Welcome back. This is what you've spent all these months working toward. This the climax of the story of the Boys of Mayfield. You've worked hard as readers, they've worked hard as characters. Can everybody's Diamond Dreams be fulfilled, or are will there be lessons to be learned?
Yes, this is a long chapter, but I think you'll agree it had to be presented as one chapter.
Douglas at thehakaanen@hotmail.com
CHAPTER 61 DIAMOND DREAMS
<Sunday, May 26, Safeco Field>
Mayfield Mustangs, State A Tournament Championship Game starting lineup.
- Justin-SS 2. Noah-2B 3. Scott-1B 4. Carl-DH, batting for Hunter-LF 5. Kevin-C 6. Eric-P 7. Danny-3B 8. Kraig-RF 9. Lars-CF
[COACH SANDERS]
I told the team what the lineup would be after we finished dinner. I also talked to a lot of the individuals involved about why I was doing what I was doing. It was not my normal lineup and I knew there would be a lot of speculation as to why I was making changes from the norm for the State Championship game.
I've been keeping Eric at second in the order, even when he was pitching, simply because he'd been one of our best hitters all season. But for some reason, batting him second today didn't feel right. I decided I wanted him to pitch at least one inning before having to bat, and batting him sixth was the way to do that. Putting him a slot or two higher would place him in a power spot in the lineup, and he is not a power hitter. But, I didn't want to place him too low in the order.
Noah usually batted eighth or ninth when Eric was pitching, but he's batted second a couple of times this year. Last year he batted in that position almost every time Eric pitched, but I had a different philosophy on where I wanted my pitcher to hit last year.
When I saw how locked in Eric was at the pre-game breakfast, on the bus, and in the clubhouse, I knew I had made the correct decision. Eric needed to have the opportunity to pitch before he came up to hit. Of course, that only applies if we are the visitors. If we're home he'd pitch first anyway. Also, it is possible he could hit in the first inning, but that would be a good thing. It would mean we were having a pretty damned good inning.
Hunter would normally bat for himself, but I wanted Lars to hit, even though Hunter was a much better hitter. Every player except for Lars and Blaine had at least one at bat in Friday's game. Blaine would get his chance today. The only way I could bat Lars was to have Carl DH for somebody other than Lars, and that ended up being Hunter. My designated hitter, who was usually Carl, batted for a lot of different players during the season. In the postseason, Carl hitting for Lars has been the norm. Lars hit a weak .205 during the season. He's a great fielder, has a gun for an arm, has been an excellent reliever, and is a sweetheart of a kid. He's also a pretty fine basketball player, but all of that has nothing to do with hitting a baseball.
Some of my coaching peers would probably disagree with my batting Lars over Hunter, who batted . 260 and had much more power. However, I had decided that every kid on the roster would at least get an at-bat so he could tell his children and grandchildren some day that he had batted at Safeco Field. I would be doing Lars a disservice by not allowing that to happen. Sure, he got to pitch on Friday, which is a big deal in itself, but it's not the same thing as stepping up to the plate with a bat in your hand.
Since half the team is gay, however, I suppose the children and grandchildren thing might not apply, but you get the idea.
We were on the field in time for our warm-up tosses and for a five minute infield practice. The schedule for everything is posted on a bulletin board, including the coin flip, and it is followed precisely. Eric and Kevin were in uniform and ready to go up the elevator to the press box with me. Why they don't just flip the coin in the clubhouse or down on this level of the ballpark is beyond me. I guess they think we will like the ceremony.
I heard Scott yell out, "Tails never fails," as we left for the elevator. He's been yelling that since sixth grade. He's even been right half the time. This time he was not as Eric called tails and the ceremonial coin came up heads. North Lake Prep would be the home team.
When we got back to the clubhouse, the team was dressed and ready to take the field for warm-ups. Eric, Kevin, Korey, and Coach Hart would head for the bullpen with Eric for his pitching warm-ups. The clubhouse was eerily quiet. On Friday, the atmosphere had bounced around from quiet on the bus, to noisy in the clubhouse, to quiet during warm-ups, to noisy during infield. Our game ended up mirroring that changing atmosphere as our play bounced from brilliant to sloppy.
To me the quiet meant the team was ready. I hope it meant the same thing to them. I looked around at this amazing group of boys as we waited to get called out onto the field.
I thought back to the day at the middle school when the boys told me they were going to create an organization that would win them two straight state championships. At the time I laughed about it with my partner, Phil Miller. They were a bunch of preteens and they didn't know any better. However, I didn't discourage them. Even though I saw nothing coming of it, I told them to pursue their dreams.
Oh, how wrong I was. Today, six years later, they were ready to act on the dream that built their Go to State Team. They were ready to cash in on their own hard work as they accomplished something an entire community thought was impossible. But when that community realized what those boys were achieving, they got behind them one- hundred percent. There would be a lot of citizens and friends of Mayfield in the stands. I knew there wouldn't be too many citizens attending the Mayfield churches this morning.
I thought about how well the boys handled their poor start this year, as well as some of their crises of the past. They sometimes bent, but they never folded, and they came through the six years with a quiet strength. That could be illustrated by how they handled Danny and his nightmare game in the field on Friday. Only great kids and great teammates could prop somebody up like they did him.
And finally, I thought about the text I received while we were riding the bus through downtown Seattle to Safeco Field. It was from the player who at times was my worst nightmare, yet was also the person who, along with Marty, best personified last year's team. "kick serius ass coach. I luv u. connor." It was difficult to not have tears in my eyes as we exited the bus in the players' parking lot.
<Top of the First: Mayfield Mustangs 0, North Lake Prep Orcas 0>
[GEOFF STONE]
The Times had two baseball writers covering the Mariners. The paper said it only wanted one of us to travel to Oakland with the Ms with the other one covering the high school tournament. While I love the Bay Area, I have no use for Oakland. Plus, I enjoy watching the high school kids play, so I volunteered. I left the work on Friday up to one of our young stringers, although I watched the games and took copious notes up in the press box. I covered all four of Saturday's games, and I will do the same for all three of today's games.
Having one of the smaller school classifications in the tournament was different. That decision is what led to the extra day of games on Friday. While the overall caliber of play in the two A games was not up to what the big schools played, it was still good ball, especially the first game, which Mayfield won 6-4. The kids played with an enthusiasm that more than made up for a lower skill level.
The class of the four A teams was, without a doubt, the North Lake Orcas. Being a private school, they were able to subtly recruit some better ball players for their program. The team was big, experienced, and talented. Many observers of the high school scene thought they should be the team defending their state title, not the Mayfield team. They had one of those games in last year's Regionals where hard hit balls were caught, and the close plays went against them. A freak play in the bottom of the seventh cost them three runs and a win, and St. Michael's went to state instead. It had been a great game between two very good small school teams. Last year the Orcas had three big senior stars and started five juniors and a sophomore.
After watching the Orcas carve up their opponent on Friday, I couldn't help but think that Mayfield would not provide a lot of competition. The Orcas are more than ready to claim what should have been theirs last year, and with their experienced, tested team, doing it against the defending champions would make it even sweeter. But, I've been covering baseball long enough to know that what one thinks will happen on the field and what actually happens on the field isn't always the same thing.
[CHANDLER]
I am only a sophomore, so I knew I wouldn't be playing much. Still, it was cool to be trusted to be a designated runner on Friday and to get a chance to bat and play the field, too. If all I do is sit today, I won't be unhappy at all. Coach said that Toby was going to be running for Kevin and Blaine would be running for Eric if they get on base.
Since we're the visitors, we bat first. Justin is our leadoff man. The Orcas have a lot of big guys on their team, and Justin almost looks like a midget compared to their catcher. Their pitcher is huge, too. His name is Logan Hammond. Noah says he is 8-0 with a 1.50 ERA. And I can tell you right now that he throws hard. That's not just hard but H A R D hard.
Justin got a couple of strikes on him and grounded out to second. Then Noah came up and struck out on three pitches. Noah doesn't strike out much, but this guy just blew it by him.
He couldn't blow it by Scott, though. Scott is a really good hitter, which is why he hits third for us—that's where a team's best hitter is supposed to go. Noah has arguments against that idea, but Noah is sometimes way too smart. Just do things the way everybody does them is how I see it.
Anyway, Scott singled right over the head of the second baseman and that brought up the real heavy artillery. I am talking about Carl. I know that kid Brandon hit the ball a long way on Friday, but we all agreed Carl can hit it just as far. Well, he didn't in this at bat. He didn't even hit the ball out of the infield. He popped up to the third baseman instead.
<Bottom of the First: Mayfield 0, North Lake Prep 0>
[ERIC]
Last night, when I said I was ready, I meant it. I saw how big the Orcas were when we watched them on Friday. I saw how hard they hit the ball. I didn't care. For once, I believed the Donkey and his crazy optimism. Those guys weren't facing me on Friday. I was much better than the pitcher they faced—and today, right now, I believed that like I had never believed anything before.
As I stood on top of the same mound Felix Hernandez pitches from, I knew I could not be any readier. Not long ago standing here would have freaked me out. But I was not freaked out today, because today it was all about me and Kevin and Kevin's glove. I was as good as any batter I was going to face today, even those bruisers in the 3-4-5 spots in their batting order. This was so much different than last year in Pasco.
Jin led off for them. He'd come a long way since he was a bench warmer at Mayfield. That kid had a hard time putting out the effort that was needed to play on a middle school team, let alone on one of the best teams in the league. But, there he was, ready to face me. We silently acknowledged each other, I got my signal from Kevin, and he took a fastball for a called strike. And then he took a fastball for another called strike. Kevin had me waste a fastball outside to change his field of vision a little bit. I was pretty certain what pitch he was going to call for next and he didn't disappoint me. He is one hell of a smart catcher.
[KEVIN]
I could tell in the bullpen that Eric's stuff was filthy. Just totally filthy. After he got warm, he put his fastball wherever he wanted to, even though it was darting and sinking. Talk about a moving fastball, he had it. His breaking stuff was sharp and crisp. But the filthiest pitch he showed me was his changeup.
Scott liked to think he had a changeup, but he never worked at it. Eric worked at his. Coach Hart used to pitch, and he knew his shit when it came to pitching. He'd been working with Eric from the time he came to Mayfield. Eric also went to baseball clinics where he learned a lot about the change. In middle school, he heard two different Major League pitching coaches say on television and radio that the secondary pitch all young pitchers should work on is their changeup. He took that seriously and that excellent changeup made his fastball look faster than it was. Today in warm-ups he had it really working for him. It fooled me, and I knew it was coming.
So, with a 1-2 count on Jin, I called for the changeup. He threw it perfectly and it froze Jin as he stood and watched it float by for called strike three.
We had a 1-2 count on the next batter. This time I called fastball. I don't know what the hitter was looking for, but Eric let go of a fastball that started out a little bit inside, then darted right over the inside corner. Called strike three again. I could hear their coach yell out, "Those kids don't take third strikes, ump. You might want to get your head in the game before it's too late."
I think that was a mistake. The umpire started toward third and asked the coach to come down to meet him. The coach didn't move and the ump said he would avoid a warning by taking the walk. They finally met and the ump, who had the look of somebody who'd been around for awhile, had his words. The coach didn't say much—in fact he didn't say much to the ump for the rest of the game. I don't know what that ump said, but it worked.
That brought up their big dude, Brandon. He went yard twice on Friday, and they weren't cheap home runs. Well, nothing is cheap in this park. Coach and I talked about how to pitch him. We both would have loved to pitch around him and give him nothing to hit, but the next hitter, Logan, can rake it, too. We decided that since Brandon is a lefty, we'd be more careful with him and take our chances with Logan, who is a righty.
Eric looked good on the first pitch, floating a changeup by him for a strike. I think Brandon was looking for a fastball on that first pitch. We threw him another change up. He swung a little early and fouled it off. The count was 0-2 now and I called for another changeup. No way was the dude gonna be looking for a third one. He was gonna be thinking fastball first. Eric shook me off and I signaled change again. He shook me off again, so I flashed the fastball sign even though I disagreed with it. Big mistake.
Eric's fastball had a lot of movement to it, and it managed to move right out over the plate. Brandon had been sitting dead red and the ping of the ball off the bat told me Brandon had hit it hard. It was a line shot no more than five feet off the ground, heading for the right center field gap. I mean it was a rocket off of the bat. At least it wouldn't be anything worse than a two-out bases empty double.
[ERIC]
As soon as I let that pitch go I knew that I should have obeyed Kevin. But at least once a game I have to try to out think my catcher, and at least once a game I am wrong. He gave me a target on the outside part of the plate at the knees, but the ball started tailing in and I could see it was going to go right down the heart of the plate, not a good place to throw a two-strike pitch. I had thrown Brandon his pitch and I could only hope he missed it. He didn't and he hit it hard; the only good thing was he didn't hit it in the air.
I hate it when Kevin is right, especially since he is almost always right.
[NOAH]
With a big lefty pull hitter up, I was shaded a bit to my left. I saw Kevin call for a third changeup with two strikes on Brandon. I was surprised when Eric shook it off, not surprised when Kevin called it again, surprised when Eric shook it off again, and even more surprised when Kevin put down fastball instead of walking out to the mound and chewing Eric's ass.
The pitch was fat and the ball flew off of the bat. It was almost on top of me before I could move. I made a desperate dive for the line drive, felt something hit my glove, and landed hard on the infield. When I looked in my glove I saw the ball lodged in it. I held it up for the ump, who called Brandon out, ending the inning. I could hear our fans going crazy, which gave me a warm feeling to know they were cheering my play.
[KEVIN]
Eric and I walked off the field together. "You got lucky. You should have taken up my offer on Friday and paid my price to fuck me."
"I fucked you, anyway."
"Yeah, and you almost fucked yourself on the pitch. You throw the best changeup around. No way was he thinking a third changeup."
"I'll pay the price of that fuck for the rest of the game. I won't shake you off again."
"Good thinking."
I patted him on the rear as we walked down the steps into the dugout. I watched as he and Noah exchanged high fives.
"Great catch, kid," Eric said.
"You know I saved your ass. Listen to your catcher from now on. Fastball down the middle with two strikes...it's a good thing you have a great team behind you. But I love you, anyway."
Eric patted Noah's ass, then put his jacket on and sat at the far right of the dugout. I was happy we didn't have to deal with a runner in scoring position and their cleanup hitter coming up, two outs or not.
<Top of the Second: Mayfield 0, North Lake Prep 0>
Kevin led off the second with a foul ball on the first base side that the first baseman hauled in. Eric then singled on a 1-0 breaking ball. Blaine came in to run for Eric, who sat back down in his corner of the dugout.
That brought up Danny, who struck out on a 1-2 fastball. Kraig followed with a strikeout of his own as Logan threw some major heat in that inning.
<Bottom of the Second: Mayfield 0, North Lake Prep 0>
Like Friday's game, this game was being recorded with most of the cameras being manned by apprentices. It was also being broadcast on the radio. While Friday's game had an intern from the UW School of Communication as the announcer, this time one of the hosts of a local sports talk radio station was doing the honors. He was working with the same color commentator as Friday. The broadcast would be the narration for the DVD.
The first batter Eric faced in the second was the Orca cleanup hitter and pitcher, Logan Hammond. He was looking fast ball on the first pitch and got it, ripping a hard shot up the third base line. It got to Danny on one hop. Everybody held their breath after what had happened on Friday, but Danny fielded it cleanly and easily threw out Hammond at first. It looked like there were no after effects from the Friday debacle on the field.
The next hitter was Mark, the right fielder. His at bat was a classic look at how Eric and Kevin normally worked together. Change for a strike, fastball outside for a ball, fastball on the inside corner for a strike, fastball inside for a ball, and finally a breaking ball starting inside that had Mark falling back almost on his ass, then watching helplessly as the ball broke over the inside of the plate for strike three.
"Filthy," Kevin said to himself, "that pitch was just totally filthy."
Peter, the designated hitter, was not the most patient of hitters, and ended up bouncing the second pitch of his at bat to Justin, who easily threw him out. It was an easy 1-2-3 inning for Eric.
[STEVE TURNER]
My day job is as the number two man on a late morning sports talk show. I also call high school football and basketball on the radio. I love announcing high school sports. The unbridled enthusiasm of the players makes calling their games a sheer joy. I have called State Tournament play in baseball, but never at the Class-A level. I have to say that while the overall level of talent is not that of the big schools, the level of play looks just as good. The Mayfield Mustangs and North Lake Orcas were two good looking teams. I said as much to my color partner, Darryl Howell, after the first two innings.
"They both look good," Howell said on the air, "but North Lake is clearly the better team, from their hitting to their fielding. Logan Hammond has dominated the Mustangs."
"After two innings," I said, "they each have three strikeouts. In fact, Hammond had given up two hits to none for Eric Simmons."
"Thats shows how scoreboards can lie. Simmons is actually getting hit harder, the Orcas just have nothing to show for it, yet. Simmons is relying on a mix of pitches and a great deal of guile, but even that has led to some hard hit outs. Hammond is simply blowing the ball past the Mustangs. Those facts will soon sort themselves out and North Lake will pull away."
We broke away for commercial. I told Darryl that I didn't see the game quite the same way. "That Simmons kid looks like a smart pitcher. And from what I read in the press notes, he and the catcher are long time friends and have been batterymates since sixth grade. That, and the fact they've won a state title, should count for something."
"At this level, talent counts for everything ninety percent of the time," Darryl said confidently, even though his logic was a bit warped.
<Top of the Third: Mayfield 0, North Lake Prep 0>
Lars led off the inning and quickly became Logan's third straight strikeout, as he went down on three pitches. Justin, who had grounded to second his first time up, singled to center on a 2-1 pitch. That brought Noah to the plate.
Noah had looked bad striking out in his first at bat. He was not about to look bad again. He took ball one and was pleased to see Coach Sanders flash the hit-and-run sign. Justin took off on the pitch, which was a fastball. Noah swung and placed his hit perfectly to right field, the ball going right through the spot vacated by the second baseman as he moved to cover second. Justin continued right past second and ended up on third base. Noah was on first with a single. The Mustangs had their first threat going.
However, with runners on first and third and one out, the Mustangs couldn't cash in. Scott struck out swinging and Carl hit a soft line drive to the shortstop to end the inning.
<Bottom of the Third: Mayfield 0, North Lake Prep 0>
Matthew, the Orca catcher, led off the third. He was another big kid on a team of big kids. But the Mustangs had their big kids as well. Kevin was almost the same size as Mark. Scott was a solid 6'2, 205 and Carl was 6'3, 230. Danny was 6'0, but at 190 did not have the bulk of his teammates. While Kraig was the same height as his twin brother, he weighed almost 15 pounds less. He was more concerned with agility and durability than he was with strength, as Kevin was. At 6'4, Lars was the tallest player on the team, but he was still a string bean of a teen.
Not everybody sitting behind the Mustang dugout on the third base side was a diehard Mustang rooter. Coach Collins was sitting in a back row of the bowl section with Paul Richardson and some other Mayfield "fans" who hung out at the Roadside Inn. The Kentburg and Harborview coaches were sitting with them. They'd both known Coach Collins for a long time. While the former Mayfield coach still lived in Mayfield, he had taken a new job at Meadow Park High School, where he coached JV football and was the head coach of the girls' softball team.
"I would have started Scott at pitcher in this game," Coach Collins said. "Let the little guy pitch the Friday game."
"The little guy seems to be doing okay," Paul Richardson said.
"I dunno, Eric was tougher on us than Scott," the Harborview coach said.
"They both had our number," the Kentburg coach told them.
"It takes a power pitcher to beat a power team. Eric is going to be worn down by the fifth inning," Coach Collins said. "Hell, he's lucky to be here. That god damned coach is the luckiest bastard in the state. How does anyone as stupid as he is take a team to the state finals two years in a row?"
"It's called lots of hard work and first rate coaching," the Harborview coach said. He stood up and the Kentburg coach rose with him. "You guys enjoy the game, we're going down to get a closer look of the action."
"Bastards," Paul Richardson said to nobody in particular as the two coaches left.
[ERIC]
I had really gotten into a rhythm. After our problem in the first inning, Kevin and I were totally on the same page. He called the pitches, and I threw them. That formula had worked for us for a long time.
Matthew, their catcher, wanted to get things started in a hurry and swung at the first pitch, which was a breaking ball in the dirt. He got some of it anyway and bounced the ball right to me. I picked it up and threw him out easily.
Roman, their left fielder, was a really good looking Hispanic kid. He wasn't real big, but he looked like he was fast. I didn't have time to think about how good looking he was, and my focus was quickly on Kevin's glove. He worked the count to 2-2, fouled off a pitch, then popped up to Justin.
That brought up Everett, their third baseman. I got two quick strikes on him. We came in with a low fastball, for ball one, then elevated the next pitch toward the top of the strike zone. The fastball ended up being almost at his eyes, but it didn't matter. He went for it and missed.
I'd gotten through the lineup without allowing a baserunner, but I knew the second time around was going to be a lot tougher.
<Top of the Fourth: Mayfield 0, North Lake Prep 0>
[COACH SANDERS]
We've been getting men on base, but haven't reaped the benefits yet. We have made Logan work a little harder than Eric has had to work so far, but he's a big kid. I don't see a few stray runners on base wearing him down. I doubt it would wear Eric down either. The real benefit, of course, would be a run or two.
Kevin got us off to a good start by drawing the first walk to be issued in the game. I had told Toby he would be Kevin's designated runner and he was replacing Kevin as soon as the umpires called time.
I'm not a big fan of the sacrifice bunt, especially at the high school level, where anything can and will happen. However, it does have its place and I felt this was a good time to give the bunt sign. Eric was the batter and was our second best bunter after Noah. Toby was quick and an excellent baserunner. Scott, Carl, and Kevin were our power hitters, and we'd gone past their spots in the lineup for now. Even more importantly we had gotten almost half-way through the game without anyone scoring. It looked like the time to try to manufacture a run, because it looked like runs were going to be scarce.
Eric laid down a beauty of a bunt up the first base line. The first baseman fielded the ball and tried to tag out Eric going by. He was a bit too late and too far away, but he had time to throw to the second baseman who was covering first. Eric's bunt had been well executed as was the bunt defense for the Orcas. The end result was we had Toby on second with one out.
Danny was our next hitter. He had some pretty good pop, but was not consistent at the plate, mostly because he sometimes lacked patience. This was not one of his impatient at-bats. He managed to work a 3-1 count and got a fastball to hit. He slapped past the shortstop for a single, but hit it too hard for me to even think about sending Toby home. We had runners on first and third with one out, threatening once again.
The Orca coach decided to play his infield in to keep the run from scoring, a strategy that paid off when Kraig grounded to third. I'd already instructed Toby not to go on contact and he wisely held up. The third baseman looked him back to the bag and then threw Kraig out at first. Danny advanced to second, giving us two runners in scoring position, but with two outs.
That brought Lars to the plate. I had been thinking all inning whether or not I would pinch hit for him if he came to the plate in a key situation. If I did, I could re-enter him on defense in the bottom of the inning. I decided to let him hit, however. My first reason was that while he was a poor hitter, he was not an incompetent hitter. He could make things happen. My second reason was that if I did pinch hit for him his spot in the order would most likely come up again in the sixth or seventh inning. If I pinch hit for him a second time, I could not re- enter him a second time and would lose his glove in center, or, more importantly, I would not be able to pitch him in the bottom of the seventh if I needed him then. With those two things in mind, I let him hit.
While Logan is a power pitcher and can blow a fastball by anybody on my roster and has a decent breaking ball, he has two flaws I think we've been exploiting. He doesn't have great command and has been pitching behind in the count to a lot of batters. He also hasn't shown a decent changeup.
Logan got ahead in the count on Lars at 1-2. He decided to bury a curve and get Lars to swing at a pitch in the dirt. Lars got impatient and swung and missed. The ball skipped past the catcher and Lars took off for first. Logan alertly covered home as Matthew, the catcher, ran the ball down. It is a lot longer distance from home to the backstop on a pro field than it is on a high school field, or any other field we play on for that matter. Toby scurried home, sliding past Logan as he received the toss from Mark a little too late.
Danny advanced to third while Lars was on first and we had a 1-0 lead with Justin, our leadoff hitter, coming to the plate. Justin was 1- for-2 with a single in the third. He didn't come through this time, although he hit the ball hard on the ground. The second baseman made a nice pickup and got the out by a couple of steps.
It was not as good an inning as we could have had. We left two runners stranded in scoring position, but we did get a run on the wild pitch. It was nice to go into the bottom of the inning with a lead.
<Bottom of the Fourth: Mayfield 1, North Lake Prep 0>
Eric had been right around the plate the first three innings, throwing strikes and getting ahead in the count. The fourth inning started out like he had left off. Two quick strikes to Jin leading off the inning had Jin swinging awkwardly at an Eric changeup. He grounded right back to Eric at the mound and was an easy out at first.
Gil, the Orca's number two hitter, swung early in the count, not wanting to fall behind. The result was him turning over an outside fastball and hitting an easy ground ball to Justin at short. He was out by five steps at first; another play that wasn't close.
That brought Brandon Canton to the plate. The big left-handed batter looked menacing. Eric knew it had taken a superb play to get the stocky first baseman out in the first inning.
[ERIC]
Coach said to keep the ball away from Brandon and to change speeds on him. That was one reason I shook off Kevin on the third straight changeup. I guess he considered a changeup was changing speeds since Brandon was probably looking fastball.
We started him off with a slider, which I missed low and inside. I threw him a fastball, high, which got Kevin to call time and walk out to the mound to talk to me.
"The guy's a scary dude," Kevin said.
"I'm not afraid of him."
"I know you're not, but that doesn't keep him from being a scary dude."
"What do you want to do?" I asked.
"He's not expecting a changeup on a 2-0 count. He's sitting fastball. So let's do what we should have done in the first, give him one of your kickass changes."
The strategy worked. The change got him by surprise. He stood and let it go by. Of course, that was a piece of good hitting. When ahead in the count, go only after the pitch you've been waiting for. Anything else you can let go by.
He let the next pitch go by, a fastball inside. I was now down 3-1. I half hoped that Kevin would give me the sign to waste the pitch, give him first on the walk, and take our chances with Logan. Kevin asked for time again. I could tell that the ump wasn't happy about us having a second conference with two outs and nobody on, but then he wasn't the one who was playing the game. He didn't know what we were dealing with here.
"He's still a scary dude," I said.
"Even scarier with a 3-1 count in his favor," Kevin said.
"Shall we put him on?"
"No freebies for these assholes. They think they can score whenever they like, so why hand them a baserunner?" Noah had told us last night that the Orcas were the top scoring Class A team in the state, averaging seven runs a game. "Here's a compromise—slider, outside corner. I trust your slider and he will totally not be expecting it." The umpire came out towards the mound and yelled for us to play ball. Kevin hustled back to his position.
He called that one perfectly as once again Brandon let a strike go by, making the count full. Brandon not only was my first full count of the game, he was the first batter I'd thrown three balls to.
Kevin decided that since we'd been giving Brandon a steady diet of junk, it was time for the heater. He signaled fastball. Well, I thought as he swung and sent the ball high and deep to right field, at least he can't blame this fastball getting clobbered completely on me.
[KEVIN]
All I could say was, "Fuck," under my breath as Brandon hit Eric's fastball a mile. I guess we should learn and not throw him another fastball if we see him again. Well, at least his home run wouldn't give them the lead—all it could do was tie the score.
Then my brother came into my field of vision. He had run straight back to the right field fence, then turned and faced the field. It was then I realized that while the ball had been hit a mile, it had also been hit a mile high. What goes up must come down and it was beginning to look like Kraig might have a bead on it. I could see it was going to be close; that ball was either going to just clear the fence, or it was going to hit it on the way down, or it was going to fall into Kraig's glove.
It ended up being a little of all three. It was not going to land in Kraig's glove. I could now see that it was going to hit the wall just above him. But then, my brother, the soccer and basketball player, who had strong legs and good spring, jumped into the air, his back to the fence. Instead of hitting the fence, the ball lodged in the webbing of Kraig's glove. For the second time, we'd robbed their big honcho of a hit, in this case one that would have gone for extra bases for sure. The inning was over and we were heading into the fifth still holding a 1-0 lead.
<Top of the Fifth: Mayfield 1, North Lake Prep 0>
[KRAIG]
That was the best catch I ever made in my life. I've made some running catches, catches over my shoulder, and diving catches. But standing there at the right field fence at Safeco Field, with my back touching the padding on the wall, and looking up into the blue morning sky, not sure exactly where the ball was going to come down, was, without a doubt, a frightening experience.
I finally could see that it wasn't going to land in my glove; if I was going to catch it, I'd have to jump for it or else it would hit the fence and go who knows where. I knew I would have to time my leap perfectly, which I did. I could hear our fans screaming as I ran off the field with the ball in my glove. I could feel Lars slap my ass. Eric was the first one at the dugout steps to high five me. Kevin was right after him. The crowd was yelling like crazy. It sounded like the whole town of Mayfield was in the stands behind the dugout. It was a great feeling.
[STEVE TURNER]
"Eric Simmons has put down the first twelve batters he's faced," I said into the microphone as we came back from break. "He has certainly looked sharper than the more highly touted Logan Hammond."
"Eric has had a good season," Darryl Howell, my color commentator said. "A 5-1 record, 1.87 ERA, and two shutouts—those are numbers that can't be overlooked. But, I still think he will wear down soon."
"The little guy has certainly flummoxed the Orca hitters. The score might only be 1-0, but the first four innings of the game have certainly been interesting."
[BOB JACKSON, OWNER OF BOB'S BURGER BARN]
I was sitting close to field level with Seth McCall, George Bednarzyck, Gary Miller, Alan Hawkins, Dennis Simmons, Avery Benson, Neil Anderson, and other parents and supporters of Mayfield baseball. They are all good people and have been instrumental in bringing baseball back to the forefront in Mayfield. That is not to take anything away from the remarkable group of boys who formed their Go to State organization back when they were in middle school. What they accomplished was remarkable. One of the many things they have to be credited for is picking the right adults to help their fledgling organization. These men went all out to help ensure the kids' success.
Midway through the fourth inning, I decided to be polite and pay my respects to another group of Mayfield men. They were sitting far up in the stands. I couldn't tell if they were enjoying themselves. My guess was they had conflicting emotions. Rather than support the enterprising group of adolescents in their midst, some of them actually tried to sabotage their efforts. They were not a group I particularly liked, but as a businessman in a small town I can't afford to alienate customers. My burger establishment depended on a steady flow of them.
I walked up to their section and chatted with them for a bit. Most of what they had to say was negative. I made up my mind to only spend a half-inning talking with them.
When I arrived at their seats they were complaining about the Mustangs scoring their lone run off of a wild pitch. "That's about the only way those wienie bats are going to score any runs," Abner Hotchkins said. Abner was a farmer, whose big claim to fame was having an annual alumni kegger out at his farm that used to attract the school kids as well—at least until the current coaching staff cleaned things up. That was one of many resentments this group had against the Mustang baseball program.
At the end of the inning, with Eric throwing another 1-2-3 inning, the former head coach of the Mustang baseball program, Coach Collins, had his say. "I can't believe the little fucker hasn't allowed a baserunner."
"He's pitched well," I offered.
"Fuck he has. He's inches from being down 2 or 3 runs. Hell, the little fucker cost me my coaching job, or I'd be the one down there coaching, instead of the asshole in the dugout. We'd have more than one run right now, I'll tell you that. And I sure wouldn't have that no- talent loser out there as my starting pitcher in a state championship game." Eric and his group had come across some financial improprieties that got Coach Collins fired from his job as head coach. I was one of the businessmen affected by his shenanigans, so he wasn't at the top of my Christmas card list.
I'd decided I'd heard enough. As I got up to leave, I looked at Coach Collins and said, "That little fucker on the mound is the reason that team is playing in this championship game. You, sir, couldn't hold his jock." I walked away. Sometimes you have to put what is right ahead of business.
Early on I had been upset that Eric and his group had eventually cost Coach Collins his job. Looking at it now, that was the best thing that could have happened to Mayfield baseball. What a bunch of losers the old coach and his group were.
[COACH SANDERS]
I would put Kraig's catch as one of the amazing plays of the season. His play was one any professional outfielder would have been proud to have made, which means it was one hell of a fine play.
Noah was slated to lead off the inning. I told him I was going to have Blaine hit for him and play an inning in the field. I told Noah I would reenter him on defense at the bottom of the sixth inning.
"I understand, coach. It's a good spot to give Blaine a tournament at- bat," Noah said. Damn, I love that kid. I love all of the kids on this incredible team, but Noah is one of those I just have to love a bit more. Not all players are created equal.
Blaine was the last of the players to get into a game as a hitter. As I said earlier, I was giving every boy a chance to bat. It was getting to the point in the game where I could go with Chandler or Lars on the mound if Eric started to falter and I didn't want to hold Blaine out on the off chance he could pitch and then end up not being able to play him at all.
The move paid off when Blaine, who was a good hitter, lined a 2-1 pitch into center for a single. I debated having Scott bunt him over to second, but decided that was a waste of a powerful bat, and let him hit away. He ended up hitting a routine fly to left for the first out.
That brought up Carl. If anybody on our team was capable of going deep in this ballpark, he was the one. He got his opportunity as Logan Hammond continued to have problems with his command. Carl had been a very impatient hitter to start the season. But he took instruction well, started laying off bad pitches, and became quite a force for us the last part of the season.
He worked the count to 3-1 and got the fastball he'd been waiting for, right down the middle of the plate. I could hear the ooohs from the crowd and could see the excitement from the players at the dugout railing as he got hold of the pitch. The noise only got louder as he deposited it in the visitors' bullpen in left field. Just like that we had a 3-0 lead and some breathing room.
[CARL]
All of us in the dugout could see that Logan could bring it. He threw serious heat. But we could also see that he couldn't always put the ball where he wanted to. I got real patient, something I wasn't at the start of the year. Next thing I knew the count was 3-1 and I was sitting on a big fat fastball. When the fucker came in, I got all of it, and I mean ALL of it. I knew that sucker was gone, even in this giant ballpark. I mean, I just knew. I started running hard, just in case I was wrong and it went off the fence or something. This place does have a reputation for taking away sure home runs, even with the fences moved in. But once I saw it clear the fence, I slowed a little bit. I didn't want to fall over my feet running out a home run.
Coach Sanders slapped my hand as I rounded third. This was the absolute happiest moment of my life.
[COACH MILLER]
I was proud of Carl as I greeted him coming into the dugout. Hell, I was proud of this whole team. The entire Seattle media had already placed the championship trophy in the North Lake trophy case before the game started. They all seemed to forget that we were the defending champions. Last year we played the defending champions in the title game and got no respect. This year we are the defending champions and we still aren't getting any respect.
Kevin hammered a double in our next at bat and the Orca coach came out for a visit. He kept his pitcher in and left the mound. Logan was their ace. It's hard to take your ace out of the game for a lesser pitcher when battling for the state championship. I'm sure Larry wouldn't hesitate to pull Eric if he got into late inning trouble. I just hope it doesn't come to that.
Toby ran for Kevin and Eric came to the plate. He managed to hit a grounder to the left of third for a single, moving Toby to third. Runners on first and third with one out. We'd had our problems with scoring runners in the first innings, but it looked like our bats were coming to life. Since Blaine had played, he could no longer be a designated runner. Instead, Chandler went out to run for Eric. Eric went back to his corner, put his jacket on, and sat quietly.
Danny was up next. He hit the ball through the drawn in infield to score Toby and it was now 4-0. The ball wasn't hard hit, but it did the job.
Logan finally got some things to work against Kraig, who reached for a 1-2 pitch and hit the ball to Jin the shortstop, who started a 6-4-3 double play to end the inning.
<Bottom of the Fifth: Mayfield 4, North Lake Prep 0>
[KEVIN]
Logan Hammond is as good a hitter as Brandon. But with a four run lead and nobody on base, he didn't look quite as frightening. Eric got strike one on him, which had been his pattern the whole game. I've never seen him with this combination of confidence, filthy, nasty stuff, and great pitch location. Eric had him missing the next pitch for strike two. I could almost see the wind go out of Logan's sails. It was like his body language was saying, "Who the fuck is that little asshole? I don't stand a chance against him." That was pretty close to the truth as a changeup floated past him right at the knees for called strike three.
I have to say something about the plate umpire, with no offense meant to my friend Mark. Rob Perkins, the dude behind the plate, was the best plate umpire I've ever had behind me. He'd missed only one pitch that I could tell, and it was damned close. He didn't crowd me, he communicated with me, and, except that moment he got a bit peeved about me calling two time-outs on the same batter, he treated me with friendly respect.
Mark, the number five hitter, and another big bruiser, decided not to wait to get into the hole in the count. He hit a two-hopper to Danny at second base on the first pitch. Coach had moved Danny to second so Blaine could play in the field for an inning. Blaine was a decent third baseman, but rarely worked out at second. Danny didn't play much at second, but he did work out there during practice. Danny charged the ball, fielded it cleanly, and then threw it wide of first. Luckily, he threw it to the home plate side. Scott, who is a great first baseman, came off the bag, caught the ball, and tagged Mark going by him. That was out number two. I could see Danny was really relieved that Scott saved him from an error on that play.
We'd heard that Peter, the next batter was a bit impatient at the plate. We saw that in his first at bat. I had Eric throw him a fastball a little up, which he swung through. Then came a change at the knees, which froze him for a called strike. Next came a fastball a little up and a little in, which Peter watched go by for ball one. We followed that up with a pitch across the middle of the plate, but shoulder high. He swung hard, but never had a chance. Strike three—inning over.
I am no dummy out there on the field. I am a good catcher, a smart catcher. I've been catching full-time since I was in the fourth grade. From my first game behind the plate I knew it was the only thing I wanted to do out on the field. Yeah, I played some first and did a little bit of pitching, but catching is my love.
I knew exactly what was happening on the field. I didn't need the scoreboard to tell me. After five innings, Eric had yet to give up a hit. Hell, he had yet to allow a baserunner. I've said a lot of times that I wanted to catch one no-hitter before I graduated. Here we were in the State A championship game, which was going to be the last game of my high school career, and my best friend, outside of Lars and Kraig, was just two innings away from pitching that no-hitter.
Years ago he came close and I jinxed him by talking about it. This time, there would be no jinx, not by me, not by anybody. When I got into the dugout, I could tell that everybody knew that. Eric was in his seat on the far end of the dugout, wearing his jacket, and staring out into space. Baseball tradition said that nobody should talk to him, and nobody did. I wondered what was running through his mind.
[EVAN SAMUELS]
I knew exactly what I needed to do when the fifth inning ended. I was in the TV production center, working as the producer. I had all of the cameras manned; I had the radio broadcast serving as my TV broadcast. The game was being recorded, but not being broadcast and I had everything in place for what I wanted to do. I got on the phone to my boss at the station, ready to make my case in less than a minute.
"Kid's got a perfect game through five," I told him. "You gotta cut into your soccer game with this game."
"No can do."
"What? You've got the soccer team from Shittystan in a nil-nil tie with Lower Buttfuck, and you can't break in with history going on? A no- hitter has never been pitched in a State Championship game, let alone a fucking perfect game. This is history, Joe. Have some balls and cut in. I'll let the broadcast crew know they're live; they can let the radio audience know the game is being televised. It will be seamless."
There was a long pause at the other end. Finally, he said, "I'll cut in until the kid gives up a hit. And it's England playing Spain, as if it matters."
"Joe, you're a mensch. I owe you."
Oh, yeah, this was going to be great. The kid was going to do it, I could feel it. And even if he didn't, he was going to be a hell of a lot more exciting than some foreign soccer players. A hell of a lot cuter, too.
[MIKE THE DONKEY]
We alumni were sitting behind third base. There was me, the Dawg, Connor, Vince, Tyler, Crawford (yeah, you heard that right, Crawford), Marty, Rich, Zach, Cody, and Bryce.
Ben, Royce, and Lance, our Kentburg buddies were sitting with us, too. Ben observed that maybe it was worth it not to party during the season if this was where you ended up. Lance asked Ben if that was better than ending up in bed with him, which caused Ben to flip him off. It was a lot of fun to watch the hot and sexy Kentburg boys rooting for Mayfield. That sure as fuck didn't happen in my day.
Shelby, Adam, Liam, and Mason were also sitting with us. I had gotten to know them this weekend, and they were very cool guys. We were a very noisy and enthusiastic group.
And when you got down to it, Rodney and Jerome were here, too, since we were texting those two like crazy.
Of course Rodney had to tell us he had some stacked broad in his bed with him. "u mean some fish trumps the mustangs winning state & what Eric is doing?" I texted him back.
"i just told her to go shower or something. I waz busy." I was glad to know Rodney had his priorities straight.
Marty was sitting behind me. He leaned over and whispered, "We've both fucked Eric's ass. I wonder if that has any meaning."
"It has meaning. It would show the power that sperm of a Donkey and a Marty has when it's absorbed together into the body. It might take years for it to bear fruit, but the results can be awe-inspiring."
"This is amazing." Marty said. "Just fucking amazing."
<Top of the sixth: Mayfield 4, North Lake Prep 0>
[STEVE TURNER]
"We'd like to welcome our state-wide audience to the sixth inning of the Class-A baseball championship game at Safeco Field. We apologize to those of you who were enjoying the soccer game, but it has been decided to televise what could be a piece of state baseball history. Sit back and enjoy the performance of a remarkable seventeen-year-old senior as he looks to do something nobody has done before in a state tournament game."
I was glad I had a half inning to talk before Eric pitched again. It gave Darryl and me a chance to set the stage for the bottom of the inning. It also gave me a chance to give some background on the team and on Eric Simmons. One of the interns had been doing some research on the Mayfield baseball program. Apparently, putting down fifteen consecutive hitters is not Eric's only major accomplishment. The young man, in fact, his entire team, appears to be a human interest story nobody had bothered to dig up. Everybody would know about his Go to State Team by the time we got to the bottom of the inning.
[COACH SANDERS]
It occurred to me to pinch hit for Lars so he could go to the bullpen to get his arm warm in case Eric faltered. Then sanity settled back in to my mind—having a pitcher warming up when the starter has a perfect game going when his team has a four run lead is not the kind of message that needed to be sent to anybody. I did decide to pinch hit for Lars, but only because I wanted a better bat coming to the plate. I'd reenter Lars on defense in the bottom of the inning, along with Noah.
I had Chandler hit for Lars. He had a good at-bat and hit the ball hard, but it was right at the second baseman for our first out. Justin followed with a walk. I could have batted Blaine again, but Noah was a senior. I wanted him to have this at bat, which could be his last as a high school player. He'd earned the right to come up to the plate, knowing it could be his last at bat. They don't come any classier than Noah McCall.
[NOAH]
I thought for sure Blaine would hit again, then I'd go into the field at the bottom of the inning. I was really happy when Coach had me go on deck while Justin batted. I took a strike to let Justin attempt to steal second, which he did successfully. I then grounded to second, moving Justin to third. I would have loved to finish off with a base hit. At least my out was a "productive" out, which is a bunch of kaka, but at least it sounds good.
Unless we blew it in the last two innings, that was probably my last high school at-bat. I guess I could call it a Pyrrhic victory. No matter, I was more into what my lover was doing on the mound than what my last at-bat was about.
Scott followed me. We had a runner on third with two outs and our best hitter up. But even best hitters make outs, and that's what Scott did, although it took a long running catch by their center fielder to earn that out. It was a really nice play. It also put Eric back on the stage.
<Bottom of the Sixth: Mayfield 4, North Lake Prep 0>
[KEVIN]
Eric was really locked in. I could see it in how he sat in the dugout, I could see it in how he warmed up. He was like the total opposite of the Eric who started our first game in state last year and almost suffered a nervous breakdown on the mound. Sure, he recovered from that, but his first few innings were not pretty to watch. This Eric has been beautiful to watch from the first batter on. And when he suffered a little twitch, our defense took over and made it all look routine.
Matthew, their catcher, led off the inning. I could hear the crowd getting into things. It was the most noise I've ever heard playing a game, but I didn't let it bother me. I had only one thing to think about, and that was what I wanted Eric to throw. I spent the top of the inning giving it a lot of thought. The Orcas had the bottom of their order coming up. I felt if we pitched those three batters really good, we could get all three of them.
I gave Coach Sanders a couple of my ideas. He told me I was doing great behind the plate and to just do what I was doing. Whatever I asked Eric to do, he was going to do. Coach Sanders and I were both confident about that.
Well, nobody does everything perfectly, and Eric got a bit too much of the plate on a 1-1 pitch to Matthew. Matthew knocked a hard grounder to the left of Danny, who was back playing third. He dove for the ball, came up with it, and hopped to his feet to make the throw.
Danny had been having problems with throws all weekend. While Mark wasn't a speedster (he was a catcher after all), he was no slug either. Danny's throw was going to have to be quick and accurate, but he couldn't rush it.
He took an extra second, got set, and threw it to Scott right on the money. Out number one, five outs to go for the championship.
Roman almost didn't have a chance. We set him up for a 2-2 changeup, Eric threw it perfectly, he took it, called strike three. Two outs, four to go.
Some kid named Soren pinch hit for Everett. I didn't know anything about him, but I didn't need to. I just needed to know what it was Eric could do today. Throwing filthy stuff for strikes was what he could do, and he was making a lot of batters look stupid. Soren was one of them as Eric had him swinging way late on a 1-2 fastball. Strike three, out three, three outs to go.
<Top of the seventh: Mayfield 4, North Lake Prep 0>
[STEVE TURNER]
"Don't go away, folks. There's more going on here than the Mayfield Mustangs being on the verge of winning their second straight State Championship. There is also the six year dream of the diminutive pitcher for the Mustangs, one he is on the cusp of fulfilling in a historic manner."
[GEOFF STONE, SEATTLE TIMES BASEBALL REPORTER]
I would not have traded the Mariner trip to Oakland for this seventh inning. This is one of the most incredible performances I have ever witnessed on a baseball field. I've seen no-hitters and I've witnessed two Major League perfect games. I was never as nervous then as I am now. I want to see this kid do it.
[COACH SANDERS]
Nobody, but nobody, was talking to Eric, including me. If he is half as nervous as I am, his body has to be close to shaking apart. Who would have thought there would be more to this game than winning a second straight title? Who would have ever conjured up the back story of the senior whose dream laid the ground work that put his team in this game would now be sitting on the brink of throwing a perfect game to win it?
Not that this game is won. This is high school baseball, where anything can happen, and often does. I had to admit, though, that things looked good, as long as Eric could maintain his poise and not let his nerves eat him up. I could not help but remember the little sixth grader, new to Mayfield Middle School, who came to the first baseball turnouts afraid of being cut. Kids. I could see the talent and desire in that little body from the first drill. No way I was going to cut him.
But first, we have to see if we can add some insurance. Carl was leading off for us. No hit in this game was bigger than his two-run homer in the fifth. Here was another success story—the boy who got cut as a sixth grader because he was too fat and lazy to play. Here he was as a senior with a sculpted body, an incredible intensity and desire to succeed, and a home run at Safeco Field in his resume.
On the first pitch, I thought there might just be two home runs in his resume. I watched the flight of the ball and clapped and yelled for it to stay fair, but it had too much hook. It went over the fence, but a foot foul. Carl finally ended up hitting a lazy fly to center for the first out.
Kevin struck out on three pitches. He looked like he was more eager to catch the bottom of the inning than he was to hit in the top of the inning. Eric was next. I'd thought about having Korey pinch hit for him, so he could sit on the bench undisturbed. But once again I was hit by a moment of sanity. He would know he was being hit for because of the game situation. Having Korey come up in Eric's place would be coach-speak for "you have a perfect game going, so sit on the bench and think about it."
I thought Eric might have a weak at-bat like Kevin did, but he worked himself a 2-2 count and hit the ball hard to left field. The left fielder made a nice running catch, however. Eric's out ended the top of the seventh. I have to wonder how much his head was in his at-bat, and how much it was in the upcoming bottom of the seventh.
The moment was here. We were sitting on a four-run lead, about to win our second straight State title. Normally that would make the bottom of the seventh anti-climatic. But like I said, anything can happen in high school baseball, or in any level of baseball. The Orcas were a powerful team that was used to scoring runs and to winning. They had come here for the same reason we had—a State Championship. A grand slam could still tie this game.
But the thin little senior walking to the mound with his head down had altered the dynamics. The bottom of the seventh was going to be incredibly dramatic. Eric was close to making high school history. To top it off, his little chat to the team before they left the dugout was one of the most amazing things I'd ever listened to.
In a nine inning game, a pitcher who is perfect would be facing the bottom three batters in a team's order. A seven inning game made it much different. Eric had to retire the 1-2-3 hitters of the Orcas, three of their best, to fulfill a couple of diamond dreams.
<Bottom of the Seventh: Mayfield Mustangs 4, North Lake Prep Orcas, 0>
[KEVIN]
Eric surprised the crap out of us before we ran out on the field. He told us to wait for a moment, that he had something to say. Those were his first words in the dugout since early in the game. All of us, stood outside of the dugout; both those of us heading for the field and those who would stay behind. There was an incredible air of tension surrounding us. It was almost like a sense of fear was creeping in. We seemed to get even tighter wondering what Eric was going to say. Whatever it was, he was going to have to say it quick, because umpires do not like the defense having a team meeting before they take the field.
Eric looked us over and flashed a smile. "Relax guys, I can read a scoreboard. The reason we came here is to win the State Championship, not to see who can set some kind of record. So, go do your thing like you always do, and if you throw a ball into the stands, just make sure it isn't a play that leads to the tying run. Let's get our hands together and defense on three."
Like a basketball team we huddled, put our hands together, yelled out "Defense" on Eric's count, and then nine of us hustled on to the field. I thought the home plate umpire might give us a glare, but he was busy staring off in the opposite direction. He not only was a good plate umpire, he was a cool dude. He knew what that huddle was about.
The only thing that bugged me was that I'd spent all this time making sure we didn't jinx the perfect game or no-hitter by talking about it, and it ends up being Eric who may have jinxed himself. As I caught the first warm-up from Eric, I realized, not for the first time, what a fantastic friend and teammate he was. You could see an entire change of attitude after his quick little talk. He reminded us that it was all about winning, and that winning was the only thing that mattered. The fear seemed to vanish.
[NICKY]
Being the batboy with Jeff is the absolute coolest thing. Watching what Eric is doing makes it even cooler. There's nothing for us batboys to do now. All Jeff and I can do is stand at the front rail, put our arms around each other's shoulders and cheer as loud as we can. I hope that's going to be enough. No, I don't hope that at all. I KNOW it's going to be enough.
[ERIC]
I had five warm-ups coming, just like I got to start every inning but the first, when I was allotted eight warm-ups. I knew what was waiting for me. I knew what I had going. Hell, just having everybody from the coaches, to my teammates, to the batboys ignoring me would have told me what was happening even if I was brain dead.
During the whole top of the seventh I could see everybody trying to not be a jinx instead of being a good teammate. I think everybody was afraid of making a mistake, either by saying the wrong thing or doing the wrong thing. It wasn't right for me to put that kind of pressure on my teammates and my best friends just because of what I was pitching. I decided to screw the jinx crap and tell those friends to just go out and play ball and everything would be cool. If they did that, there was no doubt we'd get what we came for, our second State Championship.
My warm-ups were very strange. I knew the crowd was up and yelling, and yet I didn't know. All I really knew was me, Kevin's glove, and what seemed like a narrow tunnel of light that went from the pitcher's mound to home plate. It was close to the same kind of feeling I had when Noah and I did our meditation the night before the game. I had the entire world blocked out except what was truly important to me. Those five pitches were all there was. I wasn't feeling pressure; what I was feeling was a calm state of self-belief.
[KEVIN]
Jin was the first batter. I started to think about what a snob he'd been when he attended Mayfield. I shook that thought off and focused on what we were going to do to get him out. So far, he'd struck out and grounded out to Eric. I knew he was good, because he was the leadoff hitter for a great team. That doesn't happen to shitty hitters.
I could hear the crowd behind me. They were up and they were yelling. I think even the spectators who were coming in for the next game were up and yelling and cheering for us. They weren't cheering for us because they liked us, but because Eric was like on the brink of making history. The whole atmosphere was awesome. From the noise you'd think there were 45,000 people here instead of just maybe a couple of thousand or so.
I called for a fastball down and away. Eric put it right where I wanted it. It was then that Jin showed his true colors. The bastard dropped down a bunt. It went spinning up the third base line. I jumped out of my crouch to pounce on it, Eric ran from the mound to field it, and Danny raced in from third to do the same. There was no way we were going to make a play on it. Before Eric could pick the ball up, I yelled at him to leave it alone since there was no way we were going to get an out. Eric understood and stopped. Danny did the same. The ball kept spinning close to the line as I followed it. It spun on the line and kept spinning foul. As soon as I was sure none of the ball was touching the line, which would have made it fair, I took my glove and flicked it away from the line before it decided to come back fair again.
As soon as I touched it, the umpire yelled, "FOUL BALL!" and Jin, who had made it all the way to first, had to return to continue his at bat.
[NOAH]
Damn, Jin pissed me off. There is this bit of baseball etiquette that says you just don't bunt in the last inning when the pitcher has a no- hitter going, let alone a perfect game. I gave Jin more credit for class than that. But then, I haven't seen him since we were in the eighth grade, so maybe he was more of an asshole than I remembered.
[MIKE THE DONKEY]
That was a totally bush league play. The crowd was really booing Jin hard with the Mustang alumni leading the way. If somebody did that to this Donkey I'd be knocking his cowardly ass on the ground with my next pitch.
"Hoof him, Eric," I yelled as the crowd noise died down, just so he knew how I felt.
[STEVE TURNER]
"The breach of baseball etiquette displayed by the Orca shortstop did not sit well with the crowd. Even some of his own fans had to be upset with his failed bunt attempt—not because it failed, but because he even tried it.
"If this was a professional game he'd probably find himself sitting on the seat of his pants on the next pitch."
[KEVIN]
I called for a fastball up and in. Not a pitch to knock Jin down, just a pitch to send a message. Eric took a little bit off of a fastball that was up at Jin's shoulders and across the inside part of the plate. I think the loud booing from the stands shook Jin up a little, because he actually swung at it, missing the ball badly. We had two strikes on him. Even if he still had thoughts of bunting, that second strike ended them. If he bunted foul with two strikes he'd be out.
The next pitch was a fastball outside, followed by a breaking ball outside, trying to get him to go fishing. He appeared to have calmed down some, since he didn't bite.
[ERIC]
Jin cost me my concentration for a moment with that bunt attempt. It was a low class act and I had to shake it off. I needed to remember that what was key was not my perfect game (there, I said it), but the team winning, because winning was what the big picture was all about. I looked at Jin. You might have gotten on base and broken up the no-hitter, I thought, but no way was that bunt going to beat the Mayfield Mustangs.
Kevin called for a pitch up and in. I knew he just wanted to drive Jin back off the plate and to remind him how to play the game. I knew by up, Kevin meant shoulder, not head, high, and by in he meant on the inside part of the plate. We both knew we could deliver a message without being assholes about it.
I was surprised as hell when he swung at it. But, having two strikes on him did take away the bunt possibility. He didn't bite at the two pitches outside and the count evened at 2-2.
Kevin called for a changeup, and I threw one that I knew was a good one. Jin was a smart hitter, and seemed to sense we were going to throw a change, but his timing was off a bit and he was out in front of the pitch.
He still got a pretty good piece of it and sent a hard shot my way. I almost stuck out my glove to stop it, but I sensed Justin moving. I knew if I tried to field it, chances are I would just deflect it and keep an infielder from making the play. On the other hand, all of my instincts said that ball had the makings of a base hit up the middle. At the last second I let it go by, and for good reason—I had total faith in Justin at short.
It turned out my non-play was a great play. Justin picked up the ball on the run, threw it to first on the run, and nipped Jin by a step. It was close, but no doubt he was out, which probably made the first base ump happy.
I high-fived Justin as he ran by to return to his position. "ESPN all the way, mister Gold Glove." I wasn't kidding either, that was one great play. When making decisions, it doesn't hurt to remember that you have a magician playing shortstop behind you.
[KEVIN]
That was a tough out, but we got it thanks to Justin's great play. Two outs left to go. Two outs until we become repeat champions. Two outs until Eric makes history with a perfect game. Two outs that seemed to be light years away from happening.
Gil, the number two guy in the lineup, was the batter. He had struck out and grounded to shortstop. I wondered if he was going to follow in Jin's footsteps and try to bunt his way on.
It didn't look like it on the first pitch. He kept his bat stock still, taking a strike at the knees as Eric started out strike-one again. The dude was a machine today and the scoreboard showed it.
[ERIC]
I wanted to throw Gil a fastball. Kevin wanted a breaking ball in. I didn't agree, but I hadn't shaken off a sign since the first inning and I sure wasn't going to now. The two of us had a good thing going and had been in synch for virtually the entire game. If it ain't broke, don't fix it was the mantra right now.
I focused in on the glove, blocking out the rest of the world. The result was Kevin being right again as the pitch broke right over the plate at the same time it made Gil back away from what he thought was going to be an inside pitch. Strike two.
[NOAH]
I know the great fielders say, "Hit the ball to me," when the going got tough. I'm sure that's what Justin said when Jin was up. I wasn't thinking that. Look at it this way, none of those players had their boyfriend pitching a perfect game. None of those players wanted to be the one to screw up that perfect game for his boyfriend with two outs left to go. All I could think was, "Don't hit the ball to me." I know what Eric had just said about relaxing, but it was like he was talking to everybody but me.
[KEVIN]
No waste pitch for this kid, but nothing fat on 0-2 either. I called for a changeup outside. After the breaking ball moved him back, I saw he wasn't quite as close to the plate. The difference was inches, but it was a difference. If he wanted this pitch, he was going to have to reach for it.
Eric threw a pitch just off the plate, probably not a strike, but too close to be taking with two strikes. Gil reached for the pitch and bounced it to Noah.
[ERIC]
I put the ball where I wanted it. It wasn't a waste pitch, because it might have been a strike. We'll never know, because he swung at it and bounced it to Noah, my Noah, who was going to have a big play for me.
[NOAH]
I knew it—I asked not to get the ball, and here it comes. It wasn't hit real hard and I had to charge it. I think that was better than me getting a ball I could sit back and wait on...and think on. All of my years of playing baseball focused right into my body on that play. Years of muscle memory dating back to me playing tee-ball as a little first grader went to work. I dropped the anchor, got down on the ball, keeping my mitt on the ground, getting my hand in the pocket as I started to scoop the ball, holding it in. I set and threw to Scott for a play that was close, but not real close. He was out by two steps at least.
As I went back to my position, Eric pointed to me and grinned, his first smile in ages. I looked back at him, thinking, "Hit that next ball to me. Hit it to me." Eric was right—it's all about winning this game and nothing else.
[ERIC]
Brandon Canton was my next hitter; the last man between us and the fulfillment of our dream. It had taken a great play by Noah and a great play by Kraig to get him out. I guess it was appropriate that I would be facing their best in this situation.
[STEVE TURNER]
"Eric Simmons, one out away from perfection, is facing Brandon Canton, who twice has come close to ruining perfection. Is he going to hit the ball hard again, only this time for a base hit? Or is another fielder going to rob the Orca's star hitter with a great play?
"The crowd might be small, but it is noisy. Nobody is sitting, nobody is quiet. You can all but crown the Mayfield Mustangs the repeat state champions. While this last out will make it official, there is more riding here than the championship trophy. State high school baseball history is riding on this at-bat.
"The pressure on those nine high school kids on the field has to be immense. Any one of them can make or break perfection. In a perfect game there is no room for error. I almost have to think that they might rather have the state championship riding on this at-bat, where an error wouldn't be a huge deal. Instead they have the dream of the young man who helped lead them here to play for. What is going on in the minds of those teenagers on the field?"
[SCOTT, NOAH, DANNY, JUSTIN, HUNTER, LARS, KRAIG]
"Hit the ball to me!"
[KEVIN]
Eric trusts me to call the right pitches, which is exactly what I'm going to do.
[ERIC]
There is me, Kevin, and the plate. I think we've won this game, so I can relax, I can breathe, I can believe. This is now about me and about my friends and my teammates behind me. I am ready for this at-bat, more ready than I've been for any at-bat in my life.
[BRANDON CANTON]
They think they've got us beat, but then they might not. But even if they do, it won't be with some little mite who isn't even six foot tall throwing a fucking perfect game against us. If we are going down, it isn't going to happen without a fight, and I am going to lead that fight. He hasn't got me out yet—both times I went out he's been fucking lucky. Bring it on, dude, bring it on.
[MIKE THE DONKEY]
"Hoof `em Eric!"
KEVIN]
I thought about calling time and walking out to the mound to go over how we wanted to pitch Brandon. But I decided not to call time. I mean, really, what was I going to say to a guy who not only was pitching a perfect game, but who hadn't shaken me off but once all game? Nothing. Why break his concentration? Hell, why waste his time?
I figured Brandon was expecting a change or fastball. That's not what he was going to get. I put down the fingers, calling for a breaking ball.
[ERIC]
Good call, Kevin. The tunnel was back. Right now the only things in my mind were me, the tunnel, and Kevin's glove. If I hit that glove then it's all good. I uncorked my pitch, watched it to the plate as I followed through, saw it cross, saw the umpire raise his right arm for strike one.
[BRANDON]
Damn, I wasn't expecting a breaking ball, and that was a good one. I better be ready for anything against this little asshole.
[STEVE TURNER]
"Strike one on the inside outside corner. A gutsy call and an 0-1 count."
[KEVIN]
Time for a changeup, which is really Eric's best pitch. I know we should be setting everything up with the fastball, but sometimes you just have to live on the edge. I think the fact that we weren't in immediate danger of losing was making things easier on all of us.
[ERIC]
If this was a one-run ball game on top of this perfect game business, I think I'd be pissing into my cup right now. Kevin wants a changeup? Then a changeup it will be.
[KEVIN]
Brandon was not expecting that change up. He swung way out ahead of it. Now we go breaking ball down and away, maybe even bury it. Then come back with a changeup high, out of the zone. Get his eyes moving all over the place.
[ERIC]
It was just me and the glove. I threw him a pitch in the dirt. He almost wanted it, but checked his swing. It was 1-2 now.
Again, it's just me and the glove. Change up, but up out of the zone.
[KEVIN]
Eric threw a nice pitch. Brandon was tempted on the pitch in the dirt, and he went for the changeup, but fouled it off. So we're still 1-2. If he lets it go it's 2-2.
[BRANDON]
Why the fuck did I swing at that dinky changeup. Okay, they've given me junk all over the place—ain't no way they're throwing me more off-speed crap.
[KEVIN]
After that foul, we threw him a fastball up and away, keeping it off of the inside part of the plate that lefties love so much.
[ERIC]
Kevin wants to have him go fishing again. He wants me to show him the fastball, then we come back with the pitch to nail his ass.
[KEVIN]
Brandon didn't go for it, but I didn't think he would. He's seen Eric's fastball this at-bat, so we got him thinking some more. Now to nail his ass. I called for a breaking ball. Eric missed on this one and came in low. The count went full. It was only Eric's second three-ball count the entire game. Obviously, that pitch didn't nail Brandon. We needed to throw this next pitch for a strike. I knew it, Eric knew it, Brandon knew it, the entire ballpark knew it.
I thought Brandon would be thinking changeup, or even another breaking ball. The only fast ball he saw was an up and away waste pitch, as if Eric was afraid to throw it to him. Well, guess what? No way Eric is afraid out there. You don't get to where he is now by being afraid.
I looked at Eric standing behind the pitching rubber. I could hear the noise of the crowd, as I had this entire at-bat. But the noise made no sense. It was like everything was slowed down for a minute. I saw Eric out there and thought about the little shit who sat at the lunch table back in sixth grade and said, "Let's go win two straight State Championships when we get to high school." We all laughed at the new kid and thought it would be great fun to dream and talk about it, but weren't going to take what he said seriously.
But the little fucker didn't just say it, he did something about it. I love Eric Simmons. He has balls as big as anybody I know, maybe bigger. I wished I could walk out to the mound right now and kiss him. And to think that on Friday I thought that my pitcher fucking me would make me less of a catcher. Hell, it's an honor to have my ass fucked by Eric Simmons.
I squatted down. I flashed my signal and set my glove. For me, it was an easy call: fastball—outside corner—at the knees.
[ERIC]
I loved Kevin's call. The way my fastball has been tailing, I can almost start it a little outside and it should move over the inside corner. And if it doesn't, he gets a free pass to first. That would end the perfect game, but I would still have a no-hitter going, and more importantly, we'd still be an out away from the win with a four run lead. I stood one more moment on the rubber, taking a deep breath, remembered this pitch would not determine the game and might not even determine the at bat; after all he could foul it off.
Still, I wanted it to be the best pitch I could throw. I wanted it to be the perfect pitch in the perfect game. It was so strange to be thinking about me and my game instead of the team and our game, but that is how this has panned out.
I could hear the crowd, but as I started my windup it was just a loud buzz in my ears. I didn't need to think about my windup, it was locked in my memory. Kevin thinks a pitcher shouldn't think, he should just throw. That was me on that pitch, the unthinking, mechanical thrower.
As I let go of the ball, I could hear myself grunt and I watched it head for the plate. I swore I had thrown my best fastball, yet the ball looked like it was floating up to home plate. It was almost like it was a changeup to my changeup. I saw it stay outside as it approached the plate; it looked like it was a straight fastball that was going to be ball four.
[KEVIN]
I swear that even with all of the crowd noise, I heard Eric grunt as he released the ball. I could tell he had let go of some serious heat. It looked like it was going to stay straight and be a ball outside, but it ended up with some incredible late movement. The pitch caught the outside corner and popped into my glove; I didn't have to move it a millimeter. Now the perfect game and the State Championship rested on the man in blue who was squatting behind me.
[STEVE TURNER]
"Brandon Canton has worked a full count. He's been a tough out every trip to the plate. The perfect game is riding on this pitch. Here's the windup, the pitch, it's a fastball coming over the outside corner..."
[BRANDON CANTON]
I'll take the walk if I can get it. It ends the perfect game. Logan can get the first hit, and we start the greatest two-out rally in tournament history. We'll be the team making history, not those small town rednecks from the hills.
I'm thinking changeup here, but I'll be ready for a fastball, probably inside like the first one he threw. It's a fastball alright—looks outside—it's sliding over the plate—shit it's...
[ROBERT PERKINS, HOME PLATE UMPIRE]
"Steeeeeeeeeerike Threeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!"
[STEVE TURNER]
"That's strike three called! He did it! Young Eric Simmons has pitched a perfect game to win the second consecutive State-A baseball Championship for the Mayfield Mustangs. I don't believe it! We've just witnessed maybe the best pitched game in state high school history as Eric Simmons throws a perfect game against the powerful North Lake Orcas of Seattle."
As soon as he heard the call, Kevin tossed off his mask and ran out to the mound. He wanted to jump on Eric, but knew he would probably end up crushing his pitcher to the ground, so he crushed him with a hug instead, planting the kiss he had wanted to give him earlier.
Noah was right there with Kevin. "You did it, Eric, you pitched a perfect game," Noah and Kevin yelled together.
"No way, guys. WE did it. WE just won our championship. WE just had our dream come true. OUR dream, not my dream."
By then he couldn't say much of anything as he was surrounded by screaming, hugging teammates. None of them knew whether they were celebrating Eric's game or the team's win, but none of them really cared. For now they were happy to be celebrating anything.
It took a while for the chaos to end. Even with all of the celebrating, the postgame handshake was in order. The congratulations from the Orcas were genuine; there was nothing phony about the handshakes. When Brandon and Eric's hands met, they made eye contact with each other and nodded in a gesture of mutual respect.
As the Mustang players walked off the field, Eric was stopped by an adult, who guided him to another adult standing next to Coach Sanders and holding a microphone.
"Congratulations on your perfect game," John Post, who was scheduled to broadcast the next game, said. "How does it feel to throw the first one in State Tournament history?"
"It feels great to win our second straight championship," Eric said. Eric was beginning to wish he'd thrown the last pitch to the backstop and let Brandon take the walk. He was already tired of his accomplishment overshadowing what his teammates accomplished. But John Post was an experienced sportscaster, and he knew the right direction to take his next question.
"I hear you planned on winning back-to-back championships when you were in the sixth grade." John had read the material that Steve Turner had received from the intern. "It must feel great to have put this all together."
"It feels great to see my teammates and friends celebrating. We all worked hard to get here," Eric said. Post then asked Coach Sanders a couple of questions.
After the field was cleared, Eric, Kevin, and Coach Sanders accepted the championship trophy as the team watched. Eric received a huge cheer as he was named the tournament Most Valuable Player. He, Carl, and Justin made the All-State team, which consisted of players who competed in the Regionals and the State Finals. Justin made the team for his glove work, although he did hit 4-for-12 in the Regionals and finals.
Then the three went to the dugout and into the passageway to the clubhouse. As soon as they entered their section of the clubhouse, Coach Sanders gave Eric a huge, heartfelt hug. He was certain he would never have a player like Eric again.
"Great job, Eric. And I don't just mean the game, I mean all the years of work. Your attitude, your leadership, your citizenship, your comportment on the field was everything a coach could ask for. You are one incredible young man."
"Thanks coach." Eric knew better than to be overly modest around his coach. He and Coach Sanders knew each other too well. The coach knew what Eric had accomplished, Eric knew the coach would never bullshit him, and Eric definitely knew that he couldn't bullshit the coach.
It was time for the Mustangs to shower, hit up the postgame buffet, get on the bus, and go home. But not until after the postgame press conference, as Eric was quickly reminded. He wanted to be pissed off about it, but he was too happy, and his teammates were too happy, to let the inconvenience get to him. Lunch would wait, because duty called, and Eric had always been one to do his duty.
Next: Living the Dream