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Piercehaven sprang out to an early lead in the second game. They seemed far more confident and had loosened up in the batter’s box. Ava, Hannah, and Juniper all hit the ball well, and even Chloe made contact. She got on base because of an error, but she didn’t know that, and was quite pleased with herself.
In the fourth inning, Emily put Ava on the mound. Juniper sat down in the dugout and crossed her arms. Jake came up behind her, said something inaudible through the fence, and Juniper stood up and uncrossed her arms. Score one for Dad, Emily thought.
Ava wasn’t a pitcher. Still, Emily willed herself to be patient, and tried to give Ava time to settle in, but after she walked four batters in a row, she looked at Emily and said, “Can I stop now?” So Emily acquiesced and gave Hailey a turn.
Hailey, much to Emily’s surprise, did OK. She didn’t windmill, and it wasn’t fancy, but more than half the pitches were strikes, and Temple started to hit the ball. This gave Piercehaven a chance to do some fielding, which provided them with practice and the crowd with entertainment. Chloe bobbled a ball at second and then threw it between Jasmine’s legs at first. Emily scanned her memory and decided that no, she’d never seen that happen before. This little mishap scored Temple two runs. Emily had moved Ava to short when she put Hailey on the mound, so the grounder to third came up and hit Sydney right in the face. Thank God she was wearing a mask. The bases were loaded when one of Temple’s more-athletic girls stepped up to the plate. She watched the first pitch go by but then swung at the second and sent it toward deep center. By the time Emily looked, Sara had already turned and run, and though she started early, and though she had wheels, it was clear she wasn’t going to get there. That’s going to clear three runs, Emily thought, maybe four, but then Sara dove, her glove outstretched. She sprang back to her feet so fast, Emily didn’t even realize she’d caught the ball until she flung it toward second base. Chloe wasn’t ready for it, but Hailey saw the whole situation play out and got to second in time to catch Sara’s not-quite-accurate throw and tag the bag for the double play. Then she turned and fired to first for the triple play. But Jasmine wasn’t expecting the throw, and it sailed past first and out of play. The runner who’d been on third safely returned to third in time. The runner who’d been on first safely returned to first. Still, it had been an incredible play and Emily’s mouth hung open. Sara Crockett. Who would’ve seen that coming? Emily scanned the crowd for Sara’s mom, but she wasn’t there. The parents who were there, however, gave her plenty of love. She remained expressionless, just stood there leaning on her knees, waiting for the next ball. Emily was pretty sure that was the first time the island had ever cheered for Sara Crockett.
Emily let Hailey pitch the rest of the game, and they played all seven innings, finishing with a score of 14 to 5. The Panthers’ record moved up to 2 and 3. Not bad.
The baseball game went long, and they had to forgo fast food in order to get back to the ferry on time. Emily expected this to cause plenty of complaints of starvation, but the girls were too happy to notice their hunger. The bus ride sounded like a giggle convention and the ferry ride wasn’t much calmer. Emily stepped out on deck just to get a break from it all and found Hailey staring out at the water. “You OK, kiddo?”
“Yep. You were right, Miss M.”
“Oh yeah? About what?”
“Softball is fun.” She grinned.
“I thought you might think so.” Emily leaned on the railing beside her.
“You were also right about something else.”
“Oh yeah?”
“I don’t think I’m a pitcher.”
“I never said you weren’t a pitcher.”
“I know, but you didn’t have to. I’m glad you gave me a chance today, but that is harder than it looks. I think I’d rather just play shortstop. I just thought ... I don’t know.”
“You thought you had to be the best at everything you attempt?” Emily guessed.
Hailey nodded. “Yeah, something like that. I just thought I should do the hardest thing, but now ...” She didn’t finish her thought aloud.
“You can’t do everything in life, Hailey. And people who try to be the best at everything end up not being the best at anything.”
Hailey looked thoughtful. “Yeah. That makes sense. I’ll just try to be an average softball player then.”
Emily laughed. “Perfect. I don’t even care if you’re below average. I just want you to have fun.”
“It sure would be more fun if I could hit the ball.”
“You will. I promise.”
