by Joe Jackson
Emilee looked around the dugout. She wanted to say something, but she did not quite know what to say. She saw Isabella standing on the top step of the dugout with her kneepads and chest protector still on. She held her mask under her arm and her cap was on backwards. Her tanned brown face streaked with sweat and dirt because it was a hot afternoon and she had been working hard behind the plate.
Isabella snarled, “Crybabies! What are a lousy nine runs? We can make nine runs. Come on, play ball.”
Coach Wilson was standing up also, smiling, confident. “That’s the way to talk it up, Isabella. We are not done here yet. Everybody get a bat. Start hitting that ball.”
Sarah stumbled out of the dugout and Emilee followed her, bats in their hands. Hannah called out to Emilee,
“Hit one for me, girl.”
Emilee did not hit for her. The rangy Qiaohui left-hander had a snapping curve ball, a great riser, and plenty of movement on her softball. She struck out Sarah, Emilee rolled to third, and Madison popped up to short.
The Qiaohui pitcher was very good and with a nine run cushioned lead, she did not really have to be. Emilee tried to hope something positive was going to happen, but it was very difficult. Nine runs were still nine runs no matter how mad Isabella Lopez got and she remembered Jasmine and Hannah were out of the line-up, with two weak hitters replacing them.
“We’ll get ‘em,” Isabella snapped as she went out to start the second inning.
Madelyn seemed to have found her stride in the second inning and she set the Qiaohui down in one-two-three order. Not one of the Qiaohui got the ball out of the infield this time around. Emilee came up with a nice play on a ground ball and the Lake Forbing crowd had a little something to cheer. It was not much though, not with that big number 9 followed by a big number 0 on the scoreboard.
Isabella led off the bottom of the second, batting in the clean-up spot with Hannah on the bench and she created a little excitement when she ripped a triple down the left field line. Her headfirst slide into third beat the throw from the outfield.
“That’s our start,” Coach Wilson yelled. “Everybody hits now.”
Madison scored Isabella with a sacrifice fly to center field and the Purple Panthers were on the scoreboard with one run. Madelyn then hammered a double to right and scored on Sarah’s single up the middle. She hit the dirt in another flying, headfirst dive at home plate. It duplicated Isabella’s slide into third.
Isabella helped Madelyn to her feet and pounded her back after Madelyn scored that run. Emilee, waiting to bat, heard her say,
“You slide like a girl from my side of town, Madelyn. Nice goin’!”
“Si,” Madelyn grinned. “Si, senorita.”
Emilee sent Sarah to third on another single to right and the Lake Forbing crowd started to make some noise. The Purple Panthers were scratching away at that rangy left-hander and they were scoring runs.
Madison hit a hard shot over second, moving Emilee to third and scoring Sarah. It was now 9 to 3 for the Qiaohui who suddenly did not seem to be so sure themselves. The big crowd watching the Little League Softball World Series was getting a bit more interested too. Was the momentum shifting?
Sofia Hernandez looked at Coach Wilson prior to stepping into the box. Coach hesitated a moment and then gave the sign for Sofia to bunt. Emilee grasped the strategy immediately. The Qiaohui players were not looking for a sacrifice bunt from a team six runs down and Sofia was definitely a good bunter and very fast.
Sofia dropped the ball down the third base line, catching the Qiaohui third baseman asleep. Emilee held at third and the bases were now loaded with one out.
The Lake Forbing crowd started to whoop it up again. They were a small, but noisy, delegation at this big Libby Dell, Oregon field and they were making themselves heard. The weak part of the Purple Panther batting order was coming up, in Maria Rodriguez and Samantha Smith. Maria almost upset the applecart by sending a line drive straight at the third baseman, which, if it had gotten by her, would have gone for two bases. She was out, however, and Samantha stepped into the batter’s box.
On her very first pitch to Samantha, the Qiaohui left-hander grazed Smith on the thigh. Emilee walked home for the fourth run of the inning. The bases were still loaded, but the Purple Panthers also had two outs.
It brought Isabella up and the Purple Panthers needed some more runs badly. The entire Purple Panther team was out on the dugout steps offering encouragement, as she stood there at the plate, very quiet, hardly moving her bat, eyeing the opposing pitcher.
Isabella hit another hard liner, which the center fielder fielded on one bounce. Madison scored easily but Sofia held at third. The score was 9 to 5 and the Purple Panthers were back in the ball game. The Beizhou coach, however, relieved the Qiaohui left-hander, with a short, muscular right-hander coming in to take her place.
They were going crazy in the Purple Panther dugout. Sarah was up, with Emilee on deck. Madelyn was yelling happily at Isabella on first base. Madison was whooping, “Come on, Sarah! Come on, Sarah.”
Emilee, in the on-deck circle, turned her head to look at Madison. She remembered the many days Madison looked upon Sarah with contempt and when Isabella could stand Madelyn. Here in this final game of the series, beaten and battered by this great Qiaohui team in the first inning, they were finding themselves. The team Coach Wilson had always wanted she now had, finally. Was it soon enough?
The umpire allowed the new pitcher to take her warm-up pitches and signaled Sarah to the plate. The shortstop watched one pitch for a called strike and then swung at the second, slicing it out toward left field, another line drive, certainly another base hit.
The Purple Panther runners were racing around the bases on contact when the Qiaohui left fielder took a flying dive toward the ball, spearing it inches off the turf for the third and final out of the inning.
Sarah looked as if she were going to cry when she trotted out to her position and Madison Moore called over to her encouragingly, “Shake it off. You couldn’t come any closer than that, Sarah.”
Madelyn retired the Qiaohui batters in order, two more strikeouts, and a slow roller out to Sarah. The Qiaohui right-hander followed suit with the Purple Panthers, with one strikeout and two infield outs.
Again, Madelyn took the pitching rubber and again, Madelyn sent three Qiaohui batters back to the dugout with three straight strikeouts and Emilee realized that Madelyn had pitched no hit-ball for four innings after the initial nine runs scored. Those heavy Qiaohui bats were completely silent now. They were not even getting a loud foul off Madelyn. Her pitching was beautiful.
At the end of the inning when Madelyn came in, Isabella waited for her on the foul line and they walked to the dugout together, Isabella grinning with one hand on Madelyn’s shoulder.
“She’s good,” Isabella screeched in the dugout. “This girl is great. Have you ever seen her pitches move like that? She is throwing gas.”
Emilee led off the bottom of the fourth. Her mother and father were watching from the stands and she was using the bat her father had helped her purchase at the start of the season. It was a good bat and her father was yelling, wanting her to do something with it. She did by slashing a single over first on the very first pitch and the Purple Panthers had new life.
They needed only four runs to tie the game up and those four runs did not look so big anymore. They proof this afternoon was they could play when down, that they would play until the game ended. Now, the Qiaohui players worried and fought the jitters.
Madison Moore dropped another single into right field and the frantic Qiaohui coach immediately yanked her right-hander and brought in another left-hander to stop these persistent Purple Panther bats.
It was Lopez, Davis, and Hernandez in order now, and Emilee was positive they were going to do something no matter who pitched for the Qiaohui. Lopez was up waiting, swinging two bats, looking out at the new pitcher warming up, looking at the two runners on the bases. Lopez had started all of this off and Emilee j
ust knew Isabella was not going to fail now.
Hannah boomed from the bench, “Come on, Isabella! Come on!”
Isabella sent a torrid line drive into the gap between the right and center fielders. Emilee was off with the crack of the bat, scoring easily, with Madison Moore pounding the plate behind her. Isabella pulled up at second with a double and the score was 9 to 7 for the Qiaohui.
The Lake Forbing crowd was acting crazy now as Madison Moore came up with no outs and a runner on second. Madison hit a long fly ball to center field and the Qiaohui center fielder pulled it in for the first out, with Isabella remaining on second.
Sofia faked another bunt and then looped a single to left field. Isabella made a perfect turn at third base and pounded down the base path towards home. Again, with the Lake Forbing players howling, Isabella went into the plate with another flying, headfirst slide, but this time she was a fraction of a second too late. The Qiaohui outfielder made a beautiful throw to the plate and the catcher was able to tag Isabella’ shoulder as she came in. The umpire waved her out.
Sofia skipped down to second on the throw and it was two away with Maria Rodriguez batting, the score still 9 to 7 for the Qiaohuis.
They begged Maria to come through with a hit and Maria almost made it. Her line shot down the right field line landed foul by about six inches. It would surely have been a double if it had stayed in.
On the next pitch, Maria made the third out on a ground ball to second and the side was retired. The Qiaohui came off the field to start the fifth inning. Emilee trotted out to second base, wondering if they would make it. They had come so far, but two big runs separated them from the Qiaohui lead. She knew with only two innings remaining those runs could be very hard to get.
Madelyn was really pitching though, throwing her beautiful curve ball while mixing it up with fastballs, risers, and change-ups the way Coach Wilson had taught her to. The Qiaohui batters could no longer hit her softball. Madelyn was masterfully manipulating their timing. That had always been her key, her ability to throw off the opposing batters’ timing. Again, they went down in order, a strikeout, and an easy fly to Sofia, and then a slow roller to Emilee. Madelyn had set down fifteen straight batters without a hit, without even one Qiaohui batter reaching first base.
The crowd realized it and gave her an ovation as she walked off the field towards the dugout. They knew what it had taken out of the Purple Panther pitcher to settle down after a team had scored nine runs off her in one inning.
Emilee noticed that Isabella sat with Madelyn on the bench now. They discussed the Qiaohui batters between innings. They were real battery mates in every sense of the word. It was no longer Madelyn Taylor from River Oaks and Isabella Lopez from the apartment complex on the other side of the tracks. They were Taylor and Lopez, the battery mates for the Lake Forbing Purple Panthers.
“Two runs,” Coach Wilson said. “We need two more, gang. Let’s put it on ice now.”
Samantha Smith went down with an infield fly and it was one away with Madelyn coming up to bat. The big Series crowd gave Madelyn a big round of applause again, and she reddened a little as she walked to the plate to bat.
Sarah was on deck, with Emilee following her. All of the Purple Panthers had been swinging a good bat so far in the game.
Madelyn started the ball rolling again. The Purple Panther pitcher ripped a line drive single out to center field. The Purple Panther players started to yell as Sarah came up to the plate, and Sarah responded with another single to left field, sending Madelyn to second.
Knowing the Purple Panthers needed another hit, Emilee came up to the plate resolved to do just that. The new Qiaohui left-hander had a nice curve ball and she broke the first pitch right over the plate. Emilee waited for another, looking for a pitch in her zone, one she could really pop. With a 1-1 count, she got it and hit the pitch right back up the middle for another single. This was the third single in a row for the Purple Panthers. Madelyn did not try to score on the hit because the center fielder fielded it quickly and she had great throwing arm, a real cannon.
The bases were filled with the always-tough Madison Moore in the batters box and Isabella Lopez on deck. There was a long conference between the Qiaohui coach and players in the pitching circle. Moore just stood there to one side of the plate, watching them, not smiling.
Emilee watched her from first base. She saw Isabella talking to her, and she remembered the days when Isabella and Madison had got after one another at the ball field. Those days were behind them now.
They were going to leave the left-hander in the game and Emilee suspected it was because the Beizhou Qiaohui did not have any other good pitchers, the Purple Panthers having pummeled every one of them.
Madison Moore stepped up to the plate, waved her bat at the Qiaohui pitcher, and waited for the delivery. The Qiaohui infield was playing back for the double play at second with one away.
The big series crowd was literally bubbling over with excitement. The fathers of the Purple Panther players were all hoarse from shouting. J. C. Taylor sat with Luis Lopez and Mr. Davis the electrician. They were all leaning forward, sweating it out. Madison Moore’s dad was a few seats away, yelling at his daughter, shaking his fist.
The green-eyed redhead appeared a lot calmer than her father did. She stood there at the plate, her bat on her shoulder, waiting for the pitch. The Qiaohui left-hander wound up and delivered her a curve on the outside corner. Madison fouled off the second pitch, which put her in a hole with the count now 0-2, no balls and two strikes.
The redhead remained calm. With confident coolness, she watched the Qiaohui pitcher, taking a ball and then another ball. On the 2-2 pitch, she swung at a curve and connected with it solidly, driving it down the third base line.
The Qiaohui third baseman lunged at it and the ball skipped off her glove and rolled down the line towards the left field corner. Madelyn tore in from third with one run; Sarah streaked down the path and crossed over home plate in a blur with the tying run.
The stadium went wild. Pandemonium broke out in the Lake Forbing dugout. Everybody was standing up, screaming. Madison Moore stood on first base, grinning. Hannah Miller, bad leg and in pain, did a war dance in front of the Purple Panther dugout.
Coach Wilson just stood there; scarcely able to believe they had tied up the game after being nine runs down. Even the umpires out on the field were shaking their heads in amazement and admiration.
This time the Qiaohui coach removed the left-hander from the game and another Qiaohui pitcher took over, this one a right-hander. It was one away with runners on first and second, Isabella batting with a hot bat for a new pitcher to face. Isabella was on fire and she was not stopping now with victory in their grasp.
The excitement died down a little as the Qiaohui pitcher took her warm-up pitches and then, she was ready to go. Emilee waited on second. She watched Isabella adjust her batting helmet and take her familiar, widespread stance at the plate.
The Qiaohui pitcher pitched the ball and Isabella drove another line drive out to right field. Emilee took off with the crack of the bat, knowing this might be the winning run of the ball game. As she streaked toward third, she saw her third base coach waving her on, and she drove off the inside corner of the bag with her left foot, legging it for home.
She saw the faces of the Purple Panther players as they tumbled out of the dugout, screaming as she ran. The Qiaohui catcher was waiting for the throw-in, very tense, glove raised. It was going to be close, very close.
Ten feet from the plate, Emilee stretched out into a long, headfirst slide. She went in on her stomach, reaching for the plate with her hands, scraping past the Qiaohui catcher. When her fingers finally contacted the smooth rubber surface of the plate, she felt the ball being jammed into the middle of her back.
She heard the howl of joy then, from the Purple Panther dugout, and she looked up to see the umpire crouching above her, both hands down, palms flattened toward the ground. “Safe,” the umpire boo
med. The score was 10 to 9; the Purple Panthers were in the lead.
The Purple Panther players came out to pick Emilee up, carry her off the field and into the dugout, sweaty, dusty, breathless, but smiling beautifully. A glum Qiaohui team waited on the field for the game to continue. There were runners on second and third with only one out.
They intentionally walked Madison Moore, filling the bases, hoping for the double play. They succeeded with Sofia hitting back to the pitcher. The pitcher threw the ball to home and the catcher whipped it to first just ahead of the fast Hernandez. The inning was over, the Purple Panthers led by one run and Madelyn had not given up a hit or a walk since that bad first inning. It was the sixth and last inning now with only three outs standing between the Purple Panthers and the Little League Softball World Series Championship.
They raced out onto the field, confident of victory now. They were a team who could not be beat, would not be beat, with the greatest girl softball pitcher in the world pitching from the pitching circle.
Madelyn was very calm, very relaxed, pitching carefully, steadily.
She got the first Qiaohui batter on a roller down to Moore. She worked slowly on the next batter, working her to a full count of 3-2, and then striking her out with a nasty curve.
The entire crowd was standing up now with two out in this last inning of the game, no runners on the bases, and the game practically over. Coach Wilson kept calling from the dugout,
“Take it easy gang; very easy out there.”
She was as nervous as the players were and she had not sat down since the first inning.
Madelyn pitched to the Qiaohui catcher, getting two strikes on her. Emilee stood at second, her hands sweating, head whirling, waiting. One more strike, one more out, and they were in.
Madelyn was not going to give that next batter anything to drive. She worked very slowly. The batter fouled off two pitches. The batter pushed the count to 3-2, and then fouled off two more pitches, with everybody on the field and in the stands on edge.
The next pitch was inside and Madelyn thought it was good, as did Emilee who opened her mouth to scream. However, the umpire called ball, sending the batter down to first base, the first Qiaohui runner to reach a base since the first inning.
Madelyn did not like it but she was not going to argue with an umpire. Emilee could see that Coach Wilson did not like it either, thinking the last pitch was a strike, but coach did not come out of the dugout.
They were not arguing with umpires this afternoon, knowing the man behind the plate was calling them just as he saw them, but they still thought the ball had been a strike.
The tying run was on first and the game was not over. Emilee felt the tension coming back even now, with two outs and Madelyn pitching beautifully.
The Qiaohuis took their pitcher out of the game and put in a pinch hitter to bat for her. The pinch hitter rubbed dirt on her bat and stepped up to the plate with a very determined look.
She swung at the first pitch, hitting it out towards right field where Samantha Smith was playing in Hannah’s place. When Emilee saw the ball sailing out that way, she suddenly stopped breathing. The ball was well hit and carrying quickly towards the fence.
Samantha backed up for it. She backed all the way to the fence, nervous, moving from one side to the other. She was right back against the low fence now, reaching up for the ball.
Then it happened and it was a softball freak play if there ever was one. No one could believe what he or she saw. The ball struck the palm of Samantha’s glove, bounced out of it and over the fence.
For a very long moment, there was absolutely no sound on the field. Then, the big Qiaohui crowd came alive. A girl in the Qiaohui dugout was screaming insanely. The Qiaohui batter was rounding first, going towards second, and Emilee watched her pulling up, slowing into her home run trot as she realized she had just hit one. This pinch hitter had just given the Qiaohui the lead again at 11 to 10.
It did not make sense and it was not fair. It was a trick played on the Purple Panthers, somehow, by an unknown evil softball spirit. The ball had bounced out of the glove and then had passed over the fence without touching the ground. Therefore, it was a home run.
Samantha stood there, staring toward home plate, shoulders drooping, her glove at her side as the two runners crossed home plate. The Lake Forbing crowd watched, stupefied, unable to accept the fact this amazing come from behind victory was no longer in their hands.
Madelyn went on pitching, still very cool, unperturbed. She struck out the final Qiaohui batter and the Purple Panthers ran in for the last bat of the sixth and final inning.
Madelyn waited at the top of the dugout for Samantha to come in and Samantha looked sick as she crossed the infield from right field. She was crying too, the way Sofia Hernandez had cried, and her hands were twitching. Madelyn gave her a friendly slap on the shoulder as Madelyn went down into the dugout to show her that there were no hard feelings because of her disastrous and freaky error.
Samantha sat down with her face in her hands. She was shaking convulsively and Coach Wilson sat down next to her, talking to her calmly.
Coach called every one around and while looking at each of them with a big grin she said,
“In case any of you ever wondered, this is why we play the game. Is this the most exciting game you have ever played in, the most exciting time of your life? Huh? Now, it is our turn to bat and I do believe in you. So, let’s get ‘ur done!”
Maria Rodriguez was up to hit and Samantha was to bat second, but everyone could see she was in no condition to do that. She was not herself and it would be a while before she calmed down.
The Purple Panthers were one run behind with the bottom of their lineup coming to bat. Could they pull off another miracle? It hardly seemed possible. That fluke home run had been a crushing blow, a knockdown, one that might keep them down. Was that their destiny? Their coach did not think so.
Rodriguez was determined, but she flied to left field for the first out. Emilee was on the dugout steps with the others and she turned to see what Coach Wilson would do about Samantha. Then she saw the injured Hannah Miller standing in front of coach, talking rapidly. Hannah had her favorite bat in her hands and it was apparent Hannah wanted to bat for Samantha.
Remembering some of Hannah’s long home runs in the past, Emilee felt her hopes rise a little. Hannah could not run, but if she hit one over the fence, she would not have to. She could crawl around the bases to tie the score again.
Coach Wilson finally gave her consent to Hannah to bat and the girl hobbled out of the dugout, walking painfully with a bad limp to home plate. The crowd gave her a standing ovation, appreciative of this effort and remembering how Hannah had hit in other games.
The Purple Panthers pleaded for a base hit. Madelyn was on deck behind Hannah and after Madelyn, the top of the batting order would be up to bat again. If Hannah could only get on base, they had a chance.
Emilee watched the injured girl dig in at the plate. She hoped that Hannah would not be aiming for the fences now, trying to tie this ball game up with a home run for her own personal gain.
Hannah stayed very cool and very calm. She watched a strike go by and then she swung at the next pitch, meeting it solidly. Obviously, Hannah was not trying for a home run because she now understood the importance of just getting on base for her team. The Purple Panthers needed just one base runner.
The ball arched over third and rolled to the left field fence. The crowd screamed again as Hannah hobbled down to first base. This hit would have been a stand up double for anybody else, but Hannah just could not make it that far.
Coach Wilson immediately sent Destiny Johnson in to run for Hannah and Hannah came back to the dugout, limping worse than ever, her face white. However, she had given them the new life that they needed.
Everybody pounded Hannah’s back as she came into the dugout. Coach Wilson said quietly,
“Good girl, Hannah. I knew you could do it.”
> “We can’t let you down, coach,” Hannah said and Emilee realized something at that moment. This team of girls was killing itself to win this world championship. Maybe they thought they were doing it for their town, for their parents, for themselves, but the real reason was apparent now. They were fighting here, tooth and nail for Coach Wilson, the semi-pro player, who had never been too much as a softball player herself, for this gaunt, kind, homely woman, who loved her team of girls and understood them. It was obvious this team loved and respected their coach too.
The Qiaohui pitcher was very nervous and she walked Madelyn Taylor, putting runners on first and second with one away, Sarah Anderson coming up.
Again, the excitement gripped the Purple Panther players the way it had gripped them every inning before. They had the tying and winning runs on base with the top of the lineup coming up.
Sarah stood at home plate watching the pitcher. Emilee was in the on deck circle, ready to bat next, gripping her bat, crouching, sweating. If Sarah went down it would be up to her to get the Purple Panthers out of this jam.
Sarah did not go down, however. The shortstop hit a single out to left field, and Destiny Johnson, running like the wind, came in to score the tying run. With no cut-off made on the throw to the plate, Madelyn sprinted to third.
It was Moore on first and Taylor on third, with one away, Emilee Davis batting. The Lake Forbing crowd could not make more noise. The game tied up again at 11 to 11, a crazy score in an unbelievable game. Tweets were going crazy on twitter.
Emilee stood at the plate, her nerves calming down. It was impossible they lose now. Nothing could take this victory from them. A team like the Purple Panthers could not lose. They refused to. If the Qiaohui had scored another nine runs in the previous inning, she still would have thought that. The Purple Panthers would not quit and they would never give up. Madelyn screamed to Emilee,
“Bring me home, big sister. Bring me home!”
The Qiaohui pitcher finally pitched to Emilee. She swung at the first pitch and smashed the softball hard, way out to center field. The Qiaohui center fielder went back for it and caught it, but she was in no position to throw Madelyn, who had tagged up at third, out at home. Madelyn Taylor had scored easily from third base with the winning run and the game was over. The Purple Panthers had won and the place went wild!
Emilee came back from first. The entire Purple Panther team was a heaping congregation around home plate. They were pounding Madelyn Taylor’s back. Isabella was climbing up on top of the heap. Even the injured Hannah was trying her best to get in on the celebration. Coach Wilson was behind them, watching, grinning.
In the seats behind the Purple Panther dugout, another demonstration was going on. Purple Panther fathers were yelling, shaking hands with each other. J. C. Taylor was pumping Luke Lopez’s hand. The mothers were hugging and crying with joy. Reporters with microphones and television cameras appeared from all directions. Everyone wanted in on this moment.
Coach Wilson looked over the heads of the Purple Panther players, at Emilee coming down to join the celebration. Emilee launched into the maelstrom of yelling, joy-crazed players. They pounded her back; they tore off her cap and threw it into the air.
Emilee saw Jasmine Brown on the edge of the heap, waving, laughing, and grinning with her big smile, happy as any girl could be. She saw little girls running out on the field, screaming for Purple Panther autographs.
“Emilee,” Jasmine yelled. “We did it, Emilee!”
Emilee waved back at her with tears flowing down her face. She looked across at Coach Wilson, over near the dugout, standing alone. Coach was watching her, smiling.
Coach saw them all together now, Madison Moore and Sarah Anderson, Hannah Miller and Sofia Hernandez, Madelyn Taylor and Isabella Lopez, all of them, every walk of life fused together here in this mass of crazed joy around home plate. They were champions, to themselves, to us all, but most importantly, they were champions to each other.
One thought was running through Coach Jennifer Wilson’s mind and Emilee saw it in the coach’s eyes. This was good, it was very good, and it was just the beginning of more to come.
THE END
APPENDIX: TAKING CARE OF YOUR GLOVE OR MITT