JALEN REARED BACK AND PUT his entire body into it.
He hit the ball on the sweet spot and blasted it into left field, right over the hedge.
He dropped the bat and raised his hands in the air but didn’t shout out. He wanted to win with class, so he dropped his hands and set off around the bases, soaking in the cheers from the stands and his dugout. When he crossed home plate, though, his team was waiting for him. They knocked him down with hugs and piled on. Daniel pulled him out from under the mountain of laughing boys and hugged him, lifting him into the air before everyone settled down to shake hands.
Neither Chris nor his dad would look at Jalen as they passed through the line, but Jalen didn’t care. In a way it made things even better.
After the trophy presentations, Coach Allen raised Jalen’s hand like a heavyweight champ. His team mobbed him again, and then Cat, her mom, and JY appeared.
“I’m so glad you made it.” JY hugged him. “And I appreciate all your help at Fenway.”
Jalen couldn’t stop grinning.
Cat’s mom hugged him next, then Cat, holding him long enough for him to feel that it was something different before they separated and she looked into his eyes. “I am so happy for you, Jalen. It was the ultimate double play.”
“Thanks to you.”
“Well,” she said, “you deserve to have your dreams come true.”
She hugged him again, and Jalen didn’t think anything in the world could ever be better, until he felt a tap on his shoulder and turned around.