Date: Sat, 18 Jun 2022 05:58:52 +0000 (UTC) From: Blade Hamer Subject: Chapter 40 Adult/Youth & Athletics Strike Two Chapter 40 (Adult/Youth & Athletics) Strike Two Chapter 40 Disclaimers: Everything you read in this story is my intellectual property and as such should be treated with utmost respect. The people described are not living, breathing human beings mind you. They exist only in the realm of pure imagination. The people described in the story do not really exist but are the combination of several different people. Thus, they do not exist. ANY RESEMBLANCE TO REAL PEOPLE IS ENTIRELY COINCIDENTAL ON MY PART. All other disclaimers/rules/procedures apply. If you are under the legal age of viewing this material (depending upon where you live, that could be any age) please direct yourself to something else that will occupy your time. I have read plenty of Nifty stories over the years and have enjoyed many of the stories that I consider good, now I am just trying to pay it forward. It is going to be a chapter story, so if you are looking for a quick toss-off better move onto the next story. Other than that, I hope you enjoy my story. Constructive criticism/feedback/comments are duly appreciated. Please direct them to my email at razorbald@yahoo.com. All are welcomed. Thanks again for reading. Blade Chapter 40 As the boys sat and listened to Blake's critique of the game. Complimenting Bryan on his pitching as well as Sean for coming in and shutting the Mexican team down. He also talked about the hits the boys drove in. He did chastise Bryan for taking off on the wild pitch. Everyone laughed and gave Bryan a few jabs before Blake told the boys to quiet down. Then went on to compliment Sean and Peter on their play at first and Adian for calling out the infield fly from third base. After his talk with the boys, he told them to head straight to the cafeteria to get food in their stomachs. Still dressed in their uniforms. The team went to the cafeteria because it was close to the cafeteria closing and they would not have time to change before it closed. It was there that Adian saw that Miki, Ryo, Li, Liu, and Lok sitting down with an evening snack. Adian waved he figured he better eat with his teammates. Adian got his food and set it down, then quickly went over to his friends and explained what happened. They all figured that is what happened. "Go sit down and eat. I can hear your stomach growling." Ryo said with a laugh and the others joined in. "Okay" Adian said laughing as he turned and went back to the table to eat. Adian sat down next to Aaron the two boys talked about the game and then talked about their morning run. Adian was telling Aaron he planned to go a different route in the morning. Their game was not scheduled till later that evening. Practice was going to be at 9 a.m. and it looked like the weather forecast was going to be nice all day. It looked like Adian, Ryo and Miki would be missing the afternoon diving practice. Adian finished eating and looked to see Ryo and the others were gone. It was getting late, and Adian figured the guys went up to their rooms for the night. It had been a long two days, Adian was exhausted himself and with the afternoon game, the long meeting with the reporters and the fans. It was well after nine when Adian got to his room. He was exhausted and was about to take off his clothes and lay down when a knock came at his door. It was past the curfew hour so it could not be any of the guys from the team. It was possible that either Miki or Ryo could have snuck out of their rooms, but if they were to get caught out of their rooms, they would have to sit the next games first three innings and there was no way they would take that chance. Adian rushed to his door and opened it. Outside the door stood a young handsome young man. Adian had never seen this young man before and began to wonder if he was part of the Groves staff and hoped he was not bringing him unwelcome news. It was then that Adian noticed one of the Groves night security crew watching the young man and Adian. "Hi, my name is PJ Thorndyke Cannon. You might know my father, Jack Cannon?" the young man said as he stood outside the doorway. "You are Adian Parks?" Pj questioned. "I met him the other day. Something I can help you with?" Adian asked. "Well, I was hoping to talk to you for a few minutes if that is, okay? I already talked to your coach, and he said it would be okay. I could meet you down in the conference room? If you would like? PJ asked. He looked to the security guy and asked of it was okay if PJ could enter his room. "That would be fine, but I need to stay here until Mr. Thorndyke leaves. Mr. Parks." the security guard told them. Adain stepped to the side and allowed PJ step into his room. He then closed the door "So, what do you want to talk to me about?" Adain asked. "Well, you know my dad is a World Champion and knows a lot about talented players. When he saw you, he saw a lot of possibilities in you. He thinks you could be an up-and-coming superstar. He invited me here to invite you to a baseball camp that we hold in the fall. It is a two-week camp some of the best coaches attend that camp and lots of other exceptionally talented players like yourself will be there. I would love to know if you might be interested?" PJ asked. Adian stood there in awe of what he had just been asked. (Gawd yes, he wanted to go to this camp, but he knew his foster parents would never agree to let him go. Sure, they could afford to send him to the camp. The problem was it would be during school. "I am going to have to talk to my foster parents. Do you mind if I get out of these clothes while I give a few thoughts?" "Sure, do you want me to leave?" PJ asked getting ready to leave. "No, it is fine. It is not like you have never seen a naked boy before." Adian said with a chuckle. PJ laughed along with Adian. In the meantime, Adian began by removing his shirt, Ahian quickly unbuckled his pants and dropped them to the floor. PJ watched as this well-toned boy stood naked in front of him. PJ did not know that Adian was a diver or long-distance runner. He admired the young twelve-year-old. It remined him of his days as a young multi-sport athlete. Adian took off his jock strap right in front of PJ. He could see that the boy was well endowed much bigger than he was at that age. PJ remembered his remarkably close friendship with his friend Philip and the many times that PJ and Philip would have a little fun together. He also recalled the many times that Eric and himself would have a little fun in their bedroom together at Gordonville prep school. PJ wonder if Adian had some special friends like he had when he did when he was in school. PJ still had a special friendship with Philip as they were going to college together. PJ did not consider himself as gay but did enjoy a little male on male fun from time to time. Adian took his time while putting his boxer briefs on in front of PJ. Adian thought about taking a shower before getting dressed but decided to shower in the morning. He still had PJ's offer on his mind. He wondered if his foster father John knew about the offer before letting PJ come talk to him. He thought after this handsome young man left if he should call or text him before going to bed. Did he want to go to this camp? Hell, yes, he wanted to go to this camp, he wanted to go to it so bad. It would be fun; he would get meet new people and get training from some of the best coacher in the country. Just as he put his tee-shirt on a knock on the door happened. Adian asked who was there and the Grove employee told him that it was time for his guest to leave. "Thank you for listening to my offer. I hope you decided to come. It is one of the premier sports training camps. I also forgot to mention that it is being offered to you at no cost to you or your family." PJ told Adian. Now Adian was speechless. He had not expected the camp to be free. He thought a camp like that would cost thousands of dollars. Adian made up his mind right there and then he was going to call his foster father and beg him to let him go to this camp. The two young men shook hands, then Adian pulled PJ in for a hug and thanked him for his invitation to go to his baseball camp. He then told PJ he would think about going if his family would let him go. PJ told him it would be Adian's decision alone to make that decision. His family had already agreed to let him go. This surprised Adian. However, since Adian is also a ward of the state. He would need to get permission from the state to allow him to travel out of Minnesota like he had to get to go to the Little League World series. PJ waved at Adian as he walked out of his room and Adian waved back, he then yelled out to PJ. "Will you be at the camp?" "Yes, I will. I am the sponsor for the camp. Okay, that is a lie, the Boston Red Sox are the sponsor, but I do own the Red Sox, so I guess that does mean that I am the one sponsoring the camp." PJ turned the corner and was now out of site. Adian went back in his room and ran to his phone and quickly called his foster father he needed to know if he could really go to the camp this year. The phone rang twice before Mary answered the phone. "Hi Adian, do you want to talk to your father?" she asked. "Yes mom, is he still awake?" "Yes, he is. Let me get him." Adain had to wait a little bit. When John did answer the phone, he apologized for making him wait. "What did you need son?" John asked. "There was a guy that stopped by my room tonight. His name was PJ Thorndyke Cannon, he gave me an invitation to a baseball camp this fall and was wondering if I would like to go to it." "What did you tell him?" John asked. "I told him I would like to go, but it happens three weeks into the school year, and it would interfere with cross-country and schoolwork." "I think we can work around that. Remember your brother is teacher at the school and has a little pull within the school itself. So, if you want to go, I do not see a problem with going and I think it would be a good idea. And so does your brother." "Oh, you have talked to Blake about this already?" "Yes, Mr. Cannon and his son talked to us while you were having supper. Now go to bed. You have a long day ahead of you tomorrow." John told Adian. "Thanks dad. I love you." Adian said then hung up the phone. Adain then went straight to bed. *** Adain woke at 6 a.m. and quickly put his running shorts and was about to leave his room when he noticed the package Mr. Louganis. Adian opened the package and found a copy of Mr. Louganis video of his Olympic trials and his Olympic gold medal wins. This excited Adian, he was going to get to see one of his diving idols on DVD. Mr. Louganis also gave him a pair of swimming short made specifically for diving. Adian remembered his father once looking at these online and they were not cheap. Adian was surprised Mr. Louganis giving such an expensive gift. Also included were two books "Breaking the surface" and "Greg Louganis diving for gold" both books were signed by Greg Louganis. Adian was so enthralled that he almost forgot about going for his morning run. If it had not been for the knock on his door he would have sat down to read and forget about his morning run. Adian smiled when he opened the door. There stood Miki and Ryo already to go out for their morning run. "Good morning!" Adian said in Japanese to his two friends. "Good morning!" the two boys replied in English. They had decided they were going to make it a practice to answer everything in English as to get a better grasp on the English language. The boys talked about the gifts they had received all three boys were given the same gifts. Once again, the boys were met by Aaron, Li, Lui, and Lok at the front door. Only this time Kristopher and Eric Hooper were there waiting as well. Adian explained the route he planned to take and that if anyone wanted to stop, they could at any time. After he explained the boys then took off on their morning run. A few of the boys dropped out and a few other boys from other group of morning runners joined the group. There were a few from the Mexican team and a few from the American team from New Castle, Indiana. The morning runs were truly turning into an international event. Once the boys finished their run, they headed into the café to have their breakfast. When the boys enter there were a whole group of boys gathered around the furthest table. The boys were curious, but their hunger was far greater than their curiosity. Aaron saw Philip walk by with a baseball in his hand and asked him what was going on. "It's Jack Cannon and his son and he is signing autographs!" Philip chirped with excitement. Then rushed off to join the rest of the boys gathered around the men. Once the boys had their food they went and sat down at a table. Aaron and a few others that were at the quickly devoured their food. Adian sat quietly and slowly ate his food. He already had an autographed baseball and a few other things given to him when he was interviewed. Adian was happy that the other boys were being given the chance to have an autograph of a world champion. Heck, he had received four autographs of famous people in the last week. How many other boys his age could say that they had even one autograph. Ryo, Miki, and Adian had their backs turned to where the boys were getting autographs when someone approached the boys. The man stood above the three boys without them even knowing that he was there. "It is good to see that you boys are fueling up your bodies." came the man's voice from behind them. All three boys recognized the man's voice and turned around quickly. "Mr. Louganis!" the boys excitedly called out at the same time. They all jumped to their feet to greet the man. "Good morning boys. I took the day off so I could come to see how you guys play baseball." "You like baseball?" Miki asked in excited voice. "Of course, I played baseball when I was your age. I just was not as good as you boys are." Greg said chuckling. "May I join you?" He asked. The other boys sitting at the table did not have any clue as to who this man was that had sat down at their table but would soon find out. "Yes Mr. Louganis!" the boys said in unison. Ryo moved over a seat so that Greg could sit-down between Adian and himself. At the same time one of the cafeteria workers came over and asked Mr. Louganis if he would like some coffee and a roll. He said he would take the coffee but would pass on the roll. He told her he was watching his weight and all the boys chuckled at what he said. "So, it is my understanding that you three boys are multi-sport athletes?" Greg asked. "I can only speak for myself. I just started baseball this year, before that I only did diving and cross-country. My foster brother would like me to try out for wrestling this winter if I am unable to find somewhere to continue diving." Adian told Greg. Miki was the next to speak up. Telling Greg that he liked cross-country, diving and baseball. Ryo spoke last telling Greg that he liked to run cross country, diving, and baseball. "Oh, I see the three of you all have similar interest, it is too bad you do not play on the same team. You would make a killer team. All the boys laughed. The cafeteria worker came over with Greg's coffee and the conversation continued. It was not very long when a crowd of boys converged on their table. Leading the way was Jack Cannon and his son PJ Thorndyke Cannon. Jack introduced himself and then introduced his son PJ. "I know you Greg said standing up to shake the two men's hands like they were old friends. "How is the swimming going?" Greg said as he turned to PJ. "Boy's let me introduce the United States record holder in the 100im and 200im butterfly and the 100im free style. There has only been two other swimmer that have beat him in those events and one is Michael Phelps, and the other is Jason Lezak. "Why didn't you go to the Olympics?" one boy called out from the crowd of boys. Jack laughed and PJ turned red. But Jack was the one who spoke for PJ. "Well boys, Pj had an accident and was unable to compete. However, he will be competing in the world cup this spring." The whole room exploded into cheers and calls of good luck to PJ. PJ face turned even more red than it already was. It seemed like more young baseball players filed into cafeteria the only problem was that most of the boys had to leave so they could get ready for either morning practice of elimination games. Adian and his teammates were part of the group of boys who had to leave to get ready for morning practice. "Mr. Louganis are you going to stay for the games?" Adian asked. "That is why I am here today. I came here to watch you boy's play and from what I understand Mr. Cannon and his son PJ will be joining me. Good luck to you all." he said as the boys got up to leave. *** Adian, Ryo, Miki, and Aaron quickly made their way up to their room to get ready. Adian changed into his practice uniform, grabbed his gloves and bats, and made his way down to the front where he met up with the rest of the boys. Blake led the boys out to the practice field and put the boys straight to work. Blake had spent most of his evening trying to figure out who he wanted to start the game. He knew he was going to start Adian at pitcher and Jose at catcher, but the rest of the lineup was still up for grab. *** Blake sat down with John and Ben after the meeting with the boys after the game. Asking his two other coaches what their thoughts on the lineup. It took a good while for them to finally figured out who was going to start the game. Freddy Olson second base Eric Hooper right field RJ Johnson center field Adian Parks Pitching Kristopher Heinze shortstop JD Smith left field Peter Philip first base Aaron Danvers third base Jose Livia catcher Bryan Mars left field, Bobby Olson in center field, Carlos Livia right field and Peter Corona at third base and if Adian struggled at pitching Blake had decided to move him to shortstop and have Kristopher come in and pitch. Blake and Ben then went to their room and sat down to watch film of the team they were going to play. The team they would be up against was the Southwest Region McAllister Park National Little League from San Antonio, Texas. They had a record of 33 wins and 3 loses. They had only lost one game in pool play and were the top team in the group. Just like the Cougar, Blake figured this might be one of the tougher team that they would be playing in the Little League World Series. *** "Gather round boys this will be the lineup for today's game, Blake then went on to read the lineup. They boys who were starting were excited but the ones who would sit were disappointed but knew they would get a chance to get in the game. Blake then told the boys to get some rest and be ready and at the ball field by five o'clock. *** Adian headed back to his room and decided he would take a nap before heading downstairs to get something to snack on before going to watch Ryo and Miki in their game against the team from Latin America Region. Adian laid down and slept till eleven thirty. He got up and showered and dressed then headed down to the cafeteria to grab some healthy snacks. He met up with Li and talked about this morning run. Then they talked about the three men that had been sitting with them. Li wondered if he should try out for the swim team once he returned home. Sure, he could swim but he wanted to be like PJ Thorndyke Cannon. As the time got closer to the one o'clock game more boy's joined Adian and Li. They all planned to go watch the Japanese team play against the team from Latin America region. It was going to be a good game. Both teams were undefeated. One team would move on to the next round while the other would move down to the loser's bracket. Adian and Li got up and began to make their way to Lamade Stadium. Followed by several players from the cougar's team and the Chinese Taipei team. Ti and his brothers would not be able to stay for the whole game, because their team would be playing after the game they were going to watch. Like most of the games that the Japanese teams play it was a close game. After the first two inning it was tied. 0 to 0. "Are getting nervous?" Adian asked Ti. "Not really, Germany has a good team, but they are made up of American players. From what I understand they were thrown together at the last moment. The competition in the Europe region there are not many particularly good teams and Germany being mostly Americans walked over the other teams." Ti explained to Adian. At the top of the fourth inning Ti and his brother as well as a few other got up to leave. The score of the game at that time was 5 to nothing. Ryo had three hits and scored 2 runs batted in, Miki was doing just as well with two hits with one walk scoring one run and one run batted in. The game ended with the score of seven points to nothing. Both Ryo and Miki ended the game with three hits, a walk and scored one run each. Adain and Aaron let the boys from Japan know they were there cheering them on. Many of the Japanese parents took notice. What the boys did not know was that the boys would have their own fan club come their game later that evening. Adian was about to get up and leave when a hand touched his shoulder. He turned to look and saw Pj and his father smiling down at him. "Hi Adian, I was talking to your father and was wondering if you had made up your mind as to whether you have made up your mind? I will have to make arrangements if you choose to go." PJ asked. Adian sat then looked at Aaron then said. "I am not sure. I am going to be gone for two weeks and I am really going to miss my friends. Plus, it will take me away from my studies." Adian said. "Son do not worry about school. I have already taken care of that. Remember, school is already in session. You will have homework starting in two days. Oh, about your friends you will get to see them before you leave and then have six months to spend with them in school. So, do not pass up this opportunity." John told his foster son. "Hey, if you do not want to go! I will for you!" Aaron blurted out. A few other boys spoke up before everyone started to laugh. "Okay, okay, I get it I will go. But I will miss you guys while I am gone!" Adian replied to the crowd. A cheer went up around Adian, his friends were happy for him. Sure, this was Adian first year playing baseball. But he has also gone through a lot. The boys decided it would be time to go. They had just enough time to get over to the stadium to watch the game between the Chinese Taipei vs. Germany. Miki and Ryo soon joined their friends to cheer on Li, Lui, and Lok during their game. Unlike the Japanese team the Chinese team went to town on the team from Germany. Even though many of the boys who played on the German team they were not as good as the other teams with American players. But the German team tried to keep in the game. By the time the Wilton cougar team had to leave the score of the game was 10 to 1 at the bottom of the fourth which would mean the Germany team would get to play at least another inning before it would be called because of the ten-run rule. The boys went back to the Grove and got dressed then met outside Lamade stadium with all their gear. Blake had gone a head a long with Kristopher and Sean for the coin toss. When they came back Sean was all smiles, Blake had him make the call since he was not going to get to play. His shoulder was bothering him. Next Chapter: In the park home run Note to readers: This story is fictional and there are no real people involved this story. This will not reflect the true teams that played in the 2012 Little League World Series. Authors note: PJ Thorndyke and Jack Cannon are characters from the Story (The Father Contract) published on July 20th, 2014, thru June 20th, 2016, authored by A.J. Arrington. Posted in the Adult/Youth section of the Nifty. The story has also been published into a book that can be found on Amazon book section. Also please donate to Nifty, they are kind enough to post our stories good or bad.