Dugout Rivals (3 page)

O
kay, Red Sox. Listen up!” Coach Sanders shouted. The team crowded around him. It was Opening Day and the Red Sox were ready to play ball. “It’s our first game of the year,” the coach went on. “Don’t worry, everybody will get a chance to play. Here’s the starting lineup. Chris will lead off and play center field. Jake bats second and plays shortstop …”

Shortstop! All right!
Jake sat up a bit taller on the bench.

“Adam is pitching and batting third.”

Of course he is
, Jake thought.
And Coach will probably put him at shortstop as soon as he’s through pitching.

“… Isaiah’s at third base and batting cleanup. Evan, you’re catching and batting fifth. Hannah …” Coach Sanders gave out the rest of the lineup and then turned to Mr. Daley. “Did you bring your laptop?” he asked.

“I’ve got it right here,” Jake’s dad said, patting the computer bag on his shoulder. “I’ll score the game.”

“Hey, with your dad keeping the score, he’ll probably give you a hit every time,” Ryan teased. Jake smiled. He knew his dad wouldn’t do that, but he was happy his dad would be around.

The Braves were up first. Adam struck out the first batter with a blazing fastball. The second batter popped up to first base. “Two outs,” Jake called to the outfield, holding two fingers over his head. He felt great standing at shortstop.

The next batter hit a high hopper to Jake’s right. Jake snagged the ball and threw to first base, but the runner beat the throw. Standing on the mound, Adam turned to Jake. “Don’t worry, I’ve got the
next batter,” he said. Sure enough, he struck out the Braves clean-up hitter with a sizzling third strike.

“Chris, Jake, Adam, Isaiah …” Mr. Daley called the lineup as the Red Sox came off the field and got ready to hit.

Chris popped out on the first pitch. After a couple of quick practice swings, Jake stepped into the batter’s box. Tony DiMichael, the Braves pitcher, threw the first pitch by Jake’s late swing.

“Strike one!” the umpire shouted.

Jake stepped out of the batter’s box and blew out a deep breath.
I don’t want to be the first strikeout of the year
, he thought as he stepped back into the box and looked out at the Braves pitcher. The second pitch was on the outside corner of the plate. Jake swung hard.

Crack!
The ball sailed over the second baseman’s head for a clean single. The Red Sox bench was up and cheering.

“All right, Daley!”

“There goes your no-hitter, DiMichael.”

“Way to be a hitter.”

Jake looked back and saw his father entering the hit into his laptop with a smile. His mother and sister were whistling and clapping.

“Come on, Adam, drive me in,” Jake shouted to his friend from first base.

At the plate, Adam let the first pitch sail wide. Jake danced off first base and then looked back to the bench. “Be ready to run on a passed ball!” Coach Sanders shouted.

Jake crouched at first base with his left foot on the edge of the bag and his right knee bent. Tony DiMichael reared back and tried to get something extra on the next pitch. Adam unleashed a smooth swing and the ball exploded off the bat.

Jake ran toward second base, but then slowed to a jog as he watched the flight of the ball. The Braves leftfielder took a few steps toward the fence and looked up too. The ball soared twenty feet over the fence. It was a home run! No doubt about it.

Jake rounded the bases inside a circle of cheers. The whole Red Sox team was at home plate. They slapped him on the back
and then pushed him away to make room for Adam. The Red Sox home-run slugger was smiling as he jogged around third base. The team mobbed him at home plate with loud cheers and huge hugs.

Adam grabbed Jake by the arm. “Nice hit,” he said. “You keep getting on and I’ll keep driving you in. We’ll make a great team.”

Coach Sanders clapped his hands and shouted at the bench. “All right, good job, Adam and Jake. Let’s get some more hits. We need more runs.”

“Isaiah, you’re up,” Jake’s dad called from the corner of the dugout. “Evan’s on deck. Hannah’s in the hole.”

“We don’t need any of you guys,” Ryan joked to the upcoming batters. “We’ve got Adam!”

“We’re gonna need everybody,” Hannah said as she put on a batting helmet. “Even you, Ryan.”

“Are you kidding? I’m going to go get some ice cream,” Ryan said. “Adam can win this one all by himself.”

“I don’t think so,” said Jake, shooting a sideways glance at Ryan.

The Red Sox scored another run as Hannah smacked a single that brought Isaiah home. The Red Sox led, 3–0.

Adam pitched another shutout inning in the bottom of the second. The Red Sox didn’t score. Coach Sanders brought Sam in to pitch and, sure enough, moved Adam to shortstop and Jake to second base.

Why does Adam have to be so good at everything?
Jake thought as he shifted to second.
It isn’t fair.
But he had to admit that Adam was really helping the team.

The Braves had an easier time with Sam pitching, scoring two runs in the third inning and adding two more in the fourth. When the Red Sox came to bat in the bottom of the fifth, the Braves led the Red Sox 4–3.

“Come on, we’re only down by one,” Coach Sanders called as the Red Sox ran off the field and got ready to bat. “We have two more chances to come back. Let’s get some runs. Who’s up?”

Mr. Daley checked his laptop. “Michael, Kyle, and then the top of the order: Chris, Jake and Adam. Everybody hits.”

Michael didn’t get a hit, but he did get on base with a walk. Kyle smacked a sharp grounder right at the Braves shortstop, who quickly tagged second base before Michael could get there. One out!

With his foot still on the base, the shortstop fired the ball to first.

“Oh no!” Jake yelled from the bench. It looked like the Braves were going to turn the grounder into a double play. But Kyle hustled down the baseline and beat the throw to first by the blink of an eye. Safe! Runner on first, one out.

“Come on, Chris. Be a hitter!” Jake cheered his teammate as he took a practice swing in the on-deck circle.

The Red Sox center fielder came through with a bloop single to left field. So Jake stepped into the batter’s box with Kyle on second and Chris on first base. One out. The pressure was on and Jake felt the excitement building.
This is my big chance to be a
hero,
Jake told himself as he watched the Braves pitcher go into his windup.

The first pitch was a little high. Jake swung and lifted the ball high above the Braves infield. He took a few steps toward first base, but saw the Braves second baseman settling under the pop-up. The ball fell easily into the second baseman’s glove. Jake slammed his bat into the dirt and trudged off the field. He dropped onto the Red Sox bench and buried his head in his hands.

“Don’t worry,” Ryan said cheerfully. “We’ve still got Adam up. He’ll get a hit.”

“Will you stop talking about Adam all the time?” Jake snapped at his friend. “What if he
doesn’t
come through?”

Ryan looked at Jake as if Jake were crazy. “What are the chances of that?” he said.

Crack!
Adam drilled a line drive deep into center field.

“Whoa, did you see that, Jake?” Ryan shouted as he jumped off the bench. The Braves raced frantically toward the ball.

When Jake saw Kyle race across home
plate with the tying run, he jumped up too. Everyone was cheering as Chris rounded third base right behind Kyle. The Braves shortstop pegged a relay throw to home plate, hoping to get him. But the ball skipped by the catcher and Chris slid in with the go-ahead run.

Adam had come through again. The Red Sox led, 5–4.

“Told you!” Ryan shouted above the cheers. “Adam
always
comes through.”

The Red Sox added another hit and another run. They raced out onto the field in the last inning with a two-run lead.

The Braves made two quick outs. Then Jake dashed toward the first-base foul line and snagged a pop fly for the last out. He turned toward the infield and happily held up the ball, still tight in his glove. At shortstop, Adam pointed at Jake and shouted, “Great catch!”

The Red Sox had won their first game of the season, 6–4.

Later, Jake and his father sat on a bench away from the field, checking the game
stats on Mr. Daley’s laptop. “You got one hit in four times at bat,” Mr. Daley said. “You scored a run and made a nice play to end the game.”

Jake nodded. “How did Adam do?” he asked.

“Well, let’s see. He got three hits in four at bats. He scored two runs and had four runs batted in. And he pitched two scoreless innings.” Mr. Daley smiled as he closed his laptop. “Not bad.”

Yeah,
Jake thought.
Just bad for me.

O
kay, let’s get two!” Coach Sanders shouted, trying to get his infield focused on making double plays. Then he slapped a hard ground ball to Jake at second base. Jake slid over as Adam rushed to cover second. Jake scooped up the ball and flipped it underhanded to Adam.

Adam caught it easily, tagged second base with his foot, and fired the ball to first.

“Great play!” Coach Sanders said. “
Now
we’re looking like a team that’s seven and one.”

Standing back at second, Jake thought about the Red Sox season so far. Seven wins
and only one loss. They were off to a great start. But he was still hoping to get more chances to play shortstop. He wanted to be the starting shortstop even when Adam wasn’t pitching. He’d worked on his fielding at home almost every day for weeks. Now, at practice, Jake figured he would take a chance. He called over in a loud whisper to Adam, “Hey, Adam, would it be okay if I asked Coach to switch us? You play second and I play shortstop?”

“Go for it,” Adam replied with a shrug.

“Hey, Coach,” Jake called during a pause in infield practice. “Can Adam and me switch positions for a few turns?”

Coach Sanders looked out at the infield. “Okay, let’s try it.”

Jake and Adam did a quick fist bump as they switched positions. Coach Sanders grabbed another baseball and swung the bat up onto his shoulder. “Let’s get two.”

This time Adam fielded the ball at second base and flipped it to Jake, running over from shortstop to cover the bag. Jake
caught it easily, but his nervous throw to first was low and skipped under the first baseman’s glove.

“Again,” Coach Sanders called. The new infield combination was all right, but just all right. Jake made a couple of errors and had to admit that things were not as smooth as when Adam was at shortstop and he was at second base.

“Okay, that’s enough infield for now,” Coach Sanders said, holding up the bat. He walked over to Jake and Adam as the boys jogged off the field. “I think we’d better leave it the way it was,” he said. “You know, Adam at shortstop and Jake at second. You guys are a pretty good team that way.”

Tight-lipped, Jake nodded. All his practice at home had not paid off. Adam was still the best shortstop. Coach Sanders put a hand on Jake’s shoulder. “You can play shortstop when Adam is pitching,” he said. Then he turned back to the rest of the team. “Okay, everybody switch. Mr. Daley’s group over here and my group over there.”

Jake’s dad gave the usual batting instructions as the boys stepped up to the soft-toss station. “Hands back. Quick step. Keep your eyes on the ball.”

Adam was up first. He thundered line drive after line drive into the practice net.

“The ball even sounds different coming off his bat,” Jake whispered to his dad as Mr. Daley lofted Adam another soft-toss pitch from the side of the plate.

“Don’t worry about Adam,” Mr. Daley said. “Concentrate on your own swing.”

Adam swung hard and cracked another line drive into the net. “Good,” Mr. Daley said.

“Hey, Adam!” a voice called. Adam’s mom stood at the edge of the practice area. She was tall with dark hair, just like Adam. “I’m going to pick up your brother in a half hour.”

Adam stood back with the bat on his shoulder. “Okay,” he said, and then drilled the next pitch into the net.

Mrs. Hull looked at Jake’s dad. “Do you think Adam could go home with you guys?”

“Sure, no problem,” Mr. Daley said. “Do you want us to give him dinner?”

Mrs. Hull shook her head. “No, thanks, that’s all right. I’ll pick him up by six.” She waved good-bye and walked toward the parking lot at the edge of the field beyond the outfield.

“Okay, that’s enough soft toss for you guys,” Mr. Daley said with a wave. “Let’s move on to batting practice. Coach Sanders is pitching.”

A car skidded to a loud stop in the parking lot. A man opened the door and stepped out.

“Uh-oh,” Adam said softly.

“Who’s that guy?” Jake asked.

“My dad.” Adam sounded tired.

“I thought you said he didn’t come around much,” Jake said.

“He doesn’t,” Adam said. “But when he does, it’s usually trouble. My mom and dad don’t get along too good.”

Jake leaned on his bat and watched Adam’s father walk up to Adam’s mother. The two stood a few feet apart. Mr. Hull started pacing back and forth, frowning and
waving his hands. Mrs. Hull stood still with her arms crossed. Jake could tell they were arguing, but they were too far away for him to hear what they were saying.

Mr. Daley got up from where he was throwing soft toss. “You guys go hit,” he said to Jake and Adam. “I’ll be back in a minute.” Then he walked down the left-field foul line and up to the Hulls. The three adults spoke and Adam’s parents moved farther away from the field. Mr. Daley walked back to the batting practice area.

Jake stood at the on-deck circle. Adam was watching his parents as they headed toward the parking lot, still arguing and pointing at each other.

Jake caught Adam’s eye. His friend managed a small smile and shrugged. The two boys didn’t say a word.

“Come on, Adam, you’re up. Let’s go,” Coach Sanders called from the pitcher’s mound. Adam put on a batter’s helmet and stepped into the batter’s box.

Mr. Daley stood next to Jake in the on-deck circle. “What’s going on, Dad?” Jake asked.

“Oh, I don’t know. They’re just discussing a few things,” Mr. Daley said. “Let’s focus on practice.”

Jake turned and watched Adam at the plate. The Red Sox star player was swinging too hard, as if he wanted to crush every pitch. He popped up the first four pitches.

“Just meet it,” Coach Sanders said between pitches. “You’ve got plenty of power. Don’t try to kill it.”

Adam stepped out of the box, moved his hands around the bat handle, and took a deep breath. Jake glanced out at the parking lot. The Hulls were still arguing, even more heatedly than before. On the next pitch, Adam swung slower and smoother, more like the old Adam. The ball flew off the bat, far over the left fielder’s head. The ball took a high, hard bounce and skimmed across the parking lot, just a few feet away from Adam’s parents.

But the Hulls didn’t notice the ball. They didn’t even turn when the outfielder scrambled by. They just kept arguing.