CHAPTER 1

Stepping Up for the Team

Raisa Kumar was in her room, dusting the softball trophy on her shelf. The new season started on Tuesday. She was excited to reunite with her team, the Tigers. Raisa paused as she heard her grandmother’s voice.

“Raisa!” Nona called. “There’s someone here to see you.”

“Coming!” Raisa ran to the kitchen. Coach Garcia, her softball team’s head coach, was sitting at the table.

Why is Coach Garcia here? she wondered. I hope everything is OK.

“Hello, Raisa,” the coach said. She pointed at the dust cloth in Raisa’s hand. “Were you cleaning?”

Raisa blushed. “Dusting my softball trophy,” she said.

Nona laughed. “You dust it every day! Keep it up, and you’ll wear a hole in it!” she joked.

“I can’t help it!” Raisa said. “We won our first championship last season. I want us to win again.”

Coach Garcia smiled. “I’m glad you’re proud. Your pitching was one of the reasons we beat out fifteen other teams.” She leaned forward. “In fact, your pitching is why I’m here.”

Raisa’s stomach fluttered. She was the team’s starting pitcher.

Did I mess something up? I hope she’s not here to tell me she’s moving me, she thought nervously.

“I wanted to talk to you about our new player: Annie Nanton,” Coach Garcia said. “She’s new to the game. I’m starting her out in right field, but she’s eager to learn how to pitch too.”

Raisa blew out a relieved breath. “Fantastic!” she said. “It’s just me and Kaitlyn pitching now. An extra person would be great.”

“Exactly,” Coach Garcia said with a smile. “Would you like to help Annie learn how to pitch?” She winked. “I know you want to be a coach one day. This might be good practice.”

Raisa’s stomach fluttered again, but this time from happiness. “Yes, please!” she exclaimed. “I’ll help her outside of our team practices.”

“Wonderful,” Coach Garcia said. “With your help, Annie’s going to have a lot of fun learning how to pitch. I’ll text you her number and let her know she can expect to hear from you.” She stood. “I’ll see you at practice on Tuesday. Thanks for being there for her.”

Raisa nodded. She was already thinking of the drills she could teach Annie. Together they’d take the Tigers to their second championship win.