What a wonderful evening for a baseball game it was. The Thunder looked spiffy and sharp in their royal blue and gold having their photos taken before the game. There were a few clouds in the sky as we wandered onto the field.
Games and practices had been rained out, fields were mudded out, and swamps filled fields where kids usually loved to throw and kick up the dust clods.
"They predict severe storms by six."
Another parent added, "And showers and wind by eight."
"I heard there are intense fronts of rain headed our way but not until midnight!"
"I saw the radar, and it showed the storms to the north of here."
The sky was clear blue. "Don't mean a thing, if there are no clouds. It could rain anyway."
We need to play about ten games in the next couple of weeks, and yet the rains interfere.
The heat was oppressive. I hid under the canopy of my chair, let the fan of my water bottle blow air into my face. I also squirted water onto a few of the little brothers, who are growing up so fast. Just a few months ago, or so it seems, they were knee high, and now they look like sixth graders!
The kids on both teams all knew each other, we were all from Finneytown, students from the same district but split into two teams. The coach of the other team introduced his daughter, visiting from active duty in South Korea. She would throw out the first pitch. The teams stood; they applauded her throw, slapped her hand. She was in the Armed services, and everyone was honored to have her here at our game, honoring her Father with her presence.
The Thunder did very well, leading off with a hit to first by Enoch. At the end of the first inning we had four, the other Finneytown team had one. The next inning Mitchell continued pitching very steady, getting the batters out. The other pitcher could not make the strikes, and we ended up with about ten runs. One of the best hits made by Big Country Jake, was the beginning of the next inning, he belted it almost to the back sidewalk. He rounded second, but being as big as a "Monster Truck", he does not roll well on two wheels. He rounded the curve as the ball was thrown, and met it at third base. The ball passed over the glove, and he was brought home by the over throw rule.
The pitchers had to be changed on both teams. The Finneytown Grey switched to Maurice, known to all as "MO", who made a great out at first with his first play as pitcher. He continued making steady and fine pitches right through the game.
About the third inning, Mitchell complained about feeling a "pop" in his arm. A call went out for ice, and he was out for the game. BJ was all smiles and cherry-bombs when asked to pitch for him, playing Russian Roulette with the game, until he settled and started pitching the ball and playing baseball. At one time he started digging a hole with his feet in the pitcher's mound, and then covered it up again while we wait for the game to continue...
Zack had to deal with a lot as the catcher, first from Mitchell, and then from BJ. He has to deal with their throwing habits, and their attitudes. How very different those two young men are. A catcher has to pay very close attention to what the pitcher intends, and be able to chuck it to second or third, catch that high ball, bounced low ball, everything that comes his way. Zack sure does an amazing job of predicting what will happen next. It particularly amazes me to see how he can do that when BJ pitches, since he seems so impulsive to me.
With only one run for the other team it looks like we will go home at the end of the fourth inning, when the other team makes another run- eleven to two. We start the next inning, and make the game end after five innings, 12 to 2. The sun is setting on a lovely warm evening, and we are grateful to be going home a little early.
I hear the coach gave a talk about good sportsmanship, that boasting about the score was not right. After all, we are all part of the same community, the same school and we need to live together after the game. Baseball is a game, and we remain neighbors, we need to remain GOOD ones, at that.
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