Baseball Story

[Rinafera Woxwitty III]

If you like Baseball, you'll like this... I think so, atleast.

1

First Practice


Paul Jakes stood in the right handed batter’s box, waiting for the pitch. It was February 26th, and the first practice of the year at Olsen High School. On the mound was John Williams, the ace pitcher. Though John was just easing them across the plate for batting practice, it was still hard to hit when the star varsity pitcher threw his 2-seamer on the outside corner of the plate. The number one pitcher wound up, and delivered a 4-seamer on the inside corner. Paul thought it was a beauty, and he swung up. He made solid connection and you could hear the sound of aluminum on leather, but it was a pop-up right to the shortstop. Paul’s green eyes showed his aggravation as his blonde hair coming out of his helmet crackled under his helmet as he looked at the ball as it flew its arc. Drake Moore, the shortstop, caught the ball near his nose and tossed the ball back to the lefty hurler on the mound. Paul Jakes was bearing down now; his tall, muscular body was in an open stance as he fixed his gaze at John. Williams greased another fat one across the plate; and Paul teed off. It was a line drive, still moving upwards as it left the infield. Cling! The ball knocked off the left field fence and dropped a few feet in front of Zeb Grant, the starting leftfielder.
Paul smiled and pointed his bat at John on the mound. The lofty Williams was angry, and he looked at Coach Fitzgerald for an ok. Although this was only batting practice, Coach Ron Fitzgerald let the pitchers throw whatever they wanted to. John was now smiling. He threw with a full windup and blazed what looked like a fastball. But just as Jakes was beginning to swing; the ball curved a bit a dropped into the dirt left of the plate. Henry Kent, known as Dip, got on his knees and stopped it. The small, swift catcher threw the ball back to Williams. Paul Jakes thought he had the upper hand after his nice hit and the ball that nearly hit him. But John Williams was known for his intelligence on the mound, and he quickly found the weakness of the cocky righty at the plate. The left handed hurler wound up and let go a fast one. The ball had a lot of heat on it and it cut a bit near the inside corner. The hitter completely whiffed and hit thin air.
Now Paul was flummoxed, that was another weakness that made him easy to pitch to after an embarrassment. Zeb, who was always joking, never missed an opportunity to razz his good friend.
“Thanks for the cool breeze!” The first baseman, a fat left hander with short brown hair decided not to give up the opportunity as well.
“We should call you Polly, because you hit almost as well as my 9-year old sister!”
The right fielder at the plate blushed and planted himself deep in the dirt. Paul would not let another fastball by him. He got back in the plate, and expected a heater. John wound up and threw with an arm motion that looked like a fast ball, but he let the ball roll of his fingers. The ball was gripped like a heater but completely went up in the air real slow, and then dropped right in the mitt. Paul swung in uppercut that looked like a desperate fight for survival, and he swung again before the ball even got to the plate. Every player on the field laughed until they couldn’t breathe, and Paul was angry. He got a little less tense, but still had the expectance of a fast one. The righty got his wish; a high fastball across the letters came flying in.
Paul teed off, and the ball was sent flying into left. But Zeb was so fast and swift, that he leaped out above the fence and made the catch. A robbed homerun! This time the players were really on him.
“Come on Susan shoot it higher!”
“My parents are going to be dead the next time you touch the ball.”
“Your face looks like its steaming!”
It did. Paul’s face was completely red, and this was his last pitch no matter what. The right handed batter got so tense he was a sucker for a curve.
John drilled a curve that broke and went to the outside corner. Paul barley made connection, and he dribbled a soft grounder down the first base line.
“Hit the showers, Paul!”
“Seeya later, Jakes!”
Paul, frustrated and embarrassed, went into the dugout and headed for the locker room. Coach Fitzgerald smiled, he liked when his cocky players learned a valuable lesson.
“Okay, Drake Moore, you’re up!” The dark haired shortstop ran to get a helmet that fits him. Drake grabbed a bat, and put on his batting gloves.
“Come on, Williams, throw one over the plate. Right here,” teased the freshman. He was the only freshman on the varsity squad besides Zeb, and they were both good friends. The junior varsity team begged them to play for them, but Drake and Zeb were good enough to start on any varsity team, especially the Cougars. Moore stepped into the left handed batter’s box. He threw righty, but he batted lefty. Thus, he was a tricky batter to pitch to. Williams wound up and decided to show the newbie something; he drilled a fast one high and inside. All Drake did was keep his composure, and watch the ball the whole way in.
“Come on, John; are you afraid to give me a good one?” Drake grinned and swung his bat halfway in front of the plate a few times. The tall, slim batter watched a changeup and kept his bat on his shoulder. It was not the floater that tricked Paul; it was just a normal changeup that landed a bit out of the zone. Then came John’s sixth pitch: The slurve. It curved a bit and then broke a lot to the right of plate. But Drake stepped into it and drilled it high. The ball kept flying into right field, and was gone. Zeb whistled as he watched the ball soar over the right field fence and off the school building. Ron Fitzgerald smiled merrily and walked up to the mound.
“We need hits like Drake’s, and pitches like John’s when he pitched to Paul to give Olsen High the best Cougar team they’ve seen in years. Okay, hit the showers!” Drake rounded the bases and met up with Zeb as they went into the dugout and headed to the showers.
“John sure puts heat on his pitches, doesn’t he?” Drake said, chuckling to Zeb. The small, strong-armed left fielder grinned and thought aloud.
“And if we play as good as we just practiced, we could be going for state!”

The ride home in Bill’s car was a happy one. Bill was the fat first baseman that teased Paul. The big sophomore smiled to Zeb and Drake.
“I guess we’ll learn what this team is really made of when we play the Wildcats on the 7th of March.” Everyone was silent, and their thoughts drifted to their bitter first place rivals: The Jackson High School Wildcats.

[Rinafera Woxwitty III]

2
Jackson Wildcats

The Jackson Wildcats were a stellar baseball club. After infield warm-ups, the Cougars sat in the home dugout and watched them warm-up. Their defense never made an error in the field during practice, their pitchers scarcely threw a ball when they pitched in the bullpen, and their outfielders’ range in catching fly balls was amazing. Everything about this team looked flawless.
The Olsen Cougars walked on the field for the first inning, slightly nervous about the caliber of the team they were playing. Ron Fitzgerald looked at his team and sighed, in his opinion, the Cougars stood no chance.
At first was Bill Riley, at second was Kent Daley, at short was Drake Moore, at third was Frank Washington, in left was Zeb Grant, in center was Chris Denton, in right was Jake Wells, on the mound was John Williams, and behind the plate was Dip Kent.
John Williams looked shaky during his practice throws, but kept his composure and did well in the first inning. The first batter flied to right, and the second grounded to first. Now was the Jackson slugger, the senior, and Team Captain. He was the best hitter in the state, most said.
“Time!” Coach Fitzgerald yelled as he ran to talk to John.
“Okay, Lance Brooke is up, so don’t throw anything that can be drilled. You got two outs, none on, and the crowd is huge and waiting for you to make a stop. Just have fun.” Ron ran back to the dugout.
“Strike one!” Yelled the plate umpire as John threw a slurve on the outside corner of the plate. The Cougar Ace wanted to be careful, but did not want to walk him. He threw a curve low and inside for ball one. Then John wiped sweat off his brow with his red cougar jersey. The big batter, Lance Brooke, crowded the plate and gazed at John. Williams delivered a pitch low and away that Lance swung at. Then the big lefty pitcher decided to throw one out of the zone to try to make Lance fish, but Lance knew better and watched it for ball two. John threw one that nearly hit the right handed slugger and the count was three and two.
“Come on Williams, throw a strike!”
“Hit the plate, pretty boy!”
“Let him hit, Cougar loser!” Those were the taunts from the Wildcat supporters.
John was angry, and wanted to get the inning over with. He slung a fat pitch right over the plate and Lance took full advantage of it. The long armed batter ripped the ball to the left center fence and rounded second for a triple. Zeb made a nice throw to third but Lance beat it out, which was surprising for such a big teenager. Then a fat, burly freshman got into the left handed batter’s box and stared down at John. John gave a heater right down the pipe that the batter pulled in the gap between the second baseman and the bag. Kent Daley, a junior that had never started until today, made a nice scoop and he slung the ball to first. Bill reached out, but the ball hit off his glove dropped to the dirt behind the bag and rolled away. The batter got there just in time but Lance got a late jump and was not close to home. But he kept going and Bill drove a hard, accurate throw that beats Lance out any day. But Lance didn’t slide, the big third baseman trucked Dip to the ground and the ball was loose. Brooke crossed home and was called safe, but the small catcher was on the ground. Dip could scarcely breathe, and his stomach and arms were completely sore.
In to catch was Josh Hill, a utility player with a little catching experience. John and Josh set the next guy down and the score was 1-0 and the Cougars were up.
Leading off was Kent Daley, but the ace Wildcat, Henry Mitchell, had his number. The small second baseman struck out after nice slider with a one and two count. Next was Josh Hill, who was filling in for Dip. Josh was fast, and he played nice defense, but he was no hitter. The fair-haired catcher struck out as well. Batting third was Bill Riley, a teenager who did not allow himself to get beat. The big, hefty first baseman that was a star as a freshman last year grinned as he looked at his old arch nemesis, Henry Mitchell. Mitchell delivered a called strike that was two low and inside for Bill to hit, so he passed it up for the first strike. A hard breaking ball cut too early and it veered left and out of the zone. The big, right handed pitcher threw one at Bill, but the left handed hitter was smart and got out of the way. Two and one, and Bill’s pitch was coming. A slow changeup, that didn’t drop, was Riley’s favorite pitch. It came. Bill swung his strong arms and ripped the ball deep to right. It bounced off the fence and Bill was looking for a double. The throw to second was off, and Bill slid in safely. At bat was the Cougars’ best hitter, Jake Wells. The tall, strong right fielder looked every inch an athlete. He had black hair, brown eyes, and dark skin.
The first pitch was a wasted one, because Mitchell was trying to get Jake to swing at a ball. Jake swung at the second pitch, but he fouled it off and the count was one and one. The third pitch was a fat one, the ball was a curve and it broke late. Wells teed off. Jake took off and Bill easily scored, but there was no reason to run. The lanky right fielder drilled it over the left field wall. The score was now 2-1 Cougars. Frank Washington flied to left, and the inning was over.
Later on in the sixth, the score was still 2-1, but John was tired. The left handed pitcher had ten strikeouts, and had definitely done his part. Into pitch was Michael Lawrence, a right handed pitcher with a lot of velocity. Though Michael had a lot of speed, his fastball was the only thing working for him.
After that disastrous inning, the Cougars went in to hit trailing 5-2. Olsen High did not score in the bottom of the sixth, and they went into the final inning losing.
The first batter struck out, and the second singled. Then, a jack was nailed into left field and Zeb was on his horse. Grant caught up with the ball and dived. The ball hit off his glove and went into the air. Zeb turned and caught the ball in the palm of his right hand while lying on the ground. What a catch! But the play wasn’t over; the runner on first went to tag up and beat the throw by half an inch. Then a sharp grounder was hit down the third baseline, but Frank Washington, who was due for something good after being hitless and having two errors, scooped the ball and fired it to first. Out number three and the Cougars had to score three to go to extra innings.

Leading off was Jake Wells, and was intentionally walked. Second was Frank, and he got out once more. Up third was Chris Denton, and he doubled to right. Now, Zeb Grant was up. Zeb had only struck out walked, and flied out. So the speedy freshman was due. He met the ball solidly and drove it for a ground rule double. One out, tying run on second, and Drake Moore was up. He went into the left handed batter’s box and got ready. The first pitch was a called strike around the knees, and the second pitch was a ball outside. Mitchell, who had pitched all day, wound up and gave a sharp cutter at the letters for strike two. Drake protected the plate now, and knew he couldn’t watch another strike. There it came; A sharp 2-seamer that was waist high and outside. Drake took a full cut and drilled high into left. The ball kept going until it bounced off the fence and Drake was on second. The tying run had come in and Michael Lawrence was up with one out. They had the opportunity to bunt Drake to third, but after that was Kent Daley, who was 0-3.
Drake led off a long way away from the base, hoping for a bad pickoff throw. Michael adjusted his helmet, and got in the box.
“Strike one,” yelled the umpire. Michael looked in disgust after he had almost got in the elbow and the umpire called it a strike.
“Strike two!” That pitch was way outside. Lawrence rolled his eyes and looked up. It was now or never. Time to win and he’s got to swing if it’s anywhere close. In came a curveball that broke to where the last on was; way outside. But that didn’t matter. Michael put a hard swing into the ball and it ripped off the end of his bat. The ball flew into left field and rolled down the line. Drake was off, but it would be a close call at the plate. He was rounding third, and the left fielder slung the ball home. The throw was a little off to the left and high. Drake managed to get a slide away from the catcher, but it was also away from the plate. The catcher slid to try to hit his foot before Drake crossed, but he missed and they both were away from the plate. Drake stood up quickly, and so did the catcher. The tall shortstop leapt to home at the same time the catcher did. Moore had this planned, though. He jumped a bit off from home base, and the catcher jumped right over it. The catcher landed past the plate and had no chance of getting Drake. Drake Moore crossed the plate and the Cougars won, 6-5 after a last inning comeback. Zeb Grant laughed and congratulated Drake as they went into the locker room.
“Okay, okay, quiet down.” Said Coach Fitzgerald as he took his hat off and wiped his brow. “What I am most proud of is that you never lost heart. You just played the team that won the state finals last year, and you beat their ace starter. Nice hitting all around and a nice job by Hill to came in and catch for Dip. Dip’s injury was serious, and he will miss a month and a half. Go to the team dinner tonight and relax, but come back on Thursday ready to practice hard.”
With that, Bill, Drake, Zeb, and Chris Denton left to go to the dinner.

[Rinafera Woxwitty III]

3
“Just Thinking”
As Bill drove his car with the group to the dinner, the old friends discussed the catching position and Dip.
“Josh is too fast. He is a great runner and why limit that speed by putting him behind the plate? And it makes his legs sore and that takes away a great speed on the base paths.” Chris said, almost angrily. “I kind of want to fill in for Dip; I played a lot of catcher in Junior High.” The center fielder scratched his curly blonde hair and gazed with his blue eyes at Zeb.
“You’re a good catcher, too. Or you could play centerfield.” Zeb smiled. He was beginning to like this plan.
“You’re right, Chris.” Zeb said jauntily. “I can play center, Josh can play left, Jake can stay in right, you can catch, and the rest can stay the same.” Drake immediately ended the discussion.
“This has to be approved by Coach Fitzgerald, and I don’t think he wants to make a drastic lineup change.” The tall freshman said demandingly, “Period.” Chris looked at Drake despondently.
“We were just thinking,”

The dinner was good, but Drake had to leave early to work with his dad at factory. He strode away across the street to the Iron Department. Moore did his usual work, and his hands were tired. Drake was beginning to drink his water when his dad walked up.
“We are not going to get you into college by drinking water on the job,” said Mr. Moore. His blonde hair was identical to his son’s, but he had brown eyes and Drake had blue. The brawny old factory worker smiled, and spoke jauntily to his son.
“You can take the rest of the day off. Go home; you have a big game next Friday.” Drake gladly smiled and walked back out of the factory to his apartment that he shared with his father since his mother died of cancer.


“Come on, Jakes! Do you want to start for me?” Coach Ron Fitzgerald bellowed at the pitcher as he lazily threw the ball in the bullpen. Josh was catching him, and Steve Washington, Frank’s brother, caught for John. The assistant coach, Karl Day, walked up to Ron, puzzled.
“Who is going to start for us? The Cowboys are starting Justin Elton.” Coach Fitzgerald saw the problem, but quickly made his mind.
“Paul will start, and John will relieve an inning or two. But we can’t use him too much, after his six inning display against Jackson. But Michael Lawrence looks good, he can pitch.” Karl agreed. Deep down he did not want to start Paul Jakes at all, but he knew better than to question Ron’s decision. That was how the guy before got fired.
Coach Fitzgerald called the Cougars in, and made a motivational speech.
“Last year, we lost to the Wildcats three times, and got five wins and thirteen losses. We just beat the Wildcats, and I know we are the best if we play our best baseball. Now were away, so get some hits early.”
The batting order was changed, and Zeb led off. He bunted one down the third baseline and beat the throw out by catching the third baseman and pitcher sleeping. Up next was Chris Denton, and drilled a fastball down the right field line for a double. With two on, no outs, and a full count, Bill Riley struck out on an inside curveball. Up next was Jake Wells, who was waiting for a pitch to crush. It never came. They intentionally passed him and Drake Moore was up. The left handed slugger did not do well during batting practice, and was mad at himself for that. Drake whiffed at the first pitch, and watched the second for a strike. But on a curve outside, he singled to center, scoring Zeb and Chris. But after him, Kent Daley went down swinging. Frank Washington was walked, and Josh Hill flied to center.
Though the Cougars went out leading 2-0, the lead didn’t last long. In the first inning the first pitch by Paul was crushed into the farm behind the field for a homerun. In the third, he walked three batters and then a base clearing triple made the score 4-2. And after the fourth, it was 7-2.
In the top of the sixth, Frank got a single to start a little rally. Josh Hill was walked, and Seth Mann, a fast second baseman, pinched batted for Jakes. Seth made a sacrifice bunt to put men on second and third for Zeb Grant. The speedy left fielder got an infield hit on a grass cutter to the third baseman. And with the bases loaded, Chris Denton was up. He was two for two with a double and a single, and this was his best hit in his life. Denton drove the ball way out of the ball park on the first pitch and made the score 7-6.
Riley popped out, Wells doubled, and Moore got out on a sacrifice grounder to second. Jake was on third, waiting for Kent to bring him in. Daley popped one up into leftfield and it landed to make the score 7-7. But Frank struck out, and the Cougars were back in it.
The Cowboys answered back with a run after Michael Lawrence gave up a homerun to their best hitter, Reed Gentle. In the last inning, the two first Cougars struck out and the Olsen High School Cougs’ were down to their last out.
Zeb Grant and the top of the lineup were up, and Zeb was feeling the pressure. The speedy leftfielder watched two called strikes and then fouled one away. Justin Elton wound up and blazed a high heater that Zeb jacked into centerfield. Grant watched the ball bounce right next to the fence and go over, a ground rule double with two outs! Chris came to bat, and he was walked. Bill Riley singled down the line that sent Zeb home and Chris to third. Jake Wells was intentionally passed, again. Drake Moore came to bat and he watched three balls. He looked at Coach Fitzgerald at third for a sign, and he got the hit away signal. It means if the count is three and zero, you can still swing if it’s good. Drake gladly swung at and ripped a slow fastball that the pitcher just greased in for a double that scored two runs. Kent Daley pooped out to right and the half inning was over.
John Williams got the call and he warmed up on the mound. The first batter struck out, the second singled, and then the third doubled to score a run. With one out, and the score 9-8, the Cowboys’ slugger Reed Gentle walked up to the plate. A homerun would win the game, and a strikeout would give the momentum for the last batter and kill all hopes of a victory for the Cowboys.
Cling! Williams lofted a soft one right down the pipe and it was crushed over the fence. John slowly walked back to the dugouts, kicking himself for giving one of the best hitters a perfect pitch.

[Rinafera Woxwitty III]

Please give any constructive criticism.