Junior Year Box Set

It was appropriate that we would be facing Cuba tonight. Their pitcher was the kid I’d recommended to the Cubs. If he played like I thought he could, we might have our hands full. We were giving the ball to Allard, our ace. I could see from his warm-ups that he was focused and would have a big game.

“You up to giving me a pregame interview?” Jeff asked.

“Why don’t you go bother someone else?” I teased him.

“Because I need your prediction.”

“This is going to go one of two ways. Either the kid from Cuba will step up and give us a game, or he’ll let the moment get the better of him. If he plays to his potential, I predict a close game where we win 2–1. Allard looks like he’s zeroed in, so they may not even score,” I said.

“If he’s not up to the task?”

“You mean the kid from Cuba?” I asked.

“Yes.”

“Then we win something like 7–1. If they get down by more than a couple runs, it’s over.”

“Why’s that?”

“We’ve already beaten them once. They have to have some early success, or they’ll realize what I already know,” I said with a pause and a big grin. “We’re the better team.”

“That’s what I love about you. You don’t lack for confidence,” Jeff said, and he let me finish getting ready.

◊◊◊

Cuba was up first, and Allard showed why he was our ace. He struck out the first two batters and got the third to hit a weak grounder to Mitch at shortstop.

I was up first in the bottom half of the inning. I tipped my hat to their pitcher to acknowledge that I remembered him and then got down to business. He threw me a curve that surprised me for a strike. He followed that with another curve that barely caught the strike zone. I smiled because I was sure he would try to get me to chase bad pitches. He threw a high fastball and another curve that missed badly. With the count 2–2, I expected something I could hit. On his next offering, he went to the curveball again. I got under it a little and hit a high, towering fly ball to left field.

He got both Mitch and Nick to hit infield grounders to get out of the inning.

Allard struck out their leadoff batter in the second inning and got the next two to hit first-pitch fastballs that ended up being easy outs. He was cruising.

Shane ended the Cuban pitcher’s dreams of a no-hitter with a single to left field. I don’t think anyone expected Royce to bunt. Clearly, Cuba didn’t, which allowed Royce to reach, giving us two base runners with no outs. Jared was up next and also laid down a bunt. This time Cuba was ready and threw Jared out at first. He’d done his job, though, because the other two moved into scoring position.

Tristan came up next. He was one of the guys I’d worked with over the weekend in the batting cage. The Cuban pitcher made a mistake on a fastball that ended up waist high over the middle of the plate. I thought he’d hit it out of the park, but the ball dropped at the last second and bounced off the wall. Tristan had a stand-up double that cleared the bases.

That play seemed to deflate the Cuban team. We proceeded to add another run to take a 3–0 lead. The Cuban manager pulled their starter at that point.

Allard ended up pitching seven innings, struck out 11, and walked three for the win. Daz came in and finished the game, putting down six straight. I hit a two-run homer in our half of the seventh to make the final score 6–0.

This time, when we got the last out, we weren’t restrained. We rushed the mound and were met there by our bench players and coaches. Our fans were on their feet, chanting ‘USA!’ Yuri found me, gave me a hug, and handed me an American flag. I held it above my head as I bounced up and down and looked around to find our fans.

Coach Kingwood got us to calm down some so we could do the traditional handshake. I found Coach Conde in line and gave him a big hug.

“I just wanted to thank you for helping me get ready.”

“It was my pleasure. If you’re ever back in Cuba, look me up,” he said.

We had to keep the line moving, so I just shook his hand.

Afterward, they lined both teams up so we all could receive our medals. The president of the COPABE Pan Am ‘AAA’ Championships gave each player their silver or gold medal. After we got them, he asked Coach Kingwood and me to join him on the mound. Someone handed him a microphone.

“I want to congratulate both Cuba and USA on a well-played game,” he said, and then paused for the crowd to settle down. “I would now like to present the MVP award for the tournament to David Dawson of Team USA.”

He handed me a plaque with my name engraved on it. I must have won the award before tonight’s game. The American flag was draped over my shoulder and my gold medal was around my neck as I raised the plaque over my head.