surge.

Vince started the game, with Tyler catching. The pitcher by
committee plan worked well. Vince pitched the first three innings. By
going only three innings he would be eligible to pitch again that
weekend. Once a pitcher threw a pitch in his fourth inning, he couldn't
come back to pitch again in the tournament.

After Vince's three innings, thanks to a two-run double by Tyler in the
second, the Mustangs led 3-2. Bryce then pitched two innings,
allowing no runs while the Mustangs scored two, stretching their lead
to 5-2. Rich pitched the next two, giving up a run in the sixth, but the
Mustangs ended up with a 5-3 win, guaranteeing they would be
playing the next morning.

Saturday would start the two-day double elimination tournament. The
four teams consisted of the top three teams in the Seamount League,
plus the winner of the fourth versus fifth place game, which was the
Mustangs. Two of the four teams would go to the District Tournament
along with two teams from the Columbia Valley League. The first
game on Saturday was scheduled for ten a.m., pitting second place
Harborview against third place Kentburg. The second game was at
one and was first place Lakeshore against the Mustangs.

The Mustangs sat in the bleachers on the first base side after the win
over Meadow Park. A number of the JV players sat with them, with
Lars sitting next to Kevin and Noah sitting next to Eric. The varsity
boys were pleased with their win. It not only put them in the final four
of the tournament, but it gave them two more guaranteed games.
Eight of the fifteen players on the Mustangs' tournament roster were
sophomores and freshmen; no other team had more than three.

Coach Sanders stood in front of his team and addressed them.
"Great game, guys. You played like a veteran team out there." That
was high praise indeed. "Here is our schedule for tomorrow. If we win
we play at eight against the winner of Game One." That brought a few
nervous chuckles as Lakeshore had won both league games against
them by an aggregate score of 9-1.

"If we lose we play at five against the Game One loser." That
sounded more realistic since they had run out of pitching. Rodney
could pitch on Saturday, but tournament rules limited him to three
innings because he had already pitched seven innings that week. The
players guessed that Coach Sanders would probably go with his
committee of three again, as there simply wasn't anybody else. At
this point, nobody dared talk about the diminutive fourteen year old
freshman who had put up a 5-0 record and 2.25 ERA for the JV team.

"This time I can even do things the way I like to do them and name
the starting pitcher for our first game." The team wondered which of
the three "committee" pitchers will get the start this time. "Many of you
wondered why I brought Eric up to the varsity." On hearing his name,
Eric's heart rate immediately doubled. "Well, it was just for this
situation. Tomorrow's starter will be Eric." Eric felt like he was going
to faint, and only Noah squeezing his hand kept him from doing that.

"One more thing. The first Falcons turnout is ten tomorrow at the
middle school field. All the freshmen not suiting up for tomorrow's
game are expected to be there. Coach Miller invited four eighth
graders and a couple of seventh graders. Remember, nobody is
guaranteed a spot on the roster, but I suspect all of you playing
tomorrow don't have much to worry about in that regard."

His teammates got over their initial shock of Eric being named the
starting pitcher. They cheered him and high fived him. "This is totally
awesome, just totally awesome," Kevin said. "We got the best frosh
pitcher in the league ready to kick some ass tomorrow." Eric's nerves
had tightened so quickly he wasn't even thinking of kicking any ass.
He was questioning whether he'd be able to stand on the pitchers
mound without collapsing. Eric had hoped to get into at least one
game, maybe by pinch-hitting or playing an inning or two at second.
He was not at all prepared for his varsity debut to be as a starting
pitcher in the league tournament.

As the meeting broke up, Coach Sanders called Eric over. He put his
arm around the young teen's shoulder and gave him a warm smile.
"Nervous?" he asked.

"Totally."

"Good, that means you're human. Look, do your usual pregame
routine tonight. I know there was talk of you starting a game, even if
you didn't believe it. I didn't want to start you in a loser out game.
Yeah, you get to pitch against the league champs, but the game is
not a loser out game. Besides, there is one other factor."

"What's that coach?"

"You are one hell of a good pitcher. Coach Hart has kept me totally
apprised of your progress. You'll do just fine. I have every bit of
confidence in you or I wouldn't have decided to start you."

Eric smiled, feeling a wee bit more relaxed. He didn't know if he had
that same confidence, but he was determined not to let his coach, his
teammates, or himself down. Looking back at this game two years
later after he suffered a crisis of confidence at his first State
Tournament game, he wished he'd remembered the things he
thought and felt that evening before his first ever varsity game.

Eric's normal routine the night before he was slated to pitch was to
sleep with Noah, and that was what he did that night. Noah wanted
badly to gush all over his boyfriend, but he knew that was not the way
to handle Eric. What he did do was lead Eric in the ten minutes of
meditation they did on pregame nights, then cuddle up naked with
him in Eric's warm bed. Sex was never an option the night before Eric
pitched.

The next morning, Eric and Noah were up, showered, and full of
breakfast by eight. "I was thinking while I was in the shower," Eric
said.

The two fourteen year olds sat on the couch in the living room, clad in
only a t-shirt and briefs, and holding hands. Eric's dad was seated on
his favorite overstuffed chair.

"Thinking is always dangerous," Noah said, "especially the day of a
game."

Eric ignored him and went on. "I've never pitched to Tyler. I've almost
always pitched to Kevin and sometimes to Carl. I mean Tyler's a
senior. What if he thinks I can't do this?"

"Didn't Kevin, the freshman, catch Tyler, the senior, on Thursday?"
Eric's father asked.

"Yeah, but what of it?"

"You're a bright boy. I think you've answered your own question
about how Tyler will treat you; just like he treated his freshman
catcher." Eric found himself relaxing just a bit more as he thought
about what his father had to say.

Eric's dad drove Eric and Noah to field, arriving just after eleven.
They sat in the stands and watched a back-and-forth game between
Harborview and Kentburg. The game was fast paced and they were
able to watch it to the end before they had to head for the secondary
baseball field next door to warm-up.  Harborview scored a run in the
top of the seventh and then held off the Royals to pick up a 6-5 win.

Before the team hit the main field for warm-ups, Coach Sanders gave
them the starting lineup. While he liked to announce his starting
pitcher the day before the game, he always waited until sometime
before warm-ups to name the rest of the starters. Eric was surprised
when he heard the coach list Tyler as the designated hitter and
batting fifth. He and Kevin exchanged looks, both knowing what that
meant. They were sure Vince wasn't going to be the starting catcher,
which left one other choice. They both moved in close to each other
and exchanged fist bumps. Eric would be pitching to the catcher he
knew best, the catcher who was one of his very best friends.

When the pregame introductions were made, there was some
murmuring in the stands. "What the fucking hell is that man thinking?"
Paul Richardson asked, as he went into a long rant. "He's starting a
freshman pitcher with no varsity experience and a freshman catcher
with one game under his belt in the league tournament against the
team that won the fucking league. He's got to be absolutely nuts. He
has no fucking clue what he is doing. Sending him back to coach JV
middle school would be too good for him. Maybe T-ball fits his
coaching abilities better. This is one more reason to get that petition
going for his removal."

His cadre of friends, which included Coach Collins, agreed.  Coach
Collins made sure everybody knew that if he were still the coach,
Steve and Robin would be on the roster, and that Robin, an
experienced senior pitcher would have been available to pitch.

But Coach Sanders was not a crazy man who had no clue as to what
he was doing. He knew exactly what he was doing. Yes, he was
starting a freshman pitcher and a freshman catcher, but what he was
also doing was planting seeds that he hoped to harvest in two years.

Coach Sanders ended up getting in the last word, although his critics
would never admit it. All they did was call him the luckiest bastard to
ever coach a high school baseball team. The Lakeshore team had
never seen Eric pitch before and found that their patient style of
hitting was getting them into the hole as Eric worked the strike zone
with his usual precision. Having Kevin as his catcher had helped Eric
shake off the last of his nervousness. He was as focused as a
fourteen year old boy could be.

The Mustangs had won the coin flip and were the home team. They
scored twice in the bottom of the third, but the Sentinels came back to
score a run in the top of the fourth on a home run by their cleanup
hitter. Bryce, playing second, rushed a throw in the top of the fifth and
threw the ball over Vince's head at first. The runner ended up at
second and came around to score, tying the game at two apiece.

But the Mustangs found some home run power of their own when
Tyler hit one out in the bottom of the fifth.  Marty was on second after
a single followed by a throwing error by the Sentinels third baseman.
That gave the Mustangs a surprising 4-2 lead. Eric gave up a pair of
singles and a walk in the top of the sixth, but Lakeshore could only
score one run, making the score 4-3. However, Eric's job was
finished. Coach Sanders moved Rich from shortstop to pitcher. Trey
replaced Eric in the lineup and went to short.

"It looks like the bastards might win this thing," one of Paul
Richardson's buddies said as he saw Rich take the hill. Rich had
been pitching very well over the past three weeks.

"Sometimes it's better to be lucky than good, I guess. But the game
ain't over yet," Paul said.

Rich threw a 1-2-3 inning and the Mustangs had pulled off an upset of
the first place team. Lucky or not, they would be playing Harborview
at eight that night.

Eric had gone from being the freshman on the bench to the hero of
the team as he picked up his first varsity win. He wasn't sure how
he'd stopped the high powered Sentinel offense, but he knew a big
factor was the help of his catcher and the glovework of his
teammates. Noah was the first to greet him after the game, and he
gave him a big kiss on the lips without shame for either of them.

Coach Collins saw the gesture, however, and muttered to his friends
that this was one more reason it was time to change coaches and
bring him back next season. "We just can't have this queer bullshit
going on at this high school," he said.

Coach Sanders told the team he wanted them all to go home, relax,
eat, and be back at the ballpark by six. Coach Sanders said he was
going with his committee of pitchers and that Bryce would be the
starter this time. Eric was sure he wouldn't be playing, but he ate and
relaxed on his bed as if he would be out on the field for the evening
game.

The Mustangs were all at the field by five thirty and sat in the
bleachers, watching Lakeshore bounce back from its upset loss to
beat Kentwood 8-5 and knock the Royals out of the tournament. It
turned out Eric was wrong about not playing. He was surprised for the
second time that weekend when he found out he was the starting
second baseman, although he wouldn't be batting. Vince was the
designated hitter and would be hitting for Eric.

The pitching by committee wasn't quite as effective this time. The
Harborview Tugs jumped out to a 4-0 lead after two innings and went
on to an 8-3 win over the Mustangs. The Mustangs would be playing
again at one the next day in a rematch against Lakeshore, with the
winner going to Districts. Harborview had won a trip to Districts with
the win.

Marty spent the night at Rich's. Mikey joined them in the family room
as they chatted with Rich's mom and dad about the two games.

"It is just amazing that a freshman, fresh up from the JV, beats the
first place team in the league," Rich's dad said.

"I get it dad, a freshman, fresh up. That was pretty good."

"There was no pun intended."

"And he had a freshman catcher," Marty said. "Don't forget Kevin,
who caught two of our playoff games so far."

"Over half your team consists of underclassmen; the future looks
bright for you guys."

"We've learned not to future trip." Marty said. "You do that and it
comes back to bite you in the ass. After our undefeated middle school
year we started thinking our shit didn't stink, and you saw what we
ended up going through. I'd just like to see us beat Lakeshore again,
because then we clinch a trip to districts. Who knows what will
happen after that."

"Rodney is going tomorrow, right?"

"Yep, and that gives us a good chance," Rich said. "If we win, we go
to Districts; lose, and we're done."

"It would be a lot of fun to see the first place team get knocked out by
a freshman and then a sophomore pitcher."

And that was exactly what happened. Rodney went all seven innings,
holding the Lakeshore offense to six hits. Three singles and two
stolen bases by Jerome and two run scoring doubles by Tyler paced
the Mustang offense as they knocked the Sentinels out of the
postseason with a 3-2 win.

Harborview and Mayfield were the last two teams left in the
tournament. Since both teams would be going to District, the league
saw no need for the two teams to play each other. That way they
would both be able to save their pitching for the District Tournament.
By winning both of their games, Harborview was named the
tournament winner, and the Mustangs were second.

With Districts not starting until Friday, Coach Sanders gave the team
a much needed day off on Monday. The Falcons had a Monday
practice scheduled along with a Wednesday practice game. Coach
Miller had decided to bring up Toby, Justin, Chandler, and Korey from
the middle school to play with the freshmen. Of course, Eric and
Kevin were excused now that they were playing with the varsity.

After Districts came the State Regional tournament with the four
Regional Winners going to the State Tournament in Pasco. While the
Mustangs tried not to future trip, they couldn't help but think how
great it would be to get to State two years ahead of schedule, at least
for the sophomores and the two freshmen.

The District Tournament was held in Vancouver, Washington, that
year. For the Mustangs, it was an hour-and-a-half school bus ride
away. Districts ended up being a disappointment for the Mayfield
players. Coach Sanders called it a learning experience, but the
Mustangs weren't interested in learning, they were interested in
winning. They played the Bonneville High School Ospreys on
Saturday morning. Rodney started and pitched okay, but the team
didn't have the focus or the motivation they'd had up through the
league tournament. Their youth had caught up to them and the all-
senior team they faced was much more prepared for the next level of
play. The Mustangs lost 6-2 and would have to face a loser out game
at five.

Their opponent was the Beachwood Geoducks. Tyler would be
starting for the Mustangs. He fared a little better than Rodney had,
but the Mustangs couldn't muster any offense, losing 4-1.

The Mayfield High School season was over. They ended up 13-12
with the first trip to Districts by a Mayfield High baseball team in six
years. For the players, their comeback from a 4-8 record to going
deep into the postseason was something special.

For many of the detractors of Coach Sanders, a 13-12 record was
unacceptable after watching his team go 11-11 the year before. The
fact that the Mustangs had gone as far as they had with a very young
team made no impression on them. What they saw was a Coach who
had run off two perfectly good upperclassmen the week of the league
tournament; two players whom they thought could have made a
difference at the next level of play. They derided the fact that he used
two inexperienced freshmen in place of the departed upperclassmen.

However, those who looked at the baseball program rationally liked
what they saw. What they saw were a couple of bad apples leave the
team at the right time. What they saw was an almost all-freshman JV
team win eighty percent of its games. And what they saw was a
varsity team loaded with sophomores, with a couple of freshmen
thrown in, learning what it took to win in postseason play at the high
school baseball level.

Next: Summer Weeks