Meet Me After Practice

The Lunch Game

---JOHNNY---

“Batter up!” Mr. Collen, the acting referee, yelled toward the girls’ dugout, loud enough for everyone to hear. The crowd of students and teachers gathered in the bleachers started to cheer, clapping and screaming as the first girl stepped up to bat, her long brown hair hanging out of the bottom of the helmet and running down her back as she lifted the bat, ready to hit. I immediately recognized her as May O’Connel, the star batter of the Fenway high schools girl’s softball team. She could hit a homerun with a marble her aim was so good. I needed to pitch perfectly to even have a chance at striking her out. “Let’s play ball!”

I took a deep breath and pulled my mitt tightly against my chest, looking at James squatting behind the plate and waited for him to give me the okay. He nodded at me and held in mitt at the ready, right where I’d need to toss it to get a strike. I let out one more breath before stepping forward and rotating my hips toward home, tossing the ball into the air and watching it fly toward May who stood ready to swing.

I was a perfect pitch. I watched as it flew over the plate before it landed safely in James’s mitt. May hadn’t even swung at the ball! “Strike!” The Mr.Collen yelled, a surprised smile on his face as he glanced at a shocked looking May.

May, looked at the Mr.Collen as he’d lost his mind. “Strike? Are you blind, Mr.Collen? That was obviously a ball! It was too low.” She was mad. It was hard to think different when she was glaring at Mr.Collen and talking with her teeth together. She looked like she was about ready to kill someone. “Who asked you to be the ref, anyway?”

“I did,” He said, turning back to face me, his face happier than I’d seen in a long time. Who knew that pitching a strike to May O’Connel would make everyone so happy. “Now, let’s get going! We don’t have all day!” May groaned and stomped back up to the plate, lifting the bat, now completely determined to hit it. I guess the strike was a one time thing.

And it turns out that I was right. The next pitch I threw went right down the middle and she hit it as hard as she could, dropping her bat as she sprinted to first base. Our guy in right field picked up the ball and threw it to first, but May was already on her way to second. Cheers erupted from the crowd as first baseman, Brandon Johnson, threw the ball to second. The second baseman, Quinn Austin, caught it and dove to tag May as she slid to the base. But her foot was on the base before she was tagged, and she was safe.

Quinn tossed it to me and pulled his baseball cap down, shaking his head. “Sorry, Johnny.” He said.

I closed my mitt around the ball and waved off Quinn’s apology. “Don’t apologize, Quinn. It’s just one play. We’ll get it next time.”

He nodded and I turned back to face home, my eyes catching on the next batter. They had long blonde hair that was flowing out of the bottom of the helmet, much like May’s. They stepped hesitantly up to the plate, lifting the bat up above their head the way the kids in the little leagues do when they haven't learned how to hold it right yet. I held back a laugh as James groaned and looked up at the girl. “Abby, what are you doing? Don’t you know how to hold a bat?”

I could barely hear Abby’s response, her voice just above a whisper. “No! I’ve never played this sport before! What do you expect me to do?”

“Don’t make me look stupid! I can’t have my sister in public acting like she doesn’t know anything about baseball! The sport I play!” James hissed, standing up and moving her arms to the right position. “Now, stop embarrassing me!”

I waited until James was back in his squatting position before I got ready to pitch, taking another breath as I looked over at her. Even though she did look clueless, I couldn’t help but notice how confident she stood. How her shoulders were squared and she held her head at the ready, looking unfazed no matter what came her way. I’d never met another girl like that. How could she be so fearless and resolved after just being here for less than a day? There was something different about her, something unique. But I couldn’t quite put my finger on it.