The Diamond Champs by Matt Christopher

Author:Matt Christopher [CHRISTOPHER, MATTHEW F]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780316095945
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Published: 2009-12-19T05:00:00+00:00

Roger Merts third base

Larry Wells left field

Nick Forson catcher

A. J. Campbell first base

Jack Henderson shortshop

Sam Jacobs right field

Jo Franklin second base

Moe Harris center field

Doug Barton pitcher

So I'm not playing today, thought Kim. He's giving us turns, which is okay with me.

It made more sense to play Roger at third than Eric, anyway, Kim reflected as he watched the right-hander throwing the ball to first in the pregame practice. After all this time, Eric was still awkward in throwing the ball left-handed to first base after catching a grounder. It would certainly seem obvious to the coach, but do you think he'd make a change? No. It seemed that he had a special reason for playing Eric there.

The Steelheads had first bats, and Roger started off the game with a hot grounder through short. Larry bunted him to second. And Nick, after fouling two pitches to the backstop, cracked a two bagger that scored Roger. Anyone else except heavy-footed Nick might have stretched the hit into a triple.

A. J. went down swinging, and Jack popped out to second—1 - 0, Steelheads.

The Blue Jays threatened to score when they got two men on base with two hits, but strong defensive plays after that kept the runners from scoring.

It wasn't until the fourth inning that the Steelheads' bats began pounding out hits again. A. J. got a triple with two on, and then scored on Jack's smashing single over short. Jo kept up the rally with a double, and then scored on Moe's streaking hit over the third-base bag. Five runs crossed the plate before the Blue Jays managed to stop them—6 - 0, Steelheads.

The kids were happy, but the coach was even happier.

“With that lead we should coast,” he said, a tone of merriment in his raspy voice. “But we won't. We're not going to take a single chance of losing.”

The team nodded as a unit. Kim met Doug's eyes. Well, do you still think he's some sort of crook? they seemed to ask.

I'm still not sure, Kim wanted to reply.

The Blue Jays picked up a run in the bottom of the fifth and two in the bottom of the sixth. But the three runs weren't enough. The Steelheads took the game, 6 - 3.

“Nice playing, gang!” Coach Stag praised the team. “Let's keep it up! We'll win the championship if you play as you did today. I know we will.”

“Is there practice tomorrow, Coach?” Jo asked.

“Yes. But not on Monday,” replied the coach. “We've got two games next week. I'm hoping that we won't have to practice in between games anymore.”

Jo's eyes shone. “I wouldn't care,” she said. “I love it!”

“So do I,” admitted Nick.

From the pleased looks on the faces of the other players, Kim was sure that none of them minded the practices either, even though the practices were usually tougher than the games.

“It will depend, though,” said the coach. “If we start losing, we will practice. So let's keep winning. Okay, see you tomorrow.”

Mr. Rollins walked home with Kim and Eric.

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