Date: Tue, 17 Sep 2013 23:16:03 -0700 From: Douglas DD DD Subject: Diamond Dreams Chapter 56 Welcome back to the Mayfield trilogy. Today we follow the Mustangs through the postseason as they work to reach their sixth grade dream of back-to-back State Championships. Disclaimers from Chapter 1 always apply. Please be safe. Please donate to the Nifty Archive. Thanks for reading. Douglas thehakaannen@hotmail.com CHAPTER 56 THE MAYFIELD MUSTANGS Coach Sanders held a quick postgame meeting after the win over Meadow Park. He congratulated the team on turning their season around and winning the league title. "Winning thirteen in a row to take the championship says a lot. Doing that after getting off to an 0-3 start says even more. I don't know what you guys said in my classroom when you had your meeting, but I think I'd like to bottle the formula for future use. "We have a busy week coming up. We don't play until Wednesday, and then the schedule gets pretty hairy. The league tournament is Tuesday and Wednesday and Districts start up on Friday. We still have the same innings limit for pitchers, so I will be working on a rotation to get us through the week. "No practice tomorrow. We'll have batting practice and light drills on Monday, and a long round of infield/outfield on Tuesday. The league tournament is in Centralia this year, and I know a lot of you would like to watch a game or two on Tuesday. The first games start at six and we should be finished with practice by five. "Coach Johnson, the Meadow Park coach, told me after the game he thought we were, without question, the best overall team in the league. Just remember, anything can happen in a single game, so be ready to play with intensity, concentration and execution." "Have a good weekend. Be safe and be smart. Gary, at the Bear, informed me pizza and pop for you guys is on the house tonight." The meeting broke up with a cheer and the boys undressed to shower. "Damn, I can't believe Eric went yard," Scott said in the shower. "He's got as many fucking home runs as I do this season, and I'm supposed to be a power hitter." "That's because he doesn't waste time chasing pussy like you do," Kevin said. "Now, if he could have just completed that cycle." "I kept trying to tell you there's a positive side to being gay," Eric told Scott with a grin. "I'm saving my taters for the postseason," Scott told him. "The postseason is here," Kevin said. "Time to start launching some rockets." Chandler and Korey entered the shower area. Chandler was sporting a boner. "Damn, Chandler, does that thing ever go soft?" Blaine asked. "You're always boned up like some middle school kid." "Be prepared is my motto," Chandler said. "Just like the Boy Scouts." "Well, believe it or not, us MEN can get hard when we need to and not have to worry dragging a boner around 24/7," Danny said. "I can't help it that stepping into a shower with you MEN is a big turn on for me." "Trust me," Kevin said, "just plain breathing is a big turn on for you." Chandler looked around the shower at the big upperclassmen. They had long dangling dicks, and muscular bodies. Some, like Hunter and Carl had a decent amount of chest hair and body hair, while the twin brothers sported some chest hair as well. Korey and Eric had the least pubic hair in the shower, and only Noah had less than they did on the team. "Are you gonna jerk off and put on a show for us, Chandler?" Danny asked. "The show you want is me sucking my dick." "Well, there is that. Watching you and Lars doing that would turn on all but the straightest of the straight," Hunter said. "Even Blaine and Gavin could get excited watching you two." "They can wait," Chandler said. "I hear the call of pizza." "Can Drew still suck himself?" Eric asked. Chandler shook his head. "He and Mikey are too much into beer and not enough into keeping in shape. Drew's got a little gut on his sophomore body. That kind of ended his fun, but he likes being a party boy along with Mikey. Whatever floats your boat, I guess." The boys in the shower started leaving as they finished showering and chatting. They agreed to meet at The Bear in an hour. Parents were invited for the pizza feed as well, but none of them took advantage of the offer. It was as if all of the parents had communicated by telepathy, agreeing that their sons should be allowed to celebrate their big moment on their own. The parents all felt there would be more opportunities to celebrate. Gary, the owner of the pizza parlor, gave the team the party room in which to gather. As the room quickly filled up, Gary brought glasses so the boys could start attacking the soda machine. "Great game, guys. Two league titles in a row, and now on to the big time." "The big time is where you're at," most of the boys shouted out in unison. "And how did you manage to reach that fence, Eric?" Gary asked as Eric headed for the soda machine. "It had to be the strength I gained from eating so many excellent pizzas at your establishment," Eric replied. Eric's answer had Gary beaming with delight. "Are all of you here?" Gary asked. "Anybody who is not here is obviously not a member of this team," Carl replied. "I don't think that was what was asked," Noah said. Noah had been busy with his I-pad. He had paper, a pen, and an open book on the table in front of him. "Maybe not, but it is a true answer," Kraig said. "Then it works for me. If somebody counts the heads, and they total up to fifteen, then we are all here." "Unless we have somebody who is not on the team in here," Carl said. "Carl, you have now succeeded in confusing me," Noah said. "And if you are able to confuse Noah, you have shown yourself to be a person of superior intelligence," Kevin said. "I think I'm going to give up and order pizza," Carl said. All fifteen players were in the room, and there were no extras. While they waited for pizza, some of the players asked Noah what he was doing. "I have just received all of the pertinent scores from my sources," Noah said. "I can now figure out who will be playing whom in the league tournament." "Well, don't keep it a secret," Scott said. "Here is how it works. Harborview and Kentburg both won, while Lakeshore had the bye." Noah pointed to the standings he'd written on his worksheet. "We finished in first, of course, with a 13-3 record." "I thought we were 15-3," Blaine said. "I think he's talking about our league record," Justin said. "That would be correct." Noah continued with his lecture. "Kentburg is second at 12-4, then comes Harborview and Lakeshore at 11-5. The fifth and last qualifying team is Meadow Park with a 9-7 record." "So, there is a tie for third," Kevin said. "How will they break it?" "They won't. I looked at the league rules in the league manual, which I borrowed from Coach Sanders." "If they don't break the tie, how do they know who plays who?" Hunter asked. "It works like this. As the first place team we have a bye. Second place plays fifth place in a loser out game, and third plays fourth in a loser out game. Those games will be at the Centralia complex at six on Tuesday. Since the two teams who are tied will be playing each other, there is no need for a tie breaker." "I thought the team that placed higher in the standings was home team in each tournament game," Eric said. "So wouldn't they need some kind of tie breaker to determine that?" "You are correct about who gets to be home team. However, on checking the book, I read they will use the old fashioned tournament method for determining home team." "A coin flip," Eric and Kevin said together. "Once again you are correct. If they had gone to a tiebreaker, it would have been the second tiebreaker, not that it makes any difference. So, what we have is Kentburg playing Meadow Park and Lakeshore playing Harborview. The losers are out and the winners play at 8:30. Which brings us to Wednesday. We play the winner of the second game at six on the Centralia main field. If we win we go to districts. If we lose we play the loser of the second Tuesday game, with the winner going to District and the loser out. Yes, there will be a test." "Wow," Lars said, "with Districts coming this weekend, teams are going to be really hard up for pitching." "Yes, they are. Usually the two tournaments are on separate weekends, but the change of venue for the State Tournament has squeezed things," Noah said. "It's going to become really interesting to see how the coaches deal with it. The big question they have to face is in what game do they throw their ace? This puts us in a good position. No other team has three four game winners like we do." Noah was referring to Eric, Scott, and Blaine. "Depth will be important." "We could end up needing the sophomore," Kevin said. Everybody turned to look at Chandler. "No worries," Chandler said. "I am ready to kick some serious ass." The conversation broke up as the pizzas arrived. The boys were very hungry, and when a teen is very hungry, food trumps baseball. The randy teenagers who played for the Mayfield Mustangs used Saturday to relieve their sexual tensions. Some of it was through the usual pairings: Noah and Eric, Justin and Toby, and Danny and Carl. Six of the boys had a mini-orgy. Chandler's father wanted him home after Friday's pizza, but he had permission to spend Saturday night at Korey's house. It turned out Lars and Hunter planned to spend the night with the twins, which led to a full house. It was a night of more pizza, games, television, and being sure to remind the parents of Korey and the twins that they had six adolescents crowded into their abode. Eventually they all ended naked in the twins' bedroom. Korey and Chandler talked about the kegger the JV team was having at an older kid's house that night. "Mikey and Drew were already warming up," Chandler said. "They got beers out while we visited them at Drew's. I didn't ask where they got them from." "They asked if we wanted some. They said since we both played in a couple of JV games we should come to the party. The beers would get us all warmed up" Korey said. "What did you say?" Lars asked. "We said it was time for us to go. No way were we going to be around somebody drinking beer. Mikey told us nobody was going to find out," Chandler said. "I told him that choosing between drinking beer and getting a chance to go to the State Tournament was a no brainer. We were out of there in a hurry." "I think they were pissed," Korey said. "They'll get over it. Me and Chandler have been drunk before; we'll be drunk again. But right now, no way do we even think about it." The seniors all agreed that the two sophomores had done the right thing and they were proud of them for making the correct choice. "Do you think Mikey is like Marty?" Lars asked. "An alcoholic? He sure seems to drink a lot." "Nah," Chandler said. "Marty had to drink all the time and drank everywhere, even in school. Mikey is more like Connor and Vince. He's a big party boy and gets drunk at keggers and shit. Otherwise, I don't think he drinks that much." Chandler would later find out that his evaluation of Mikey was nowhere near the mark. "Let's pair up," Kevin said after some chat about who had partied where over the last school year. "Nobody can be with their brother or with their boyfriend." They drew cards which had Chandler pairing up with Kevin, Korey with Hunter, and Kraig with Lars. Korey and Hunter left for Korey's room. Anal sex was the rule of the night. Lars fucked Kraig, who loved feeling the long, thin cock of his brother's boyfriend up his ass. Korey had his ass fucked hard by Hunter, who didn't know how to hold back once he started fucking. Even though they had known each other for years, it was the first time Korey and Hunter had ever had sex together. Between his sore ass, the scratch on his right ribs, and the hickey on his neck, it was the hardest, wildest sex Korey ever had. The next day he made sure to tell Chandler he was a wuss in bed. Chandler wanted to top Kevin, but the senior said that wasn't going to happen, at least not that night. "No way do I give signals in a postseason game to a sophomore who fucked my ass the same week. Tonight you're all mine, just like you will be on the baseball field when you pitch," Kevin told him. Chandler got fucked hard by the senior catcher, but it was nowhere near what his boyfriend had experienced in the adjoining bedroom. The boys slept with their sexual partner for the night. That led to some gentler oral sex between Hunter and Korey the next morning, while Chandler got a measure of revenge for having to bottom the night before by dry humping Kevin and covering him with his spooge before they hit the showers together. While Kevin and Chandler were humping, Lars and Kraig masturbated each other in the shower. While he didn't spend the night, Blaine did spend the day at Scott's house. Scott's mother cooked up macaroni and cheese for dinner. The two teens talked a lot about baseball, girls, sex with girls, and even sex with boys. They played games and found they liked each other a lot. After dinner the sex talk had them taking off their pants and boxers in Scott's room. Both boys talked about their sexual experiences with girls. They each said they had fucked one. Scott had actually fucked two, but he didn't feel comfortable with telling Blaine he'd had sex with his sister numerous times. They ended up jerking off, releasing the sexual tensions of the day. Once again, Blaine regretted the attitude he had exhibited when he first moved to Mayfield. He had missed out on friendships, and never had the chance to realize that sitting back and masturbating with a friend and teammate wasn't gross at all. In fact, it was fun. Ever since middle school, Gavin avoided the sexual escapades of his teammates, except for the bonding thing of the previous summer. That Saturday night there were no girls available; in fact that was usually the case. But his twelve year old brother Tanner was. Not for the first time, Tanner snuck into his older brother's bedroom and climbed into bed with him. While Gavin saw sex with his high school teammates as gay, he saw sex with his sixth grade brother as sibling bonding. "When are you going to get yourself a boyfriend?" Gavin asked Tanner as he stroked his brother's smooth chest, soft belly, and bare pubic mound. "I got Jeffrey and Nicky as friends." "They are each other's boyfriends, and you need to find one of your own. There's nobody in the sixth grade?" "Arno," he said. "Oh? I knew you two were buddies, but you're bed buddies now?" "He's still only eleven." "So?" Gavin could read his little brother's smile in the dark. "So, he needed me to teach him how to jerk off a couple of weeks ago." "That's a start." "Yep, it sure is. Being gay is so much fun," For Tanner, sucking his big brother's close to seven inch cock was one of the big benefits of being gay and having an understanding brother. The fifteen boys on the Mayfield Mustang varsity baseball team managed to get off with another boy on Saturday, all but Gavin with a teammate. Even though they didn't all learn what everyone had accomplished in bed, all of the players had a feeling that they had taken care of their sexual needs, and that it was now time to build up a surplus of testosterone for the baseball field. There was no practice on Monday, but Coach Sanders called a meeting in his room after school. He wanted to inform the team of the starters for Wednesday's game. By doing so on Monday, he wouldn't be taking up any precious time on Tuesday and could get a full practice in while leaving time for the players to watch the first round of the league tournament in Centralia. Nobody expected any surprises in the starting lineup, but the question was who the starting pitcher would be. That was the talk at the lunch table at noon. "If we win on Wednesday, we still have two potential District games this week." Noah said. Everybody knew that Noah had carefully calculated out all of the pitching permutations. "If we lose, that leaves us with one more league tournament game, and then we still have two potential District games. Fortunately, we have four pitchers who have started games this year and pitched well." "Who would you start on Wednesday, Noah?" Lars asked. "I'd start whoever Coach Sanders starts," Noah said. "Seriously, Noah, tell us. We're not asking you to second guess Coach," Kraig said. "It's hard to second guess when we haven't had the first guess, yet," Noah said. "But, if it was my choice, I'd go with my ace and to give us a better chance of getting to Districts playing only one game." "You're not saying that because our ace happens to be your boyfriend are you?" Kevin asked. Noah gave him an impish smile. "That would never be a factor in my calculations." After school they all sat in desks in Coach Sanders's classroom. He told them the meeting would be quick, and if anybody had questions afterwards he'd take them. But they knew that his lineup would be his lineup. Nobody's questions had ever changed anything, but the coach was always happy to explain the reasons behind his lineup. "Here are the starters: Justin at short, Eric at second, Scott at first, Carl as DH, Kevin catching, Danny at third, Kraig in right, Hunter in left, and Lars in center. Blaine will be the starting pitcher and Carl will be hitting for him." The choice of Blaine as the starting pitcher generated a great deal of mumbling. It was not at all what Noah or the rest of them had predicted. Their discussion at lunch had centered on whether Eric or Scott would start the league tournament game. Coach Sanders had definitely surprised them with the news that Blaine, the junior, would be the starting pitcher. That decision led to questions, of course. Coach Sanders explained his decision. "Blaine, Scott, and Eric all have four wins this season. As you know they have all pitched well. But Scott and Eric are seniors with postseason experience and I want the experience of both of them in Districts, providing we get there, of course." "Ain't no doubt about us winning, coach," Blaine called out to hoots and laughter from his teammates. "What if we lose on Wednesday?" Eric asked. "Then you will pitch the second game, and I'll still have one experienced senior in Districts, and you'd be eligible to pitch on Monday if needed." With their questions answered, the meeting ended and the players went home. Some hung around to give Blaine some boosts. They were all pleased to see that the junior wasn't intimidated by his starting assignment. He was the closest they had to the edgy cockiness that Marty and Connor had provided in the past. Practice was short but crisp. The weather was a nice, sunny 65 degrees. That kind of weather was predicted through the weekend. "We sure don't need rain to muck things up," Noah said. "This is actually real baseball weather," Hunter said. "Imagine that." The players, parents of the players, fans of the Mustangs, coaches, all made the trek to Centralia for the first day of the league tournament. Coach Sanders had timed things well, as the players made it by six with time to eat beforehand. "It's nice we have a good, smart coach," Chandler said. "Not every adult would have remembered that us growing boys need food to stoke the furnace." "The biggest furnace you need to stoke is between your legs," Kevin said. Having had first hand experience on Saturday, he knew what he was talking about. Chandler had shot his wad twice during their night in Kevin's bed. Lakeshore and Harborview were scheduled to play on Field 2, which had a skin infield. Kentburg and Meadow Park would be playing on Field 1, which had a grass infield and a larger seating capacity. There were decent sized crowds in the bleachers for both games. Harborview won the coin flip on Field 2 and were the home team. Since this was a loser out game, the Harborview Tugs went with their ace. Their coach felt he had the best chance of shutting down the powerful Lakeshore offense. Lakeshore didn't really have an ace. While they had a stable of decent pitchers, nobody really stood out. The Sentinels were usually content to outslug their opponents. The two teams had split their two games, each winning a one-run game at home--Harborview losing 4-3 at Lakeshore, and winning 8-7 at home. Lakeshore had lost its last two league games and three of their last five. The pitching and defensive problems that had plagued them the last part of the season were still a problem. Those issues, coupled with the Harborview pitcher throwing some filthy pitches that had the Lakeshore batters tied up, led to a 6-3 Harborview win. The Mayfield players moved back and forth between games, depending on the situations. Players at Field 1 would text players at Field 2 if things were getting interesting, and vise versa. There was a constant flow of Mustang players between the adjoining fields. The Mustangs were relieved to see that Kentburg decided to go with Ben in their game. Since this was a loser out game, their coach wanted his best pitcher facing the Meadow Park Bears. Meadow Park had their best pitcher going for the same reason. But Ben was simply too much for the Bears, pitching one of his better games of the season. The result was a fairly easy 7-0 win, with Ben pitching only four innings. That meant he could come back to pitch on Saturday, although state pitching limitations would keep him to five innings maximum. Both games went quickly. The Kentburg Royals and the Harborview Tugs would start playing each other at 8:30 with the winner going up against the Mustangs the next day. Kentburg and Harborview split their two games. The Tugs had won 3-2 at home, while Ben stopped them 4-1 at Kentburg. Kentburg's pitching, while not as deep as Mayfield's, was deeper than that of Harborview. But the Royals' hitting was inconsistent. The result was a tight game that was tied at 4-4 going into the seventh. Since the Royals had finished higher in the league standings, they were the home team. They led off the bottom of the seventh with a double, bunted the runner to third, and scored him on a sacrifice fly to give them a 5-4 win. It almost seemed inevitable that Kentburg and Mayfield, archrivals for decades, would meet on Wednesday. The winner would go to Districts, while the loser would play Harborview in the second game for the Seamount League's second District slot. Eric, Noah, Scott, Kevin, and Kraig caught up to Ben after the game and congratulated him on the Royals' wins, especially his shutout. "Everybody will be missing out on the best pitching matchup tomorrow," Ben said. "And that would be what two pitchers?" Noah asked. "Why, me and Eric, of course. I pitched today, so Eric will be facing Matt tomorrow." "I'm not pitching tomorrow," Eric said. "What the fuck? What do you mean you're not pitching tomorrow? Is your arm hurt or what?" "No, Coach is saving me either for District, or to pitch the second game tomorrow if we lose the first one." "I can't figure out coaches at all. Ours at least made sense today with me pitching the loser out game." Ben looked at Scott. "I guess that means you're pitching tomorrow." "Nope," Scott told him. "Has your coach lost his fucking mind? You guys got two senior aces and neither one of you is pitching against us tomorrow? I mean this is more than just a playoff game. This is Mayfield and Kentburg. I know peeps in our school want to beat you guys worse than anybody in the state." "He says he's saving one of us seniors for the weekend if we get that far," Scott said. "So who's going for you then, the junior or the sophomore?" "Blaine, the junior," Eric said. "Well, he's decent. Better than relying on a sophomore, I guess. Is he gay like the rest of you guys?" "Keep me off of that list," Scott said. "I bet you've sucked cock," Ben told him. "Everybody sucks cock," Kevin said, "you included." "If the junior beats us tomorrow, I will suck the cock of one of you five guys." "On the field?" Noah asked with a twinkle in his eyes that flashed right through his glasses. "Somewhere in Mayfield." They all agreed, saying that one of them would suck off Ben if the Mustangs lost. Kevin was pleased to see Mark as the home plate umpire for the Mustang game against Kentburg. Not only did he like Mark, but Mark was also an excellent plate umpire. Since they finished higher in the standings, the Mustangs were the home team. As Kevin warmed up Blaine, he and Mark talked about how far they'd both come since they met back when Kevin was a sixth grader on the Mayfield Titan JV team. The chatter continued as the game went on, but it was baseball chatter, not the sexually tinged talk they often enjoyed through the years. The game was too important for either one of them to let his mind wander away from baseball. Blaine backed up his words in the team meeting when he said there was no way they were going to lose. He showed that he was going to be ready to step up to team ace status as a senior. He reminded the current pitchers, Eric and Scott, that they, too, had been starters in postseason play as juniors. The crowd was into the game, the fans from both sides cheering noisily. While the Mustangs couldn't put the Royals away, they had a 3-0 lead after two innings and never let them get the tying run to the plate. Blaine kept the Royals off balance as he threw six solid innings, giving up three runs on six hits. Scott hit a solo home run and Kevin had a two-run shot as the Mustangs took a 6-3 lead into the seventh. Lars moved to the pitcher's mound from center field. He retired the first two batters, walked Ben, who was playing right field for the Royals, and got the next hitter to fly out to Chandler in center. The Mustangs would be going to Districts, and somebody would eventually get his dick sucked by Ben. Kentburg defeated Harborview 11-7 in the 8:30 game. The Royals and the Mustangs could end up facing each other one more time in Districts. Thursday practice was a light one. All Coach Sanders wanted to do was keep everyone sharp. They would be right back on the field on Friday to open the District tournament. There were four teams in the District tournament, two from the Seamount League and one each from the two smaller leagues in the district. Mayfield and Kentburg represented the Seamount League. Mason and Beachwood represented the other two leagues. The tournament was double elimination. It was also going to be held at the Centralia baseball complex. After practice, Coach Sanders announced the starters for the Friday game and told them how the pitching would work out. "As you know, we will be playing Beachwood. They have a good program and are in their third District tournament in the last five years. They are 18-2 on the season and will be a tough opponent. We are in good shape as far as pitching goes," he said. "Both of our seniors can start this weekend, and if we need to play on Monday, Blaine will be eligible to pitch. Scott will pitch tomorrow, and Eric will go on Saturday, win or lose. Here is tomorrow's lineup: Justin at short, Eric at second, Scott pitcher, Carl will DH for Lars, Kevin catcher, Danny third, Kraig right, Blaine first, and Hunter left. Lars will play center". As good a fielder as Lars had become, he was not a strong hitter. Once again, Scott was on his game, shutting out the Beachwood Geoducks. The control problems that often plagued him weren't there as he appeared to be peaking for the postseason. He went seven innings, scattering four hits while striking out eight and walking three. Carl homered and Eric added two doubles as the Mustangs forged a 5-0 win. They would be playing Kentburg on Saturday. The Royals defeated Mason 9-4. Ben did not pitch, meaning he and Eric would be going head-to-head. Friday night saw Eric going through his usual night before a pitching start ritual. He and Noah stripped, sat facing each other on the floor. They let their naked bodies touch, they tapped their heads together, and then lost themselves into a deep meditative state. Eric was not as skilled as Noah at meditating, but Espowyes had been a good teacher the previous summer. He and Noah both studied books on meditating and traded emails and texts with Espowyes. As a junior, Eric didn't take meditation seriously, one of the reasons for his near meltdown in the State Tournament. But now, as a senior, his pregame routine had become important to him. He and Noah always meditated the night before any game, but it was less intense than on the night before Eric pitched. Sometimes they followed their session with a round of sex, but sex never happened on Eric's pitching nights. The game was scheduled for 1:00. If they won, they'd be in the championship game on Monday. If they lost, they'd have to play again at 4:00 to make it to the championship game. Eric and Noah both slept in until almost 9:00, a rarity for the two early risers. Eric almost wished he'd set his alarm as he felt mentally sluggish, just the opposite one would expect of a teen who slept in. "I feel weird," Eric said as he and Noah each ate a stack of pancakes served up by Eric's mother. "You're not used to sleeping in," Eric's mother said. "It can have an effect on your mind." "I wanted to be at my best today." "You'll be fine," Noah said. "You're starting to think, and for you thinking on game day is very dangerous. Remember what we did last night and the mental spot you were in." "I'm not thinking, I just feel weird." "Whatever. Thinking, feeling weird, for you it's all the same thing. Just listen to Kevin and go out and pitch." Before putting on their uniforms, Noah used some of his tricks to calm Eric's mind. He knew Eric could let his thoughts get the better of him. "It isn't that hard to get into your inner self like you did last night," Noah told him. "The tough part is getting back inside if you lose your mental state." "I know, I need to slow down so I can slow the game down." "Exactly. Now, quit thinking and quit talking and quit analyzing. Let's get dressed so we get to the bus on time." While Eric had somehow lost his mental edge, he wasn't a mental case like he'd been in the first game of the State Tournament the year before. He pitched okay, but not great. However, not being at his sharpest mentally, meant he wasn't at his sharpest on the mound. To compound his difficulties, Kentburg had one of those games where nothing seemed to go wrong for them. It reminded the Mustang players of their summer league game against Fresno the summer before their freshman year. Little pop-ups fell between fielders. Softly hit swinging bunts died in the grass for singles. Hard hit line drives just missed fielder's gloves. A close pitch on the corner became a ball instead of a strike. Their own hard hit balls seemed to continually find leather, although they didn't get very many of those. Ben showed them why he was considered one of the best pitchers in Class A and gave them very few hittable pitches. After five innings, Coach Sanders decided Eric was done. The Royals led the Mustangs 5-2, with Eric having thrown a lot more pitches than he usually did. He always seemed to have men on base, and always seemed to be pitching out of trouble. The Mustangs had lost the coin flip and were the visiting team. Coach Sanders told Eric he would be going to second at the bottom of the inning. Although he was disappointed in his performance, he still felt he was good for another inning. But he understood the coach's move. Normally, Coach Sanders would have brought Chandler in to pitch in this situation, but it was beginning to look like he would need Chandler to start the 4:00 game. Since he hadn't needed Lars on Friday, he decided to bring him in for two innings. Gavin replaced Noah in the lineup and took over in center. While Chandler was the better fielder, Coach Sanders wanted him totally rested if he was needed in the next game. He also wanted to get the little used senior into some postseason games, and this was an opportunity. He had liked Gavin's uncomplaining attitude all season, and wanted his senior presence on the field. Lars gave up a run in the sixth and threw a scoreless inning in the seventh. However, the Mustangs couldn't generate any offense against Ben or the two relievers who followed him. Ben was on a five inning limit, but it didn't make any difference. For whatever reason, the Mustangs were flat and ended up on the short end of a 6-2 score. Eric wasn't the only one who seemed fuzzy. The loss ended a 16 game winning streak, the longest in school history, and dropped their record to 17-4. It was also Eric's first loss of the season, giving him a 4-1 record. "You weren't your usual self today," Ben told Eric after the game. "In fact all you guys seemed flat." "It was one of those games. Nothing seemed to go right," Eric said. "Hey, we got a lot of lucky hits out there, not that we were going to turn them down." "Well, you were on your game for sure." "It was a good time to beat you guys. But even though I won, I still owe one of you Mustangs a BJ." "Yeah, some day, I guess." Eric couldn't get quite as enthused as Ben. For Eric, as the team captain and team leader, this was a day he should have been on top of his game just like Ben had been. If he'd lost 2-1 or 3-2, he could have handled that better. Instead, he didn't do what an ace starting pitcher was supposed to do, and that was give his teammates a chance to win. Even with all of the bloopers and seeing eye grounders, he still shouldn't have given up five runs in five innings. That was simply inexcusable. Yes, his teammates had been flat as well, but he was the one who should have stepped it up and set the example. They would have to find some spark within the next hour, or they'd be done for the year. On Field 2 the Beachwood Geoducks had clobbered Mason 14-4 in a game that was called after six innings to the ten run rule. The Mustangs would now be putting their fate into the hands of a sophomore. Granted, he was a very talented sophomore, and maybe their third best pitcher, but he was a sophomore. This would be the biggest pressure game of his fifteen year existence. During the break between games, Chandler sat with his father, Coach Ecklund, on the bench of the first base dugout on Field 1. "I think I'm glad I didn't know for sure I would be pitching today, or I would be totally freaked out instead of just scared shitless," Chandler said. He hadn't even noticed what he'd just said to his father, and his father wisely ignored his son's expletive. "You've pitched well this year, and most of it has been at the varsity level." "Dad, did you ever have a game this big when you were playing?" "You mean a game that the entire season was riding on?" "I mean a game that a six year dream is riding on: the seniors' dream." "Don't look at it that way, son. Look at it like you always do. There is you, there is the batter, and that is the battle. That is baseball. The rest of it has nothing to do with what happens on the field." "Just me and the batter; got it." Chandler was trying not to hyperventilate and his father could see his discomfort. He wrapped his arm around his son's shoulder. "I love you, Chandler. Your mother loves you. Your boyfriend loves you. What happens on the field won't change anybody's love. If you take all that love out on the ball field with you that translates into a lot of energy." Chandler rarely heard his father talk about love. His father was usually the teacher, jock, coach, who talked about taking hard work and dedication onto the field, not about taking love onto the field. The fact that his father had included Korey in the mix gave him a special, warm feeling. "Coach talks about ICE. Intensity, concentration, and execution is what it stands for. It's what we try for every game, what he wants us to take on the field every game. I don't remember him throwing love into the mix." "Coach Sanders is a dear friend of mine. You boys are fortunate to have him as your coach. But he's not your father, just like I'm not your coach. But as your father, I'm saying to remember who loves you and see where it takes you." The two stood up, the 6 foot sophomore standing even with his father. "Thanks for listening to me, dad. I feel better—I feel a lot better." Chandler left the dugout, searching out Korey. Coach Sanders had said he wanted Korey warming him up to save wear on Kevin, who had been doing a lot of catching over the past week. He saw a group of Mustangs sitting on the lawn between the two big fields and sauntered over. Before he could sit down with them, Eric stood up and took him aside. Eric could remember his varsity debut as a freshman. It was a start in the postseason after playing JV all season. He remembered his own butterflies from that day, and knew Chandler had to be battling his own nerves. "We're all behind you, kid," Eric said. "I just hope I don't mess up your dream," Chandler told him. "What dream?" "The six year dream—the dream of winning State back-to-back." Eric wrapped his arm around the sophomore's shoulder, giving him a rueful smile. "My dream was to play with the best baseball players I could possibly play with. My dream was to be on the field with a great group of friends and play great baseball. I have been getting my dream fulfilled every game this year." "But you worked so hard to get here." "We all worked hard to make it to the Big Time." "And the Big Time is where you're at," Chandler said. "Yep, every game, one game at a time. I had a bad game today, but my dream is still alive for one more game. Every time I go out on the diamond, my dream comes true." The players on the lawn saw their senior captain with his arm around the sophomore's shoulder. They saw Eric's quiet style of leadership. They saw Eric's open honesty. Without hearing a word, they knew what Eric was telling the young sophomore. Before even stepping onto the field, the players knew they had the sophomore's back, and they could see that he had theirs. Chandler took Eric's last words back to the field with him. Only on the Mayfield Mustangs would the senior team captain stand between two baseball fields with his arm around a nervous sophomore and whisper in his ear, "We love you, Chandler." The Mustangs won the coin flip and Eric chose home team. When Chandler finished his warm-ups, he knew he was ready. When his first pitch was hit to the left field wall for a double, he had a moment of doubt. Kevin didn't hesitate to ask for time and head for the mound. Last summer, Chandler had his issues pitching to Kevin, and it showed in his pitching. He felt much more comfortable pitching to Korey, and Coach Miller accommodated him when he could. But that was summer ball, and this was varsity high school baseball. Even more, it was varsity high school postseason baseball. Chandler and Korey had talked about his issues with Korey's older brother often before the high school season started. "I like Kevin. I mean I've known him since I was a little kid. What's not to like about him? It's just, well, he intimidates me," Chandler told Korey one night as they shared Chandler's bed. "I've never known you to be intimidated by anyone or anything," Korey said. "Except your brother." "I call bullshit to that. If you pitch varsity this season, you'll have to pitch to him. Do you think Coach Sanders is going to use a sophomore catcher ahead of the best catcher in the league?" "I know. It's just, I'm afraid of making a mistake." "You're a sophomore, of course you're going to make mistakes." As the high school season progressed, Chandler had become more comfortable pitching to Kevin. He would imagine Kevin naked in bed, imagine him hard and sexy, imagine the times he'd had sex with the senior. Kevin went back to being just Kevin, Korey's brother, instead of Kevin the senior catcher. And now, in a big District playoff game, he had given up a double to start the game. Right away Kevin came to the mound, carrying his hockey style mask in his right hand. "There goes the no-hitter," he said with a smile. "Now you can relax and pitch." Without waiting for a reply, he returned to home plate. Chandler struck out the next three batters, leaving the leadoff hitter stranded at second. Kevin had said the exact right thing to take the pressure off of the talented sophomore. Chandler went back to work remembering he had Korey's love, his dad's love, his mom's love, Eric's love, the love of his entire team behind him. He had the best Class A catcher in the state in front of him. What else did he need? The Geoducks didn't get another baserunner until the fifth inning when Chandler issued a one-out walk. They didn't get another hit until the sixth when he gave up back-to-back singles to start the inning. Coach Sanders had Lars ready to go, and came out to the mound to take the ball from the sophomore. "Great job, kid: one hell of a great job. Lars will finish it off for you." Chandler didn't bother arguing. He was tired and he knew he didn't have much left in him. He walked off the mound to a round of applause and a 6-0 lead. Lars got out of the inning, but not without giving up a run-scoring double. He put down the Geoducks in order in the top of the seventh and the Mustangs had a 6-1 win. They would be facing Kentburg Monday night in a winner take all game. A berth in the State Tournament Region 2 was at stake. Chandler got well-deserved kudos from his teammates. Scott, whose three-run home run in the fourth inning allowed Chandler to relax, was one of the first to hug him after the game. Chandler made sure to seek out Eric. "Thanks for what you said before the game," Chandler said. "I meant it. We love each other, and we love you." "Thanks for the leather, too." Eric had made two spectacular plays at second to take away Geoduck hits. They were two of five plays the team made that cried out for ESPN highlights. Lars had made a great running, diving catch in center, Danny a fabulous stop of a hard hit ball up the third base line that was worthy of Marty, and Justin caught a hard line drive, leaping up at the last second to take away an extra base hit. "Great job, son," Coach Ecklund said as he and Chandler drove home to Mayfield. "I doubt you will ever be intimidated by a big game again." "Never, all I have to do is use everybody's love." The Monday game against Kentburg was all it was advertised to be. To keep from overworking the pitching staffs, there would be no "if" game. The winner would go to State Regionals, the loser would be done for the year. The Mustangs and the Royals knew each other well. The seniors had played each other often, dating back to sixth grade middle school JV baseball. All of those years of rivalry between the boys of the neighboring cities boiled down to this one game. Both teams were keyed up. Blaine was the only starter who was eligible to pitch. Coach Sanders hoped to get a solid five innings from him, with six being even better. He had used Lars a lot over the last week. Coach Sanders announced the starters before they went out for infield practice. Justin shortstop, Eric second, Scott first, Carl DH for Blaine, Kevin catcher, Danny third, Kraig right, Gavin left, Lars center, and Blaine pitching. Except for Gavin starting in place of Hunter, it was the usual lineup. Coach Sanders knew that Gavin had earned a start, and while he wasn't as polished as Hunter in the field or at the plate, he wasn't a bad player. He just was stuck in a numbers game, with three senior outfielders who were better than he was. Still, Coach Sanders made sure he'd get a start every three or four games. It was time for him to get a postseason start. Blaine didn't disappoint with his performance, which was good since Royce Young, the Kentburg pitcher, decided it was the night to pitch the game of his life. Royce had been a party and sex partner of Marty back in their middle school days. Royce was a mediocre pitcher at best, who often looked better than he was because he played on a good team. The Mustangs had seen him often over the years and usually hit him pretty well. That wasn't the case this time, as the senior baffled them with junk from the first inning on. Mayfield lost the flip, and the Royals surprised nobody by picking home team. They scored first, with Ben hitting a home run in the top of the fourth to make the score 1-0. The Mustangs answered with a run in the fifth as Kevin singled to lead off the inning. Korey was his designated runner, allowing his brother to catch his breath on the bench and get his catcher's gear on. Korey advanced to second when Danny grounded out to third. Kraig flied out to left, bringing up Gavin. Gavin took advantage of his rare start by lacing a single to second, scoring Korey. The game was now tied at one. That was the way the score stood going into the seventh. Royce had given up only three hits through six innings. He put the Mustangs down in order, finishing the last inning of the best pitched game of his life. Blaine matched Royce's seventh inning with a 1-2-3 inning of his own. This game might have been his best ever as well, but he was a junior, and still had a chance to top it as a senior. Both coaches now had tough decisions to make. The game was going into extra innings, and while both starters looked strong in the seventh, the coaches knew that their pitchers had thrown a lot of pitches. Both were good coaches. They knew that their charges could run out of gas at any moment, plus they didn't want to damage their young arms. The Kentburg coach reluctantly replaced Royce with Lance, another old partying buddy of Marty. It was Marty who had shown Royce and Lance what blow jobs and guzzling beer was about back when they were in middle school. They were a year younger and a grade lower than Marty, but they managed to get together to get drunk, stoned, fucked, and fucked up a few times. Royce and Lance were now closeted boyfriends. Lance had to face the eight, nine, and one batters for the Mustangs. Even though he went to a full count on all three, he managed to weasel out of the inning. The toughest out was Justin, who hit the ball right on the screws and right into the glove of the Kentburg third baseman. Coach Sanders brought Lars in to pitch the bottom of the inning. He knew Lars had pitched a lot during the week and hoped his best reliever had something left in the tank. He replaced Gavin with Chandler in the outfield, moving Chandler to center. Hunter came into the game in Blaine's spot and moved to his familiar left field position. Coach Sanders knew he could use Lars for no more than two innings. After that he would have to go to either Kraig or Hunter, both of whom had pitched very little during the season. Lars put the Royals down in order and the game went to the ninth inning. Eric was the first batter in the ninth. He ripped Lance's first pitch of the inning to left for a solid base hit, bringing Scott to the plate. Eric stole second on a 2-1 pitch, which was a ball. The count was now 3-1. Scott was expecting Lance to groove a fastball, which was exactly what happened. The ball was well over the left field fence before it hit the ground. Not to be outdone, Carl lofted the next pitch even farther over the left field fence, and the Mustangs had a 4-1 lead. The game was all but over. Lars did manage to make the bottom of the ninth interesting. He was running on fumes and walked two batters with one out, bringing the tying run to the plate. Coach Sanders and Kevin went out to the mound. Coach Sanders reminded Lars to keep the ball low and told Kevin to give his pitcher an outside target. "Let's see if we can get this guy to pull that outside pitch into a double play ball and go home," Coach Sanders said. That is exactly what happened on the second pitch. The batter tried to pull the outside pitch, hitting it right to Justin at short, who made the stop and gave Eric a perfect feed at second for one out. Eric made the pivot and his throw got to first a step ahead of the runner. The double play ended the game. For the seniors the Mayfield- Kentburg rivalry was over. For them it had started when they were sixth graders on the middle school JV team. It ended with a superbly played high school baseball game. The teams shook hands for the last time. Ben gave Eric a few extra seconds. "Great game. If it can't be us, I'm glad it's you guys going to Regionals. Kick some ass for us, okay?" "That's our plan," Eric replied. For the Mayfield seniors, their six year Diamond Dream was still alive. On Friday, they would be trekking to Puyallup to play in the State A Region 2 tournament. There would be four teams playing on Friday. Both games that evening were loser out. The winners would meet on Saturday for the privilege of playing at Safeco Field, the home of the Seattle Mariners. Next: ICE