Double Play at Short (2 page)

With a 3 and 1 count, Joey could afford to wait the next one out. But he couldn’t resist a breaking ball that seemed to have
his name on it. He swung and connected.

If it had dropped a little sooner or later, it probably would have been a hit. As it happened, it was a hard drive to short.
With an easy motion, Danny caught the ball fair and square for the first out.

As the Jaguars shuffled around in the dugout, Danny glimpsed shiny auburn hair slipping here and there. She sure doesn’t stay
put in the dugout, he thought. I know how she feels.

Wally Mills, the Jaguars’ left fielder, was a power hitter. The entire infield backed up when he came to bat next. But Marc
Bailey, the Bullets’ pitcher, got two called strikes by him before Wally connected with the ball. It was a rocket down the
first base line, but Joanne was on top of it like a cat on a mouse. She tagged the base before Wally could drop his bat.

Following her usual routine after a quick out, Joanne pegged the ball across to Danny. But Danny
was watching the Jaguars’ dugout. The ball went right by him, and Joel had to run in to grab it and pass it on to Larry Chuan
behind the plate.

“Heads up, Walker!” called Joel. That got Danny’s attention. He shifted his eyes back toward the plate, where Marsha Kerns
was settling in to her batting stance.

The second baseman for the Jaguars was a specialist in placing the ball wherever she found a weakness. So far, the Bullets
hadn’t given her much to aim for, but they weren’t taking any chances. All eyes were on Marsha.

Marc threw two pitches that were way outside. Then, with a 2 and 0 count, he delivered a meatball, and she found it.

Crack!

The Bullets’ outfield ran backward, but it was no use. The ball was over the fence. The fans cheered as the score went up:
Jaguars 1, Bullets 0.

Danny was sorry to see the Jaguars score first.

But it’s just the start of the game, he thought. And the series, too, he added.

Marsha’s homer shook Marc’s confidence a little. He got the next batter, Roy Feenie, to swing at one
inside pitch, but the next four throws were clearly balls. Ray dropped his bat and jogged down to first base as the Jaguars’
shortstop stepped up to the plate. Her long red ponytail swayed back and forth until she tucked it away and settled the bat
a few inches above her shoulder.

Hey, Danny noticed with surprise, she bats lefty. I could have sworn I saw her throwing with her right hand. Boy, I wonder
if she’s copying me!

Facing his left-handed hitter, Marc was a little cautious. After throwing three balls in a row, he baited her into swinging
at an outside pitch she should have passed up. But she leaned into her swing and managed to hit the ball just over Joanne
and into the grass behind first base. Roy took off toward second. Danny came in to cover him if he tried for third, but he
held up as the batter arrived safely on first.

Who is she? Danny wondered. I thought I knew most of the players in the league, but I don’t remember ever seeing her before.
Must be new.

His curiosity was interrupted by the action at the plate. Marc had settled down a little and was sizzling them by Al Norris,
the Jaguars’ center fielder. After
two strikes, he went for the third pitch and clobbered the ball. It flew high, but not far. And when it landed, it was smack
in the middle of Vern Labar’s glove for the third out.

On his way off the field, Danny took a good look at the Jaguars’ shortstop. She was thumping her fist into her glove, waiting
to catch a few warm-up throws. He saw that he had remembered correctly — she
did
field right-handed, although she batted lefty. Just like he did.

“Hey, Walker!” Joel’s call interrupted Danny’s thoughts. “I thought you were the only ambidextrous shortstop in the league.
Looks like you and that girl have a lot in common.”

As Danny watched her shag a few balls, he had a disturbing thought. What if this girl was like him in other ways, too? What
if she was just as good a baseball player as he was? He knew her abilities would make the series championship more of a challenge
— but would that make her a threat to his chances for the All-Star squad?

He took a seat next to Joel and said, “Yeah, we redheads are all alike. I guess that means I’ll be knocking a nice high line
drive over first.”

“Couldn’t hurt,” said Joel.

They settled down on the bench to see what the lower half of the Bullets’ batting order could do to put them back in the game.

Joanne did the team proud by belting the ball for a stand-up triple. Her long legs were too fast for the throw from deep right
field. Then Joel hit a foul ball that the Jaguars’ third baseman caught in the air for the first out.

Larry sneaked a hit by the Jaguars’ pitcher and sped to first for a single, but it wasn’t enough to bring Joanne home. So
Marc came to bat with runners at first and third.

None of the Bullets expected a lot from their pitcher’s hitting. With one away, they just wanted him to get it over with so
the top of the order could get a shot.

But their worst fears came true. Marc hit a double play, and the inning ended with two players having reached base but no
score for the Bullets.

Danny watched the red-haired shortstop run in. Curiosity overwhelmed him. He decided he had to find out who she was. He grabbed
his glove, and as
he headed out toward the field, he stopped by the end of the bench where Frankie Snow, the infield sub, had the scorecard.
Glancing down the lineup, he saw that her name was Tammy Aiken.

Huh! Never heard of her, he thought. Never heard of anybody called Aiken. She must be new to the league.

He ran off to take up his position, determined to put her out of his mind.

In the second inning, Marc’s pitching was off the mark a lot. He walked two batters and gave up one hit before retiring the
side. It was enough to give the Jaguars their second run on the scoreboard.

When the Bullets came up to bat in the third inning, Vern popped a short one to right field for the first out. Elaine got
on base with a walk, but then Mike hit a long ball to center field that was caught for the second out. Ken Hunter came up
to bat and yielded the first strikeout for Andy Hooten, ending the Bullets’ chances that inning.

At first, it looked to Danny like Marc was getting his stuff back. He put away Roy Feenie one-twõ-three to show he could strike
out a batter, too. But
then that shortstop for the Jaguars, the one called Aiken, came up to bat. Danny’s eyes were glued to her. He took in her
every move.

She tucked her ponytail under and wiped her hands together before she picked up the bat. Then she scuffled her forward toe
into position, putting most of her weight on her back leg. She crouched in wait for the pitch.

Something about the way she stood bothered him, but he couldn’t figure out what it was.

After letting two bad pitches go by, Tammy swung at the next one. She missed it, but he could see the power behind her swing.
It paid off with the next pitch. She connected for a hit deep into right field that she pushed into a double.

Al Norris, the Jaguars’ center fielder, didn’t give her a chance to move any farther. He popped out to third base, and the
Bullets held the runner in check.

They weren’t so lucky with the next batter. Drew Ferris got a single off Marc, and the Aiken girl made it easily to third.

With two outs and runners on first and third, the Bullets had their work cut out for them. Danny hoped they would hold off
another run scoring.

He was disappointed. Millie Albright, the Jaguars’ right fielder, hit the ball into short right for a single. The runner on
third scored, and the runner on first advanced to third. It was now 3 to 0 on the scoreboard.

Luckily, Andy Hooten was no better at bat than Marc Bailey. The Jaguars’ pitcher went down swinging for the third out.

Danny was the leadoff hitter for the Bullets in the fourth inning. He was determined to get a hit — to get the ball rolling,
so to speak.

He did — in a big way. On the first pitch, a fastball right down the middle, he clobbered the ball. The ball climbed high
and curved slightly as it soared over the left field fence. A home run! At long last, the Bullets were on the scoreboard.

As Danny rounded the bases, he could hear his sister’s voice loud and clear over the roar of the crowd. “That’s my baby bro!”
she yelled.

But that was the only run the Bullets earned that inning. Joanne followed Danny’s homer with a single, but the next three
batters went down in a row to close out the Bullets’ chances of catching up that inning.

The Jaguars went scoreless for the first time in the fourth inning. Marc got his third strikeout on Wally Mills, but he gave
up two hits. There were runners on first and second when Tammy Aiken came up to bat. She took it to a full count before she
popped one high into the air down the third base line. Mike was waiting to make the catch. He then pegged the ball to second,
where the runner was tagged off base for the third and final out.

The fifth inning did nothing to improve the Bullets’ score. Vern led off. Four bad pitches later, he walked down the line
to first base. But then Elaine grounded out, and he stayed where he was. Mike hit a long fly ball that was caught by the Jaguars’
right fielder, but Vern got to second base safely. Then Ken connected for a single, and Vern advanced to third on the play.

It was Danny’s turn at bat. He could practically taste a scoring hit. He dug his forward toe into the dirt and crouched down
low, weight slightly back. As the pitch came his way, it looked like a good one. He swung.

Wuff!

“Strike!”

He almost toppled over from the power behind his swing. But he caught himself and adjusted his helmet as he got ready for
the next pitch. It was way out of the striking range. So were the next three. Danny dropped his bat and headed down to first
base.

The bases were now loaded. It was a perfect setup for a rally by the Bullets. The fans roared their encouragement. But unfortunately,
Joanne popped one up to the Jaguars’ pitcher, and the cheers from the stands and dugout died.

Disaster
— that was the word Danny figured the Bullets could have used to describe the fifth inning while the Jaguars were at bat.
Marc pitched two strikeouts, but he also walked two batters. A big three-bagger by Joey Sands did the job, scoring two more
runs for the Jaguars to put them ahead 5 to 1, before the side was retired.

The Bullets couldn’t pull this one out. In the sixth and final inning, Joel struck out. Larry and Marc each got on base, but
Vern and Elaine finished the game off with two lackluster hits that were easily tagged out by the up and running Jaguars.
The fans applauded the end of the game.

Leaving the dugout, Danny could see an auburn ponytail bobbing up and down as the winning team scrambled off the field. For
some reason, the sight of Tammy Aiken celebrating with her teammates depressed him almost as much as the loss of the first
championship game did. He knew her talents had helped win the game for the Jaguars.

Who is she? he thought angrily. And why did she have to show up now?

T
he Bullets didn’t linger long in the locker room after the game. Everyone seemed like they were in a big rush to put this
game behind them. Danny was usually one of the first to change into his street clothes and leave. Today he was one of the
last. When he got outside, he saw his sister, Jennifer, leaning on the handlebars of her bicycle right next to the rack where
all the players parked theirs. There was only one bike left: his.

“Come on,” she said. “I’ll ride home with you.”

At fourteen, Jennifer was a little taller than Elaine. With her long, straight black hair, hazel eyes, and dark complexion,
she didn’t look much like Danny’s sister. But since they’d grown up together since infancy, they acted exactly the way an
older sister and a younger brother might be expected to: They
fought like the dickens once in a while but cared a lot about each other. Most of the time they were as close as two peas
in a pod, as their mother commented when they were off by themselves.

“Tough game,” she said, turning her bike in the direction of the Walker home.

Jennifer was a real baseball freak and came to almost every one of his games. Sometimes she managed to drag one of her girlfriends
along with her. She was on the field hockey team and kept herself in good condition by running and regular workouts. When
Jennifer’s team played during the fall season, Danny managed to get out for her games, too. It was the sort of thing they
did for each other automatically.

Danny shook his head. “Yeah,” he replied. “We just couldn’t seem to get anything going.”

“I could tell,” Jennifer said. “Hey, but you got that homer. That ought to keep you in the running, you know, for the All-Stars.”
She braked suddenly and swung off her bike. “Wait a sec, I have to fix my toe guards. They keep slipping. Now the way I figure
it…”

Jennifer launched into a long speech about the
odds on Danny making the county All-Star team. She was a whiz at math and had a habit of calculating all the team statistics.
This wasn’t the first time she had expounded her theory on why he was a sure bet.

But he was only half listening to her. She hopped back on her bike, and they pedaled along the road from the baseball field.
His thoughts kept springing back to the Jaguars’ shortstop.

Was he the only one who’d noticed her? Other than Joel, who was always making wisecracks, none of the other guys on the Bullets
team had said anything to make him think they thought she was better than he was. In fact, they seemed a little distant today.
Usually, even after a loss, there was a lot of joking back and forth in the locker room. But today they were all kind of silent
and moving like they were in a big hurry.

Maybe it had to do with the series getting off to a rough start. He sure would have liked to have won today’s game. Now they
had to play catch-up to win the championship. And the Jaguars were not going to be pushovers. They had solid hitting and fielding
— like that redheaded shortstop.