Senior Year Box Set

Moose sent Justin out to start the game. His use of multiple pitchers looked to be paying dividends because Washington had played their two best for the full games to get here. This was where a lack of pitching depth could jump up and bite you in the butt if you weren’t careful.

I couldn’t really argue with their approach, though, because they’d had to battle to make it to the finals. When you played playoff-style baseball, you put your best foot forward because this format was one-and-done. If you didn’t, you might not be playing the next game.

I worried about this game because I didn’t see it coming down to pitching. All of Washington’s games so far had been high scoring. The front of their batting order started with a speedy center fielder who’d consistently gotten on base. He was followed by big strong farm boys in the two through five slots. They were one of the few teams we faced that might actually match us in power-hitting ability.

The top of the first was a dream come true for them. Washington’s leadoff hitter battled Justin until he finally drew a walk. Next up, their left fielder hit a sharp grounder to third that all but ate up Ty. He was forced to throw to first for the out, allowing the runner to advance. The next batter hit a line shot that skipped in front of me in center. They wisely held up the lead runner because I charged in and would have gunned him down if he’d tried to take home.

With runners at the corners, their cleanup man hit a beautiful ball into the gap between Don and me. Most days, a hit like that would have made it to the fence, but I was keyed up and broke well to cut it off. Their runner at first rounded second, thinking he would make it easily. I hit the cutoff man, who gunned him down. That allowed the hitter to end up at second with two outs.

The fifth batter hit a home run to make the score 3–0.

Justin quickly got the next batter out to get us off the field.

In our half of the inning, the difference between our two teams became obvious. Our big guys could all move and play defense. Our one liability, defensively, was Milo. All of their big boys were similar to him, fielding-wise.

Ty led off and hit a drive to left field that ended up rolling to the wall for a double. Bryan got fooled on a pitch and hit a sky-high pop-up to the second baseman for our first out. Wolf had a good eye and walked to put runners at first and second for me to drive home.

I was hyperaware of the stakes and the need to get us back into this game when I stepped into the batter’s box. Washington’s pitcher was, too. That was why he sent a message pitch on the first ball that had me diving out of the way.

I knew he’d done it to get under my skin. With that in mind, I simply brushed myself off without comment and got back in the box. I let myself drop into the zone so it was just the two of us facing off. I saw Washington’s pitcher psych himself up and toe the rubber. In my head, I was chanting for him to try to throw it by me.

When the pitch left his hand, I recognized that he’d thrown a curve to try to trick me. I held my hands back for a split second and then ripped them through the hitting zone. The crowd erupted when they heard the crack of the bat. I’d gotten under the ball a little too much, and I watched it going higher and higher as it made its way to right field.

Both Ty and Wolf tagged up, expecting my ball to be caught. Washington’s outfielder camped out close to the fence as it started its descent. Then disaster struck for them: the outfielder stepped onto the warning track and tripped over his own feet.

“Go!” I screamed.

Both Ty and Wolf took off as the ball bounced off Washington’s player and rolled towards the foul line. Their center fielder hadn’t run over to back up the play, so he was caught flat-footed. The kid who’d fallen down jumped up and lumbered over to get the ball. Ty scored easily. I held my breath as Wolf rounded third. We got lucky when their fielder panicked and didn’t hit the cutoff man. Instead, his throw was off line, and the catcher had to chase it down to keep it from skipping to the backstop.

He fired the ball to third because I’d been aggressive, trying to steal an extra base. This time, I just made it.

Brock drove me in on the next pitch to tie the game 3–3.

From there, it all went downhill for Washington. We batted around in the first inning to take a 5–3 lead. Washington had to go to their bullpen at that point. By the end, it felt like batting practice as I hit three home runs and had eight RBIs for the game. Justin settled down and handled his part. They called the game in the fifth when we had a 17–5 lead.

We’d just put the rest of the state on notice that we were hitting our stride at the right time. Five more games, and we would reach our goal of winning State.

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