My Friends Wouldn't Let Me by John A. Broadwell

Author:John A. Broadwell [Broadwell, John A.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781489723727
Publisher: LifeRich Publishing
Published: 2019-07-29T04:00:00+00:00

TWENTY-EIGHT

The next two days were like a blur. The hot items at school were the upcoming state championship baseball game and the prom, which was set for the following weekend at the Brookside gym. Bobby reported to Miss Winn he had mailed his college applications and she told him she had sent his transcripts. She also gave him some information about applying for scholarships, although the deadline for several of them had expired.

Bobby spent most of his time at baseball practice offering encouragement to the younger players, urging them to be prepared when and if they were called on. Coach Brawley had not named his starting pitcher for Saturday’s game, causing Al Tarkinton and Ray Roberts no little anxiety. He told Bobby he was waiting until Friday, at the end of practice, and that both would likely pitch in the game, along with closer Justin Moore.

Bobby didn’t divulge Coach Brawley’s intentions, but he devoted a good bit of time to reviewing what he knew of Lawton’s hitters with them. “Sounds like a dangerous lineup,” Al said.

“No question about that,” Bobby said. “After all, they are playing in the state championship game.”

“Right,” Justin said, “but so are we.”

Practice on Friday was short, just a quick run through of infield and outfield drills and a shortened batting practice. Before adjourning, Coach Brawley called the team together.

“All right team,” he growled in his customary tone, “tomorrow we play for all the marbles. You know what to do, and how to do it. We’ve gone over it all. You’re as ready as I know how to make you. What I want you to do now is have fun. None of you have ever played in a state championship baseball game, and there’s a very good chance none of you will get there again, although we’ll give it our best next year.”

He went over the starting lineup—no change from the one they had used all season. Buster Talbot was in at third base, batting fifth behind Bennie Brown. He still hadn’t mentioned the starting pitcher; Ray and Al were growing antsy.

Finally, he said, “Roberts, Tarkinton and Moore, stick around. You too, Murphy. Everyone else, be here dressed in decent clothes. Remember, you’re representing your school, so no torn jeans or tee shirts. Bus leaves at 8:15, so be here no later than eight. We’ll dress in the locker room at the stadium.”

When everyone else had left, Coach Brawley continued. “Roberts, you’re starting tomorrow. I plan for you to pitch four, maybe five, innings. You’ll be on a pitch count, so you may come out earlier. Tarkinton, you’re up next, probably throw three or four innings. Moore, you’re the closer. We may need more innings than that from one or two of you, depending on how things go. As you know, we don’t have anyone to throw after you, so there’s some pressure for you to pitch as long as you can. Booger and I will make that call. Murphy, did you go over Lawton’s lineup with them?”

“Sure did, Coach.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.