The Sandlot

Chapter 9

I woke up and went to my bathroom. I took a shower. I went to my closet to find something to wear. I saw my Yankees uniform hanging in the corner. I walked to it and touched my baseball jersey. I couldn't do it. I put on denim ripped skinny jeans, a red tank top, Yeah-Yeah's baseball jersey, and my black converse. I braided my hair to the right.

"Ariel, someone is here for you!" Miller yelled.

"I'll be there in a minute!" I yelled back.

I grabbed the glove Yeah-Yeah gave me and one of the baseball's my dad gave me. I went downstairs to see Yeah-Yeah standing in the kitchen talking to Mr. Mertle and Miller. He turned and looked at me.

"Hey, Shorty." he said.

"Hey, Yeah-Yeah." I said.

"How did you get pass Hercules?" Mr. Mertle asked.

"He approves of Yeah-Yeah, Mr. Mertle." I explained.

"Wow. That's hard to believe. He usually doesn't like anybody." Mr. Mertle said.

"Are you ready to go to the sandlot, Ariel?" Yeah-Yeah asked.

"Yeah. Bye, Mr. Mertle. Bye, Miller." I said.

"Bye, Ariel." they said.

I grabbed Yeah-Yeah's hand and we left. I made sure Hercules had fresh water and food. Then, we went to the sandlot. All the guys were already there. But they were in different positions. Benny was at bat. Yeah-Yeah walked me to the pitchers mound. He gave me a kiss, then walked over to his spot. I turned to look at Benny. Ham was behind him, ready to catch the ball. I threw the ball, but I didn't throw it far enough. Ham grabbed it and threw it back at me. I caught it and took a deep breath. I threw the ball and Benny hit it. It was easily a homer. He hit home base ans switched spots with Ham. I threw the ball and Benny caught it. He threw it back. I threw it again.

"Strike 2." Benny said.

He threw it back to me. I threw it again and Ham hit it. He ran to 2nd base. Denunez was up to bat next. Yeah-Yeah threw me the ball. I looked at Denunez and threw the ball. He hit it on the second pitch. Ham ran to home and Denunez ended up on 3rd base. Ham went to be umpire again and Benny took a different position. Next to bat was Bartram. He hit the ball on the first swing. Denunez went to home and Bartram was only on first base. Timmy came to bat. Then, Tommy. I striked him out. Then, it was Smalls' turn. Then, it was Squints' turn. He hit it on the first swing. He ran to home base. Then, it was Yeah-Yeah's turn.

"Don't go easy on him!" Ham yelled.

I smiled. I threw the ball and Ham caught it.

"Strike 1." Ham said.

He threw it back to me. I threw it again.

"Strike 2." Ham said.

He threw it to me again. I threw it and Yeah-Yeah hit it. It went over and landed in front of Hercules' dog house. Hercules came out and grabbed the ball. Yeah-Yeah knelt down and held hid hand out. Hercules walked up to him and dropped the ball in his hand. Yeah-Yeah ran up to me and hugged me.

"You were great, babe." he said.

"Oh no." we heard Squints say.

We turned to see some guys in baseball uniforms ride up on bikes. We walked up to where they were. They stopped in front of us. Yeah-Yeah wrapped his arms around me from behind.

"Yeah, it's easy when you play with a bunch of rejects, a fat kind, and apparently a girl, Rodriguez." the guy in the front said.

"Shut your mouth, Phillips." Benny said. So this is Phillips?

"What you say, crapface?" Ham asked.

"I said you shouldn't even be allowed to touch a baseball. Besides Rodriguez, you're all an insult to the game." Phillips said.

"Let's go. Right here, right now!" Ham yelled.

"Yeah." we all cheered. They jumped off of their bikes.

"Okay. We bat first." Phillips said.

Benny handed him the bat. Everyone got into their positions. Yeah-Yeah walked me to the pitchers mound.

"Woah woah woah. Girls can't play baseball." Phillips said.

"Well that girl can." Benny said.

"What's your name?" Phillips asked me.

 I looked at Yeah-Yeah and he nodded. I looked back at Phillips.

"I'm Ariel Lynn Ruth." I said. The look on his face said he didn't believe me.

"It's true!" the sandlot team yelled.

"It is true." one of his teammates said.

"She was on live television after her dad died. She swore off baseball because he taught her how to play. The whole Yankees team was behind her." the guy said.

"We playin' ball or what?" Benny yelled.

Yeah-Yeah gave me a kiss and went to his position. I got ready and threw the ball. Strike 1. Ham threw the ball back. I threw it again. Strike 2. Ham threw it back. I threw it again and Strike 3. You're out. It went like that for a while. Everyone striked out.

Then, it was their turn to pitch. Benny went first. Homer on the first pitch. The rest of the guys went. Finally, it was my turn. I haven't touched a baseball bat since my dads last game. I slowly walked to Benny who was holding the bat out to me.

"Don't worry, Shorty. Remember the greatest baseball player who ever lived taught you this." he said.

That made me feel a lot better. I slowly reached out and took the bat. I got ready to hit the ball. The pitcher threw it and I hit it. I ran to first and second. But when I was passing third to go to home base, Phillips elbowed me extremely hard in my stomach. I fell to the ground, hard, on my knee, doubling over from the pain. Phillips laughed from above me.

"What did you do that for?" Ham yelled, as everyone ran over. I heard a loud bark. Oh no. Their done for if Hercules comes over here.

"She wants to play with the big dogs, that's what she gets." Phillips said.

Yeah-Yeah snapped. He punched Phillips. That's when I saw Hercules. He looked ready to kill. He was slowly walking towards Phillips, growling, ready to pounce.

"Hercules. No." I said.

I'm glad he heard me. He came over and put his head under my stomach, pushing upwards slowly. He was trying to help me up. Yeah-Yeah came over and grabbed me arm. He slowly helped me up. I grabbed Hercules' collar so he wouldn't try to go after Phillips. Phillips' team helped him up. They seen Hercules and looked over to where the fence fell over. They looked at Hercules, wide eyed.

"That-That's." Phillips stuttered.

"The Beast." the whole sandlot team said.

"My dog." I said. They got on their bikes and left.

"Are you okay?" Squints asked me.

"I landed on my knee. And I can't really breathe good." I said.

Yeah-Yeah picked me up bridal style and walked over to the dugout. He sat down and held me in his lap. Hercules came and put his head on Yeah-Yeah's leg.

"She'll be okay." Yeah-Yeah said.