FRIDAY, JULY 31

Workouts were cut short and morning plans changed. The boys heading to the BaseBrawl needed to be ready and in the SUVs by 8:10 to make it in time for the 8:30 first pitch. Both the Yard Goats and the San Diego Force teams were playing early games.

Matthew was driving Carol's SUV. That way someone at the tournament had a driver's license and a vehicle just in case. Lars drove his SUV to help get the throng of boys to the ball fields, but he was returning to spend the day in his office.

Waiting for all the boys to arrive, Matthew thought about what the day held in store for him. He was excited to run into Jackson Hallion again and to see Coach Sanders. It also sounded like some of his Force teammates were going to check out the tournament. He was happy to hang out with them outside of their own practices and games to build friendship beyond being teammates. Getting to see some exciting baseball would be a bonus and so far, it seemed that the tournament was doing just that.

Not everyone was going to San Marcos. Lukas and Simon chose to stay in East Harbor for the day. Christian was scheduled for his first practice with his new tennis program in Carlsbad.

Michael, on the other hand, planned to attend with Alex and Jaden and was pleased that Sam and Gregory wanted to go too. Craig and Oliver joined them since the twins wanted to go. The little devils had heard about the tournament from Derek and Jack who wanted to go look for cute boys. Isaac was feeling well enough to go too, even if he could only stay for the first game before he had to leave for a doctor's appointment. That made the East Harbor entourage that Matthew was pseudo-supervising an even dozen.

"What's in the bag?" asked Gregory when he saw Alex carrying a canvas grocery bag.

"I baked cookies for the Yard Goats," he answered.

As if they teleported to Alex's side, the twins appeared out of nowhere. "Cookies?" they asked. "Did you make enough for all of us, too?"

"Yes," stated Alex, creeped out by how quickly the twins appeared to inquire about his baked goods. "But I'm not getting them out until later."

"Com'on, everyone," hollered Lars. "Pile in. We need to get on the road."

The boys organized themselves in the two vehicles surprisingly fast. They weren't overly concerned about who was sitting where since it was only a 15-minute ride to the park.

Matthew found parking and Lars gave some last-minute rules about listening to Matthew before they headed into the BaseBrawl. As they approached the ballfields, they heard "America the Beautiful" being sung over the park's PA system.

"Hey!" said Michael. "That's Mason!"

Since Mason only sang the first verse, the little blond was finished singing and with his team before Matthew and the boys arrived at Field 2. The boys found a section of open bleachers along the first base line behind the Yard Goats' dugout.

"Why does the other team keep saying, 'no mercy'?" asked Jack. It seemed pretty rude to him.

"I don't know," replied Michael. "I don't like it much."

Some of the boys who'd come to the game hadn't met the Yard Goats yet. Alex, Jaden, Isaac, and Michael took it upon themselves to tell them who the Mayfield boys were as they came to bat or made a play.

As the visitors for this game, Mayfield would bat during the top of the first inning. Gordy was the first to the plate and got the base hit to lead off the inning but was thrown out stealing second. Scott was the name of the boy who grounded out to the short stop. The boy who got a base on balls then advanced to second on a wild pitch was named Trent. Then the clean-up batter for the Yard Goats hit a home run giving the Goats a two-run lead.

"Muddy?" asked Connor.

"That's a weird name," stated Cooper.

"I think that's his nickname," explained Alex. "His family is from Europe or some place." He remembered Muddy from school but didn't know him well enough to remember his real name. He was more excited about giving the Goats the cookies he baked for them. A freezer bag with a batch of chocolate chip for Aiden, a bag of oatmeal raisin for Grant, and six bags of the super-duper Alex's Sweet & Salty Surprise. Win or lose, Alex figured that the cookies would give them energy for their second game.

"There's Aiden," Michael said excitedly. He pointed to the blond stepping to the pitcher's mound to warm up.

The other boys joined Michael cheering for Aiden, but their cheering quieted quickly. Aiden's pitching was subpar in the first inning. He pitched better in the second, but the Goats' defense let him down. After Muddy's two-run homer in the first, the Goats gave up nine runs and were down 9-2 going into the top of the third.

There were other highlights for the boys to cheer. Lance pitched in the bottom of the third inning. Being Grant's boyfriend, Jaden and Alex led the cheering section. But with two more Torrance runs, the score was now 11-2.

Another highlight of the game was when Mason batted for Trent in the top of the fourth. The boys shouted and screamed for Mason who responded with a single up the middle. The shouting was even louder when Grant took the mound at the bottom of the fourth inning. But again, the Yard Goat pitching struggled. A double, single, and another double pushed Torrance's lead to 12 runs. Torrance nudged their lead to 13 with a sacrifice fly. Mason saved even more runs from scoring by making a great running catch in right field. The boy whose friends helped him learn baseball so he would be good enough to make the team now played because of his defense.

The top of the fifth inning, the Goats needed to cut the lead to at most seven or the game was over. It was a tall order. Lance led off by striking out. Lenny flew out on a line drive to center field. Max ended the Goats' hopes with another strikeout.

"What are they doing?" asked Michael. He was exasperated that it looked like the game was over when the Goats still had two at-bats to try to come back. "It's only the fifth inning!" The others looked to Matthew for an explanation.

"Well, this tournament must have a 'run rule'. That means, if you are losing by more than so many runs at a certain place in the game, then they call the game. Your friends are down 15-2. At this level of ball, the run rule is usually something like 10 runs after your fifth at bat."

That cast a shadow over everyone's mood. They watched their friends get disrespected when the teams "shook hands". That definitely got under Michael's skin.

When the Goats headed towards the administration building, Alex saw his opportunity. "Let's go," he said to Jaden. Grabbing the cookies, he pulled out the bag designated for the boys watching the game and handed them to Matthew. "These are for us. We'll be back." Then he grabbed the handles of the bag with all the other cookies and took off after the Goats with Jaden and Isaac in tow.

"We're going to go see what else is going on," said Derek to Matthew. "Is that alright?"

Matthew eyed the four boys. "Sure thing. The Goats will play again at 11:00. Be there when the game starts."

"We will," said the twins. Derek and Jack nodded then the four were off to do some boy watching.

Then Oliver got Matthew's attention. "Hey, we're going to hit the concessions." He nodded that he heard and gave them permission.

"Wait up!" said Sam. "Can we go with them?" he asked Matthew.v

"Sure," said Matthew.

"I'm' going too," added Michael, chasing after the others.

That left Matthew alone, but not for long. He got up to see if the Force were making out any better than the Yard Goats when a familiar voice shouted from behind.

Matthew turned to find Jackson Hallion climbing the bleachers and heading his way. Closing in, Jackson asked, "Where are you heading?"

"I was just going to catch up with the Force then figure out what field the Goats were playing on next."

"Well, the Goats are playing on Field 3. Until then, let's go watch the Force. I heard it was tied 4-4 in the seventh."

"Really?" said Matthew with a bit of excitement. The teens hurried to catch the last of the game.

----------------------     

"Man," said Jaden, "they seemed really bummed out. I don't think I've ever seen a team take a loss so hard."

"Yeah," agreed Alex. "I don't even think the cookies will help much. Do you think they can come back and win their next game?"

"I don't know. It looked like they're defeated. That game took a lot out of them."

Isaac had been quiet throughout much of the game and their visit with the Yard Goats before their team meeting. But he did feel comfortable with these two and added his two cents. "I don't blame them. The guys from Torrance were assholes."

"Yeah," agreed Jaden, "they were. But you can't let your opponent get into your head. That might be what happened today. There's a team we compete against all the time. They all walk around and talk about how great they are and how fast they swim and shit like that. Part of it is their talking can build their own confidence. But the other reason their coach has them do it is to demoralize the other swimmers. They want to get in the other swimmers' heads so they start thinking 'I can't swim those times' and 'I don't have a chance to win.' I've seen it really get to some guys and they swim terribly during the race."

"How can the Goats get out of it?" asked Alex. "Is there anything we can do?"

"I don't know," said Jaden. "I guess we just have to be supportive and believe in them until they believe in themselves again." He pulled Isaac into a hug. "Just like I believe in you." Isaac returned the hug.

*honk* *honk*

Isaac recognized the horn as his mother's vehicle. "That's my mom." They looked around and located her and the three boys headed her way. They hadn't realized that they were behind a gate blocking the public from getting into the parking lot for the BaseBrawl. They hurried her way.

Isaac opened the car door. "Sorry, mom. That's where Dr. Meijer dropped us off this morning. We didn't know they blocked that area off."

"That's fine. Thanks for being ready. How are you doing Jaden?" she asked.

"Great! I got to spend the morning with Isaac," he said. "Good luck at your doctor's appointment."

"Thanks," said Isaac. "Bye Alex! Bye..." he said to Jaden.

Jaden stepped back and shut the door. He watched Isaac and his mom drive off before turning to Alex and heading back to the tournament.

Alex asked, "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I just started wondering if Isaac's asking about the Goats getting the naysayers out of their heads was really about the Yard Goats, or about himself. Like, maybe he's hearing people telling him a prognosis he doesn't want to hear, or they are putting limits on his recovery, but he doesn't want to believe them."

"That sucks," said Alex. The two started walking back to the ball fields before Alex added, "But either way, he's got you."

----------------------     

The foursome of the youngest boys stumbled upon a game in progress. Hanging onto the fence while watching the game, their attention was captured by one player in particular.

"Look at him!" said Jack.

Derek and the twins followed Jack's finger to the brown-haired ball player in the infield. His navy jersey with sky blue numbers and light gray pants that fit perfectly made the handsome boy somehow seem more masculine than his beautiful face would lead you to conclude.

"Oh! He's a cutie!" said Connor.

"He's mine! I called him first!" demanded Cooper.

The twins continued to bicker about the cute boy as they watched each team score a run.

"There you guys are," said Matthew. He and Jackson joined the younger boys at the fence. "What's the score?"

Derek answered while watching the teams change innings. "The announcer said it's 5-5 and they are starting the ninth inning."

"Who's that?" asked Cooper, pointing to the boy he'd claimed.

"Number 17?" asked Jackson. "Yeah, I know him."

"Yeah," said Connor. "How do you know who it is?"

"You don't play for the Force," added Cooper.

"We both know who that is because his brother is a friend of ours," stated Matthew. "That's Tim Whalen. His brother plays for the Seattle Mariners with Marty Carlson who's from Mayfield."

The Force's pitcher made short work of the Forest Grove batters causing the local fans to get to their feet as the Force came to the plate. The prior inning, they were batting to score a run just to stay alive. In the ninth, they were batting to win.

The first Force batter walked on five pitches, never taking his bat off his shoulder. The Vikings' pitcher settled in, striking out the next two.

"How's the game coming?"

The boys turned to see Craig, Oliver, Sam, Gregory, and Michael coming with the last of their food.

"The score's tied and Tim's coming to the plate," stated Matthew.

That lit a fire under Michael's ass. He hurried to the fence to cheer for his new friend.

"Com'on Tim!" screamed Michael. The other East Harbor boys joined the rest of the Force family and fans cheering.

The first pitch was low and outside, but the umpire judged it caught the strike zone and called it. The called strike didn't faze Tim. He dropped his right foot back and out of the batter's box while he adjusted his batting gloves and took a couple half swings. Using his right toe, he dug in and planted his back foot in preparation for the next pitch. The off-speed pitch didn't break. He leaned back to avoid being hit by the pitch to even the count.

Tim took a deep breath and forced it out before stepping back into the batters' box for the 1-1 pitch. The pitcher made another attempt at getting a strike low and away, but Tim had seen that before. Stepping in like he did the day before, he pushed with his back leg and generated as much torque as possible with his hips as he swung at the pitch. The sound of the ball coming off the bat brought the crowd to their feet. Everyone could tell the hit only had one of two outcomes. Either the ball was going to be tracked down and caught sending the game into the tenth inning, or it was going to fall, and the Force would score a run.

The runner on first took off and didn't look back, he knew he was the winning run and if the ball wasn't caught, he wanted to be standing at home plate. Tim tossed his bat and side shuffled towards first, watching the ball. The left and center fielders closed in on the path of the ball. Fans of both teams were cheering for the outcome they desired, but they soon realized they may both be wrong. Tim's eyes grew wide. He couldn't believe it. The outfielders slowed to a stop and watched the ball clear the fence.

The Force bench erupted, and Tim jumped in the air pumping his fist. His first-base coach reminded him to run the bases and Tim took off. He was very intentional, stepping on each base. When he turned third base, he saw his team gathered around in a semi-circle around home plate waiting for him to finish his trip around the bases. Tim ran home and jumped, landing with both feet on home plate. His teammates mobbed him.

"I can't believe it!" said Michael.

"What?" asked the other guys.

"That's only Tim's second home run ever," answered Michael. "Two homers in two days!"

They waited at the fence to congratulate Tim as he returned to the dugout after the teams shook hands. They yelled through the fence and Tim looked and waved at his new friends before being carried away by the wave of teammates.

"Matthew! What's up?" came a voice from the bleachers.

He turned around to see Dylan and Kingston coming down the bleachers.

"What's up guys?" said Matthew giving his teammates bro hugs. "This is a friend of mine, Jackson." Dylan and Kingston treated Jackson as if they'd known him for years.

"How'd you like that game?" asked Dylan.

"Oh man," said Jackson, "Tim jacked that pitch!"

Matthew's teammates assumed Jackson was local, so they weren't surprised he knew Tim's name. The teens continued to chat, but their bromance didn't impress the younger boys.

"Can we go see the Goats play now?" asked Michael.

"Alright guys," said Matthew seeing it was about time for the Goats next game to start, "off to Field 3 to see the next game."

"We're gonna hang with the Force," said Kingston. "We'll catch you later!"

Matthew and the gang walked past the Forest Grove players on their way to Field 3. From the Viking's dugout, they heard, "Fuckin' faggots."

The comment made Matthew and Jackson's blood boil. "Ignore those assholes," said Matthew, hurrying the boys in his charge to Field 3.

Jackson directed everyone to the bleachers behind the third-base dugout which is where the Goats would be setting up for the game.

Everyone arranged themselves on the bleachers and made room for Jaden and Alex as they arrived. "Hey Jackson," said Michael. "Who are the Goats playing next?"

He looked at Michael and the other boys before answering. "Forest Grove."

"Oh, HELL no!" said Michael.

"Are they the assholes from the concert?" asked Jaden.

As if on cue, the game's umpire and the Forest Grove Vikings walked out onto the field. The Vikings set up in the first-base dugout and the umpire prepared for the game.

Michael was still pissed at the latest insult hurled his way by the asswipes from Forest Grove. But he also knew he couldn't say what he really wanted to with the other adults around. Instead, he stood up and started to sing "Never Take It" as loud as he could. His friends caught on and started to clap along. A few of them who had seen the song performed enough joined Matthew with the "oh oh oh" during the chorus as Michael sang the lyrics and wagged his finger at the Viking bench. The adults thought this was a cute sing along and joined in clapping with the boys. Those that knew the song also sang with the boys in the stands.

Michael sang even louder as he saw the growing agitation on the Viking bench. He suspected they wanted to get nasty and yell things, but with the adults in the stands and the umpire on the field, they could only listen.

By the second chorus, the East Harbor contingent were up dancing with the song, celebrating themselves to the chagrin of the Vikings. When the song ended, the baseball fans applauded then settled in for the game.

Piercing the air came a blaring trumpet, then a group of boys yelling "CHARGE!"

It was followed by the Yard Goats walking through the gate and onto Field 3.

A small group of the boys yelled, "The Goats are back!"

"Who's back?" yelled Trent.

The entire team responded, "THE GOATS ARE BACK!!"

----------------------     

Nerves hit Christian hard as Anna turned into the High-Performance Junior Academy at The Club at La Costa in Carlsbad. He was meeting up with the head of the academy to be evaluated for the program. Having been busy with the band and their social media, plus the time he spent with his boyfriend, he hadn't had a chance to get any practice in since setting up this appointment.

He was able to take care of the most important items--his equipment. Being a fan of Rafa Nadal, he grabbed a few pairs of the NikeCourt Zoom Vapor Cage shoes that his tennis idol wore. From experience, Christian knew he needed more than one pair. Sometimes he'd even change shoes in the middle of practice. Since the Zoom Vapor Cage came in three colors, he got one of each: white with light blue swoosh and neon yellow soles; light blue with an orange swoosh and tropical ocean blue sole; and black with a white swoosh and neon green sole. He considered getting more shoes, but Anna suggested he wait in case he grew out of these first.

He knew he preferred Dri-FIT shirts and he needed more shorts with pockets. Finding the Adidas HEAT.RDY tennis shorts, he bought an assortment of shirts and shorts so he could mix and match to his heart's content.

Christian had grown since the last time he'd stepped onto the court, and it wasn't just his clothes he needed to update. His old rackets were too small in the grip and length. Walking into Do It Tennis, Christian's heart raced with the excitement of shopping for new racquets. Of course, he found the "perfect" racquet immediately. The Babolat Pure Strike, the same racquet Rafa used. Though he hadn't played in nearly a year, he did remember the strings and tension he preferred. He figured he might as well start there. Four newly strung racquets and cans of new tennis balls were slipped into his old tennis bag, and he was set.

Arriving at The Club, Anna found a parking space and the two followed the signs to the tennis club. The coach he was to meet was busy, but he was asked to warm up with one of the boys that trained at the facility.

"I'll see you later, mom," said Christian. "I can text you when I'm ready."

"If I'm not here, text. I'm just going to the spa for a little while and then will come back to check out your practice." She gave her boy a hug and headed to the spa to see how should, could indulge herself.

"Christian, this is Nik. Nik, Christian. Why don't you two volley and get warmed up."

The boys shook hands and nodded accepting the coach's assignment. They headed to the bench to drop off their bags. Christian put on his black Zoom Vapors and opened one of his new racquets. Each boy stopped to fill their pockets with tennis balls and began to volley.

Christian was glad he had been playing lacrosse. Christian's body felt limber has he twisted and torqued his hips and back to track down and return Nik's shots. His feet felt awkward but he slowly starting to recapture his footwork. While his body responded to the activity, his muscle memory was rusty. A backhand into the net. A cross court forehand too wide. A top-spin forehand hit long.

After a moment of frustration, his old coach's voice echoed in his brain correcting his form. "Get that racquet back!" "Step into your swing!" "Set your feet!" When he was able to slow down and think about what he was doing, he started making better shots. Their easy volleying gave Christian time to think, move, and practice his form. However, when Nik returned a shot with pace, Christian's form faltered. His body knew what to do, but doing it fast - coordinating proper footwork, grip, and racquet movement quickly to hit a ball coming at him quickly - was still a little clunky. With practice, his body would remember and start doing it without him having to think so much. All in all, it felt great to be back on the hard court.

----------------------     

Simon entered the Majestic's auditorium with bags of carryout from the Café. Lukas didn't notice Simon's return. He was engrossed in a new song they'd been working on. Pausing as not to disturb the scene, Simon watched Lukas testing out the latest revisions to the lyrics. The lyrics didn't even register with Simon. He was enthralled with the sight of his boyfriend playing the grand piano alone on stage.

When the song ended, Simon made his way to the stage. "Hey, babe. Food's here. Let's head upstairs and eat there." Lukas followed Simon up to the band's rec space. Simon arranged the food on the coffee table while Lukas grabbed drinks.

"Today's been nice," said Lukas handing a soda to Simon.

"Yeah, it has." Simon moved pillows to make room for Lukas. "It's been a nice change from this crazy month."

Lukas nodded in agreement. Instead of eating, he held Simon's arm and rested his head on his boyfriend's shoulder. "Not just this month, but ever since school let out. We had finals at school and the Kendalls staying with us until we left for vacation. We went to Europe and our vacation turned into craziness. Then we get back and it's like the world's gone insane. Concerts, televisions, meeting David Grohl and Mike Kerr, and now, we're already just a couple weeks from school starting."

"At least this year we'll be in the same building." The two smiled at each other.

Lukas continued, "What do you think about Michael's idea for the rest of our summer vacation?"

"I don't know. I kinda like it."

"It's gonna be a lot of work," said Lukas. "We also have the charity event and OutFEST LA to get ready for."

"Yeah, but we both like being in the recording studio and you've already started writing songs for him, haven't you?" asked Simon knowingly. He was specifically referring to the song Lukas was working on today tentatively titled "Love Me for Who I Am".

"Maybe," stated Lukas cheekily. He sat up and took a bite of his grilled chicken sandwich so he wouldn't have to answer more questions.

----------------------     

The Goats being the home team for this game took the field to warm up right before the first pitch.

"What happens if they lose?" asked Alex. The other boys looked towards Matthew to get the low down.

Matthew, however, didn't hear the question. He and Jackson were busy chatting about baseball. But Michael, having been to plenty of Matthew's baseball tournaments, was able to provide an answer.

"This is a double-elimination tournament, so even if you lose once, you play other teams that have lost until you have one undefeated team, and one team with only one loss. Then those two teams play each other until one of those teams has two losses. The winner of the tournament is the last team without two losses. It sucks for teams to spend so much money to come to a tournament and get knocked out so quickly, so there is another tournament for them, so they get to play more baseball while they are here."

It was a lot of information, but it seemed to satisfy the other guys. However, it didn't directly answer Alex's question. "So, if they lose now," said Alex checking to see if he understood, "they are out of the big tournament."

"Yep," said Michael with a nod, "that's why the Yard Goats need to hand those assholes from my hometown a whooping."

"Wait," said Craig seeking full understanding. "The other team is from your hometown in Oregon?"

Michael nodded.

Then Craig asked, "Did any of those kids bully you?"

Michael nodded again.

Craig stood and started yelling for the Yard Goats and the others joined in. This game was about more than just their friends staying in the tournament.

Alex yelled "Go! Go! Goats!" and it caught on. The other boys joined, and it became a group chant.

"Go! Go! Goats!" *clap*

"Go! Go! Goats!" *clap*

Then they saw Nolan walk out to the mound for his warm-up pitches and the start of the game.

"Yes!" cheered Jaden. "From what everyone says, Nolan is a beast on the mound."

The boys started calling out Nolan's name and making a lot of noise. Michael stared at the faces in the Vikings' dugout. He wasn't sure what had demoralized them. It could have been losing in extra innings at the hands of the Force and Tim's walk off home run. It could be playing the Yard Goats because they are a small-town team or because they have gay players. Or maybe, he hoped, he was getting into their heads. He made eye contact with three of his tormenters: Gary, Simon, and Rick, the biggest bullies on the Forest Grove team and his primary tormentors when he lived there. He hoped they could read his lips. Michael mouthed, "Fuck you." To punctuate his comment, Michae flashed them a double bird.

"Play Ball!" shouted the umpire and the Mayfield fans got to their feet and joined the East Harbor contingent is cheering for the Yard Goats.

The first Forest Grove batter stepped to the plate. Nolan got the first batter to ground out and the second batter got a base hit. Then Gary came to the plate. Michael led the cheers for Nolan. Michael didn't know that the Yard Goats had already developed a history with Gary and the Vikings.

Nolan threw an inside pitch waist high causing Gary to jump back. Even though the umpire couldn't be certain the throw was intentional, Gary was pretty sure. He took two steps towards Nolan before he came to his senses and stopped.

Satisfied with the message he'd sent Nolan added a postscript. He sent Gary back to the bench by striking him out on the next three pitches.

The boys had more to cheer about when Aiden and Gordy teamed up for a force out at second to end the top half of the inning.

Forest Grove took the field and looked listless. The Mayfield faithful could feel it. It was time for the Goats to start headbutting their opponents in the ass.

Rick climbed the mound to pitch for the Vikings and Gordy stepped to the plate to get things going for the Yard Goats. A smart hitter, he got the pitch he wanted and drove it into left-center for a double.

The boys got even louder when Aiden stepped to the plate. When the first pitch went towards Aiden's head causing Aiden to duck and fall on his ass, the cheers from the East Harbor boys turned to "boos". The pitch appeared to be a bad pitch, but the noises coming from the crowd made the umpire start to think these two teams may already have bad blood between them. Something he'd have to keep his eye on.

The wild pitch advanced Gordy to third and then he scored easily when Aiden hit a fly over the center fielder's head for a triple.

Forest Grove finally got an out when Trent scored Aiden on a sacrifice fly before Rick struck out an impatient Muddy. That brought Nolan to the plate.

The umpire felt the tension. After the two previous incidents, he was on the alert for any misgivings. On the first pitch, Rick threw a fastball at the ear hole of Nolan's helmet. Nolan dodged the pitch.

"COACHES!" yelled the umpire. Both coaches approached the plate.

When the boys stopped "booing" Rick, Michael asked, "What are they talking about?"

"He's warning both coaches to keep the pitchers from throwing at the batters or both the pitcher and his coach will be ejected from the game."

"Whoa!" said Sam. The other boys were starting to understand just how emotional this game was for both teams.

Though the rulebook wouldn't recognize it, there was a big difference between what Nolan had done and what Rick had done. Nolan threw one, controlled pitch to send a message that the Goats weren't to be fucked with. After that one pitch, Nolan put those emotions away and focused on baseball. Rick, on the other hand, was throwing out of anger with the intention of hurting the batter. The success of the Goats against his pitching only stoked Rick's hatred.

The meeting at the plate ended and Nolan, in a show of gamesmanship, set up in the batter's box and waited for Rick to prepare to pitch. Rick stepped into his wind up and threw a meatball down the middle of the plate. Nolan teed off and drove the ball over the wall. Letting his bat do the speaking, Nolan put his head down and jogged the bases without acknowledging any of the Forest Grove players. The "Go! Go! Goats!" cheer was louder than before. Nolan was starting to like the East Harbor gang even more.

Scott tried to keep things going with a base hit up the middle, but Rick finally got out of the inning when Miles grounded out to third.

The second inning was a pitchers' duel. Nolan struck out the side and Rick struck out Lenny while Riley and Gordy got their bat on the ball but didn't get on base. Nolan picked up three more strikeouts in the third inning. The bottom of the third was a bit more challenging for Rick.

Aiden led off with a walk and Trent moved Aiden to second base with a sacrifice bunt. Muddy singled to left moving Aiden to third base. Nolan followed up with a single which scored Aiden and moved Muddy to second base. Vikings got out of the inning when Scott grounded to third getting Muddy forced out. Miles followed up striking out to end the inning. But the Goats were going into the fourth inning with a 4-0 lead.

Nolan continued to pitch lights out. After another single by the Vikings' shortstop, he struck out Gary and the next two batters to retire the side. The Goats' bats continued too. With a walk and four singles, Trent picked up two RBIs and Nolan picked up another to extend the Goats lead to seven.

To keep his pitch-count low, Lance replaced Nolan. Being a pickup pitcher, Nolan was ineligible to play another position on the field. But the Goats managed to make it to the top of the sixth inning without giving up a run to the Vikings.

Coach Hallion brought in Grant to pitch the top of the sixth inning. The first batter singled to center before Koji, the Viking shortstop got his third hit of the game, a double, driving in the first Viking run of the game.

Lenny was catching and he went to the mound to settle his brother's boyfriend down before returning to the plate to catch. Whatever Lenny said worked. Grant struck out Gary. But the following batter hit a fly to center field that Riley fumbled allowing Koji to score the Viking's second run. What looked to be a Viking comeback ended when Aiden and Gordy teamed up for a force play at second base.

The boys were on their feet cheering while the older teens were watching the game with a more analytical eye. "That was a shaky half an inning," commented Jackson. Only Matthew was quiet enough to hear what he said.

"It was bound to happen," said Matthew. "Forest Grove isn't a bad team. The question is, how do the Goats respond in the bottom of the inning. Do they go down easy, perhaps rattle their confidence, then struggle to keep the Vikings from coming back, or do they come out and put something on the scoreboard to take the wind out of the Vikings' sails."

Jackson laughed, "I see what you did there. I like your play on words." He also appreciated Matthew's assessment of the game. Jackson also wondered if how the rest of this game played out would carry over into the next Yard Goats' game.

Gordy came to the plate and Jackson and Matthew joined the rest of the boys, standing and cheering on the Goats' batters. Gordy led off the Goats' half of the inning with a double.

Aiden popped out to left field, but Max singled to right driving Gordy in for the only run that half of the inning, but it was demoralizing for the Vikings.

The Yard Goats brought in Emmett to finish off the Forest Grove assholes. He made short work of it. A pop out to first base, a strike out, and Mason, playing left field, caught the third and final out of the game eliminating the Forest Grove Vikings from the tournament.

Michael couldn't have been prouder of Mason and the rest of the Goats. The East Harbor gang yelled from the stands as the Yard Goats displayed a level of sportsmanship the Forest Grove team didn't deserve.

Oh man," said Alex noticing the bag of cookies he saved for them to eat during the game. "The game was so exciting, we forgot to eat the cookies."

In seconds, the volume at Field 3 dropped considerably as the boys happily shoved "Alex's Sweet & Salty Surprise" cookies in their cookie holes.

----------------------     

"Wow," said Anna when Christian stepped through the gate from the tennis club. "You look beat."

"I feel great," said Christian with a huge smile. "How was your spa day?"

"Relaxing," she said, "I could get used to coming here."

"Bet dad would prefer you didn't once he sees how much it costs," joked Christian. "Thanks for driving me all the way down here."

"Well, it's closer than your last training."

"True, but I think my training may be moving even closer to East Harbor."

The trunk popped open, and Christian dropped his equipment bag inside and closed it before joining his mother in the air-conditioned car.

"This feels so good..." moaned Christian.

"So, what's this about your training moving closer?"

He waited until she backed out of the parking spot, and they were safely on their way. "Well, by the end of practice, the coach said he could see my previous training and talent. He expects that in a month or so I should be back to playing as well or better than when I stopped training. He also said that once I get there, I'd be playing above their program here."

Christian reached into his pocket and pulled out a slip of paper. "The coach said we should call this guy. Apparently, he just retired from the ATP Tour and is looking to get into coaching. I'll look him up when we get home, but the coach said that since he isn't working with any club, my lessons could be anywhere we decide, including on the high school courts back home."

"That would be nice," said Anna with a laugh. "I can just see you lugging your tennis and lacrosse bags to school."

Christian laughed too. "That's a benefit of living so close to school. I can always come home to get what I need."

"Maybe we should just arrange to meet this new coach for lunch or something. It sounds like private lessons like this could be expensive."

"Agreed," said Christian, but he was already getting his hopes up.

----------------------     

Johann answered the door tersely, "You are late."

"I'm sorry, sir." The young man installing cable Internet for Cox Communications was intimidated by the fit German with dark hair and a heavy accent. "I won't be long. The previous resident had our service so the installation should be quick."

"Then get in here and get to work."

The installer lowered his chin and scooted past the large man. Johann closed the door. "Follow me," he said. He showed the installer to his office, a large spare bedroom with racks of computer equipment.

"Wow," admired the installer. "Do you work from home? What do you do?"

"That's none of your concern. I want the cable modem installed in this room."

"Uh...yes, sir." The young man got right to work.

Johann walked to the kitchen to get a cup of coffee. It was a nasty habit he picked up from his ex. He kept telling himself he'd break the habit, but then got distracted by this or that and it never happened. He leaned against the countertop drinking his coffee while waiting for the idiot to install his Internet. He was anxious to get restarted.

Ten minutes later, the installer called for Johann. "The modem is up and running. The signal is strong -- over the promised 100 Mbps. Would you like me to help you get your router and firewall set up?"

"No. Do you have the modem password for me?"

"Oh yeah. Here." He handed Johann a slip of paper with instructions on how to log into the modem. "They recommend you don't change the password so if we need to troubleshoot your connection or modem, we can log in remotely."

"Thank you," said Johann with a false air of sincerity, "I'll do that."

He showed the installer out and headed back to his office. He taped the modem information to the device and unplugged it. Johann connected his own modem then connected ethernet cables from the modem to two different routers. He woke up his laptop and went about the final configurations of his routers and firewalls to bring to life tens of thousands of dollars' worth of computer hardware.

Topping off his coffee, he settled down at his desk. Under his breath, he said to himself, "Let the games begin."

----------------------     

Walking into Angel Stadium of Anaheim, Matthew was able to check off another Major League Ballpark that he's visited. But his excitement was tempered by the text message he'd received from Marty on the way to the game.

Marty said they couldn't meet after the day's game, but he was looking forward to talking to Matthew at the BaseBrawl on Saturday. He also told Matthew to keep Sunday open. It seemed kind of cryptic, but Matthew was excited to see what came of it.

Knowing he didn't have to worry about a post-game meetup, he could simply enjoy the game and hanging out with Jackson for a while longer.

Though the fanbase was predominately supporting the Angels, the Mariners had a very loud cheering section where the teams from the Pacific Northwest were sitting. The first inning provided them a reason to show their loyalty to the Mariners.

Wade Whalen batted third. His double to left field put runners at second and third. The clean-up batter struck out bringing Marty to the plate with two outs and two runners on base. He responded with a base clearing single to give the Mariners a 2-0 lead.

Jackson and Matthew were thrilled to see Marty's success, live instead of on TV. After the end of the first inning, the teens took some time to walk around the stadium and grab some stadium food. Jackson had his heart set on nachos. He was convinced the nachos in southern California were far and away better than anywhere around Mayfield and he wanted to enjoy them as much as possible before going home. Locating one of the main concessions, the teens each ordered a soda and helmet nachos to munch on, and to have the mini helmet as a souvenir of the game. The nachos held them over until they found Change Up Kitchen.

"What's this place?" asked Jackson.

"Some people say the best food at a major league ballpark is here at Angel Stadium and I've read tons of online reviews about the lobster rolls."

"Are you getting one?"

"Yeah," replied Matthew with a huge smile. "You want one too?"

"I don't know. I've never had lobster before."

"Fair enough," said Matthew. "I'll get two. I get to have the stadium food at the top of my bucket list, and you get to try lobster for the first time." The line went quickly and soon the teens had their lobster rolls.

"I can't wait to get back to our seats," said Matthew. "Let's sit over there and watch the game on the TVs."

They sat and picked up their rolls. Jackson looked at Matthew and smiled. "Thanks, man."

"You ready?" asked Matthew.

"On three," said Jackson.

With three nods to a silent count, the teens bit into their first lobster rolls.

For Matthew, the lobster roll was everything he'd imagined and more. Jackson had no expectations, but the buttery sweetness of the lobster instantly became one of his favorite foods. Words didn't need to be spoken. The looks on their faces told the story as they went in for a second bite.

Halfway through, they did share their attention between the food and the game on the television. Marty came up in the fourth inning and popped up to the short stop. The deliciousness of the lobsters soothed away their disappointment.

They made it back to their seats with fresh drinks and more nachos. No one seemed to have noticed or cared about their absence except Trent, Jackson's brother. He seemed jealous of either his brother's freedom to explore the ballpark, or the pile of nachos he'd returned with.

The game held about as much interest as the teens' conversation. Not much offense and routine defensive plays didn't bring much excitement until the top of the seventh. Marty led off the inning with a home run giving the vastly outnumbered Mariner fans more to cheer about, particularly the Marty Carlson fans.

The solo homer gave the Mariners a 3-1 lead which was enough to secure a 3-2 win over the Angels. The bus ride back to Carlsbad was a ruckus, but the boys knew exactly how far they could push it before Mrs. Emerson would lay down the law.

"See you tomorrow at the game?" asked Jackson.

"Yeah," said Matthew climbing in his Civic Coupe. "Marty said he'd be down tomorrow and wanted to talk about something. Besides, I'm sure I'll be in charge of an even larger group of kids than today. I might end up recruiting you to help."

"See you tomorrow!" said Jackson before Matthew closed his car door and headed back to East Harbor.

----------------------     

"It's me!" called out Michael, entering through the screen door of the yellow house at 697 Maple Street. Almost immediately Anna and Kristoffer heard their son clomping down the stairs to greet his boyfriend. It brought a smile to their faces.

"Dinner will be ready in about an hour," called Anna from the kitchen.

"Thanks, mom!" the boys replied. He grabbed Michael's hand. "Com'on!" Two sets of footsteps raced up the stairs.

Michael greeted his mother upon entering the room before the two boys got down to the business of filling each other in on their day.

"How was tennis?" asked Michael excitedly as he rummaged through his backpack to lay out his clothes for the next day. He'd wanted to go with Christian to his practice, but Christian wanted to focus on his tennis. If you'd asked Michael why he wanted to go to Christian's tennis practice, he would have been torn between two answers. Watching Christian in his tennis shorts running around on the court was enticing. On the other hand, he wanted to be there for Christian and support his boyfriend as he followed his passion.

"Three hours of practice was exhausting," admitted Christian. "I'm so glad I've been working out and playing lacrosse. Otherwise, that practice would have killed me."

"How did your new shoes feel?"

"Heavenly," said Christian. "I'm so glad I could invest in the best equipment. It made practice easier. Thanks for hiring me to do the band's social media."

"Of course, sexy." Michael leaned in and gave Christian a kiss. "Did you play well?"

Christian laughed. "Not at first. I think the coach was disappointed that I hadn't practiced since I committed to coming to the club and getting back into tennis. But by the end, I was getting my swing back and remembering what my old coach used to tell me on correcting my form."

"That's great!" said Michael.

"Yeah, I was really scared I'd suck. Coach said that in a month or so, I'll be back to where I left off."

"Awesome." Michael gave Christian a bear hug that made both boys laugh. "What aren't you telling me?"

"What do you mean?"

"I know that smile," said Michael, "you've got a surprise."

"Not really," said Christian, "but I guess you could say that. Coach said I was too advanced for the program down there and suggested I go with a private coach. He gave me the number of a retired pro and mom and I are meeting him tomorrow for a practice."

"That's so great!" Michael was bubbling over with excitement.

"You know what my favorite part is?"

"What?"

"My practices will be on the high school courts. That way, I won't have to waste time traveling all over the place for practices and have more time to be with you."

"Awwww...," said Michael. "You're being awfully sweet today."

"I missed you," said Christian. "I couldn't wait to share everything with you."

"Me too," said Michael. "And we may have more time together this fall than we thought."

"I like that," said Christian. "But why's that?"

"Dad got a message today from the school," explained Michael. "After what happened with me getting hurt in lacrosse last spring, the conference changed the eligibility rules to include an age limit for playing high school sports. As of now, I'm not allowed to play soccer or lacrosse or any sports on a school team this year."

"WHAT?!" replied Christian far too loudly.

"I know...What sucks is they changed the high school rules but not all the rules. With the current rules, I'm too young to play on the high school teams, but since I'm academically not in middle school, I'm not allowed to play for the middle school teams either."

Christian chuckled to himself. "You realize, you played eighth grade soccer and JV high school lacrosse this year, but if they changed to rules based on age, you'd have to play for the seventh-grade teams this coming school year."

Michael flopped onto Christian's bed looked at the ceiling. "That would be weird. Really weird."

"Yeah, but wouldn't it be good for you to be playing against guys your own age?"

"I guess. What the school suggested is I play for club teams."

Christian joined Michael on the bed. "What do you think about that?"

"I don't know," Michael replied. "I guess it makes me question what I like about playing sports."

"Well, you've got gymnastics, lacrosse, soccer, and I bet you'd be good at a lot of other sports if you wanted to play."

"Yeah," agreed Michael, "I guess. I love playing sports with you and my brothers and friends. If I go play other sports, I'll miss that and won't be able to go see you guys play if we have practices and games at the same time."

Christian rolled onto his side and placed his hand on Michael's cheek. "Do what makes you happy."

Michael thought for a moment. Scooting closer to Christian, he put his arms around his beau. "I'll think about it. For now, I'm happy to just support you."