Luke Schmitz

10/25/17

Realistic Fiction #2

Idec-Lilly

Out of the Park

He stood there, staring at the little white ball laying in the right field grass. Sweat dripped down his cheek as the sun beat down on him. He had failed. He let everyone down. “WILL! Grab the ball!” The scream snapped Will back to reality. He picked up the ball and then looked up to the Infield. All he saw was the other team celebrating at home base. We lost. If only I had caught that fly ball. But I let everyone down, again.

“Will, you idiot!” Manny Grey, their teams shortstop, began to run after Will from the infield. Manny’s, large build was intimidating in contrast to Will’s small scrawny figure. In fear, Will bolted over the right field fence like his life depended on it. At this point, it practically did, If his team caught him, he’d be dead meat. The rest of the team followed Will and Manny in hot pursuit, throwing rocks, baseball mitts, and anything else they could find at Will. Will, fearing for his life, began to weave his way through backyards and alleyways, With dogs going crazy at the sight of the chase. It didn’t do much for him though, as his team was still right on his tail.

“I’m Sorry!” Will screamed in fear, figuring surrender would work out best for him.

“No Will, this is the last time you lose us a game!” Manny yelled, throwing his fist out, ordering his troops to charge at the enemy.

“YEAH!” The team chanted in unison. They began to pick up the pace, more determined than before. Will picked up the pace too. This was the last thing he had wanted to do on a hot day like today, but what should he expect, with his whole baseball team hating him. He’d hate himself too though, he’s terrible at baseball but still stays on the team. But he couldn’t quit baseball, not yet. But at least he can’t get any worse at baseball.

After a while of running, Will began to slow down from exhaustion. It wasn’t to troublesome for him though, because his team began to let up a bit too. It was also challenging to run on concrete with cleats on. Will pushed with all of his energy one last time to make it to a small shaded area covered by trees in the park. The leaves were bright green since it was in the peak of summer. He ran to one of the trees that had a small hole dug out below it, covered up by leaves. Will dove into the little hole, he’d made it just for this situation. His team caught up to the shaded area, but he had hid just in time.

“Where’d he go?” asked Max Hill, their team’s center fielder. Will could barely see who was talking through his shield of leaves.

“He got away again,” mourned Jack Torres, their team’s first basemen. Everyone was breathing heavily from their chase, so that covered up any sounds Will may have made.

“Whatever, we’ll just get him after our game on Saturday,” suggested James Brown, catcher for their team.

After the team left, exhausted from playing a whole baseball game and then running around town, Will made his way home. He walked down different streets on his way to his house. It wasn’t long walk, but Will’s legs hurt every time he did it. As the sun began to set, the street lights all turned on in unison. The only places open now where pubs and the one seven eleven they had in town. Will walked up to a bright blue two story house. Will made his way over to the house and then took a key out of his bag, and put it into his front door.

“I’m home!” Will called out with No reply. Not to Will’s surprise though, both of his parents worked late. He sat on their brown couch in there front room and took his cleats off. He used this time to rest his legs, before throwing a pair of gym shoes on and heading out to his backyard. In his backyard were nets, baseball tees, and different exercising equipment. He walked over to a his garage, that had a bucket of baseballs and a bat leaning on it. Will picked up a ball and bat and threw a ball up in the air, taking a swing at the ball with the bat, sending the ball into a net.

Every kid Will new envied his baseball equipment, It was expensive stuff, but Will’s parents wouldn’t buy him all this baseball equipment for no reason. It was actually Will’s brother Matthew’s equipment that his brother used while he was in highschool. Matthew didn’t use it anymore though, so Will did instead. It wasn’t uncommon of Will to use this equipment though, he practiced in most of his free time. He’d been practicing even more lately, because his team was about to go up against their rivals, the Little Creek Bees in two days. If his team lost this game because of Will, they’d get him for sure, and have no mercy. This was only motivation for Will to try harder though, as he practiced through the dark, eventually being so exhausted that he could barely move. Will crawled his way back into his house, and headed for the couch, eventually passing out on it.

Two days later, Will was on his way to his team’s game against the Bees. His whole school would most likely be their. He couldn’t mess up, doing so would mean execution by embarrassment. He was extremely lucky to make the team in the first place, but if he kept screwing up, they’d take him off the team for sure. When he made it to the field, he saw that the stands were packed for both teams, with everyone cheering for their respective teams. As he walked into the dugout, he was met with his team all giving him dirty looks. Will hooked his bag up on the fence and tried to avoid eye contact with the other players.

After warming up for a while, the game began. The players were each called out to the field one by one, announcing their names and positions.

“Batting first, First basemen, Jack Torres. Batting second, catcher, James Brown…” The announcer continued until he reached Will, “...Batting last, Right fielder, William Moore.”

His team was batting first. Jack Walked up to the plate without a shred of doubt in him, he was as confident as ever, with a smirk dawning his face. The crowd was going wild, cheering as loud as they possibly could. This only encouraged Jack. The pitcher went into his windup and pitched the ball.

“STRIKE!” Everyone stood shocked for a moment. The ball was thrown so fast that looked as if it had teleported into the catcher’s mitt. This game wouldn’t be an easy win. His team hadn’t seen this pitcher before, and weren’t able to prepare for him.

A few strikeouts later, and Will’s team was out in the field. The last at bats had killed the teams spirit already, and it seemed like the game was already lost; and Will could do nothing. He was just stuck in outfield, a spectator to the game he was in.

A chance, that’s all WIll needed, a chance to prove himself. But instead he was stuck in right field, trying to find different ways to occupy himself. The burning sun didn’t either, if the team’s hope wasn’t already drained, then the heat would do it.

As the third inning came and went, the fourth inning arrived. Will would finally bat this inning, but only after Max Hill batted. Max walked up to home plate, with no confidence whatsoever. No one could blame him though, not one person on the team could hit this pitchers ball, or even get on base. Max had a formidable figure, easily the largest player on their team. No one in the dugout was cheering at this point, a sad sight indeed, and it definitely didn’t help with Max’s confidence.

Will couldn’t stand the sight, the sport was supposed to be fun, not a chore. He was lost in thought as he put his helmet over his dark black hair. Then suddenly he had an idea. A way to win. Will hesitated in putting his plan into action though, doing so might aggravate his teammates. Will cycled through pros and cons in his head, conflicted in his idea- “Strike two!” The umpires call snapped Will back into reality. Without thinking, Will yelled out:

“Come one Max! You’ve got this! Hit it out of the park!” This caught everyone off guard, but the passion in his voice was enough to rally his team- almost.

“It’s not that simple,” argued Jack, less peppy than usual. He would usually be all for some cheering, but he was in a bad mood and already disliked Will in the first place. “You wouldn’t know though, you’ve always just been a nuisa-” BING! The crack of the baseball on the bat cut off Jack with a bang. Everyone sat in awe… and then cheered.

“RUN!” Max hit the ball, sending it flying to the outfield.

“NICE HIT!” He rounded first base.

“WAY TO GO MAX!” Indistinct shouts roared from the dugout and stands out into the field. Will looked out in amazement, this was real baseball. Everyone cheered as Max stood victorious on second base with a double- But now, Will was up. He slowly made his way to the plate. His team’s cheering stopped. With even more pressure than before, Will shakily pulled up his bat. A chance, the chance that he’d been waiting for, he could bring a run home if he got a good enough hit. The pitcher went into his windup and then pitched.

“STRIKE!” The umpire called out. Already down in the count. Don’tMessUpDon’tMessUpDon’tMessUp, Will repeated it over and over and over again in his head, hoping that something could come of it. But nothing came. He felt the same as before, no extra strength or added confidence.

“Come on Will! Hit it out of the park!” The cheer caught Will of guard. He eyes darted over to the dugout to see James cheering. Will stood there, stunned. The rest of his team began to follow suit:

“WILL! WILL! WILL!” It was truly a sight for sore eyes. Will walks back into the batter’s box and pulled his bat up. The pitcher pitched the ball:

“STRIKE!” Will’s heart was racing, even with everyone rooting for him, he couldn’t do it. He couldn’t even go into the batter’s box. His hands were shaking in fear. His brother would’ve done better. The cheering becomes background noise and Will’s mood changes and it’s easy for the crowd to see to. Your not as good as him. Will struggles for control of his thoughts, it was true, he was nothing compared to his brother’s skill.

“COME ON WILL! DON’T MESS UP NOW YOU IDIOT!” roared Jack from the dugout. Yeah. Will was back in this, he had everyone backing him up now. The Pitcher pitched the ball. DING! Will hits the ball soaring into the gap between second and first base.

“YEAH!” The crowd went wild. Will couldn’t believe it, the unimaginable feeling. He dropped his bat to the ground and then sprinted to first base, a race car fueled by the cheers in the stands. His cleats gripped into the dirt, pushing him forward with every step.

“GO TWO!” Will rounded first base and headed to second. Then, destroying his triumphant mood, he saw the ball flying in from the outfield towards second base. Will picked up the pace, now racing against the ball. He slid into second.

“SAFE!” Will stood ecstatic of his victory on second base.

The game went on and the cheering continued through every inning. In the end they lost nine to six, but it didn’t feel like it. The team celebrated at their comeback, closer than ever. That night at home will thought about his day. He did it. It took awhile; but he did it. He didn’t do what he had tried to do in the past. Instead of trying to be like his brother, he tried to be his best. Through trial and error, he eventually found his way.