Date: Tue, 1 Oct 2013 23:13:56 -0700
From: Douglas DD DD <thehakaanen@hotmail.com>
Subject: Diamond Dreams  Chapter 60

Welcome back. Because of the extra classification in the mix at
Safeco Field, the two Class A finalists had Saturday off. They spent
the time getting ready in their own way, while enjoying a day together
as a team.

Remember. Be safe. Donate to Nifty.

CHAPTER 60
BETWEEN GAMES

Noah saw Jin in the line of players waiting to walk out onto the field.
Jin had not communicated with the Mayfield boys after enrolling at
North Lake Prep, but Noah didn't take it personally. Jin rarely
communicated with anyone when he lived in Mayfield. The two did
acknowledge each other in passing, but Eric was the only other
player to recognize the former Mayfield Titan.

"Good luck, Jin," Eric said as he passed his former teammate and
schoolmate.

"I hope we play you guys on Sunday," Jin said.

"Me, too."

Kevin and Kraig were surprised to see a set of identical twins on the
North Lake team. They were the first twins other than themselves
they'd seen on a high school team.

The Mustangs had a big surprise as they entered the clubhouse. It
was in the form of a buffet that had been set up outside of the four
cubicles created by the temporary walls. There were hot dogs,
hamburgers, sandwiches, barbequed pork, fries, and various
desserts. The Mariners were giving the high school teams first class
treatment.

Both the Mustangs and the Wildcats shared the shower. There was a
lot of chatter between the two, with the Cats wishing the Mustangs
good luck on Sunday.

"Since we lost, we want that loss to be to the champions," Marvin
said.

There was also a lot of checking each other out, especially by the
Mustangs and their gay majority. They all agreed later that Marvin
and Shannon were the best hung, with Parker, who turned out to be a
fourteen year old freshman, having the cutest body and cutest dick.
Except for a few wispy hairs, Parker was bald below his neck. No
wonder he looked so overmatched, Scott thought.

Before they could shower or eat, Eric and Kevin, as co-captains, had
to go with Coach Sanders to the press room for a quick interview with
the four reporters who were covering the entire tournament—all three
classifications. Coach Sanders also asked Noah to join them. The
boys went to the interview wearing their uniform pants and Mustang
mock turtlenecks.

"Why Noah?" Hunter asked as their host came into the clubhouse to
guide the four to the interview room.

"It is because of my loquaciousness, not to mention my engaging
personality and prodigious vocabulary. Coach wants to leave the
impression that Mayfield High School actually educates its athletes,
hard as it is to believe."

"The problem with having you talk," Kevin said, "is none of those
reporters is going to understand you."

The four reporters asked the usual questions about how it felt to win.
One asked Kevin if he'd ever tagged two runners at home in the
same inning before. He told them he couldn't remember ever having
done it. They asked about the pressure of being the defending
champions, and what they felt they needed to do to win on Sunday.

Coach Sanders was about to answer that question when Noah said,
"It is difficult to ascertain the strength of your opponent when you
have not personally witnessed them play. Perhaps it would behoove
us to bring this tête-à-tête to a halt, so our coach can use his expert
baseball acumen to scout our prospective opponents."

The "Seattle Times" writer tried to stifle a grin. "Does he always talk
like that coach?"

"Only when he doesn't want to show off," Coach Sanders said,
bringing a round of raucous laughter to the room.

The four were escorted back to the visitors' clubhouse and the
reporters left for the press box. They had already interviewed the
coach and captain of the losing Wildcats. Riding the elevator up to
the press box, the four reporters agreed that the Mustang interview
was genuinely entertaining.

The players were dressing after their showers as Eric, Kevin, and
Noah returned.  "Do we need to wear our ties while we watch the
game?" Blaine asked.

Kevin and Eric figured that since they'd made up the dress code, they
might as well make any decisions regarding it. "No. We won't wear
them again until we leave for the bus."

"Sounds like a plan to me," Blaine said.

As their host showed them how to get to the seating area he
reminded them that they would need to wear their ID cards so they
could re-enter the clubhouse area. Each member of the Mustangs
had received an ID card attached to a lanyard. They were instructed
to wear it at all times, except when they were in uniform.

The team picked some seats behind home plate. Many of their
parents and family came by to congratulate them on their big win, as
well as Mayfield fans, faculty, and students. The visits that meant the
most to the players, however, were those of the Mustang baseball
alumni.

Connor and Vince were the first to spot the ballplayers. They took a
pair of seats in a row behind where most of the Mustangs were
sitting.

"Hey, Danny, tough game out in the field," Connor said.

"I've had better."

"At least you managed to catch that pop fly, even if it was an
adventure."

"If I drop that, I might was well have dug my grave right there. But,
hey, I did get two singles and a ribbie."

Marty and Rich appeared next, with Marty offering to bring Danny his
glove for the Sunday game. "I guarantee it doesn't have any big holes
in it," Marty said.

"Yeah, but at least we won the game."

"I got my share of iron gloves out there," Connor said. "so I can't say
too much."

"Mike Blowers sometimes talks on television about the game he had
four errors at third when he was playing for the Yankees," Noah said.
Mike Blowers was a former Mariner third baseman and the current
color commentator for the Mariner TV broadcasts. "He said after the
fourth error he was looking for a very deep hole to crawl into. He did it
at Yankee Stadium, too, and the crowd was not nice."

"There you have it," Marty said. "At least you weren't booed."

"Yeah, at least I wasn't booed. And all of my bros here had my back,
too. That helped make me feel better. Did the Yankees win that
game?" Danny asked.

"They did not."

Danny smiled. "That puts me a long ways ahead of Mike Blowers,
then."

"Here's a word to you seniors," Connor said. "Me and Vince went to
Abner's big party. It was a lot more fun going there when we were in
middle school and high school...well, until the big suspension,
anyway. It was just a bunch of guys getting drunk and sharing lies.
Don't even bother to go next year, it wasn't worth shit."

"I don't think many of us were planning on it," Eric said.

"Yeah, I forget, you're all the good guys. I was telling Vince back in
March when you guys really sucked on the field that you missed us
seniors. Not because we were awesome on the field, but because we
were some bad boys. You guys were too nice—you needed some
bad boys calling you guys on your shit. You didn't have me and Marty
chewing your sorry asses, or Jerome staring you down, or Rodney
listening to gangsta rap on his headphones. I mean word is that Eric
listens to some guy that's been dead for 200 years on his
headphones. Give me a break. You were all like Rich out there."

"Me? What's wrong with me?" Rich asked.

"You're just way too fucking nice," Connor said.

"That's because I can let Marty be the asshole," Rich said, laughing.

All of last year's seniors had come to the game except for Jerome
and Rodney, whose college year hadn't ended yet. They both had
eschewed Centralia CC to go away to a four year college. Rich and
Marty were at WSU, of course, but their year was finished. Vince was
attending Centralia CC and working part time. Connor was working
full time for McCall trucking company.

Both Jerome and Rodney had texted good luck messages to their
teammates, and sent congratulatory texts once they heard the final
score. Since the radio broadcast was being streamed online, they
both had been able to listen to the game.

"I bet you haven't had a single player cream his pants on the team
bus this season," Connor said.

"With Marty gone, how could we?" Kevin asked.

"Hey, you guys left your share of spunk behind on those yellow
chariots," Connor said. "And there's the trip home from State, last
year. I bet there won't be no fucking orgy in the back of the bus this
year."

"We weren't planning on it."

"Fuck. You all show up in fucking neckties and behave like a bunch of
businessmen. You guys all so nice that, when you say the word
`fuck,' the first thing you do is run to the bathroom to wash your
mouths out with soap. How did you manage to make it this far?"

"Um, by playing good baseball maybe?" Noah asked.

Connor laughed a hearty laugh. "Noah, you're the most likeable
asshole in the world. I love you, dude."

"Well, guys, it's been fun," Connor said. "But me and Vince both gotta
work tomorrow. We'll be back to watch you kick some serious preppy
ass on Sunday."

"I take it you think North Lake is going to win tonight," Eric said. The
umpires had come out and were at the plate exchanging lineup cards
with the coaches and captains.

"Hell, ya, it won't even be close."

"They might be an A school," Marty said, "but they've recruited some
pretty damned good ballplayers from the east side of the lake. That
team is loaded."

Eric grinned when he saw who was coming down the aisle. Shelby,
Adam, Liam, and Mason were walking down together. The boys
shared hugs and fist bumps. Eric knew his friends would be there and
was pleased they hung around to talk.

"You guys should have kicked their asses," Liam said. "Everybody
could see you were a way better team."

"Stuff happens," Eric said. "We won, that's what counts."

"We'll all be here on Sunday along with my parents," Shelby said.
"Wolf and Garrett will be with us, too, even if you are playing way too
early in the morning."

"Ten isn't that early."

"It is on a four day weekend," Liam said. "But, hey, I'd trade places
with you guys any day of the week."

"We gotta jet," Connor said and he and Vince got up and headed up
the aisle. Eric couldn't help but think that if Connor and Vince weren't
straight they would probably be boyfriends considering how they
seemed to be joined at the hip.

As Connor and Vince left their seats, two other alumni came down
the aisle. "Hey, guys, sorry to be late, but I had to check out the hot
dogs," Mike the Donkey said. He was carrying two big Mariner dogs
and a tray of garlic fries. Ryan the Dawg had a hot dog and was
carrying the sodas for both of them.

The team was happy to see the two of them. Mike and Ryan were big
favorites in the hearts of the current Mustangs. They had been huge
supporters of the Go to State Team, as well as the trend setters for
the gay couples at the high school. Mike explained that they had
stopped and visited with some teacher they ran into, as well as
Coach Sanders.

"Stopping to talk was hard on Mike." Ryan said.

"Yes, it was. The ears were definitely in the hot dog position."

When Eric told Mike about the buffet in the clubhouse after the game,
his friend's eyes lit up. "Did you put together a Donkey bag for me?"

"The clubhouse attendant was too smart for us," Noah said with a
glint in his eye. "He knew that the buffet would not be adequate for a
Donkey and so he hid all of the bags."

By then the game had started and the attention became focused on
the play on the field. The Mustang players got a glimpse of what they
were in for when Brendan Canton, the number three hitter for the
North Lake Orcas, hit a pitch over the left field fence for a three-run
homer. There was no doubt about the ball going out from the moment
it left the bat. It was not a big high fly ball, but a solid line drive that
carried over the fence.

"Wow, that thing was tagged," Eric said.

"It had to be to get out of this ballpark. Word is he's going to Cal State
Fullerton," Marty said.

The Donkey, who was munching his hot dog, was sitting right behind
Eric. "Nice shot, but he wasn't facing you. He hasn't seen the best
pitcher in the tournament yet."

"I don't think that is me," Eric said.

"You are so modest, which is a becoming trait. But wait until Sunday
and that dude sees what real pitching is about."

By the time the first inning ended, the Orcas had a 6-0 lead and
looked to be primed for an easy win. When the Orcas took the field,
Noah looked for Jin and found him in a surprising place.

"Would you look at that," he said, "Jin is their shortstop."

"That's a big step up from being the number three second baseman
on the Mayfield Middle School Titans," Eric observed.

"Maybe that's an indication of where their weak spot is," the Donkey
said with a chuckle.

"It's interesting to note that we don't have the only twins at state,"
Noah said, pointing to the catcher and the right fielder, who were
obviously identical twins.

"I doubt the preppy bastards have as much fun as Kevin and Kraig do
in bed," Mike said between bites.

"You never know," Eric said. "You just never know."

Kevin and Eric heard their names being called and saw Austin in the
aisle. "Austin! Have a seat and chat."

"I can't, dudes. I'm here with the family. I didn't see you guys over
here until just now. We're leaving to eat."

"Stadium food isn't good enough for you?"

"I dig it. Talk to my parents and my uncle." Austin's uncle had
coached some of the Mustangs between their sixth and seventh
grade year, the summer before the Falcons were created.

Coach Miller and Coach Sanders saw Austin and told him about the
boat cruise the next day. "You have to pay your own way, but we'd
love for you to join us if you can."

"I won't be paying my way," Austin said. "I'm positive my dad will fork
over the dough."

"You guys done with school?" Marty asked the Donkey.

"One more week, then finals week. The Dawg and I felt it was
appropriate to skip classes today to attend the biggest weekend in
Mayfield Mustang baseball history. We have to be here to root for our
comrades," Mike said. Mike and Ryan were students at a Division II
school in the Oregon Willamette Valley, where they also played
baseball.

"Where you guys staying?" Noah asked Mike and Ryan.

"Some hotel in Tukwila," Ryan said.

"Tukwila? Why Tukwila?" Eric asked.

"Two reasons," Ryan said. "Cheap rate coupled with a buffet
breakfast."

"A combo guaranteed to bring a Donkey to your stall," Mike said.

Brandon hit a two-run homer in the third to make the score 10-1 and
the Mustang players felt they had seen enough. Kevin signaled to
Coach Sanders that the team was ready to go. The coach was sitting
six rows back with Coaches Hart, Ecklund, and Miller, along with Seth
McCall and George Bednarzyck. When the players saw him get up,
they rose to join him.

"You guys kick some serious ass on Sunday," Mike said. "What are
you guys doing tomorrow?"

"We have a harbor tour scheduled for noon, with lunch included. The
Booster Club is paying. You guys are welcome to join us. Alumni get
to come in for free. We want to make the three o'clock game. That's a
4-A game—the number one ranked team against the number four.
Should be a good game."

"We might join you for that cruise," Mike said. "The Booster Club
seems to have gotten its paws on a lot of money."

"They get the fence ad money from the school field now. All of that
money goes back to the baseball program for extras. They are
watching that money really closely now," Noah said.

"Looks like our being pains in the ass created some good, then."

The team was staying in four rooms. Each room had two king-sized
beds plus two roll out beds. In most of the rooms, the rollout beds
weren't needed, a fact not lost on the maids who cleaned the rooms
on Saturday.

Kevin, Lars, Eric, and Noah shared one room, just as they had at the
tournament the year before. Danny, Carl, Scott, and Gavin were
roommates, as were Justin, Toby, Chandler, and Korey. Hunter,
Kraig, and Blaine, had the one three person room.

While the Mayfield baseball players may not have been wild and
crazy on the bus as some earlier teams, that didn't mean they had a
problem with sex in a more private setting. With no game the next
day, the fifteen Mustang teens saw no reason not to take care of
some pressing sexual urges on Friday night.

In the first room, the boyfriends decided to do some swapping. Lars
and Noah paired up, while the co-captains and battery mates had sex
for the one and only time that season.

"I want to fuck you," Eric told Kevin.

"I'm your catcher. You can't fuck me. Pitchers don't fuck their
catcher."

"This pitcher really wants to."

"What does your boyfriend think?" Kevin asked.

"His boyfriend would love to see him ram your big ass," Noah told
Kevin.

"I don't bottom much, do I Lars?"

"You've only done it for me, Kraig, Korey, Hunter, Alex, and Chandler
this year. I guess that isn't all that much."

"Shut up, man, you make me sound like a slut," Kevin said.

"If the shoe fits..."

"I am usually a top though," Kevin said. "But a guy has to let friends
and brothers have their fun."

"So, are you going to let him fuck you, or are you going to talk the
cum out of him?" Noah asked.

"I'll let him fuck me under one condition," Kevin said.

"What?" Eric asked.

"That you promise you won't shake off a single sign on Sunday."

For any pitcher, that was asking a lot. But not every pitcher had a
catcher save his ass at his very first turnout as a new kid in school,
and then catch well over ninety percent of his games over the course
of six years. Not every pitcher put the kind of faith and trust into his
catcher that Eric put into Kevin. Even so, he didn't agree with Kevin
on every call, and liked being able to shake off his friend's signal if he
deemed it necessary. On the flip side, he pitched a lot of games in
which he didn't even think about shaking off Kevin's pitch request.

Eric knew that by fucking Kevin, he was taking a dominant position,
and that Kevin's request was his way of evening things out. Because
of his trust in Kevin, Eric decided it was a fair trade. He was hot after
Kevin's ass.  He was about to tell Kevin he was good with his
proposal when he was hit with a moment of clarity.

Like any teen boy, Eric could be governed by his hormones. But, the
seventeen year old was also more clear-minded than most of his
peers. Luckily, he paused a moment before agreeing to Kevin's
request, or he would have inserted his foot deep into his mouth.

"I can't do that. On the off chance you might call for a pitch I don't
want to throw, I have to say no. I'd rather win a State Tournament on
Sunday than fuck your ass tonight," was Eric's reply to Kevin's
request.

"I was hoping you'd say that, but I decided to ask, anyway."

"You were yanking my chain, weren't you."

"I had to make sure my pitcher had his head on straight. I'm glad to
find out that he does."

"What happens now? Should we take our boyfriends back and have
some fun?

Kevin gave his friend and battery mate a big grin. "What happens
now is you mount me and fuck us both into another universe."

"Serious?"

"Totally. It's what catchers and good friends are for."

Lars and Noah had been propped on the other bed listening to the
entire exchange between their two boyfriends. "Oh, can we watch?"
Noah asked.

"Be our guests," Eric said.

Of course the gay boys had brought lube with them. Eric and Kevin
got busy putting it in all of the right places. This was not going to be
an act of lovemaking, as Eric might have performed on Noah, or
Kevin on Lars. This was going to be two rutting, athletic teens, ready
to have hard, uncompromising sex.

All 5'10, 145 pounds of Eric was ready to hammer the 6'1, 205 of
Kevin. Both boys were in excellent physical shape: Eric with a
slender, smooth, lithe body and Kevin with a abdomen sporting, a
dark treasure trail, and a body that displayed his dedicated work in
the weight room. Eric's slender six inch cock was rock hard, poking
above his small bush of pubic hairs, the only hair below his neck
outside of a few wisps of underarm hair. Kevin had a thick, six and a
half-inch cock, hairy balls hanging low, and a thicket of dark pubic
hair. He was streaming precum, as was Eric.

There was little foreplay involved—the only object was for both teens
to fuck. Kevin climbed off the bed and got on his hands and knees on
the floor. It was obvious how he wanted it. Eric guided his steel cock
into Kevin's ass and went right to work, going hard and deep right
from the start.

Noah and Lars had a hand on each other's cock as they watched
their boyfriends engaging in sex on the floor below them. Noah was a
bit surprised by what he saw, since he and Eric always worked
towards their sex with talk and foreplay. They let the sex start quietly
and then work up to a frenzy. As they got older, their stamina
improved, allowing them to make the act of love last longer and
longer.

But with Eric and Kevin, loving sex and stamina were not part of the
formula. Eric was riding Kevin hard, even slapping his hairy, muscular
ass a few times.

"Oh, fuck, ya, Eric, fuck me...damn it...shit...fuck me hard...fuck me
as hard and deep as you can."

Eric obeyed his catcher, driving his teen pole into his long-time friend.
He and Kevin had fucked before, but it had been a long time, and it
had never been with this kind of flourish. Eric grunted as he pounded
Kevin's rear, sweat dripping off of him onto the catcher's back, his
hand slapping Kevin's ass yet again.

Noah and Lars were jerking each other hard, adding their own moans
to the general noise of the room. They both found the sound of Eric's
balls slapping Kevin's ass to be a big turn-on.

"Oh, gawd, Eric, fuck me harder, fuck me, spank me, fuck me deep,
drive that cock of yours in me...oh fuck, you feel so good,"

Eric let Kevin take care of the dirty talk as he closed his eyes and
rode the boy he had thrown thousands of pitches to, drove his cock
deep into his ass so he could deposit millions of his teen sperm in his
friend's hot, moist rectum.

"Oh, shit, I'm gonna shoot," Kevin said. "Ram your cock over my
sweet spot...fuck me...make me cum."

Eric let out a long, deep croak, and let go, his jism firing into Kevin,
his cock throbbing, as it deposited wad after wad of teen cum into the
waiting ass. Kevin cried out something unintelligible and launched a
no touch cum, his sperm flying out of his cock, landing on the deep
carpet of the hotel room. Both of the boys on the floor could hear the
satisfied moans of the two teens on the bed as Lars and Noah fired
their spunk simultaneously, covering themselves in sperm and glory.

Kevin collapsed on the floor, and Eric fell on top of him. The two of
them were breathing hard, trying to regain control of their bodies. All
four of the boys said nothing for a few minutes, until Kevin broke the
silence.

"Damn, Eric, you totally rocked. I was seeing fucking stars when I
came. You did send us to another universe....you and me are ready
to blow those preppy bastards away on Sunday...we're going to
totally blow those assholes away."

Eric slept with Kevin and Noah slept with Lars. After what had just
happened between them, it only seemed right.

While there was sex in the other rooms, it was nowhere near the
intensity of what happened in Eric's room. Danny, Carl, Gavin, and
Scott were all straight boys. While Danny, Carl, and Scott enjoyed
doing sexual things together while they talked about girls, Gavin
avoided sexual situations with other boys—his brother Tanner being
the exception. Danny and Carl shared a bed and quietly jerked each
other off, although they weren't as subtle about it as they thought.
Gavin slept on a rollaway bed while Scott had the second king size
bed. Both of them masturbated themselves to quiet cums while
listening to Danny and Carl doing their thing.

Justin, Toby, Chandler, and Korey were four of the five non-seniors
on the team. Oral sex was the order of business in their room. They
were all extremely horny, especially after watching Chandler
demonstrate that he could still suck his own cock. He didn't do it all
the way to orgasm, letting Justin swallow his load instead. Korey and
Toby jerked off as they watched Justin suck off Chandler while jerking
himself off. That led to round two, which was a daisy chain: Chandler
sucking Justin who sucked Korey who sucked Toby who sucked
Chandler. They came within a couple of minutes of each other, Toby
cumming first, followed by Justin, Korey, and Chandler. The four of
them crowded into one of the king beds, enjoying the heat of each
other's bodies, not to mention another cum by Chandler in the middle
of the night.

The three person room had Hunter, Kraig, and Blaine. Hunter and
Kraig slept together, of course, with Blaine having his own big bed.

"Are you guys going to fuck?" Blaine asked.

"Why? Did you want to join us?" Kraig asked.

"Hell, no. Giving a blow job is okay, but no way am I doing that. I like
fucking pussy."

"I take it you've done so," Kraig said.

"Yes," Blaine answered honestly, but he did not elaborate.

"To answer your question, we did not plan to fuck," Kraig said. "We
know how you feel, and have no intention of offending you. Plus, we
usually look at anal sex as something to be done in private." That
philosophy applied more to Hunter than to Kraig, but Kraig didn't feel
the need to elaborate, just like Blaine didn't want to tell he'd only had
sex with one girl.

"Thanks, I appreciate that," Blaine said.

"But, if you don't mind, we have no problem making you feel good,"
Hunter said. Blaine said he didn't mind at all.

The result was Hunter and Kraig both working on the junior's hard
sixteen year old cock. They fondled his balls, stroked his throbbing
boner, licked his balls, sucked his cock, sucked on his balls, fingered
his ass, licked his nipples, going beyond any kind of sex he'd had
before, even with a girl. They did not kiss him, knowing he most likely
wouldn't approve of that. But Blaine did approve of everything else
they did. He could only hold out for twenty minutes before he ended
up cumming as Hunter was licking his balls while Kraig was rubbing
the head of his teen cock. Blaine shot so hard, his first wad hit his
forehead.

"Oh, shit guys, that was incredible," he said as he came down. "That
was one of my best cums ever."

"Even better than cumming in a pussy?" Kraig asked.

"I said one of my best, not my very best." But Blaine had to admit to
himself that it just might have been his very best orgasm ever. "That
kind of shit almost makes me wish I was gay."

Hunter and Kraig laughed, and then finished themselves off with a
sixty-nine on their bed.

Outside of the team, a word needs to be said about Tanner and Alex,
two of the four batboys. While they had known each other, they had
never been friends, let alone close friends. But as they worked
together, they discovered they had much in common and grew to like
each other quickly.

"I wish we'd talked to each other earlier," Alex said.

"We went to two different schools," Tanner said, referring to Mayfield
having two elementary schools.

"We were in the same school all year this year," Alex said.

"We're making up for lost time now."

They each slept with their parents in separate hotels on Friday night
after finishing their batboy tasks, but they were busily texting each
other until they fell asleep. While the two budding pubescent gay
boys had given each other surreptitious glances throughout the
school year, they never really got to know each other well beyond
being classmates and sometime teammates.

But within a week of being thrown together as bat boy partners, they
felt like they were long lost friends. Both boys had been sexually
active with their older brothers. Alex had been doing things with Lars
since he was six, and now, at eleven, he couldn't get enough. He'd
also played around with Jeffrey and Nicky as well as with the twins
and Korey.

Tanner's bed was a destination for Gavin when Gavin became
particularly horny, but more often Tanner would sneak into Gavin's
bed. Tanner also messed around with the middle brother, Spencer,
for awhile, but Spencer decided he'd outgrown that stage of his life
and ended their sex play during the winter holidays. Tanner also had
a bit of sexual play with Jeffrey and Nicky on two occasions.
Ironically, the gregarious pair never tried to play matchmaker
between Alex and Tanner. They thought of outing one to the other
never occurred to them. To them, Alex was the gay boy, while Tanner
was just experimenting. Where Tanner was concerned, their gaydar
was a bit out of whack.

It was one of the last texts from Alex that really changed the
dynamics between the budding friends. "I wonder if i can do it in bed
w/o my rents finding out." Alex was testing Tanner to see if he
understood the message. Tanner did—there was no doubt in his
mind what Alex meant by the word "it". The relationship between the
two sixth graders was going to shoot up to a whole new level on their
return to Mayfield. The tradition of adolescent gay couples would find
one more couple.

<Saturday, May 24>

The team ate breakfast together. Ties and dress clothes were not
required. It was "smart casual" with clean jeans being acceptable, but
collared shirts required. Most of the boys wore polo shirts, although
they all got a big kick out of Chandler's Hawaiian shirt.

The harbor tour was a big success. It was a first for all of the boys.
Seeing Safeco Field from the boat was one of the high points. Many
of the parents paid to join the tour as well as some friends of the
Mustang baseball program, like Gary Miller, Alan Hawkins, and
George Bednarzyck, John and Maggie McGowan, and some faculty
members. Mustang baseball alumni, like the Donkey, the Dawg, and
Bobby's brother, Tyler, had their tickets paid. The booster club was
footing  the bill for the Mustang players and alumni.

"Any place that has a floating lunch buffet is the place for me," The
Donkey said.

The batboys also had their fare paid by the boosters. Jeffrey and
Nicky couldn't help but notice that Tanner and Alex were becoming
almost inseparable. They both wished they could hear what the two
were saying on the open deck.

"What did you mean by your last text?" Tanner asked after he and
Alex had chatted for awhile.

"Which one?" Alex asked innocently.

"You know, about doing `it'"? Tanner said.

"You know what `it' is, don't you?"

Tanner knew what `it' was, but didn't want to embarrass himself by
being wrong. He wasn't nearly as experienced at playing around with
other boys as Alex was. Tanner said nothing so Alex quickly used his
right hand to give him the universal signal for jerking off. Tanner
blushed a deep red and nodded.

"Do you do it?" Tanner asked shyly.

"Duh, who doesn't? I wouldn't have sent the text if I didn't."

Tanner felt a bit sheepish, but he was somewhat nervous about the
topic, even though he'd done it with his brothers.

"Do you do it?" Alex asked.

Tanner nodded yes.

"I couldn't do it last night. I was afraid the `rents would hear me or
something."

"Or you'd end up staining the sheets," Tanner giggled as he
recovered some from his initial embarrassment.

"Do you...," Alex left his question unasked.

Once again Tanner nodded yes.

"Cool. Did you do it last night?"

"I couldn't. Me and Spencer were sharing the bed."

"You should have done it together. Me and Lars do a lot. It's cool to
do it with your brother."

Tanner was contemplating saying he did it with Gavin a lot when Lars
and Gavin walked over to Alex and Tanner. "And just what kind of
interesting conversation do our little brothers have going?' Lars
asked.

Alex and Tanner both blushed, revealing that it definitely was not
baseball they'd been talking about. While Lars and Gavin didn't
pursue the line of questioning, the spell between Alex and Tanner
had been broken—but only for awhile, only for a couple of days. Alex
and Tanner had developed serious boy crushes on each other.

Tyler and Noah found time to have a chat. "Bobby would have loved
all of this," Tyler said wistfully.

"Nothing would have made him happier than getting Safeco Field
infield dirt on his uniform," Noah said.

"I think it's really cool you have that Mustang shirt with his name and
number on it...and the Safeco dirt. I still have days that I miss him
badly."

"You and me both. If I didn't have Eric I don't know what I would do
when those moments happen."

"Being away at college helps me. I don't have as many things that
remind me of him. Except the picture on my desk—it's there to make
sure I never forget him."

"He was a pretty special guy."

"Did you ever talk about dedicating this season to him?"

"Kevin brought it up once. We decided the season was for the entire
team and everybody who supported it," Noah said. "As far as we're
concerned, Bobby is still part of our team. So, in a manner of
speaking, the season is dedicated to him and to everybody else."

"I like it," Tyler said. "Thanks for taking the time to talk to me."

Noah smiled and said it wasn't any imposition on him. As far as he
was concerned, Tyler was family.

After the cruise ended, the team walked from the pier to the hotel.
They had time to catch a bus to the International District and see
most of the three o'clock game and still be back for their six o'clock
team dinner. Some of the boys decided to go, while others wanted to
stay behind and nap or play video games, while a couple wanted to
check out the Seattle Center. Coach Sanders reminded those going
not to forget their passes, which would get them into Safeco for free,
and to be dressed up and in the banquet room of the restaurant at
six.

Everybody made it back on time. Being late never occurred to them.
The team came into the restaurant in their dress clothes and ties. The
wait staff almost leaped to attention at seeing the well-scrubbed, well-
clad, and well-behaved group of high school ball players. The
Mustangs carried themselves with the bearing and confidence of
champions.

All of the players knew what they needed to do that night, and that
was to get a good night's rest. Breakfast was scheduled for seven-
fifteen. They needed to be packed up and on the bus by eight-thirty.
They all planned to have their lights out no later than ten that night.

Kevin and Lars knew what Eric and Noah wanted to do before they
retired. They put on t-shirts and shorts and walked two doors down
the hall to the room where Kraig, Hunter, and Blaine were staying.
They would turn on the TV, sit on the beds, and watch the Mariners
play in Oakland.

"Remember what we did the night before the championship game last
year?" Kevin asked.

"I don't," Blaine said. "I was on the JV last year."

"We had multiple circle jerks—three of them in three different rooms,"
Kraig said.

"Not my thing tonight," Blaine said. "I want to save my testosterone,
since coach said to be ready for long relief if we needed it. Hell, I'm
just hoping to get into the game. I'm the only one who didn't play on
Friday." While at one time that would have come out as a whine, this
time it was simply a statement of fact. As much as Blaine wanted to
get into one of the games, he also understood what the big picture
was about.

"Oh, I wasn't suggesting anything like that. I think a lot of us had our
fun last night," Kevin said, giving Blaine a knowing look, causing the
big junior to blush a deep red. "I was just pointing out how different it
is this time. Only one year later, but here we are playing for the State
Championship again, but with a different team, in a different place,
with different ideas."

"Last year we were even talking about having a giant all-team circle
jerk if we made it back," Kraig said.

The five of them laughed. "That sure didn't happen," Hunter said.

"Although, I suspect last night might have been close," Kevin said,
giving Blaine another knowing look.

In the room down the hall, Noah and Eric stripped naked and sat on
their bed, facing each other. "Connor was right," Eric said. "We are a
way different team from last year. We're quieter and calmer, and
once we realized that was our strength we started winning. We just
needed to learn how to win in our own way, because we all knew we
were good enough."

"He was wrong about one thing," Noah said. "We do have an edge
about us. We just express it differently. We don't have a couple of
studs walking through the locker room tossing out four letter words
and getting on each other's asses."

"I like how we do it," Eric said.

"I like it both ways," Noah told him. "They both worked."

"Once again you state the truth, my love."

The two lovers edged in closer to each other. They put their hands on
each other's shoulders and placed their foreheads together. They
worked on getting into their meditative states. Noah loved that he
always started at second base when Eric was pitching. It gave him a
reason to go into himself as deeply as Eric went into his own being.

The room became quiet except for the quiet breathing of the two
teens. They thought of what they would be doing the next day, and
asked for the strength to be able to perform at their best. They never
asked for a win, or to get a hit, or to make a great play. They asked
only for the mental and physical strength to perform to the best of
their abilities.

Eric became lost, his focus narrowing down to a single dot, as he let
his mind become quiet enough to listen. What he finally heard was
very simple: "You will prevail." Eric understood that didn't mean he
would win the game—what it meant was he would prevail over the
obstacles that stood in the way of his achieving at his optimum level.

He would be ready to play the game he had spent six years working
toward. There would be no repeat of last year's start in the semi-
finals. There would be no doubt in his ability or in what it was he
wanted to accomplish. Last year he felt overwhelmed by his
responsibilities. This year he could only give thanks that his
teammates stood behind him to give him this opportunity. He was
exactly where he belonged. The weight of the team was not on his
shoulders. All he had to do was play to the best level he was capable
of. The rest would take care of itself.

His mind slowly returned to normal and he became aware of the
room, the bed, and of his beautiful Noah.

"I'm ready," Eric said. Noah smiled and kissed him.

"I'll call our roommates and tell them they can return," Noah said.

Eric said nothing. He walked naked into the bathroom to take care of
his evening business. He looked into the mirror seeing a handsome,
blond seventeen year old; one who still didn't need to buy a razor. But
it wasn't the youngish face of a still somewhat physically immature
teen that stared back at him. What stared back at him was a face with
the strength of a young man.

He repeatedly said the words he had uttered to Noah. "I am ready,"
he told the image in the mirror.

Next: Diamond Dreams