Koby!” called Tug.
Thump!
Koby’s first pitch was right on the money.
“Steeerike one!” screamed the ump.
Two more pitches, and the batter was left with a count of 1 and 2. He swung at the next pitch and foul-tipped it right into
the Hummer.
One out.
Koby got the next batter to hit an easy grounder to Papo Cruz at short. Papo fired the ball to first base for the second out.
Then Koby struck out the last batter on three pitches. The side was retired without the Cardinals even breaking a sweat.
Koby walked into a sea of high fives on the bench. Coach Tomashiro gave a stern look. “We haven’t even had our ups yet! No
time for celebrating — get out there and score some runs!”
Center fielder Beechie Anderson led off with a single, and Karim Omar Watkins, known as K.O., doubled him home. But that was
all they could do. Three batters later, the Cardinals ended the inning with a 1-0 lead.
“We need more innings like this one, both at batand on the field!” yelled Coach T. “Everyone hustle out there!”
Koby trotted out to the mound and kicked at it with his cleat until the dirt was packed perfectly.
The group of kids in the stands had started to take notice of the action on the field. “Your ice-cold watermelon will be ours!”
they called toward the Greenview bench.
“W-A-T-E-R-M-E-L-O-N
— what’s that spell? WATERMELON!”
Koby heard the cries and smiled. That’s more like it, he said to himself. A little school spirit at last!
Greenview scattered a few hits in the next innings but didn’t cause any damage. The Cardinals were hitting the ball, too,
but leaving too many runners stranded. This went against Coach T.’s first rule of baseball: “If you’ve got runners on base,
get ’em home — safely!”
In the top of the fifth, Greenview’s speedster Cap Wilinski laid a perfect bunt down the third base line.
Third baseman Billy Trentanelli was playing too far back. He ran in and scooped up the ball barehanded. But his throw to first
was off balance andmade on the run, and it lagged behind the runner by half a step.
Stepping into the box was Todd Woods. Todd had been threatening to make a solid hit all day. Tug called for time and walked
to the mound.
“Here’s how you get this guy, Koby. Keep it low and inside, because he always crowds the plate.”
“Got it,” Koby said.
Cap was taunting Koby with a big lead off first. Koby looked him back and went into his windup. As he released the ball, Cap
suddenly took off. But Todd fouled into the backstop.
Cap returned to the bag, then took a lead again.
“Hey, pitcher, pitcher!” he yelled.
The words were barely out of his mouth when Koby hammered the ball to first. Cap dove for the bag, but with one graceful motion,
first baseman Tom “the Prez” Jefferson scooped the ball out of the dirt and tagged him on the arm.
“Out!” cried the field ump.
The students and parents gave a cheer. Koby suppressed a smile as he received the ball back from Tom.
Koby took Tug’s advice, pitching low and inside to Todd, and struck him out. The next batter flew out to K.O., who was playing
shallow in right field.
End of the Greenview threat — for now. The Cardinals couldn’t change the scoreboard on their ups. They held on to their pencil-thin
lead of 1-0.
In the top of the sixth and last inning, Koby got the first two batters to hit line drives right to Papo Cruz at short. Papo
didn’t have to move an inch for either of them.
Tiring just a little, Koby worked the next batter to a full count, then walked him.
With the tying run on base and two outs, Koby looked for the next batter. It was Greenview’s version of King Kong — Jethro
Hubbard — in the on-deck circle.
Jethro had been benched for the first half of the game by the Greenview coach because he had been late to practice the day
before.
He was probably busy tearing down tree limbs with his bare hands and eating away the bark in order to make a
Thump!
Koby’s first pitch was right on the money.
“Steeerike one!” screamed the ump.
Two more pitches, and the batter was left with a count of 1 and 2. He swung at the next pitch and foul-tipped it right into
the Hummer.
One out.
Koby got the next batter to hit an easy grounder to Papo Cruz at short. Papo fired the ball to first base for the second out.
Then Koby struck out the last batter on three pitches. The side was retired without the Cardinals even breaking a sweat.
Koby walked into a sea of high fives on the bench. Coach Tomashiro gave a stern look. “We haven’t even had our ups yet! No
time for celebrating — get out there and score some runs!”
Center fielder Beechie Anderson led off with a single, and Karim Omar Watkins, known as K.O., doubled him home. But that was
all they could do. Three batters later, the Cardinals ended the inning with a 1-0 lead.
“We need more innings like this one, both at batand on the field!” yelled Coach T. “Everyone hustle out there!”
Koby trotted out to the mound and kicked at it with his cleat until the dirt was packed perfectly.
The group of kids in the stands had started to take notice of the action on the field. “Your ice-cold watermelon will be ours!”
they called toward the Greenview bench.
“W-A-T-E-R-M-E-L-O-N
— what’s that spell? WATERMELON!”
Koby heard the cries and smiled. That’s more like it, he said to himself. A little school spirit at last!
Greenview scattered a few hits in the next innings but didn’t cause any damage. The Cardinals were hitting the ball, too,
but leaving too many runners stranded. This went against Coach T.’s first rule of baseball: “If you’ve got runners on base,
get ’em home — safely!”
In the top of the fifth, Greenview’s speedster Cap Wilinski laid a perfect bunt down the third base line.
Third baseman Billy Trentanelli was playing too far back. He ran in and scooped up the ball barehanded. But his throw to first
was off balance andmade on the run, and it lagged behind the runner by half a step.
Stepping into the box was Todd Woods. Todd had been threatening to make a solid hit all day. Tug called for time and walked
to the mound.
“Here’s how you get this guy, Koby. Keep it low and inside, because he always crowds the plate.”
“Got it,” Koby said.
Cap was taunting Koby with a big lead off first. Koby looked him back and went into his windup. As he released the ball, Cap
suddenly took off. But Todd fouled into the backstop.
Cap returned to the bag, then took a lead again.
“Hey, pitcher, pitcher!” he yelled.
The words were barely out of his mouth when Koby hammered the ball to first. Cap dove for the bag, but with one graceful motion,
first baseman Tom “the Prez” Jefferson scooped the ball out of the dirt and tagged him on the arm.
“Out!” cried the field ump.
The students and parents gave a cheer. Koby suppressed a smile as he received the ball back from Tom.
Koby took Tug’s advice, pitching low and inside to Todd, and struck him out. The next batter flew out to K.O., who was playing
shallow in right field.
End of the Greenview threat — for now. The Cardinals couldn’t change the scoreboard on their ups. They held on to their pencil-thin
lead of 1-0.
In the top of the sixth and last inning, Koby got the first two batters to hit line drives right to Papo Cruz at short. Papo
didn’t have to move an inch for either of them.
Tiring just a little, Koby worked the next batter to a full count, then walked him.
With the tying run on base and two outs, Koby looked for the next batter. It was Greenview’s version of King Kong — Jethro
Hubbard — in the on-deck circle.
Jethro had been benched for the first half of the game by the Greenview coach because he had been late to practice the day
before.
He was probably busy tearing down tree limbs with his bare hands and eating away the bark in order to make a
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