Releasing the tight grip, he rolled the baseball gently in his hand and slapped his pitcher's glove against his knee. Glancing at the opposition's sideline, he saw Zack was coming up. He wasn't afraid of Zack as his friends were. Sure, Zack was a bully and sometimes mean, but David knew the real Zack.
It had not always been that way. He once avoided being around Zack until the day a school counselor asked him to tutor Zack. David wanted to decline.
"Please, David, I know you can help him. He is so close to failing, and I'm afraid of what his father might do," she stopped the words abruptly, aware she was revealing too much to a student.
Watching Zack on the sidelines picking up the bat, knock it a few times against his well-worn cleats, then easing slowly to the plate, David remembers how his thoughts about Zack being a bully changed after those sessions at Grant's house and seeing Zack's father's attacks of anger.
David shook off the memory as Zack nodded toward him, swung his bat low and slow, then straightened his stance. He suddenly walked away from the plate, hit his cleats before bending into his home run hitting stance. Zack was the clean-up batter. Two of his teammates were on 1st and 2nd. David's team was winning by one run.
David looked at the runners, both off of the bases waiting to move. Taking a deep breath, he turned and threw a fastball to 1st base. The first basemen missed it. As he frantically scrambled to retrieve the rolling ball, the runners ran to 2nd and 3rd.
Aware David was tense because they were ahead by only one run, and there were two outs, Coach Mason called a timeout. Sauntering to the pitcher's mound, he took off his baseball cap and wiped his brow.
"That was a risk, David. Your throw was good, but you know Lenny on first base hasn't been playing up to par lately. Coach replaced his cap. "I'm going to keep you in. Be sure to keep an eye on those two runners as you strike out Zack," He grinned and patted David on the shoulder, hoping he'd eased some of the tension.
"Play ball!" the umpire shouted.
The first pitch was low and outside. "Ball one," the Ump gave the usual sign. The catcher tossed the ball back to David. "Shake it off," David told himself, looking again at the two runners. In the stands behind the runner on third, David saw Zack's father and remembered how Mr. Grant had berated Zack after a lost game.
"You stupid idiot," Mr. Grant had shouted, his fists clenched as if to strike Zack.
Shaking his head, putting his mind back on the upcoming pitch, David coughed and looked at the catcher's signal. He nodded, did his usual wind up, and fired the ball straight across the plate.
"Strike One." It was one of his best pitches.
Zack looked surprised. David watched him shake his head, not knowing if he was disagreeing with the call or wondering why he hadn't hit the ball out of the field. David unwittingly looked over at the bleachers. Mr. Grant's look was not a good one.
His next pitch was slightly outside for a ball call. David heard the rumbling yells from the stands. "Come on, David, you can do it." He heard his mother's loud, clear encouragement.
Straightening his shoulders, glancing at the two runners, David aimed, released the ball, and watched it connect with Zack's bat. It was a line drive directly to the pitcher's mound. David instinctively caught it and threw it to home plate as the runner from third slid.
"You're out." The umpire shouted.
The game was over. David's team was going to Districts. He and Zack were the last two players in the shake hands line.
"Did you bring your stuff for the weekend?" David gave a friendly pat on Zack's shoulder. Zack nodded, looking over at his dad.
"We can leave right after the coaches give us the old after-the-game talk." David saw uneasiness in Zack's eyes when he again looked over at his dad.
" My mom's waiting for us in the car. My dad will be talking to your Dad until we drive away. It's going to be a fun weekend, and who knows, maybe you can stay longer than the weekend." David hoped by then Zack's father would be over his anger.
The End
©2013 - written for David by G'ma McCauley
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