Mother of Magic

Practice

The weather was on the cold side for baseball. Elsewhere people were playing Ice Hockey and American Football, For Stephanie Santiago, keeping her team in shape and in practice was a priority. Whenever the Fort Collins public baseball field was free of snow, she called up various members of the team that lived locally for practice games. Coaches too.

What was different today is who was at bat. Le Garten warmed up with practice swings, and Stephanie ribbed him from the mound. "I'm not going to go easy o you, Le. We are going to see just how much of your own baseball training program you have taken to heart and turned into your mechanics.

"Coaches need to show they are not just pulling this out of their nether regions. Bring it Steph."

Le stepped into the batter box. Cynthia Miles squatted down to be ready to catch.

"Going to be a fastball." Stephanie announced and whirled it toward the plate.

It never reached Cynthia's mitt.

Stephanie turned and watched it head over the chain link fence. "Well. I'll be."

"One: That was not much of a fastball. Not for you. Two? You probably should not tell me the pitch ahead of time." Le said. It was not ego. It was pure advice, coming from a young man who had in half a season of baseball turned into a full-on coach.

Leo, standing on the first base sideline thought it was funny. "Don't see that too often, do you Santiago?"

"Here, Babe. Try this one" Cynthia threw Stephanie a fresh baseball as there was no one to go chase out-of-field balls.

Stephanie caught the fresh ball and played with it a little in thought. "Ready?"

The next pitch was unannounced and a curve ball. Le hooked it to Short.

After thirty pitches, Le had hit twenty of them. Two more left the chain link fence. Several landed in open spots in the outfield.

Leo shook his head. "In regular season play, that would be a 250 batting average. Are you giving him all the stuff, Stephanie?"

"I wasn't at first, but I have been ever since that first few. He is reading my pitches and reacting to them. He knows where the ball is going." Stephanie looked over the ball in her hand in thought. "I need to try and change my body language a little. He has studied me all reason long. Longer really, because he started that program last season. He probably knows my style better than anyone. Hmmm. OK. Let's try a few more."

Over the course of the next thirty pitches, Stephanie played around with her grip and windup to try and better disguise what she was about to throw.

"Still batting over 200 against you." Leo said in the end.

"OK. Let's trade." Stephanie said, and she a Le switched positions.

Now it was Le's turn to look at the ball in his hand and think. He glanced at Stephanie, waiting in the batter's box. Cynthia signaled pitches, and he accepted one and threw an inside curve.

Stephanie pulled that one into left field and it was caught.

"Nice pitch" Stephanie complimented Le "Good movement."

Leo agreed. "That was very nice. Good form on the delivery too. You have been paying attention kid."

"Thanks, Coach." Le replied to the man he worked with the most on the team.

Cynthia signaled, Le nodded, and then took advantage of his long arms to deliver a two-seam fastball. The late break caused Stephanie to hit it on the ground to the shortstop.

Next came a four-seam fastball, which Stephanie nailed out of the park.

In the end, Leo was impressed "You just held Stephanie down to under 400. No one did that to her last year. Impressive Coach.

"Let's switch this up, Get everyone a turn here. Le? Take First. Blackburn? You come in and bat. Uhm... Bobby? Want to throw next?" Stephanie took her natural lead, re-organizing the field and making sure everyone got a chance to play and hit.

At one point, when both Stephanie and Le were standing with Leo watching practice, Stephanie noticed s bundled-up form in the stands. She crossed over to her. "Vanessa?"

"Hey, Stephanie."

"Bit of a drive up from Denver."

"I know, but I heard you guys were going to do a practice here, and I wanted to see one. What off-season looked like, you know?"

"What do you think?"

"Well. I think you signed up for another year, and the first thing you did was call a practice. And the way I hear it, the team turnover is going to be low again this year, so you are dialing in another run at the Series." Vanessa said knowingly.

"We all want to go back and I think we can win it. Houston beat us that time, but they are going to have a lot of off-season churn. We'll be the better team next year for sure."

"What about your boy Le there? I did not know he could hit or pitch." Vanessa gestured at Le with a gloved hand which she hastily put back in a jacket pocket. "Cold as hell..."

Stephanie tuned to study Le. "I did not know that either. I don't think he did. I played ball most of my life. Le never has. He was too sick for most of his life. Sports were never a thing for him. He plays completely out of the head. Now I am thinking if we work on his muscles... give them muscle memory for the game? He could be a great ball player."

"Looks like it. He still living in the trailer next to yours?" Vanessa asked slyly

"Yes. Why?"

"Not in your trailer?"

"Not in my trailer, Vanessa. Why would you care? Aren't you married?"

"Yeah. I'm married. You aren't though. Neither is he."

"I go on dates now and then. Never seen Le out and about though. Why. You want to fix him up with someone?"

"Stephy... really? If you aren't going to date him, I am sure he will have no trouble getting women... or men ... or both... interested."

Stephanie smiled to herself, remembering the conversation about that. "Women only he told me once. Nothing against men, he just is not interested."

"Better for sports-loving women everywhere." Vanessa said.