Grand Slam

Part 3

"So we're roommates?" Freddie asked as I walked into our room. "I guess so." "Just as a warning, Chelsea and Charlie might come to a game and stay in here a night. You don't mind, right?" "No, of course not. And I hope you don't mind that sometimes when I can't sleep, I will play music. So basically, every night I have music playing." I said, laughing as Freddie just shook his head.

Dansby's POV

"Dang man, is it really that bad having to room with me?" Our third baseman, Austin Riley asked as I threw my bag down on my bed. "No man, you're fine. I-" I began before Austin finished my sentence for me, "Just wanted to room with Ashlyn?" "Yeah man, that's it," I replied, feeling my face go red.

Ashlyn's POV

It was the bottom of the eighth inning, and I hadn't had a chance to play, which was expected. We were down by 1 and the Marlins had 2 outs with runners on first and second. Monte Harrison, the batter had a 3-2 count. Our starter second baseman, Ozzie Albies, hadn't had the best game. He had made a few errors, causing a run.

Snitker approached me as the pitcher walked the bases loaded and asked, "Ashlyn, would you feel comfortable playing second? I want to pull Albies out before they gain more runs." "Yea, I'll play," I replied, grabbing my glove as Snitker called a time out to switch Ozzie and me. I looked down the first baseline to see Freddie giving me a thumbs up and an encouraging smile. Alright, deep breath Ashlyn. It's just like any other game except in front of a lot more people. The next hit was a pop-into shallow center, right behind where I was. I got close enough to where I knew I'd have the ball and called it. Pop. The ball went into my glove with a perfect pop sound, meaning it had hit the right part. I looked down and saw the batter, Joe Panik, staring right at me, shock on his face. As everyone jogged back to the dugout, I felt slaps on my back, congratulating me on the inning-ending catch. "Great catch Ashlyn, do you mind to pinch-hit? You'll be up second." Snitker asked. "No, of course not." "Alright, good luck." He said, leaving me to grab my gloves and warm up.

I was up to bat after Dansby, who got walked. As I got ready to swing, the pitch was at my head. Instincts took over, and I hit the ground, while Dansby stole second. The next pitch was right behind me, causing me to jump forward in the box. As I got ready again, it was a good pitch. I made contact, going over the left fielders head onto the warning track. While I was running to second, I noticed the second baseman, Joe Panik, standing right in the baseline. I saw he was only about an inch taller than me, so I kept running straight on. Panik's back was turned to me, so I stuck my left shoulder first to brace myself. As I ran into him, we both hit the ground, causing the ball to go over his head. As I stood on the base, I saw the Marlin's manager, Mattingly, saying I'd interfered with the catch, though him catching the ball wouldn't have changed much. Dansby had already scored, tying the game. The umpires had already called me safe, without interference, because Panik was in the baseline. But Mattingly tried to get them to overturn the call, which they couldn't.

As Inciarte, another pinch hitter, came up to bat, I heard Panik say just loud enough for me to hear, "You're never going to make it in the big leagues little girl. I'm gonna destroy you myself." As Ender stepped into the batter's box and I took my lead I replied, "Well, I've already proven I can take you down-" I couldn't finish what I was going to say because Ender had just hit a home run, and I had to go. "Ashlyn. Did you just bodyslam Joe Panik?" Ozzie asked, laughing. "Uhh, I guess I did," I replied, laughing as a sharp pain ran through my left shoulder. "Hey man, I'll be right back. Bathroom." I said, going into the clubhouse. Looking in the mirror, I lifted my sleeve, seeing my shoulder popped out of place. "Crap," I muttered under my breath, going back out to find a medical trainer to pop my shoulder back in. As I got back into the dugout, I saw we were up by 5 now, Freddie hitting a two-run home run. I approached a medical trainer saying, "Hey, so I'm going to need you to pop this shoulder back into place." "Uhm okay, do you want to sit down or anything?" He asked, looking extremely confused by my blunt request. "No man, I just need you to pop it back in. I kinda figured y'all didn't want me to do it or I would've already. This is not my first rodeo dude." The trainer's eyes widened as he said, "Oh no let's not pop our own shoulders back into place."

By the time the trainer went to pop my shoulder into place, Freddie, Ozzie, and Austin Riley were watching me argue with the trainer. "If you do not start to put my shoulder back in 30 seconds, I'm going to do it myself," I said, starting to get aggravated. "No, please don't do that. There's a certain way you have to do this." The trainer replied, starting to sound fed up with me. "Look, sir. I know you're just trying to do your job, but I'm trying to do mine too. I was an assistant medical trainer for 4 years. I know how to pop my shoulder back in." I said as I reached up with my right hand, found the pressure point, and pushed my shoulder back into place. "Alright. I'm ready to play." I said after I stretched my arm. Seeing the shock on the medical trainer's face, I looked at him, laughing. "You good man?" I asked as he stuttered out, "I-I-" "Yea, he's fine." I said, turning back to the field.

We made it through the bottom of the ninth without the Marlins gaining any more runs, and half of us were on the way to eat while the other half went to the hotel to sleep.