THE SUN WAS LOW in the sky, nestling down into a bed of purple clouds pushing in from the west. The stadium lights hummed and glowed white with hints of blue and green. Josh caught a whiff of grass and hot popcorn, and his heart galloped inside his chest as he took his position near second base. Josh made a few extra pegs to first as Coach gave the home plate umpire the lineup switch.
Before he knew it, the first batter was up. Josh pounded his glove and got ready. Esch sat the batter down with four pitches.
The next batter let a strike go by, then blasted a line drive right at Josh. It was so hot he barely knocked it down. Josh didn’t miss a beat, though; he scooped up the ball and rifled it to first, throwing the runner out on a close call. His teammates cheered.
Josh took a deep breath of the cool evening air and laughed out loud.
Baseball was a beautiful thing.
Esch struck out the third batter, and the Titans jogged quickly back to the dugout, inspired by their pitcher and the momentum he’d created. Josh knew he’d get only one chance to bat. Since he replaced Canby, he’d be batting right after Benji.
Jaden sat in the corner of the dugout, still looking uncomfortable. “I feel so weird sitting here. Martin and Coach act like I don’t exist.”
Josh sat next to her and whispered, “Everything will be okay.”
“Will it?” she asked.
“I think so, yeah. I think as long as that story doesn’t get written, Coach Swanson’s okay. He shut it down, and he’s moving on.”
“I just don’t understand why Coach and Martin were so upset. It’s a great story, with Swanson as the hero.” Jaden shook her head. “I hope Martin can forgive me.”
“Coach is a really private person. I guess he didn’t want his private life made public. And you can get back with Martin. I’m sure you will. Just be honest with him and tell him why you wanted to write the story.”
Grabbing his batting helmet, Benji bumped fists with Jaden. “You and my old man saving the day, huh?”
“I’m glad we made it,” Jaden said.
Jaden watched Benji hurrying to the on-deck circle. “I started another story, you know.”
“Really?” Josh said. “What’s it about?”
Jaden looked at him. “You.”
“Me?”
“The whole Home Run Derby thing,” she said. “I mean, if you qualify, it’s a super story: you coming back from Florida to try and win your mom a house; it’s very gallant. Like a knight.”
Josh heard a couple of his teammates groan in unison, and he turned his attention to the field, where a new pitcher was taking the mound for Barbourville.
“What just happened?” Jaden asked.
Josh stared at the new kid climbing the mound. “For this story, the Dark Lord of Mordor has arrived.”