When Coach Harrison had announced the lineup earlier, Carter had to hide his disappointment. He wasn’t starting on the mound. Then the coach had taken him aside and explained why.
“If we had won this game last year, you wouldn’t have been able to pitch in the World Series title game because of your pitch count. This year, I want to be sure that if we win today, you’re set to take the mound. So I’m saving you for the final innings of this game.”
A thrill had shot up Carter’s spine. Little League rules prohibited pitchers from taking the mound the next day if they threw more than twenty pitches in a game. Knowing the coach’s plan made Carter much happier to be starting at third.
He was happier still that Mid-Atlantic had won the coin toss. As the home team, they would have the final turn at bat. If they were behind in the sixth inning…
He shook his head. Don’t even think that, he admonished himself. Believe.
West took to the field first. Carter noted that Phillip wasn’t the starting pitcher, either, but was stationed at third base. After West’s time was up, the Mid-Atlantic players took the field for their pregame warm-ups.
Just as they were finishing, Carter heard his name called. He turned to see Liam grinning at him from the third-base dugout.
“Hey, dork, didn’t you forget something?” Liam held up a fist.
Carter grinned back and held up his fist, too. They fist-bumped the air three times. “See you out there, doofus,” Carter said. With excitement spreading through his veins, he hurried off to join his teammates in the dugout behind first base.
The game began. Luke was on the mound for Mid-Atlantic. Ash was behind the plate. Keith was at first, Freddie at second, Raj at shortstop, and Carter at third. Manning the outfield were Charlie M. in left, Peter in center, and Craig in right. Substitutes Ron, Charlie S., Allen, and Stephen were in the dugout, cheering along with the crowd.
First up for West was shortstop Dom. Carter pounded his fist into his glove and shouted, “Here you go, Luke!”
Carter heard Liam and the other West players encouraging their teammate, too. He blocked them out and focused.
Luke went into his windup and threw. Dom swung and missed.
“Yes!” Carter murmured.
Dom connected with the next pitch, a grounder that bounded through the grass right to Freddie. He fielded it cleanly and sent the ball to Keith’s outstretched glove for out number one.
Phillip was up next. He looked three pitches into Ash’s mitt. Two were balls and one a called strike. He swung at the fourth and missed. With the count two-and-two, he took a big cut at the next pitch.
Pow! It was a line drive right back at the mound. Luke had a split second to react. He stuck out his glove as he ducked. Whap! Amazingly, the ball landed smack in the pocket!
For a moment, Luke looked confused. Then, realizing what he’d done, he grinned. He ended the inning with a three-pitch strikeout on Matt.
“Huddle up, boys, huddle up!” Coach Harrison called. When the players were gathered in a circle, he said, “Now let’s hear it!”
“Mid-Atlantic, one-two-three! Mid-Atlantic, one-two-three!”
“Go start us off, Freddie,” Coach Filbert added.
Freddie gave him a nervous nod and hurried to the plate. He ticked three pitches foul and missed the fourth for the first out. Keith and Craig both grounded out.
“And with the score zero to zero, that brings us to the conclusion of the first inning,” the announcer reminded the crowd.
Rodney started things off for West in the second inning with a crushing double. Then Liam knocked out a single that got past Raj and sent Rodney to third. Mason got a hit, too. As the ball bounced just out of Freddie’s reach into the outfield, Rodney ran for home like he was being chased by wolves. Liam stopped at second and Mason stood at first.
That run was all West put on the board that inning. Nate struck out and then Christopher hit into a double play.
“Okay, boys, now it’s our turn to get runs on the board,” Coach Harrison said. He handed Ash a helmet and gave him a thumbs-up as he selected a bat.
“You get on base,” Charlie M. called as Ash headed to the plate, “and I’ll hit you home!”
Ash did as Charlie M. requested, leading off with a single. Charlie M. couldn’t get him home. Instead, he got on base with a walk.
That brought up Carter. So far in the tournament, he hadn’t been much of a threat at the plate. He jogged to the box now, giving himself a quick pep talk.
You can do this, he thought. Just focus on the ball and swing!
Just before he stepped into the box, he glanced at Liam. Unlike Carter, Liam was a powerful hitter. Suddenly, something his cousin had once said about his own hitting flashed through Carter’s mind: “I imagine I’m a spring, wound tight and ready to go. Hit the release button and wham! I uncoil and hit that pill out of the park!”
Carter had often tried to visualize that same thing when hitting. It hadn’t worked for him, so he’d given it up. Now as he hefted the bat over his shoulder—
Try it again! a small voice urged him.
Elton wound up and threw. Carter uncoiled. Ping! The ball flew just over Phillip’s head and rolled fair. As Nate raced to nab it, Ash motored toward third. He hit the dirt and slid to the bag with time to spare. Charlie M. reached second. Carter, breathing hard and silently rejoicing, stood at first.
It worked! he thought jubilantly. It really worked!
Carter had time to catch his breath as Raj, up next, fouled five in a row before striking out. Peter also made an out with a pop-up that landed in Elton’s glove.
Come on, Luke, Carter thought as he watched his fellow pitcher head to the plate. Luke let one go by. Then another. Then—pow! He laced the third between first and second! Ash scored. So did Charlie M. Carter obeyed the third-base coach and held up at second. But Freddie grounded out, so he didn’t get any farther that inning.
The score changed again in the third inning.
Mid-Atlantic 2, West 1. Elton pounded Luke’s fastball into deep center field. Peter dashed to make the catch but couldn’t get under it. By the time the ball reached the infield, Elton was safe on third.
“Come on, Dom, bring me in!” Elton cried.
Not to be outdone, Carter bellowed, “Stay tough, Luke, stay tough!”
Elton took off for home when Dom hit a grounder that found a hole between Keith and Freddie. By the time Craig got to it, Elton was crossing the plate.
Things went from bad to worse for Mid-Atlantic after that. Phillip got a single that moved Dom from first to second. That brought up Matt. Matt had struck out to end the top of the first inning. This time, he smacked a line drive into the gap for a double. Dom scored, but Phillip was held up at third.
Carter suppressed a groan when he saw that the next batter was Rodney. A power hitter, Rodney was always a threat at the plate.
Luke’s pitch was low, but Rodney went for it anyway, swinging the bat like a golf club and launching the ball skyward above third. It disappeared in the clouds for a second before Carter caught sight of it.
“Mine!” Carter yelled. Glove overhead, he kept his eyes glued on the ball as it began its descent. He made the catch and immediately pulled out the ball, ready to throw if necessary. But Phillip and Matt hadn’t moved. Carter returned the ball to Luke.
Now Liam came to the plate. A split second too late, Carter saw the look on his face. He knew that look. Heart racing, he whirled around and motioned to the outfielders.
“Move back! Move back!”
But his warning was too late.
Wham!