by Clay Cormany
"Consider yourself invited to all our games and practices," he said, buoyed by the prospect of his rival’s imminent departure.
"Okay — I will."
"Jace!" This time the voice belonged to his mother, and she seemed more than a little irritated.
"See you later," he said as he headed toward the backstop.
"Yeah, see you later," Stephanie answered.
For one more second, he swept his eyes over her, feeling the tingle of desire cascade through his body. But something else was there, too, that hadn’t been there before — hope.
At the team meeting, Martha announced there would be two more practices after today and then a practice game with another team — the Hornets. After that, the regular season would begin.
"You’re starting to play some good softball," she declared, "but we still have a long way to go."
Once again, Martha told all the players to make a circle and put their hands together in the center. At her command, they shouted "Valkyries!" and then went to find their parents.
As Jace prepared to follow his mother and Phoebe to the parking lot, Sylvia gave his shirt a little tug. "Can I ask you something?" she said. Her face had an intensity that made Jace uneasy.
"What?"
"You like Stephanie, don’t you?"
"Ah…yes…I mean…I know she’s going out with –"
"Do you want to go out with her… be her boyfriend?"
Jace’s mouth fell open but no words came out. He suddenly had the wild thought that everyone knew about his attraction to Stephanie. It was as if his feelings were being broadcast over a PA system. Perhaps sensing his anxiety, Sylvia put a hand on his shoulder.
"Don't worry…I’ve been hoping Stephanie would dump Carson for someone nicer," she said. "No reason that someone shouldn’t be you."
"You want me to be Stephanie’s boyfriend?" Jace blurted.
"Not only that, but I’ll even help you," Sylvia said. She stuffed a crumpled piece of paper into his hand while her eyes darted around, as if making sure no one listened in. "Here’s my cell phone number. Call me tonight," she whispered. "I’ve got an idea to get you started."
Then she scurried off to catch up with Tina and Stephanie, who were already halfway to the parking lot. Jace stood there staring at them, as speechless as the day he was born.
Chapter Nine
Just before eight that evening, Jace went to the den, picked up the phone on the desk, and punched in Sylvia’s number. Before the second ring finished, she answered.
"Hello?"
"Hi, it’s Jace. What’s up?"
"The end of Carson’s relationship with Stephanie, I hope."
"What’ve you got against Carson?"
"Where do I start?" Sylvia answered, her voice dripping with disgust. "For one thing, he’s always making crude comments about my body. Calls me ‘Twinkie’ just 'cause I had one in my hand the first time he ever saw me. He’s also a slob. It’s bad enough that he helps himself to everything in our fridge, but then he never cleans up. We're lucky we don’t have cockroaches in this house, with all the dirty dishes and pop cans he leaves behind."
Sylvia paused for a breath of air, but her tirade against Carson wasn’t over. "And the worst thing is how he treats my sister, always dissing her friends and keeping her away from other guys. He orders her around like a servant or something, and when they go out, they only do what Carson wants."
"Like what?" Jace was just a bit curious about what Carson’s idea of a date was.
"Stupid stuff like play video games at the arcade or see movies where everyone gets blown to pieces. And I’m sure Stephanie's been to every pizza place in this town at least twice. Carson goes through pizza like a tornado."
"So what does Stephanie like to do?" asked Jace.
"I can tell you one thing," Sylvia answered, her tone becoming more positive. "Ever since our grandmother took us to see The Nutcracker when we were little, Stephanie has loved ballet. She even took lessons for a while but wasn’t good enough for the advanced classes."
"So you think I should take Stephanie to a ballet?" asked Jace. No doubt, Carson wouldn’t get within a mile of a ballet, but it wasn’t his idea of a great date either.
Sylvia seemed to sense his reluctance. "I’ll make it easy for you, Jace. A friend of mine who works at the Capitol Theater gave me two tickets to next Saturday night’s performance of The Sleeping Beauty. She meant the tickets for Stephanie and me, but I’d be happy to give you mine."
"You would? But I’m not sure –"
"Hey, I know how you feel about Stephanie. You almost jumped out of your skin when she showed up at practice today. And you don’t need to worry about Carson –"
"Yeah, I heard," Jace interrupted. "He’s leaving for Michigan next Wednesday."
"So do you want to take her to the ballet?"
Jace didn’t need to consider the question for long. Less than two weeks ago, he wasn’t even sure he’d get a chance to talk with Stephanie during the summer. Tutus and pirouettes didn’t much interest him, but he knew a golden opportunity when he saw one.
"I’ll be glad to take her," he said, "if she’ll go with me."
"Great! I’ll give you the tickets when I see you Tuesday.”
Chapter Ten
The next practice was tougher. Martha put the girls through running drills, having them sprint around the bases three times at the beginning and twice at the end. In between, she pushed them to sharpen their defensive skills. She taught them how to run-down an opposing player caught between two bases; she urged them to call for balls hit high, so they didn’t collide with a teammate; she organized a "round-the-clock" fielding exercise whereby one girl at a time ran the bases in reverse, stopping at each infield position to handle a batted ball.
Jace and Sylvia hit pop-ups, liners, bouncers, and grounders over and over again to the Valkyries while Martha watched and evaluated each player. Most of the girls showed improvement. The one exception was Lauren, who lacked the speed and agility to catch anything not hit straight to her. At one point she slammed her glove on the ground.
"It’s hopeless!" she yelled, almost in tears. "I’m a worthless klutz! I’m quitting the team." She began to stomp toward the bench.
"Come on, Lauren!" Martha shouted. "Don’t quit! We need you!"
"Why — for a mascot?" Lauren shot back.
"No, we need you to play," Martha continued. "You could be a great hitter. We all saw that last week. You just need more practice in the field."
"Jace, why don’t you grab your glove and go out there with Lauren?" Sylvia suggested.
Jace, who had just finished a round of hitting balls, gave her a puzzled look. "What good will that do?"
"Just stand next to her and encourage her."
He looked toward his mother, pacing along the first-base foul line. She nodded.
Jace ran behind the backstop where his mitt rested on the ground. After putting it on, he had the strange feeling that something soft and gooey was on his fingers. What could it be and how did it get there? No time to think about it.
He trotted out next to Lauren as Sylvia prepared to hit the next ball. It went toward Angela in right field, but Jace didn’t see her catch it, because his eyes were riveted on his glove. Something was happening inside of it, something bad. The gooey feeling was still there, but now there was also a feeling of heat that grew more intense by the second. The next ball off Sylvia’s bat went toward center field, but Jace didn’t see that one caught either. He was too busy tearing at his glove, flinging it away, and clawing at his hand, which felt as if it were on fire. He stumbled to his knees.
"Arrrrrgh," he bellowed, as he rubbed his hand back and forth on the grass, trying to remove the slimy substance.
"What’s the matter, Jace?" Martha cried out. "Why are you–?"
"Success!" shouted Heather.
"Sweet revenge!" added Dana.
"What do you mean?" said Sylvia, as the two girls jumped up and down with glee.
"What did you do to him?"
"Nothing much," said Heather with a grin. "Just put some capsaicin cream in his glove when he wasn’t looking."
"Why?" asked Martha, who seemed more curious than upset.
"For nearly killing us with that ball he hit last week. That’s what for," answered Dana.
"Yeah, we figured we’d teach him a lesson," said Heather.
"But that was an accident, girls," said Martha. "What you did was deliberate."
"He won’t die," said Heather, pointing at Jace, who continued to rub his hand on the grass. A small circle of girls assembled around him, faces glowing with smirks and hands restraining laughter. Even Lauren seemed to enjoy the spectacle.
"Jace, do you want me to get the first aid kit?" Martha asked.
"No, I’ll be all right," he said through clenched teeth.
"Then let’s all take a break." Martha pointed a finger at the two instigators. "Dana and Heather, I want to talk with you."
As the girls ran to bottles of water and sports drink, Sylvia walked over to Jace and put her hand on his shoulder.
"Are you sure you’re all right?" she asked.
Jace thought about making a sarcastic comment, but Sylvia’s concern seemed so genuine that he let it die on his tongue. It didn’t matter anyway since his softball career would be over in just a week or so.
"Yes, I’m okay." He thought about telling her he would soon be leaving the team, but something else seemed more important. "Did you bring the tickets?"
"They’re right here," she said, pulling them out of her back pocket and handing them to him. "I told Stephanie you’d be going with her instead of me."
"And she didn’t try to back out?"
"Of course not, silly." Sylvia crinkled her mouth in dismay. "She’s looking forward to it."
When the break ended, Martha had Heather and Dana take some batting helmets out of the equipment box behind the backstop. Then she had Jace line the team up near home plate while she went to the mound with the three girls who hoped to pitch. They sat to the side of the mound while their coach demonstrated the classic windmill motion of a softball pitcher. Pushing off with her back leg, Martha crouched forward slightly as she swung her arm in a wheel-like motion that passed over her head and then behind her before ending at her hip where she released the imaginary pitch. She repeated the process, this time slowing down when her hand reached her hip, so she could demonstrate how the ball should roll off the fingertips toward the plate. More than a few years had passed since her pitching days at Bowling Green State, but Jace thought she could still hang tough against most college teams.
He caught his mother’s attention and then pointed at the girls who were lined up behind him. "We’re ready for batting practice, Mom."
"Good," she said. "Make each batter put on a helmet this time. I’m going to be catcher and let Corey, Tina, and Denise do the pitching." She waved a hand toward the three girls who rose from the ground almost in unison. Corey and Tina seemed confident, Denise less so.
Martha had the pitchers follow a rotation. While one was on the mound, the other two helped Sylvia field whatever balls were hit. After three batters, another pitcher took over and the previous one assisted Sylvia. This procedure continued until each pitcher faced a total of twelve batters. Among the three, Corey stood out as the best. Her pitches were fairly fast and over the plate more often than not. Tina's pitches were slower and had a high arc. She hurled several balls to the backstop before finding the strike zone with some consistency. Denise fared even worse. Most of her pitches either landed in front of the plate or bounced across it.
As for the hitting, Sylvia put it best: "At least they’re all swinging the bat."
True enough, thought Jace. No one just watched balls go by anymore, but making contact was another matter. Some girls swung at every pitch, including those far out of the strike zone. Many of them lashed out at Tina's pitches before they were near the plate. Heather even went after Denise’s ankle-high bouncers. And then there was Nancy who still had trouble holding onto the bat after swinging.
"We’re all going to need to wear batting helmets when Nancy comes up," Sylvia quipped, trying to make light of it.
"A suit of armor would be better," Phoebe countered.
"I can’t help it," Nancy moaned. "My hand gets sweaty, and the bat slips out."
"Maybe I can help," Martha said. She put a hand on Tina's shoulder. "I’ve seen you wear a batting glove at our other practices. Did you happen to bring it today?"
"Yeah, coach," Tina replied. "I put it in Sylvia’s bat bag before I pitched."
"Would you mind if Nancy tried it on?"
Tina shook her head. She ran to her bag, fetched the glove, and gave it to Nancy, who slipped it on her right hand. It wasn’t a perfect fit, but at least the glove didn’t fall off.
"Now pick up a bat and let Corey throw you some pitches," Martha said.
The girls went to work. Nancy either missed or fouled off the pitches that Corey gave her, but not once did she let go of the bat.
"Have your folks buy you a glove of your own," Martha instructed Nancy when the practice ended. "You’ll swing the bat much better with it."
"And none of us will end up in the ER," added Heather.
****
Just before the next practice, Martha drove Jace and Phoebe over to Weatherford’s Sporting Goods, where they picked up the team uniforms.
"Wow, these are neat!" cried Phoebe, holding up one of the purple jerseys with the name "Valkyries" scripted in white across the front.
Jace inspected one of the purple adjustable caps emblazoned with a V and then tried on his jersey. The uniform was impressive, although he wouldn’t be wearing it in any games — unless he decided to stay on after Saturday’s scrimmage. He had been thinking about doing that. Even though his first plan for winning Stephanie had fallen through, he might still have a chance with her if Sylvia helped.
The final practice before the season began followed the same rigorous routines as the previous practice: running drills, round-the-clock fielding, run-downs, and fly balls that had to be called for. Martha also focused on base-running, which included sliding, and added a new twist to batting practice. Each girl had to stay at the plate until she hit three fair balls. On the third hit, she had to run the bases as far as she could. Tina met the requirement with just three pitches and Corey with four. All the other girls needed at least six, with Dana and Lauren each needing more than ten. However, Lauren did scorch her last pitch, and despite being slow, made it to third base.
At the close of practice, Martha assigned positions to the girls. She selected Corey and Tina to be pitchers. Denise, she added, might also pitch but would be an outfielder most of the time, as would Susie, Heather, Dana, Kay, and Charlene. When they weren’t pitching, Corey and Tina would play in the infield, usually at shortstop or third base. Martha also tabbed Phoebe, Sarah, Erica, and Angela for the infield. Catching duties were assigned to Lauren and Nancy.
"We'll have to be flexible," Martha told the girls. "Sometimes I might put you in a position you don't normally play. The league says each player has to be on the field at least two innings per game. But you might play more than that, especially if some players are absent."
Before dismissing the team, Martha handed out the uniforms. As the girls buzzed over the striking purple and white colors, she snapped her fingers and held up a schedule of the Valkyries’ games.
"Listen up, ladies! You're going to be very busy over the next few weeks," she announced. "We have eleven games scheduled between now and mid-July, including a scrimmage with the Hornets this Saturday."
"What’s a scrimmage?" asked Lauren, her frizzy red hair sticking out of her new cap like rusty steel wool.
"It means it won’t count on our record," Martha answered, "but it’ll be just like a regular game. We’ll play six innings and follow a set batting order, and there’ll be an umpire calling balls and strikes."
Martha paused and fold
ed her arms. "It’ll also be a chance to see how well you work together as a team." She walked among the players, fixing her gaze upon them one by one. "Everyone has made progress, but there’s still room for improvement. You can always improve, no matter how good a player you are. More than anything, I want you to have fun. Do your best, but don’t feel bad if you make an error or strikeout. Learn from your mistakes, and try to do better next time. And never forget that we are a team — we win as a team, and we lose as a team.”
Chapter Eleven
Two days later, with a blazing sun beating down on them, Martha, Jace, Sylvia, and thirteen of their players assembled on the third-base side of Diamond Number Two. Martha and the Hornets' coach, a fit-looking woman in her late twenties, took the bases out of the equipment box and placed them on the diamond. Then the Hornets, wearing black jerseys and yellow caps, took their pre-game warm-up. For ten minutes, they fielded grounders and fly balls hit off the bat of their coach and then ran to their bench.
"Okay, gang, it’s our turn," Martha said. "Jace, go to the plate and hit some flies and grounders to our fielders. Sylvia, stay here with Corey and help her warm up. Make sure she’s releasing the ball at the right time."
As he headed to the field, bat in hand, Jace shot a glance at Sylvia.
"You look great in your uniform," she said. "I wish Stephanie were here to see you."
Jace smiled but inwardly sighed with relief that Stephanie wasn’t here to see him dressed almost identically with a group of preteen girls. He'd tried to convince his mother that, since he was a guy, he shouldn’t wear a uniform meant for girls, but Martha wouldn’t budge.
"All the other men who coach in this league wear their team’s shirt, so you should, too," she told him. "Besides, after today, you won’t have to wear it again."
"Maybe I'll stay with the team a little longer, if it's okay with you."
"Sure it's okay, but that's all the more reason to wear your uniform so the team can know you're one of them."