Date: Sun, 19 Aug 2018 03:26:35 +0000
From: Douglas DD <thehakaanen@hotmail.com>
Subject: Aiden II  Chapter 43

CHAPTER 43
STINGERS VS YARD GOATS

SATURDAY, JUNE 30

As expected, Gordy was the first of Aiden's friends to arrive at the
naturist pool party. Gordy was obviously very surprised to see the naked
redhead standing next to Aiden.

"Wow, I never expected to see a Kentburg player here," Gordy said.

"This is Gordy," Aiden told Keith. "And Gordy, this is Keith."

Gordy, Miles, and Trent were the only players on the Yard Goats who knew
that Keith had visited Aiden to apologize for knocking him down in their
baseball game. Scott and Connor, their coaches, also knew the story. None
of them knew that Aiden and Keith made out on Aiden's bed for a few
minutes.

"Keith called me this morning about Monday's game, and I invited him to
come," Aiden explained.

"He thinks that way I won't give him a hat trick on Monday," Keith grinned.

"I know he won't give me one because he's going to be so worried about me
giving HIM one. Nine strikes and you're out three times," Aiden said,
enjoying the minor trash talk Keith started.

"Well, while you guys get all worried about each other, I'm gonna get four
hits off of Keith," Gordy bragged.

"That's going to be hard to do when you keep carrying your bat back to the
dugout," Keith retorted.

The trash talking stopped when Larry came into the living room to greet
Gordy. Keith turned red with embarrassment at being naked in front of
Aiden's father. He hadn't expected that.

"Don't worry about my daddy seeing you naked," Aiden said. "He's gonna be
watching over us in the pool, so he'll see everybody naked.

"I assure you, none of you boys have something I haven't seen before. And I
don't plan on being down on the patio and into your space. I'll do my best
not to embarrass anybody, but I do have to watch over you boys." Aiden knew
that Larry only paid for a high school kid to watch over them at the pool
if there were ten or more boys in the pool.

"How come you didn't ride your bike?" Aiden asked Gordy as the three boys
went down the stairs to the basement.

"Because my parents are picking me up here for church in the morning. I
brought my church clothes, but not my swimming suit. I wonder if I can make
it a naturist church tomorrow."

"Are you spending the night?" Keith asked Gordy.

Gordy looked over to Aiden. "Almost everybody is except I don't think the
twins are," Aiden answered. "I didn't ask you because..."

"...because you don't know me that good yet," Keith finished.

"Yeah, well, I know you really good now." Gordy gave the two naked boys a
curious stare. "Do you think you can spend the night?" Aiden asked Keith.

"Probably not, but I'll call my mom and ask if it's okay."

"It's totally okay."

Gordy had stripped down to his red boxer briefs as they talked. He looked
over at Keith before tugging them down. Being naked in front of a guy from
Kentburg isn't going to kill me I guess, he thought as he stood nude in
front of Keith.

Aiden showed Keith around the basement. "We sleep in this room when I have
lots of friends here," Aiden said as he pointed around the backroom. Keith
loved the games room with the foosball table. "I have a ping pong table
too, but we keep it out on the patio under the deck in the summer. My daddy
and I moved it out there before you got here."

"Let's go out to the pool," Gordy suggested. He was eager to jump into the
water. He wondered if Keith would be willing to wrestle and play around
naked in the pool like all of his friends did. Gordy couldn't help but
think that Aiden and Keith had messed around from the way they talked and
looked at each other and from the fact that Keith was already naked when
Gordy arrived. The only thing he didn't know was what they did
together. Probably not much since they didn't really have very much time.

As Aiden opened the sliding glass door to the patio he heard Beethoven
being played upstairs. He signaled Gordy and Keith to join him in greeting
whoever was at the door. Larry was just letting Miles and Mason into the
house as the three boys reached the foyer.

"Hi, guys," Aiden grinned. "Ready for some naturist fun?"

"You know it," Miles said with a wide grin. He loved the fact that Aiden
was naked and ready for nude swimming.

The grin on Mason's face disappeared when he saw Keith standing next to
Gordy. Mason pointed to the Kentburg boy. "What's he doing here?"

"I invited him," Aiden said with a little bit of an edge to his voice. He
knew that Mason could be undiplomatic at times.

"He tried to hit you in the head with a baseball," Mason said with obvious
anger. "He's from Kentburg and we're playing his team on Monday. He
shouldn't even be here."

"Well, Keith is my friend now. And if you don't like it, you can get back
on your bike and go home," Aiden said forcefully.

Mason had been the butt of a lot of bullying until Aiden and Aiden's
friends took him under their wing almost two years ago. Because he didn't
have any true friends until fourth grade, Mason often lacked the proper
social graces around his peers. This was not the first time Aiden had to
put his foot down to get his friend to understand how to behave.

"Okay, I'll stay,"

"I think you should apologize if you're going to stay."

Keith felt uncomfortable watching the by-play between Aiden and Mason. This
wasn't how he expected friends and teammates to behave around each other,
forgetting that he had his occasional disagreements with his friends as
well.

"I'm sorry," Mason told Keith. "I was being mean. We all got scared at that
game and I thought you were trying to hurt my best friend in the world."

"I told Aiden I was sorry right after that game. And he said he wanted us
to be friends," Keith said.

"If Aiden says you're his friend, I guess you're my friend, too," Mason
grinned. He and Keith exchanged fist bumps. Mason looked down at Keith's
dangling boy cock, which hung longer than average for an
eleven-year-old. Mason wondered how big Keith's boner got and if Keith
would let him suck it.

Before anybody could move from the basement, Trent showed up on his
bike. While he was surprised to see Keith, he knew that Keith and Aiden had
become friends when Keith came to Aiden's house to apologize. Like the rest
of the Goats in the room, including Mason now that he'd vented his anger,
he held no animosity toward the redheaded Kentburg boy.

Keith called his mother and was disappointed to learn he couldn't spend the
night. He wasn't surprised knowing that he'd have church in the morning,
but he thought that if Gordy could do both, then so could he. His mother
wasn't convinced he could do both, but she did assure Keith that he could
stay over at Aiden's sometime in the future. "He could come here, too," she
told him, knowing she'd have to convince her husband that Keith and Aiden
had indeed become friends.

The entire crew was naked and in the pool when the twins arrived. Their
mother dropped them off and they came around the house to the pool
area. Aiden climbed out the pool when he saw them. "I'd hug you guys but
I'd get your clothes all wet." Instead he exchanged high fives with Lenny
and Lance, who then went into the basement to change. Everybody who said
they could come to the overnight pool party was now there.

Although Keith and the twins knew each other from the baseball game, they
hadn't been introduced. Aiden took Keith into the basement to introduce him
as the twins changed.

Keith lingered for a minute watching the twins get naked. "Sorry to stare,"
he told them, "but I wanted to see if you were even identical down there."

Lenny and Lance surprised him by cupping their balls and holding their
cocklets out. "Well, are we?" Lenny asked.

"Close enough," Keith giggled. He wondered if the twins ever messed around
with each other.

 "I wish we could spend the night," Lenny said as he and Lance entered the
pool. "Is Keith going to stay?"

The day ended up being about boys at play, boys eating, boys chatting, and
the sweet sound of boys laughing.

The big topic at lunch was the upcoming game on Monday. "How are you liking
your new coach?" Larry asked Keith as served up his sandwich.

"He's better than old Coach Estes. He doesn't yell at us all the time, and
he sure doesn't yell at the umpires or tell us to throw at people because
he don't like them. I'm having lots more fun."

"That's good to hear, Keith, very good to hear."

"Is it true that he can never coach again?"

"Well, he can never coach in the Washington State League again, but the ban
doesn't apply to other programs."

"Why would anybody want him?"

"Good question, but you never know. I do know he resigned from his job at
the dam last week and he and his wife are moving back to Seattle."

"Good. I hope I never see him again."

After lunch, the boys were back at play in the pool, at the ping pong
table, in the game room, on the patio, and even out in the yard. Keith
loved Aiden's basketball court and his pitching setup. "I want to come back
here a lot. No wonder you pitch so good when you have your own pitching
mound," Keith said with obvious envy.

Eight boys were playing and swimming naked, which led to some naked
wrestling in the pool, which led to some erections sprouting, which led a
couple of times to a bit of erotic, yet innocent, humping underwater. The
afternoon was one of preteen boys being silly, laughing, fun loving preteen
boys. The humping, which was quick and felt good, didn't get real sexual,
it was just a natural result of naked wrestling in the pool.

The boys who humped were Trent, who rubbed against Aiden's butt for maybe
fifteen seconds, and Keith, who rubbed up against Lenny's belly, which gave
Lenny a fierce boner as his little cock was rubbed at times as well. Keith
and Lenny went a little longer than Trent and Aiden. Keith broke it off, a
little embarrassed by what he was doing, but Lenny's coy smile assuaged any
guilty feelings he felt.

Even Mason behaved. Twice he almost asked Keith if he could suck his dick,
but Aiden had headed him off at the pass in the basement before Mason could
say anything.

"Keith is my guest and I don't know him that well. So, please, don't go
asking him if you can suck his dick, okay?"

"What, I can never ask him?"

"Not this time. I mean we play him on Monday, so let's not be going all
crazy before then, okay?"

"But when I see him next time, I can ask him?"

"That's up to you."

"Okay. I won't let you down today, but I really want to suck his dick. I
mean, have you seen it?"

"He's been naked almost all day, so I guess the answer is yes."

"No, I mean, with a boner. He had one after he wrestled with Lenny. It's
pretty big. I want to suck it. I wonder if he shoots."

"Mason?"

"Yes, Aiden?"

"Calm the fuck down."

"Yes, Aiden," he giggled. Aiden didn't use dirty words much. In fact, none
of the group did, which was why Mason caught himself giggling.

Keith got out of the water to shower and get dressed a half-hour before his
mother said she would pick him up. Aiden got out with him and walked with
him into the shower.

"Shit, you have two showers down here. This house is so cool," Keith
said. He turned on one shower and Aiden turned on the other, but Keith
stepped under the same showerhead as Aiden. Aiden watched Keith's cock move
quickly from flaccid to upright. Keith gave Aiden a hard kiss on the lips
with a bit of tongue. He broke it off after a few seconds and thanked Aiden
for inviting him to the party.

"I had so much fun right from the start," he grinned. He moved over to the
other shower and started washing off the chlorinated water from the
pool. "What's that Lenny kid like?"

"He's cool. So is Lance, his brother," Aiden answered. "I saw you kind of
rubbing on him."

"I wanted to kiss him, is what I wanted."

"Do you like him more than Lance?"

"He hung around me and Lance didn't"

"How did you know which was which?" Aiden asked as he shut off his shower.

"Cuz, he kept telling me. I think he likes me," he said, referring to
Lenny.

"I think everybody here liked you. But that won't stop us from wanting to
kick your ass on Monday."

"Go ahead and try it." Keith turned off his shower and grabbed a towel off
of the shelf on the wall. "Cuz, it ain't gonna happen."

"Maybe not, but your hat trick will," Aiden laughed.

At that moment, Lenny walked into the shower area. "Do you always have a
boner?" Lenny asked.

"You're Lenny, right?" Keith asked.

"Right."

"Then, yeah I always have a boner," Keith laughed.

"I liked it when you rubbed it on mine in the pool. Are you gonna come here
again sometime?"

Keith looked at Aiden, who nodded. "Yep, I'll be here. Maybe you can come
here then, too."

Lenny gave Keith a wide grin. "I like you. You're really nice, and not just
because of that little thing in the pool. You were nice to me all day."

"That's because you're a cool dude. But, are you saying I have a little
cock?"

"No, that's not what I meant by `little thing.' I was talking about you and
me messing around a little together."

Keith and Aiden walked into the back room where Keith dressed. "Is it okay
if I say we messed around a little if somebody asks me?" Aiden asked Keith.

"Yeah, but only if it's somebody you mess around with."

"I mess around with everybody here."

"Shit, then everything they say about Mayfield boys is true. Everybody says
you're all a bunch of sex fiends and you all have sex with each other."

"That's what everybody here says about you guys in Kentburg."

"I guess somebody forgot to tell me," Keith laughed. Just as Keith pulled
his t-shirt on, Larry called out that Keith's mother was upstairs.

One other thing the boys had agreed on was to not talk trash to each other
on Monday. They decided to be serious about what they were doing and save
the trash talk for after the game.

"I don't have any clothes down here, so I'll say goodbye now," Aiden told
Keith as the Kentburg boy finished dressing. Without thinking, Keith gave
Aiden a quick kiss on the lips. When he saw the surprised look on Lenny's
face, he gave Lenny a quick peck on the lips as well, then dashed up the
stairs.

Lenny looked at Aiden. "Wow," he breathed. "He's totally cool." Lance came
in a minute later. He and Lenny dressed and went upstairs to wait for their
mother to pick them up. Aiden went all the way up to his room where he
grabbed a pair of gym shorts so he could see the twins off at the door.

The naturist phase of the day ended with dinner. Larry and Phil set down
liberal rules for the night. Being dressed in just underpants was
acceptable while eating and while on the main floor of the house. What they
wore in the basement or in Aiden's room would be up to them. The five naked
boys who were going to overnight let out the obligatory groan and then went
downstairs to slip into their underpants. While Aiden wished they could all
stay naked, the fact that the Red Hawks won 2-1 made up for any
unhappiness.

After dinner, dessert, and movie watching, the five boys were horny. Except
for maybe Mason, the five boys were on the brink of puberty. The events of
the day had made them horny. It didn't seem to matter where Mason was on
the maturity scale, he seemed to be horny all of the time.

Since they were in the basement for the night, the boys were quickly naked
again. "What are we gonna do?" Miles asked.

"I want to see Trent squirt," Mason answered.

"Or make me squirt with your mouth," Trent said.

"Not this time. This time I want to watch it."

Everybody agreed that sounded like a good idea if Trent was willing. Trent
said he'd jerk off and shoot his cum only if the rest of them jerked off,
too. Nobody had a problem with that and the five boys were quickly boned up
and jerking off. All eyes were on Trent, who was the only one of the five
who could cum wet.

"Did you and Keith mess around any after he came here?" Miles asked Aiden.

"We humped," Aiden replied. He was glad he'd asked for Keith's permission
to tell that they'd messed around together; he didn't want to lie to his
friends. On the other hand, he didn't want to get into their wild kissing
the two times Keith had been in his bedroom; saying they humped should be
good enough, he thought.

"Can he shoot?" Mason asked.

"He shot some clear cum."

"Dang, now I really do have to suck his dick."

"You would have sucked it anyway, Mason," Gordy laughed.

"That's what they're for, right?"

The talk stopped as the boys concentrated on their cocklets. Mason came
first. Since he was finished, he decided to finish off Trent and replaced
Trent's hand with his own. That was all it took to set Trent off. "Gawd,
I'm cumming," he squawked as he shot two drops of clear boy cum into the
air. The first landed on his chest below his nipples and the second at his
belly button. A third drop dribbled out and dripped onto Mason's hand,
which he quickly licked off.

Aiden went down on Gordy. When Mason saw what Aiden was doing he went down
on Miles and both boys being sucked came quickly. "Wow, that was fun. I
can't wait to shoot like Trent," Mason said. "Next time I'm going to suck
Trent."

"I won't stop you," Trent grinned.

Mason slept with Trent while Gordy slept with Aiden. "You can sleep with
us," Mason told Miles, but Miles said he was good with sleeping by himself.

"Next time, though, I get to pick who I sleep with," Miles said. Everybody
thought that sounded fair.

Aiden and Gordy cuddled together. Aiden was happy that Gordy would still
mess around with him and cuddle with him even after making out naked with
Kalie. He decided, this time, not to press his luck by initiating a kiss.

MONDAY, JULY 2

<Kentburg Stingers at Mayfield Yard Goats>

The Field 2 stands at the Mayfield baseball complex were packed. Lawn
chairs were spread down the out-of-play lines on both sides of the
field. Parents, fans, boosters, and just plain curious people, wanted to
see how the rivalry would play out after the forfeit win by Mayfield a
month ago.

Some Mayfield fans were upset that Aiden was pitching instead of Trent, who
was older and more physically mature. Others were upset that Keith was
pitching for Kentburg since Keith was the pitcher who had knocked down
Aiden. The umpires' association assigned two of their veteran umpires to
the game. The eleven-and-under league games usually only had one umpire. A
Mayfield police car was visible on Sylvia Avenue, the road that ran past
the complex.

Two players would not be suiting up for the game. Russell, because he had
been sick and his mother wanted him to rest up some before he got active
again, and Eddie. Eddie's unexcused absence from practice automatically
meant sitting out a game. Scott and Connor did not know where he had been,
or where he was that day--calls to his home phone weren't answered.

Aiden had spent Sunday working to get into his zone. He played catch with
Larry and Phil, did some reading, some thinking, and even chatted with
Marty online Sunday night.

"Don't try to outthink yourself, sport," Marty advised. "You can zone
yourself right outside of a zone."

"But I want to be at my best," Aiden protested.

"Just remember to be focused tomorrow. Remember what you can and can't
control. And play the game a pitch at a time. That's all you need. Who's
catching you tomorrow?"

"I don't know. Coaches never tell who's starting except the pitcher until
just before the game."

"Sounds like they learned their coaching from your dads," Marty
laughed. "Okay, no matter if it's Lenny or if it's Muddy, let them do the
heavy thinking. Thinking is bad for pitchers."

"But, you've never been a pitcher."

"No, but I'm married to one," Marty reminded Aiden. Rich had joined Marty
in Little Rock.

They finished by talking about Marty's game that afternoon, a 6-5
loss. Marty was one-for-four with a double and an RBI, along with a putout
and two assists at third base. Aiden couldn't fall asleep as he kept
telling his mind to stop spinning. He finally ended up taking Horace
downstairs and sleeping with his dads, hoping that being with them would
relax him and keep him from thinking too much.

Aiden learned before the game that Muddy would be his catcher. He had mixed
feelings about it. Lenny had become a better friend of Aiden's and was more
in sync with him during a game than Muddy was, but Muddy was better
physically behind the plate--he blocked pitches better and was better at
throwing out baserunners and at getting outs at home. But, Lenny had worked
hard to improve his game and was getting to be almost as good as Muddy even
if he wasn't as big.

Larry and Phil had procured a seat behind home plate in the top row of the
bleachers. That didn't say much since the bleachers only had six rows, but
the view was good. They watched the actions of the two teams as they warmed
up. There was little banter between them. It was almost as if they had been
instructed to ignore each other, which hadn't been the case. The coaches of
both teams had talked to their players about appropriate behavior, but
didn't put a ban on speaking to anyone. Many of the boys knew players on
the opposing team. Many Kentburg boys had attended the Mayfield baseball
day camp in Mayfield and many Mayfield boys used the public swimming pool
in Kentburg.

It was especially apparent to Larry and Phil that Aiden and Keith did
everything they could to pretend that the other boy didn't exist. They
worked hard not to even look at each other.

Since the Yard Goats were the home team, the Stingers batted first. Muddy
knew about Aiden and how he worked to get into his "zone" and thought it
was stupid. But Muddy quickly noted that Aiden was even more in his own
space than usual at the start of a game.

Aiden pitched a 1-2-3 inning, striking out one. Since he batted second in
the lineup he would be the on-deck hitter to start the inning. Miles led
off the bottom half of the first by grounding out to shortstop. That
brought Aiden up to the plate. Keith and Aiden had their game faces
on. Anyone who didn't know them would never have believed the things that
had transpired between the two boys over the past month, and especially
over the past weekend. Many believed there were probably bitter resentments
being held by the two based on the knockdown incident. Aiden had almost
gotten beaned and Keith had received a one-game suspension. What reason did
the two have to like each other? The murmur moving through the crowd was a
sign that many of those watching the game expected trouble. There were some
who did not have a direct interest in the teams who were actually hoping
for trouble.

The first pitch to Aiden was a called strike. Aiden fouled the next pitch
past third base. Keith worked hard to keep a poker face. Aiden and Keith
both wished they hadn't agreed to stay away from the trash talk. Keith
wanted to tell Aiden how he was going down to the first of his three
strikeouts while Aiden wanted to tell Keith not to get happy yet.

Keith's catcher gave him the sign for his next pitch. Like Aiden he only
had two pitches, a fastball and a changeup. The signal was for a fastball
up and in. Keith threw his next pitch high, but over the outside edge of
the plate where it eluded his catcher and went to the backstop. The count
was now 1-2. Unlike a lot of hitters his age, or any age for that matter,
Aiden wasn't bothered by having two strikes on him. Marty kept telling him
that if he focused on the pitcher and the incoming pitch that things would
take care of themselves.

Aiden saw a slight change in Keith's windup as he delivered the next
pitch. The key to throwing a good changeup was the pitcher making it look
like he was going to throw a fastball. Keith hadn't yet mastered that skill
and Aiden, who was fully focused, caught the discrepancy as Keith delivered
the ball. The changeup came in waist high and a bit to the outside of the
plate. Aiden timed it perfectly and lashed it between the left and center
fielders. By the time the center fielder got to the ball and threw to the
infield, Aiden was standing on third base with a triple. Aiden fought the
urge to smile--he knew that the fact he was zoned in instead of talking
trash with his new friend was why he was right on top of the pitch. Aiden
scored on a single by Gordy and the Goats had a 1-0 lead. The Mayfield fans
exploded in cheers when Gordy's grounder zinged over second base.

Keith was batting fifth for the Stingers, which made him the second batter
in the second inning. After striking out the Stingers' cleanup hitter,
Aiden took a couple of deep breaths to get himself ready for Keith. Aiden
knew that after his triple Keith was going to be trying extra hard to
return the favor.

After taking a ball and a strike, Keith swung and missed at a hard fastball
that was high in the strike zone, making the count 1-2. Unlike Keith, Aiden
was fairly skilled at disguising his changeup; he had spent many hours in
his backyard throwing to Lenny, his dads, and even Muddy, as his dads
coached him on the art of deception.

"A pitcher needs two pitches," Larry once told him during one of their
sessions. "One they're looking for and one to cross them up. The great Hall
of Fame pitcher Warren Spahn said that." Aiden knew who Warren Spahn was;
his dads and Marty had sparked Aiden's interest in baseball history.

When Aiden threw his changeup to Keith, the Kentburg hitter was looking
dead red, meaning he was sitting on a fastball. He ended up swinging and
missing right as the ball reached home plate. Aiden got the next batter to
pop up to first and the inning was over.

The Yard Goats got a walk and a hit in the second, but couldn't
score. Aiden pitched another 1-2-3 inning, striking out the side, and the
game moved on to the fourth inning.

Aiden was the leadoff hitter in the bottom of the third. A loud-mouthed man
behind the Kentburg dugout yelled, "Knock him down Keith!" as Keith took
his warmup tosses. The man's comment drew some boos, which didn't shut him
up. "Stick it in the little turd's ear!".

The home plate umpire turned to see who as doing the taunting. A couple of
Mayfield adults stood to yell taunts back at the man, but sat back down
quickly when they saw Chief Grady Flowers step up into the bleachers. After
a couple of harsh words from Flowers, the man sheepishly followed him out
of the complex.

The exchange shook Keith. The Kentburg coach could see that and asked the
plate umpire if he could have an uncharged conference with his pitcher,
which the umpire granted. With the ump listening in, the coach settled his
charge, patted him on the back, and left the field.

For his part, Aiden paid little attention to the interruption. He'd had his
attention focused on Keith, letting everything he couldn't control slide by
him, just as Marty preached. When he first came into the on deck circle,
Aiden thought that after having had his changeup crushed, Keith would try
to blow a fastball by him and he would be ready for it.

Aiden was right about the pitch, but not for the reason he thought. Keith
threw a hard fastball simply because the affair in the stands had built up
his adrenalin to a higher level and he felt like he had to let go. While he
easily could have totally lost control and thrown a high pitch, which would
have angered the already angry Mayfield fans even more, he threw it right
to the catcher's glove, which was set to the outside of the corner. The
catcher was smart enough to know that an inside pitch right then wouldn't
be a good idea. Keith's adrenalin affected his control a little and the
pitch ended up in Aiden's wheelhouse.

When Aiden's aluminum bat struck the ball right on the bat's sweet spot,
Aiden knew he'd gotten all of it. It was like some of the batting practice
pitches he hit at the Centralia cages or in the team's practice. Aiden took
off as soon as the ball left his bat. The fans rose as one--the ping of the
bat on the ball had sounded solid and the ball rose higher and higher and
carried out toward the left field fence. The left fielder watched the ball
sail way over his head and he instinctively knew where it was going. His
instincts proved correct as the ball sailed over the low wooden fence.

"You can slow down, kid, it's gone," Scott yelled out from the third-base
coach's box.

It is? Aiden thought to himself in disbelief. He took his eyes off of Scott
and looked over to left field where he saw the left and center fielders
shaking their head. Wow, I really hit the ball over the fence for a home
run. Wow, that is unreal.

He looked over at Keith, who was hanging his head. But, he also saw Keith
give him the slightest thumbs up gesture for a job well done as he rounded
third. The Goats now led 2-0 in the bottom of the third.

That was the score going into the top of the fourth. Scott, who was the
game manager for that game, replaced Muddy with Lenny at catcher. Aiden put
down the first two batters before walking the team's number three hitter on
a full count. That put a runner on first. The runner took off for second on
a 1-1 pitch. Lenny's throw was a little wide and the runner slid into
second with a steal. The pitch was a strike and Aiden ended the minor
threat by striking out the Stingers' cleanup hitter on the next
pitch. Aiden had a no-hitter going through four innings while striking out
seven and walking one.

Keith pitched a perfect bottom of the fourth and then led off the top of
the fifth. Aiden threw called strike one and then got Keith to swing and
miss on two perfectly placed changeups. Aiden struck out the next batter
and issued his second walk before getting another strikeout for the third
out.

The Stingers' coach brought in another pitcher since Keith had thrown 74
pitches and was close to his 80-pitch limit. Aiden was slated to bat third
in the inning and came up with Miles on second base after doubling. Aiden
followed up Miles double with one of his own on the first pitch of his
at-bat, scoring Kalie, who was pinch-running for Miles. The score was now
3-0 and that stayed the score going into the top of the sixth.

Aiden strolled out to the mound after putting up with the silent treatment
from his teammates. Even young ballplayers knew it was bad luck to talk to
or acknowledge a pitcher who had a no-hitter going while the team was at
bat. He didn't care, since he didn't talk much when he was pitching,
anyway. He was pleased that Lenny would continue to catch in the sixth
inning. He had nothing against Muddy, who had done a great job behind the
plate. But Aiden felt he and Lenny were more on the same wavelength as
friends, as sex partners, and as batterymates. Aiden knew how many hits
he'd given up; he could read a scoreboard.

The Mayfield crowd was on its feet cheering and so was the Kentburg
crowd. Many of the Kentburg parents and fans had been embarrassed by the
earlier incident in the stands and were afraid there might be a repeat of
the first game between the two teams. They were so happy to see the asshole
led off the field by the policeman that they settled back and rooted for
both teams. Kentburg fans were not always known for this level of
sportsmanship, and the Mayfield crowd took note.

The Stingers would be batting their number nine, one, and two hitters in
the lineup. A pinch hitter came up to get his turn in the game for the
number nine hitter. He struck out on three pitches for Aiden's eleventh
strikeout. The next batter grounded a bouncer to short. Aiden could see
that it was going to be a tough play, but he also knew that Gordy was good
at making tough plays. Aiden's best friend didn't disappoint as he fielded
the ball cleanly and got the runner by a step on a hard, accurate throw.

Aiden was now a batter away from a no-hitter in what had been an emotional
game for him and everybody on many levels. For the first time in the game,
Aiden felt himself slip out of his zone and felt jitters building up. He
threw two pitches out of the strike zone and fell behind 2-0 to the best
hitter on the Stingers. He was thinking about just walking him and getting
a better count on the next batter when Lenny walked out.

"Dang, Aiden, where did you go?" Lenny asked

"Huh?"

"That wasn't you throwing those pitches. I heard your dad say get yourself
focused I think." Lenny had heard Larry.

"I am focused."

"Bull crap. You're out here thinking about the blow job I'm gonna give you
when you get this ass waffle out." Aiden's eyes got wide. He'd known Lenny
for almost a year now and never, ever, had heard him talk like that.

"Just go catch." Lenny turned around and headed back just as the home plate
umpire was starting out to break up the conference.

The older players got, the more important things like no-hitters
became. Part of it was because they were more aware of how rare they
were. Part of it was because the younger players weren't yet mature enough
to fully appreciate the accomplishment. Still, they had no doubt they were
important and Aiden had let that importance eat into his focus.

We're ahead by three runs in the sixth, Aiden thought. That dude might be
good, but he's nothing compared to winning the game. Winning the game is
important. The other thing (he wouldn't let even his mind say no-hitter)
I've got no control over.

The umpire put the ball into play and Aiden threw a called strike. The
batter hit his next pitch hard up the left-field line. There was no way
that Yonder, who was playing left field, was going to be able to get to
it. Everybody was on their feet watching as the line drive curved, curved
some more, then curved foul, landing six inches to the foul side of the
line. Aiden joined the loud cry of relief.

On the next pitch, the Kentburg hitter went with an outside pitch and hit
it to right field, where Kalie had been inserted. Kalie was much better
playing second base than the outfield, but Scott and Connor didn't want to
move Miles from second. Even though all three scheduled batters were right
handed and would most likely hit a ball to left, young kids often hit to
the opposite field as they swung late at fastballs.

Kalie's heart leaped right through her throat as she saw the ball come her
way. She reacted too quickly and took a couple of steps in when she should
have turned on the ball. Luckily, she quickly realized her mistake and had
time to recover. Her long, coltish legs had her moving back in time and she
got under the ball and squeezed it for the third out of the inning and the
final out of the game. Catching the ball wasn't Kalie's problem, it was
judging it and getting to it that sometimes flummoxed her.

The Yard Goats had a 3-0 win and Aiden Miller had a no-hitter. The reaction
from the Goats and their parents and fans was one of loud cheering and
whistling and clapping and any other noise they could come up with.

Lenny ran out to the mound and jumped on Aiden, just like he saw catchers
on television do. The team came out with him to celebrate as Aiden was
almost smothered by his teammates. The coaches yelled for their teams to
form lines for the postgame handshake. There was one hand Aiden wanted to
shake before anybody else's and he ran to the sideline to do it.

"Hey, Mr. Umpire," he yelled at the home plate umpire who was opening the
gate to let himself off the field.

The ump turned and smiled. "You pitched a great game--I mean really great."

Aiden surprised the ump by sticking out his hand. "Well, you did a really
good job and thank you."

The ump took Aiden's hand and shook it.  "You're more than welcome son. I'm
sure I'll see you again." The veteran ump, who was used to high school age
kids, walked off the field knowing he'd just worked a special game thrown
by a kid who might become one of those special ballplayers.

Aiden hopped into the handshake line. When he got to Keith, his new friend
broke out into a wide grin. "I don't see why everybody's so excited. You
only struck me out twice, so no hat trick for you."

"Not my fault you were hiding behind your mama's skirts by hitting fifth
and only batting two times," Aiden retorted.

"That's okay. I'll get you next time," the redhead grinned. Aiden knew
Keith was good enough to do it, too.

As the fans and players were clearing the stands and the field, Aiden saw a
familiar figure walk up to him. The young man opened his arms and wrapped
them around Aiden, giving him a big bear hug. "Dang, bro," Eric said, "I
didn't get my no-hitter until I was a senior."

"Yeah, but you got a perfect game when you did it."

"It gives you something to shoot for. That was one of the best games I've
seen pitched in this town and it was under tough circumstances. I can't say
enough about what you did today. You are one awesome kid."

"I've got awesome big brothers," Aiden said. "I didn't even know you were
coming to this game."

"Neither did I. Noah and I just got back in town from our trip this
afternoon. Dad said everybody was talking about this big game, so we
decided to go."

Noah came over and shook Aiden's hand. "Great game. Someday Eric might be
as good as you."

"No supper for you, tonight," Eric laughed.

Aiden finally made it home with his dads. Getting away from the excitement
hadn't been easy. Larry and Phil knew that their son had been praised and
hugged and patted and made the general center of attention and that he now
looked exhausted. They decided to save the things they had to say for the
next day. They did talk about the fact that the Goats record was now 9-5
while the Stingers fell to 11-4.

"I'm tired," Aiden said, confirming their analysis. "I'm gonna shower and
go to bed."

"Sounds like a good idea," Phil said.

"You know what?" he asked his dads. "I love you. I've never been so
happy. Ever. And I don't mean the game. I mean me having the greatest dads
in the world and the greatest friends and the greatest
teammates...and...and...," and with that Aiden buried his face in Larry's
shirt and burst into tears of joy and happiness.

Later, after showering, Aiden thought about calling Marty, but Little Rock
was two hours later than Mayfield. He vowed to wake up early in the morning
and give him a call. He also thought about sleeping with his dads again.
Phil read to him for about ten minutes and then tucked him in, pulling the
covers over his son's bare shoulders. As Aiden wondered what to do as far
as where to sleep, the problem solved itself when he fell into a deep
sleep, clutching Horace to his chest.

Next: Connecting with Marty