Softball Switch-Up by Jake Maddox

Author:Jake Maddox [Maddox, Jake]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: 978-1-4965-8324-6; 978-1-4965-8450-2; Jake Maddox; Jake Maddox Girls Sports Stories; sports fiction; middle grade fiction; sports stories for girls; illustrated fiction; softball; softball fiction; Natasha Deen
Publisher: Capstone
Published: 2019-10-04T00:00:00+00:00

One more throw, and Raisa struck out the first batter. The next player struck out too, but the one after that made it to second base.

Coach Garcia called Raisa off the mound.

“I can keep going,” Raisa said.

Pitching felt great, but winning would feel even better. If she stayed on the mound, she could help the team and take the pressure off of Annie.

Isn’t that what a coach is supposed to do? Raisa thought. Help everyone?

“You know the rules,” Coach Garcia told her. “It’s Annie’s turn. You have to share the mound.”

As Raisa made her way to the dugout, she noticed Annie was holding the ball with a four-finger grip instead of a three-finger grip.

“Check your grip,” Raisa whispered, but Annie ignored her.

Raisa bit the inside of her cheek so she wouldn’t yell at Annie, but she was angry. She was doing all she could to help the team.

Why isn’t Annie doing her share? Raisa thought.

The batter walked to the plate. Annie threw the ball, but she didn’t push off the mound in the way Raisa would have. The batter easily hit the ball and sent it into left field. While the Tigers scrambled to catch the ball, the batter made it to third.

Raisa held her breath as Annie threw the ball to the next batter. The Sharks’ player hit it into the outfield and ran to first base. The player on third base made it home. The score was tied 2–2.

Raisa’s anger rose. Annie was ignoring all their hard work. Worse, she was giving the Sharks a chance to win.

For the rest of her time on the mound, Annie pitched the way she wanted. No surprise, the Tigers lost the game.

“You have to talk to Coach,” Taylor said to Raisa after the game. “Annie just cost us a win.” She ran to meet her parents.

Raisa knew she needed to talk to the coach, but first she had to talk to Annie.

“Our next game is against the Jets, and they’re the best in the league,” Raisa said as she approached Annie. “If you don’t pitch like I taught you, we’ll never win.” Raisa tried not to sound angry, but she couldn’t help it. “What were you doing out there today?”

“Playing the game,” Annie said.

“Not like I taught you,” Raisa told her.

Annie shoved her glove into her bag. “You didn’t teach me anything! All you’ve done is tell me. Tell me how to pitch and how to stand. You haven’t even tried to listen to me! You just force me to do it your way, and I hate it!”

Raisa stared at her in shock as Annie zipped up her bag. “You keep talking about how I need to be a good team player, but what about you?” Annie continued. “I just wanted to learn how to pitch and have fun with my new team. You ruined everything!”

With that, Annie slung her bag over her shoulder and stalked away. Raisa stared after her. How had this all gone so wrong? She needed to talk to Coach Garcia.

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