Playing for Pride by Timothy Tocher

Author:Timothy Tocher
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Meadowbrook

Opportunity

Friday’s weather was as beautiful as Monday’s had been ugly. The combination of a great day and a chance to hit had Laurie racing for the field the moment she’d put on her uniform. The Newton Longhorns would be the opponent for this second straight home game.

Laurie forced Howard to show her the lineup before she started warming up. As expected, she was batting ninth. But the surprise was that Carlotta had moved up to sixth, ahead of Angela and Maggie. Carlotta had been working on slap hitting for just three days. Was it making that big of a difference?

Jesse would be the starting pitcher for the Cyclones. League rules limited a pitcher to ten innings a week, and Dawn had used seven of hers on Monday. Because Jesse didn’t have Dawn’s speed or power, she needed lots of help from the defense. Laurie expected some action in center field today.

When the first batter of the game lofted a high fly ball in her direction, Laurie handled it with ease and thought, “This is going to be my day.”

The Cyclones wasted no time in pummeling the Longhorns’ starting pitcher. Jackie hit a long home run to put them ahead 3 to 0. Later in the inning, Carlotta bunted past the pitcher’s mound for a base hit. Laurie came to the plate with the bases loaded and two outs.

Grandma and Mrs. C were in the stands again, and Laurie heard Mrs. C scream, “Come on, Laurie!” This time Laurie welcomed the attention. She planned to hit the ball deep and put the game away. This was her opportunity to earn a permanent slot in the batting order.

The first pitch was a fastball, right at eye level. Laurie took a mighty cut—and missed.

“Hit a strike, Laurie,” her father called.

Laurie stepped out of the batter’s box and took a practice swing. She thought of the nice, easy strokes she’d been taking in practice. Then she was ready.

The pitch came in knee high, but as Laurie swung, it dipped into the dirt. She missed again. Blood pounded in Laurie’s temples. This was her big chance, and she had two strikes already. She was so shaken that she forgot to step out of the box.

Before she was ready, the next pitch was on the way. Laurie swung wildly and the inning was over. Stunned, she stood at the plate as the Longhorns ran off the field. Li came up behind her and handed her a mitt.

“You’ll get them next time, Laurie,” she said.

Luckily, none of the Longhorns hit the ball to center that inning, because Laurie couldn’t get her at bat out of her mind. She’d done everything just the opposite of the way she’d planned. Maybe she didn’t belong in the batting order.

In the third inning, Laurie got to see Carlotta slap hit for the first time. Carlotta squared as if to bunt, and the infielders charged. Carlotta pounded the ball into the hard dirt in front of home plate. The ball took one big hop over the player on third and out into left field for a single.

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