On the mound for the Grizzlies was Howie Timilty. Manny had never been happier to see him there, for Howie was an ace. If he could throw a no-hitter for even one inning, then Stu would be safe.
That’s just what Howie did in the bottom of the first. Three batters came to the plate; all three went back to the dugout without touching their bats to the ball.
Manny led off the top of the second for the Grizzlies. He let the first pitch go by because it looked wide to him. The umpire agreed and called it a ball. The second pitch, however, looked as big as a balloon. He swung with all his might. Pow! The ball sailed up, up, and up, before dropping to the ground between center and left field.
“Go! Go! Go!” Coach Flaherty yelled. And Manny did go—all the way to third! It was the first time in his career that he had hit a three-bagger. He could hear his mother cheering loudly from the stands, and knew that his father was proudly marking his at bat on a fresh scorecard.
Charlie strode to the plate to take his raps. He connected with the third pitch, but just barely. The ball dribbled up to the mound and into the pitcher’s glove. The pitcher threw to first and Charlie was out.
Manny clapped as Luis stepped into the box. “Come on, send me home!” he called.
Luis complied with a sharp shot just to the left of first base. The ball was too far away for the second baseman to grab, and too shallow for the right fielder to get to quickly. When the dust settled, Manny was safe at home and Luis was on first!
But that one run was all the Grizzlies got that inning. Both Howie and Patrick struck out.
The teams switched sides. Manny’s heart thumped in his chest when he saw who was up first for the Sharks. It wasn’t just that he was that team’s best hitter. It was where he tended to hit that had Manny’s adrenaline flowing.
According to the scorecards, this Shark had lined more than one pitch right back at the mound. If the pitcher got his glove up in time, he had a chance to make the catch. But if he panicked and dodged, then that ball would keep going straight toward second base.
If Howie ducked and Stu backed up Howie as he was supposed to do, then Stu would be right in the line of fire. If he mistimed his catch or couldn’t see the ball properly…
Manny mentally crossed his fingers, hoping that Howie’s reflexes would react fast enough for him to catch the ball if necessary.
But they didn’t. When the Shark clobbered the ball back at the mound, Howie jumped aside. Manny sucked in his breath—and then let it out again, because Jason had streaked across the field and backhanded the ball on a hop! He relayed it to Luis at first as quickly as he could, but the Shark was faster.
“Safe!” the umpire cried, slashing his arms out to either side.
Howie shook his head, clearly disgusted with himself.
“It’s okay, Howie, just get the next one!” Manny called.
He took stock of the situation then. Runner on first. No outs. Sharks down by one. Manny gulped. If the Sharks coach had any clue as to what he was doing, he’d call for the runner at first to steal. Unless Howie could pick him off, stopping the runner from landing safely at second would mean a long bomb throw from the plate to second. From Manny to Stu.
Manny knew he could reach Stu. He’d done it plenty of times, in games and in practices. But he had no way of knowing whether Stu would make the catch. How could he “look the ball into his glove” if that ball was blurry or doubled in his eyes?
Manny decided that he just couldn’t risk it. So when Howie threw his pitch and the runner on first took off, Manny bobbled the catch—on purpose.
“Throw to second, Griffin! Throw!” he heard Coach Flaherty yell.
Manny knew it wasn’t a suggestion; it was an order. Normally, he would have followed that order. Not this time. This time, he did something he’d never done before.
He hesitated. Just for a moment. But that was plenty long enough for the runner to slide safely into base.
The Sharks bench and their fans erupted in cheers. Manny listened to them with just a hint of regret. His regret grew a bit more when he saw the disgusted look on Coach Flaherty’s face. And when the Shark runner crossed home plate later that inning, it grew even more.
Then he saw Stu standing beside second base and knew he’d made the right choice not to throw out the runner. He heard his mother cheering. He glanced at the stands. There she was, standing and clapping. Next to her was Stu’s mother. She was clapping, too, and smiling broadly at her son.
That’s when Manny realized that while he’d made the right choice not to throw to Stu, he’d also made a grave mistake. So far, that mistake hadn’t been a problem. But he knew that if something went wrong, it might prove to be very, very costly.
When this inning ends, he said to himself, I’m going to do the right thing! I’m going to tell Mrs. Fletcher about Stu!