Date: Fri, 29 Jul 2011 01:35:43 +0000
From: Douglas DD DD <thehakaanen@hotmail.com>
Subject: The Perfect Game  Chapter 43

Greetings and welcome back. The last game of the regular season has
arrived. The big question is, will it be the last game of season or does a
playoff game loom in the Titan's future. The outcomes of both the Kentburg
and Mayfield games will answer that question. In this chapter we follow the
Titans as they play the Chinook Totems.

I will be away on a 10 day trip so the baseball part of the story will be
paused for awhile. Even having the story finished doesn't always mean that
timely postings are possible. I will, however, try to answer emails at least a
couple of times while I am gone.

That said, I wrote four chapter that follow this one that really are not
germane to the story. They are essentially encounters that have virtually
nothing to do with the plot. They all take place over the three-day Memorial
Day holiday. I wrote them with the idea of writing some vignettes that could
lead to spinoffs revolving around specific characters. I have decided not to
do the spinoffs (although I may get around to one I have already started). I
was going to not include the four chapters at all, but my pre-reader and
proofreader/editor both said to include the chapters with a disclaimer stating
that they aren't really part of the story plot.

Because the ending of "The Perfect Game" has a challenge laid out for the
sixth graders, I am pretty certain that I will write a sequel to see how that
challenge is met instead of doing endless spinoffs. I play to start that as soon
as I finish a much shorter story that I hope to start posting in about a month.
Since it took me over a year to write "The Perfect Game" don't expect a
sequel to ap9pear soon.

I don't leave on my trip until Monday. My plan is to post all four chapters
before I leave, so when I get back from my trip I can go directly to the plot
of the story and fate of the Mayville Titans.

Your emails to Douglas at thehakaanen@hotmail.com are always
appreciated. Remember to be 18 to read and that this story is mine, all mine.

CHAPTER 43
THE BIG TIME

"I guess I get to calm you down tonight," Eric said as he and Scott finished
their homework in Eric's bedroom.

"I'm calm," Scott said.

"You haven't sat still the whole time we've been working here. And you
made a lot of mistakes on easy problems, so I don't think your brain is here."

Scott wiggled around in his chair. "I didn't say my brain was here, I just said
I was calm."

Eric gave him a kiss. He wondered how many of his classmates knew how
good a kiss with a best friend was, especially when it was done as often as
possible. He wondered how many really knew how great it was to have a
boyfriend or a girlfriend and how it was stupid for adults to try telling them
they were too young to know what sex and being in love was all about. He
knew that being in love and having sex was the greatest thing in the world
and he knew in his heart he wasn't too young to figure out something as
obvious as that.

"You want me to get you off?" Eric asked.

"Yeah, or I'll be all horny and never get to sleep."

Eric did not need a second invitation. Scott was sitting in just his boxers and
a t-shirt. Eric pulled his chair back from the desk and helped Scott pull off
the boxers. They didn't bother removing the shirt as Eric got between Scott's
legs and eagerly took in his lover's cock into his mouth. He pulled down his
own white briefs and then went seriously to work;  sucking, licking, playing
with Scott's cock and balls with his right hand while jerking himself off with
his left. It didn't take Scott long to squirt his boy cum into Eric's mouth as
Eric shot his light semen onto the rug just a few seconds later.

Eric quickly took his briefs all the way off and used them to wipe the
wetness off of the rug.

"Thanks. That was great. I'm ready to kick ass tomorrow." Scott watched
Eric wipe the cum. "I would've done you, dude."

"Nah. This was your night. You'll have a chance to return the favor."

They were interrupted by a knock on the door. It was Eric's mother. "Boys,
it's time for Scott to get home."

Scott and Eric looked at each other, wondering where the time had gone.
"Okay, mom. Scott just needs to get his stuff." He grinned at Scott and said
in a much quieter voice as he heard his mother walk away from the door.
"Stuff like getting your clothes on." The boys giggled as Eric stood up and
dressed while Scott put a pair of lounge pants on so he could see his friend
to the door.

Both boys had a solid night's sleep which wasn't true of some of their
teammates. Marty tossed and turned the worst. Even though the Titans had
won and, with the loss by the Kentburg Bulldogs, were now in first, Marty
was still upset with his poor play that afternoon. He was determined to play
better, but knew he wouldn't be any good if he couldn't get to sleep.

He finally figured having some booze in him would help him to relax. He
got up out of bed and tiptoed downstairs. He usually slept naked and that
was the case tonight. He didn't bother to put anything on as he headed to the
kitchen. He opened the refrigerator and started to pull out a beer, but he set it
back down. He didn't want a beer filling him up and gurgling around in his
stomach. He saw a bottle of wine on the door rack and picked it up. He
didn't care much for wine, much preferring beer or sometimes a drink of
hard alcohol mixed with soda. But the wine was handy, it wouldn't fill him
up, and he remembered his mother saying how a glass of wine often helped
her to get to sleep.

He picked up the bottle and put it to his lips. Fuck using a glass, he thought.
I'll guess how much wine is in a glass and drink that much. He put his head
back and guzzled until wine started dripping down his chin. He could feel
the wonderful warmth run through him, a sensation he always enjoyed. He
took two more long guzzles and put the almost empty bottle back on the
rack. He could feel his insides warm as he felt the buzz go to his head.

He headed up the stairs, his head buzzing hard. Yeah, he thought, I'll sleep
good now and be ready to be better tomorrow, cuz I know I'm better than I
fucking was today. Way better. He got into his bed, rested his head on the
pillow, feeling the room spin a little. He quickly passed out into a dead
sleep.

Bobby spent the night at home. He and Noah had done their homework
together and discussed their roles on the team. They knew they hadn't
played much the last two games. They knew they were the bottom feeders
on the team, but it didn't bother them because for them the team was in first.
What they agreed on every time the subject came up that when they got their
chance to play, no matter how short, they would play harder than anybody
on the field. Bobby knew that in Noah's case that meant playing smarter,
too. It was hard to be smarter out there than Eric was, but Noah was the one
who could do it.

Those two were the smartest players on the team when it came to baseball or
anything else. Kevin was a close third in baseball intelligence on the field.
Bobby loved listening to Eric and Noah at lunch or sometimes on the team
bus talking about baseball, whether it was about their team or about the
players in the major leagues. The two of them were baseball freaks and
could probably talk it 24/7 if given the chance.

"Big game tomorrow, huh bro?" Tyler asked.

"Yep. I'm waiting for mom to get home and see if she'll go since she don't
work tomorrow."

"She'll come up with some excuse not to. Sorry to say that to you. It will be
something like, `Oh, I have plans with Lenny. You should have asked me
sooner.' Like she can't put off drinking and smoking weed with him."

"I know. But I wasn't home to ask. Now I am. And besides, the idea is to get
her to thinking about going to the game next Saturday if we win today.
That's the big league championship game."

"Good luck getting that to happen, bro."

The conversation was interrupted by their mom coming into the trailer. "Hi,
boys." She greeted them with a big smile on her face. "Nice to see you home
for once, Bobby." Her tone was friendly, but Bobby knew she didn't mean
what she said in a friendly way. There was a slight hint of sarcasm
underlying the sweetness of her voice.

After a little more chat Bobby took a deep breath and said, "I thought maybe
you might want to come to our game tomorrow. It's for first place and
everything."

"Honey, I'd love to, but I got plans with Lenny tomorrow." The two brothers
exchanged quick, meaningful looks.

"But the game starts at 3:30. It's like in the afternoon."

"Sweetie, if you'd asked me earlier I could have made plans to go." This led
to another quick exchange of glances.

Bobby fought off his disappointment and took a deep breath. "Well, if we
win tomorrow we play for the championship of the whole league next
Saturday at 11 in the morning in Centralia and maybe you can come then
because I am telling you really early." The entire request came out in one
breath. "That is if you don't have to work." Their mom usually didn't work
on Saturday, but on occasion she was scheduled to fill in for a Saturday
worker taking the day off.

"I'll think about it. It looks like it should be okay."

"Put it on you calendar so you don't forget."

"I will honey. But right now it's your bedtime."

"Whatever," he said with a bit of a pout.

"Robert, don't you give me that attitude."

Bobby said nothing. He headed for his room, went in and closed the door. A
few minutes later Tyler knocked and came in. "Want to...um...like... mess
around before you go to sleep?"

"Thanks, but, not tonight. I'm gonna brush my teeth and go to bed and hope
I go to sleep." Bobby fought off a wave of emotion and said, "Why can't we
have a normal mom like everybody else."

"We're not the only ones with weird moms and families."

"I guess not, but it still would be nice to have a normal one."

"No argument there, bro. See you in the morning."

Tyler left the room. Bobby wanted to call Noah, but he knew it was too late,
so he went to the bathroom and brushed his teeth. He didn't bother saying
good-night to his mom and headed back to his room, stripped naked, and, in
spite of his emotional state, fell right to sleep.

The next morning he saw that nothing was written on the calendar for the
following Saturday. He picked up a pen and wrote in the square for that day,
"Bobby-Game. 11:00."

Marty woke up with a headache. He felt like he hadn't slept even though he
knew he had. He remembered another reason why he didn't like wine. It
always gave him a headache after he drank it even if he didn't get drunk. He
knew he hadn't gotten drunk before going to bed, he had merely gotten a
really strong buzz so he could sleep better. His insomnia cure hadn't worked
quite as perfectly as he had hoped.


Friday was completely different from Thursday. There was no goofing
around and silliness. Even lunch was serious and baseball oriented. Hunter
and Carl sat at the sixth grade JV table. Even though they were part of the
conversation, they somehow felt left out of the goings on. Hunter played
enough sports to understand that his friends were putting on their game
faces. Carl, even though he had played baseball, had never been in the
mental zone a big game can create. Even for the JV sixth graders the zone
they had been in on Tuesday and again today was new to them. It wasn't like
they were trying to get into that zone, but they didn't stand in the way of it
happening. They knew right down to the marrow of their bones that they
were ready to play.

They left class early to load the bus and head off for the 30 minute ride to
Chinook. The bus was quiet as the girls knew enough to stay in their own
space, especially after having been warned by their own coach to do so.
They unloaded and headed for the field to warm up their arms. The starters
had been told who they were before they left. Eric was pleased that he would
again be starting at second and batting second. The lineup was Jerome in
center field and leading off, Eric batting second, Marty at third, Rich at
short, Danny at DH, Scott pitching, Kevin catching, Kraig in left field, Vince
at first, and Jin in right. The team knew the game was big because Coach
Sanders hadn't used a DH all year, but for this game he had Danny batting
for Jin. Coach Sanders was using the DH to have one more good bat in the
lineup and also to give himself more opportunity to get his subs in. Big
game or not the philosophy of the JV squad was to get everybody into the
game at some point.

Kevin was amused when he saw who the umpire was. It was the same one
he made all the sexy comments to. He hoped that this game wouldn't be real
close so he could have some fun with the ump. Not only was that ump fun,
he was also a very good ump and young enough that he could relate to him.
While the Chinook Totems were 7-4 and in third place, they also knew that
win or lose, third place would be where they would finish, not a bad spot in
a seven team league. But as much as the Totems thought they wanted to win,
they weren't anywhere near the same mental state of readiness that the
Titans were.

Tracy, the Totem pitcher, was a seventh grader and a good pitcher. Their
coach had saved his best for a game that would determine who would finish
in first place. He was ready to coach to win. But his ace couldn't put the ball
where he wanted, and when he got it over the plate it usually came in down
the middle and fat. By the time the Totems got three outs the Titans had
grabbed a 4-0 lead.

"So we meet again," the ump had said when Kevin came to the plate at the
top of the first. "I take it this is another serious game."

"Big time," Kevin said. "But if we get a nice lead and some of the real
serious stuff goes away I will let you know."

The Totem catcher had no idea what Kevin was talking about but the ump
appeared to understand it.

When Kevin came to catch at the bottom of the inning he said, "Still really
serious. I gotta get my pitcher through this first inning. He's really nervous."

"And you don't get nervous?" the umpire asked.

"Nope. Just horny," Kevin said, giving the umpire a hint of the topic of
conversation if the score stayed one-sided.

Scott was indeed nervous and even with a four run lead he walked the lead-
off man on four pitches. The second pitch was a fastball that hit in front of
the plate. Kevin scrambled to block it.

"Nice block, Mr. Catcher," the ump said. "Not a lot of catchers would put
out that kind of effort with nobody on base."

"I was taught that my number one job is to make sure the umpire doesn't get
hit by a pitch." Kevin threw the ball back to Scott with a look of
encouragement. "And I also was taught never to get lazy back here no matter
what."

"Sounds like you've had some excellent teaching.."

"Well there is that, but sometimes, even wearing a cup, they get their nuts
racked up," Kevin chuckled. "I wouldn't want to see your package
damaged."

After Scott threw ball four Kevin asked for time and went to the mound. Eric
joined him there

"Okay, quit thinking about your boyfriend here and start thinking baseball.
Pretend the ball is your dick, my mitt is Eric's ass, and you gotta get into it
as soon as you can to get a good cum." Scott and Eric worked hard to stifle
giggles. They all knew if Coach Sanders had any idea what Kevin was
saying he would probably freak totally out. They hoped he didn't think their
giggles meant they weren't taking the game seriously.

"I got it," Scott said. "Be ready for strikes."

Kevin came back to the plate, got into his squat, gave his sign and smiled
with pleasure as Scott sent a fastball in at the knees for strike one. In fact,
Scott struck out the next two batters. As they waited for the cleanup batter to
approach the plate the umpire asked Kevin what it was he had told Scott.

"I told him to throw fucking strikes."

The ump shook his head in amazement. "I should have known better than to
ask. I can't help but think your team is in a much better frame of mind than
they were on Tuesday."

"You got that right," Kevin said. The next batter grounded out to Eric and
Scott got through the first inning unscathed.

The Titans added two more runs in the second to take a 6-0 lead. Since
Kevin had made the last out, Bobby came out with a mask and helmet on to
warm up Scott while Kevin put on his gear. Kevin came out to take the fifth
pitch and then threw the ball down.

After the first batter flied out the umpire asked Kevin if he wanted some
candy. Kevin said he'd take some. He turned around as the umpire put a
couple of the Jolly Ranchers he enjoyed chewing into Kevin's throwing
hand.

"Oh, my name is Mark, by the way."

The next batter got into the batter's box and on the second pitch got the first
hit off of Scott. Kevin enjoyed Mark's Jolly Rancher. He thought he would
enjoy something else from Mark in his mouth better. Kevin's thoughts
surprised him some since he had never found men to be sexy, not like boys
his age, or maybe a little younger or older, were. But Mark was different and
ever since Kevin started talking sexy in the first game Mark umped Kevin
found himself enjoying being comfortable around the twenty-five year old,
even if Kevin was the done doing almost all of the talking.
 Kevin decided to

"I've gone all the way," Kevin said.

"All the way with a girl?"

"No, with a boy. Girls are okay and I got some girls who are kinda like my
friends, but I like boys when I do sex. I think I'm gay."

"And you're how old? Thirteen?"

"I just turned 12. And don't go saying I'm too young to know. Trust me, I
know." Mark said nothing. He just shook his head mentally, wondering how
he ended up being the one this audacious boy wanted to confide his sexual
secrets to.

The next batter doubled and Kevin said it was time to get serious. An error
by Vince at first along with a walk and single eventually led to the Totems
scoring two runs to make the score 6-2. The Titans didn't have to wait long
to get the runs back as Eric hit a one out single in the top of the fourth and
then stole second on the first pitch to Marty. He barely got settled at second
when Marty took the next pitch yard making the score 8-2. Suddenly
Marty's mood was much more positive. Maybe wine wasn't so bad after all,
he thought.

When Kevin came back out in the bottom of the fourth he leered at Mark. "I
was watching you during that half inning."

"Oh? What were you watching?"

"Your butt. 	You've got a nice ass for somebody your age." Kevin slapped
his mask down and got ready to catch Scott's warm-up tosses. Mark once
again did a mental shaking of his head.

During the warm-ups Mark asked Kevin about his saying that Scott had a
boyfriend. "Is this between us?"

"Totally. I swear on my indicator I will tell nobody."

"Well it's not like it's a big secret on the team, but the blond haired kid at
second. He's Scott's boyfriend."

Kevin handled a couple of pitches from Scott, who got the batter to ground
out to short. Mark continued the conversation. "So they're gay, too?"

"They don't hold up signs advertising it like some of us do, but yeah, they're
probably gay."

Mark called a strike, his right hand pointing out. "You said `like some of us
do'. You mean there are others?"

"Bobby and Noah are. They're real gay. Bobby's the red headed kid out in
right field right now. Noah will probably come in the game next inning
unless we blow this lead or something."

"You play for a very interesting team," Mark said.

"Dang, Scott's in a groove right now," Kevin said. The batter struck out and
while waiting on the next one Kevin asked, "Are you gay, Mark?"

"No. In fact I am getting married in August once..."

"...baseball season is over," Kevin concluded with a laugh.

The next batter popped the first pitch up to Scott.

Mark shook his head. "You are really different breed of animal, Mr.
Catcher." The next batter dug in and ripped the first pitch for a single.

"No harm, Scott. Two outs now!" Kevin yelled out from in front of the plate.
As he turned to take his position he said, "Memorize this number." He then
told Mark a phone number. "That's my number in case you want to get
weird."

"Do you do this with all the umpires?" Mark asked.

"Nope. Just you."

Mark decided not to take it no farther. For some reason the young catcher
was smitten with him and he found himself liking it, as dangerous as he
knew it was.

The Titans scored two more runs in the top of the fifth to take a 10-2 lead.

Scott struck out the first batter on a full count, but both Kevin and Coach
Sanders could tell he was tiring. His mechanics were off and his pitches
were drifting in high having lost a little zip. That became even more
apparent when he walked the next batter. Scott then gave up a single,
followed by a grounder to Noah at second. Noah thought about throwing to
second base, but went to first instead for a completely sure out. The runners
advanced to second and third. Another walk loaded the bases and Coach
Sanders came out to the mound for a conference.

"Get through this inning and Eric can finish up," the coach said. "Bend your
back, follow through, throw strikes." Mark started out to end the conference
but Coach Sanders headed back to the dugout before he needed to say
anything. The next batter hit a nubber up the third base line and before
Marty could get to it for a play everybody was safe. The score was now 10-
3. Scott then went 2-0 on the next batter and Kevin asked for time and
trotted out to the mound.

"So what do you have to say this time?" he asked as Marty joined the
conference.

"Get this guy out and I'll give you a BJ on the way home."

"Sounds good, but first I ain't Marty. No offense, dude. And second I am so
tired I couldn't get it up anyway."

"Nobody gets that tired," Marty said. "And no offense taken." Marty was
intrigued by the conversation between the pitcher and the catcher. There was
way more to these sixth graders than he thought.

"Okay, how about you come spend a night this weekend and get it then." It
was Memorial Day weekend so there would be three possible nights.

"Only if Eric is invited too."

"Done." Kevin and Scott did a fist bump as Marty felt his dick stir inside of
his cup. Damn, he thought, I wish I could watch that little orgy. He'd been
half hoping for an invitation to the overnight gathering.

While the boys gathered at the mound Mark brushed off the plate and then
stood next to it looking out at the field. He thought about his sixth grade
days when he and Les used to jerk off together and trade blow jobs. They
were "suck buddies" all the way until eighth grade when they had a chance
to feel up Staci Lane together in her bedroom after she bared her breasts for
them. After that they decided that girls were the way to go. He now wished
in a way that they had continued playing around with each other even as
they were chasing girls. It had been a lot more fun than jerking off alone in
bed. Mark knew he wasn't gay, yet somehow this brazen 12 year old was
causing him to have erotic fantasies like he hadn't had since he was 13. He
shook the erotic thoughts out of his head, realizing he had better get his head
back into baseball and get the game going.

Mark came halfway to the mound and yelled, "Come on, let's play ball."
Kevin had already been starting his return to the plate when the ump called
for an end to the conference.

"Okay, I'll bite," Mark told him.

"I told him I'd give him a blow job if he got this batter out."

"I should have guessed. You've done it to him a few times before I take it."

Kevin shook his head. "Nope, never. Just jerked off with him." This time
Mark physically shook his head.

Scott threw a fastball at the knees for a called strike one. The batter then
fouled off a pitch that was a bit high to go into the hole oh-and two. Kevin
had to block a pitch in the dirt and then leap up to snag a pitch that Scott
overthrew to keep it from going to the backstop. "Just like the first two
pitches," Kevin yelled as he threw the ball back. Scott got the message and
jammed the hitter with an inside strike, causing him to hit a weak grounder
to Marty, who charged it nicely and made the throw to fist to get the out by a
couple of steps.

"Nice play," Mark said.

"Marty can be weird sometimes, but he's a really good ballplayer. A lot of
us think he should've been on the varsity but he can have an attitude. Plus
he's kind of a party boy."

"Is he gay, too?"

"No way. He's a seventh grader, but I know he plays around sometimes."
Kevin then trotted back to the dugout.

The Titans were hoping to have a big inning and get a 10 run lead so they
could try to end the game early. Instead they went out 1-2-3. Eric re-entered
the game to pitch, which meant Noah had to leave the game. Bobby came in
from right field to play second. Adrian was the last player to enter the game
as he went to right field, replacing Scott in the lineup. Scott had put
everything he had into his five innings and was happy to be able to rest on
the bench for the last two innings.

"Looks like you owe your pitcher something," Mark said as Kevin took
Eric's eight warm-up pitches.

"Yeah, and since that pitcher is his boyfriend and he'll have fun too with me
and my brother."

"I meant to ask you about that. I've had you guys for three games now and
of course have figured out you have a twin brother."

"I would hope you could figure that out. Either that or you're a typical blind
ump and I know that's not true. You're a really good ump."

"Flattery gets you nowhere with an umpire."

"Maybe not, but will it get me another Jolly Rancher?"

Mark came in closer to the plate handing Kevin a Jolly Rancher as he threw
the last warm-up down to second base. "You ever get us mixed up when we
bat?" Kevin asked.

"I figured out quickly that you were twins. They teach us to be observant in
umpire training. I always make sure I know my catchers' numbers, so there
wasn't much chance of me getting you two mixed up. I did not embarrass
myself. I just never had a chance to bring it up."

"Not a problem. Kraig knows we've been talking and he's cool with that
stuff. We've been messing around together ever since I can remember."

Mark put on his mask as the first batter came up. "I should have guessed,"
he said.

Eric was right on top of his game as he threw strikes and got all three batters
out.

The Titans scored a run in the top of the seventh on a single by Danny,
followed by a passed ball, a grounder that advanced him to third and a
sacrifice fly by Kevin to score him. That made the score 11-3. Eric once
again put down the side. The third out was a called strike three by Mark
which got the team hugging, high fiving, bouncing, and all but tackling each
other as they knew they had finished the season in first place. Coach Sanders
got them to line-up for the obligatory handshakes with the Totems and then
the celebrating continued. After Kevin had handed Mark the ball after the
last out he asked the umpire if he remembered the phone number he had
given him.

"I do."

"Cool," Kevin said. "You might get horny before you get married. I mean
it's a long summer. Call me. I'm serious."

"I know you are. Good luck next Saturday."

"Thanks. You're a fun ump and you're good, too."

"Thanks."

"What do you do when you're not umping?"

"I take it you mean what's my day job that the people in the stands keep
telling me to quit?"

"Yeah."

"I work for as a switchman for BNSF in the Centralia yard. It's great for
umping since my hours are from five in the morning until two in the
afternoon."

"Cool. Eric and Noah both love trains. They'd love you."

"Just like you do?" Mark said with a laugh, getting Kevin to stick out his
tongue at him.

As the team boarded the bus for the ride home Kevin got to thinking about
the game. He was totally stoked about finishing in first and he was
astonished at himself for how he acted around Mark and the things he said.
He couldn't believe he was asking an adult to call him about having sex. But
to him Mark was sexy, and he seemed really nice. Maybe he would learn
some things from an adult that kids his age couldn't teach him; besides, it
would be fun and different.

Before they boarded the bus Coach Sanders had held his usual postgame
meeting. He complimented them on hanging tough and coming back the last
week of the season to win the division championship. He told them they
were already realizing what Mayfield tradition was like on the baseball field.
He told them to stay mentally ready for the game next Saturday.

Before he could say anything else Eric and Kevin both had their hands up.
Coach Sanders didn't like having his talks interrupted, but he gave Eric a
tolerant acknowledgement.

"Coach, me and Kevin..."

"Who?" Coach Sanders cut Eric short. Even though he didn't teach English
he was a big part of the middle school's Operation Grammar, which meant
in a school setting proper grammar must be used at all times. Some coaches
ignored it during turnouts and games but Coach Sanders enforced it there as
well, figuring it taught mental discipline as well as good grammar. He would
have ignored the faux pas this time considering the circumstances, but since
he'd been interrupted, win or no win he was going to enforce the rule.

"Um...Kevin, Kraig, Danny, Scott, and I have select team practice next
week. We were told we got...um...have to be there."

"It's all taken care of. If you guys had been a little patient I would have told
you that we are practicing Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday next week, which
just happens to leave the Wednesday practice day available to you guys. You
have all been excused from Saturday's practice.

"We will be playing Cedardale on Saturday," he went on. "They blew
through their division undefeated and will be a big challenge for us. Also,
the game time is at 11:00, as I think you all know.

"One last thing," Coach Sanders said. "After we all get back from the game
everybody is invited to Coach Ecklund's house for the annual team picnic."
Coach Ecklund lived on a five acre tract along the lake outside of town.

"Will the varsity be there too?" Marty asked. He silently hoped the answer
would be no. He didn't want to have to deal with Steve and Crawford, two
boys he'd been avoiding ever since he skipped out on them the previous
Friday.

"It's varsity and JV, the whole team. We'll be there win or lose. The pool
will be up and ready for swimming."

The team cheered and then clattered on to the bus, noisy and excited. The
girls had won their game 6-5 and were in good moods as well. The trip home
was full of talk of baseball, what happened today and what would be
happening the following weekend, and also of plans for the upcoming three-
day Memorial Day weekend.

Even with all of the noise Scott fell asleep about halfway home. Eric woke
him up as they approached the school. Kevin waited on the bus ramp for
Scott. "How does tomorrow night sound for your payment?" he asked.

"Me and Eric will find out and call you."

"Eric and I," Eric said with a mischievous grin.

"Whatever," Scott grumbled. He was still a bit grouchy from being
awakened from his nap.

"I gotta check, too," Kevin said, "but I don't think we got any plans. I'm
sure it will be cool. Kraig is sure cool about it."

Though most of the team had parents and family attending the game the
school policy was for the players to ride on the bus if at all possible. In this
case they wanted to ride on the bus anyway. After all they were the division
champions. They were number one and wanted to share it. The Big Time
was supposed to be where they were and they were for sure in the Big Time.

Next: Three Day Weekend-Friday