[Fiction] Touch 'em All

[gvnner1886]

I sat there on the bench not really expecting much. We were down 1 and I had 5 people in front of me in the batting order. We needed a rally and if I knew my brother would come through. You can imagine my surprise when he chased that curveball in the dirt when we needed him.

I had given up hope really then all of a sudden we had a runner on base. As I stood there in the on deck circle, I was so nervous. Part of me wanted the game to be over with me standing there on deck. I didn’t think I was ready to have the weight of the team on my shoulders. I think the pitcher sensed this too. He knew I was a scared little freshman so he pitched around the batter in front of me. He eventually worked a walk and I turned and looked at the coach. He gave me that get in there look followed by several claps. I turned to pick up my bat I had leaned against the fence.

“Tom,” my brother said. “Watch for his fastball.”

I gave him the look. I slowly walked towards the batters box. I felt my heart beating through my chest. I timidly dug my foot in the box and stared out toward the towering figure on the mound. I was intimidated. I quickly asked for time out so I could gather myself. I adjusted my batting gloves looked back at my brother and gave him the wink.

I slammed my feet back in the box and stared out again. I could see that I was the one in control now. I saw the ball bearing away from me as the bat left my shoulder.

“Ping!” the bat rang out.

The ball screamed down the right field line I just stood there for a second until I remembered I would have to run. The right fielder did his best to cut it off as the runner neared third. As he fired it in towards the cutoff man I stood on second base and watched. The ball seemed to float through the air in slow motion. The runner dove into a slide. The catcher grabbed the ball and franticly made a tag towards the runner. As the umpire’s arm’s streamed away from his body. My teammates streamed onto the field. My brother was the first one there. He tackled me and the rest of the team followed suit.

I couldn’t believe I had just won us the state championship. Things eventually calmed down and we boarded the bus back to town. My brother grabbed my arm as I walked by. He pulled me into the seat next to him with a gleam in his eye.

“Ready to have some fun tonight?” he asked.