said.
“Listen,” Conor said, “if I ever start throwingthe ball better, maybe you won’t have to throw it at all. Okay?”
“Okay.”
Since he’d come to the varsity, Nick had felt like he only had two guys watching his back, Coach Williams and Jack Elmore. Now he felt like he could add Conor Bell to the list.
Once it was 7–0 for Thayer, though, the game started to run. The more tired the Thayer pitcher got, the more he lost his control. The harder he tried to fix that—by aiming the ball—the more it looked as if he needed MapQuest to find home plate. The Tigers suddenly had base runners, lots of base runners, and they were running, and stealing, on the Thayer catcher the way the Thayer runners had been stealing against Nick.
The Tigers wound up getting four runs in the fourth—Nick scoring one of them after he’d walked—and four more in the fifth to take the lead. All those runs seemed to relax Conor, who finally started throwing the way he wanted to. He finished his day with three perfect innings before giving way to his bullpen for the top of the seventh. And even though Les Roy, their number-three pitcher, loadedthe bases with two outs in the seventh, the Tigers got out of there with an 8–7 victory.
Somehow, despite Nick and his horrible throwing, the Tigers were 2–0 on the season. If they could win their next game, against Maumee Valley, they would go into their rivalry game against King undefeated.
King had three times as many students as Hayworth, even
recruited
good players in all sports to go there. Not only did they always win their league, they had beaten Hayworth ten straight times.
Not only that, but King’s catcher was a kid named Zane Diaz, and everybody who played ball in their area had heard of him. He lived in Sherrill, the next town over, and had been on the Little League All-Star team from there that had made it all the way to the semifinals of the Little League World Series in Williamsport two years before. Everybody had gotten to see him play on ESPN.
Zane Diaz was not only big and strong and had a ton of left-handed power as a hitter, he could throw the ball to second from his
knees.
Nick had seen him do it during a Babe Ruth game last summer.
And yet.
And yet from the first day of practice, Coach Williams had been telling his players that the sides were even this time. And although the Tigers had only managed to win two games so far, both by one run, Nick could see the other varsity players starting to believe.
“Last year they beat us 15–0,” Jack Elmore said. “But this ain’t last year.”
“Yeah, but remember something,” Nick said, sounding as sarcastic as he could. “We’ve got a secret weapon this year—me and my total inability to throw out base runners. Watch out, King, and watch out, world.”
“Hey,” Jack said. “We won today, right? Because you act as if we were the ones who blew the 7–0 lead.”
Nick knew Jack was right.
It was still not hard to feel as if he had blown it, too.
Nick and Gracie were sitting in the circle waiting for Gracie’s mom to drive them home, since Nick’s mom and dad had had to rush back to their school for a faculty meeting.
“Why so quiet, Captain?” Gracie said. “Our team won today.”
“No thanks to me,” Nick said.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Gracie said.
“Do you really want to know?”
“Wouldn’t have asked if I didn’t.”
And it all came out of him then, everything he’d been feeling for the last week or so, some of which he’d already talked about with Gracie, some not. Came out of him the way it had with his dad that night at dinner.
“I don’t belong with these guys,” he said. “On the varsity, I mean. And just because we won today doesn’t change that. We won in spite of me, not because of me. The whole team knows that. Coach Williams has to know that by now, he just won’t admit it.”
He waited for Gracie to say something. When she didn’t, he kept
“Listen,” Conor said, “if I ever start throwingthe ball better, maybe you won’t have to throw it at all. Okay?”
“Okay.”
Since he’d come to the varsity, Nick had felt like he only had two guys watching his back, Coach Williams and Jack Elmore. Now he felt like he could add Conor Bell to the list.
Once it was 7–0 for Thayer, though, the game started to run. The more tired the Thayer pitcher got, the more he lost his control. The harder he tried to fix that—by aiming the ball—the more it looked as if he needed MapQuest to find home plate. The Tigers suddenly had base runners, lots of base runners, and they were running, and stealing, on the Thayer catcher the way the Thayer runners had been stealing against Nick.
The Tigers wound up getting four runs in the fourth—Nick scoring one of them after he’d walked—and four more in the fifth to take the lead. All those runs seemed to relax Conor, who finally started throwing the way he wanted to. He finished his day with three perfect innings before giving way to his bullpen for the top of the seventh. And even though Les Roy, their number-three pitcher, loadedthe bases with two outs in the seventh, the Tigers got out of there with an 8–7 victory.
Somehow, despite Nick and his horrible throwing, the Tigers were 2–0 on the season. If they could win their next game, against Maumee Valley, they would go into their rivalry game against King undefeated.
King had three times as many students as Hayworth, even
recruited
good players in all sports to go there. Not only did they always win their league, they had beaten Hayworth ten straight times.
Not only that, but King’s catcher was a kid named Zane Diaz, and everybody who played ball in their area had heard of him. He lived in Sherrill, the next town over, and had been on the Little League All-Star team from there that had made it all the way to the semifinals of the Little League World Series in Williamsport two years before. Everybody had gotten to see him play on ESPN.
Zane Diaz was not only big and strong and had a ton of left-handed power as a hitter, he could throw the ball to second from his
knees.
Nick had seen him do it during a Babe Ruth game last summer.
And yet.
And yet from the first day of practice, Coach Williams had been telling his players that the sides were even this time. And although the Tigers had only managed to win two games so far, both by one run, Nick could see the other varsity players starting to believe.
“Last year they beat us 15–0,” Jack Elmore said. “But this ain’t last year.”
“Yeah, but remember something,” Nick said, sounding as sarcastic as he could. “We’ve got a secret weapon this year—me and my total inability to throw out base runners. Watch out, King, and watch out, world.”
“Hey,” Jack said. “We won today, right? Because you act as if we were the ones who blew the 7–0 lead.”
Nick knew Jack was right.
It was still not hard to feel as if he had blown it, too.
Nick and Gracie were sitting in the circle waiting for Gracie’s mom to drive them home, since Nick’s mom and dad had had to rush back to their school for a faculty meeting.
“Why so quiet, Captain?” Gracie said. “Our team won today.”
“No thanks to me,” Nick said.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Gracie said.
“Do you really want to know?”
“Wouldn’t have asked if I didn’t.”
And it all came out of him then, everything he’d been feeling for the last week or so, some of which he’d already talked about with Gracie, some not. Came out of him the way it had with his dad that night at dinner.
“I don’t belong with these guys,” he said. “On the varsity, I mean. And just because we won today doesn’t change that. We won in spite of me, not because of me. The whole team knows that. Coach Williams has to know that by now, he just won’t admit it.”
He waited for Gracie to say something. When she didn’t, he kept
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