Junior Year Box Set

I wished her luck and left to get ready for practice.

◊◊◊

After practice, we grabbed a late lunch, and our bus took us to San Jacinto College for our last exhibition game. They’d already beaten us 3–2 last week.

Coach had me take them out and warm up by stretching and running. I could see the difference in the team’s demeanor as soon as they got off the bus. Everyone seemed more focused and confident than they had when I last saw them play Houston.

We had a 3:00 start time, so Coach Kingwood took us back to the locker room to talk to us. This allowed San Jacinto to get warmed up.

“How do they look?” Coach Kingwood asked me.

“We’re ready. I think we win by four runs,” I predicted.

Coach Kingwood was unaware of my special ability to call margins of victory. He just looked at me and smiled.

“I’m not about to doubt him. Are you guys?” he asked the team.

Everyone agreed with me, so he continued.

“We’re going to go easy on our pitchers today. Two innings maximum for everyone. It doesn’t matter how good you feel or if you’re pitching a no-hitter. I want to give four, if not five, of you work today so you’re ready when the games count.

“I want to win this one. So as long as we’re within two runs, either way, the starters will remain on the field. If we get up by four or more, as our captain has said, I’ll make wholesale substitutions. As I said, I want to win, but I also want to be ready for when we play Panama,” Coach Kingwood explained.

Panama was reported to be a weaker opponent. The game after Panama was against the team everyone thought was the favorite, Cuba. I’d seen the roster, and a few of the boys I’d played with were in their lineup. Coach Conde was an assistant for Cuba. I hoped our team didn’t look past Panama.

Coach Kingwood reminded us to play in the moment and to remain focused. He also wanted us to be aggressive on the basepaths. He announced that he was moving me to the top of the order, as the coaches and I had discussed.

“One last detail before we go out,” Coach Kingwood said, and we watched as Coach Way handed him a jersey. “I’ve talked to all of you one-on-one, and we all agree that someone has shown leadership, and I’ve even referred to him as our captain. I want to make it official and announce that David fills that role on this team.”

He handed me a new jersey with a ‘C’ on the left breast above ‘USA’ on the chest. I slipped off my old jersey and put on the new one.

“Take them out, Cap,” Coach Kingwood told me.

“Gather ’round and put your hand in,” I said, and we made a big circle. “USA on three. One, two, three …”

“USA!”

As the visitors, we were up first. The game was being played at John Ray Harrison Field at Andy Pettitte Park in Houston, Texas; it was the home of the San Jacinto North Gators. The plan was to play a seven-inning game and then play two extra practice innings. During the practice innings, players could be freely substituted, and batting orders flew out the window. You could even have a batter who struck out remain up to bat if you wanted. The Gators had agreed to let us have a full nine innings to prepare for our tournament.

Right off the bat, it was a pitching duel. Allard got the start on the mound and gave up just two hits with one strikeout over two innings. We’d managed to get three men on in the first two innings, so I led off the third.

Their scouting report must have told them to keep the ball outside on me because I was thrown four straight balls to get on. Mitch was up next. He was probably the weakest batter of our first six hitters. That wasn’t a knock on Mitch; he would be the best hitter on almost every high school team in the country. We just had guys with serious talent.

I looked to third for the sign, and I was signaled to hold so I could get a feel of how the pitcher handled me on base. The pitcher then tried to pick me off and short-hopped the ball. If it hadn’t been for a great save by their first baseman, I would have been at second.

On his first pitch home, he’d guessed I would be running. He threw a fastball high so the catcher would be halfway standing when he caught the ball. I could tell they were worried.

On the second pitch, I was given the green light. The pitcher made me eat dirt twice before finally going home with a pitch. I exploded towards second and could tell by the way the second base umpire got into position that it was going to be close. I concentrated on my form so I wouldn’t lose any speed and slid into second. The second baseman caught the ball and snapped his glove down to tag me.

“Safe!” the umpire called and signaled emphatically.

“No way! I got him,” the San Jacinto second baseman argued.

I knew better, but I wasn’t about to add my comments to this discussion. Their manager trotted out and pushed his player back so he could talk the umpire.

“I hate to say it, but he looked out to me from clear over in the dugout.”

“His foot touched the bag before the tag. He was safe.”