Daniel didn't do any better than what Garret had done at the plate. He struck out swinging on five pitches so at least he extended the guy's pitch count.
Zeke came up with me on, and only one out. Mr. Miller signed for him to swing as he pleased and for me to take off on contact.
"Be wary if it's in the air." Coach Luis said in a low tone as I started to take a lead off first. I nodded.
Zeke worked the count, but not nearly as much as I did. He didn't have to. The pitcher was already tired and started to look like he was slacking off. On a 2-2 count, Zeke smashed one to left field.
I saw saw it go over the left fielder's head and took off as fast as I could. I rounded second and looked to see that the ball had bounced off the outfield wall and the left fielder was already throwing it in. I hugged and tried my best to run a little harder.
Mr. Miller held up both hands to signal a stop at third. Caught by surprise that they didn't want me to run home, I tripped on third and fell on my knees. I scrambled to touch the bag just as the third baseman got the ball and tagged me.
"Safe." The ump declared.
I sighed with relief. I pushed myself up after the third baseman gave it back to his pitcher, then dusted myself off. I looked around and saw that Zeke had made it to second.
"The outfielder got lucky from the bounce off the wall." Mr. Miller told me. "It bounced right back to him so I knew you weren't going to make it. There's only one out so there'll be a chance for you to score on a long sac fly instead. You and Zeke could both score off a well hit single too."
I nodded. I understood. It'd be better to have two on, one out instead of one on, two outs. He didn't think I would be safe this time.
After Zeke, Kelvin stepped up to the plate. He had previously struck out.
"Take a lead." Mr. Miller said from behind me as the pitcher got set on the mound. I tensed but started to do so. Slowly. Inch by inch. "Kid, you can take a whole foot off the bag."
I heard the third baseman stifle a laugh.
The pitcher was right handed so it was easy for him to look my way. I scooted back to base and heard Mr. Miller sigh.
The pitcher saw that I wasn't going anywhere and turned back to Kelvin. He threw what looked to be a curve but...it didn't break. Kelvin turned his back to hit to try and get out of the way, but the pitch hit into his elbow.
"Shit!" I heard Kelvin yell, grasping his left elbow and bouncing around.
Drew and Coach immediately came out of the dugout to check him out. That didn't ease Kelvin's pain. He was still moving back and forth like he wanted to run away from the pain. I knew the feeling.
It didn't take them long to decide that Kelvin had to go sit. Coach spoke with the umpire before having Bryce come out of the dugout with a helmet on. He ran to first base to be the pinch runner for Kelvin. Drew walked with Kelvin back to the dugout and probably would start some type of treatment process like ice and a painkiller.
I looked up at Mr. Miller. "What will we do for catcher now?" With Kelvin being pulled out for injury, plus Jordan being unable to be put back in, we didn't have any other catchers.
Mr. Miller got close and leaned in towards my ear. "Shh. You're not supposed to let the other team hear things like the fact that we don't have another catcher. But don't worry, we'll figure out something. All these boys have played since they were little ones so someone's bound to have played catcher before." He stood back up and went back to his coaches box. "Don't forget to take a lead this time."
Oh. I nodded, and started my slow inching off the bag. That makes sense though. This is the varsity level so it's not like everyone only knows one position. That could be seen with Sean, who has played outfield and infield. Garret could play outfield and pitch. Bryce could too.
I was probably the the only one stuck with one position. All due to my weak arm and lack of knowledge of the game. I was okay with it though. I like having Noah as a partner to help me with where to stand and turning double plays with him. The outfield sounds kind of lonely.
The umpire called for the game to resume, with Mahki stepping up to the plate. Mahki had been hitless in a couple of games, but the last one where he broke that hitless streak, yet now it was looking like he was starting another one. He was 0-2 on the day with a flyout and a strikeout. A double right now could clear the bases, but really a single or walk to let us score one would be good enough to take the lead.
The pitcher continued to be wild, throwing a few pitches in the dirt to give Mahki the 2-0 count. I peaked over my shoulder to see what Mr. Miller would sign for.
Wait for a called strike.
Yea, that's smart. With this pitcher being all over the place and getting tired, there's a good chance he'll just crumble and walk Mahki.
Too bad that's not how it went. The pitcher corrected himself and went with a fastball in the strike zone. 2-1. Mr. Miller then had Mahki to swing at anything close. The pitcher threw a low fastball and got Mahki to swing and miss. 2-2. Mahki stepped out of the box as the catcher threw the ball back to the pitcher. He took a few good practice swings and then did a deep breath in and out. He stepped back in the box.
The pitcher wiped the sweat off just above his eyebrows. Got set. Checked the runners. Then started his motion. He chose a high fastball this time. Mahki started his swing and made a crack at the ball. A solid 'ding' sound came from the bat as it launched the ball to the outfield.
I turned and watched it, keeping a foot in third in case I needed to tag up. The crowd let out a gasps and our dugout started going crazy as everyone watched the ball soar over the left-center field wall.
Home run! A grand slam in fact!
I beamed as I ran to home plate. 2-1. Zeke wasn't far behind me. 3-1. Then Bryce came next, practically skipping with happiness. 4-1. Mahki took his time jogging around the bases and looked happier than the rest of us. He touched home plate and the two others pounced on him, slapping his back and helmet. 5-1.
I hesistated a second before sticking out my own hand. Mahki didn't even think about it before giving my hand a hard slap. "Yea! Let's get it!" He bounced back to the dugout, where more celebrations were waiting for him. We not only had the lead, but a good one now too.