The pitcher twirled and fired behind me to try to catch me. I’d been prepared and dove back to the base. Unfortunately for Washington, both the second baseman and shortstop thought it their job to cover the bag. Their gloves collided, and the ball bounced into center field. I got up and raced to third, where I was safe. Sadly, I was stranded there.
Pitching-wise, I settled down and was now painting the corners with consistency. My curveball was breaking well, and for high school hitters, it was almost impossible to hit. It came in looking high and then broke right into the top of the strike zone as it crossed the plate. The only ones making contact were popping it up for easy outs.
I came up to bat again in the fourth. We’d managed to tighten up the score so we were only down 3–2. Once again, on the first pitch, I was hit. This time, the pitcher threw at my head, and I got clipped on the top of the helmet. If I hadn’t reacted, it would have been in my ear. That one got my dander up.
“Are you intentionally trying to hurt me?” I yelled as I pointed my bat at the pitcher.
The pitcher didn’t act as tough when he saw the bat in my hand. I honestly didn’t plan to beat him with it, but the umpire wasn’t taking any chances. He wrapped me up.
“Easy. Let me do my job.”
“He better be gone,” I said so that only he and the catcher heard me.
“I got this, son. Go take your base,” the umpire said, and then ejected their pitcher.
The umpire pulled both coaches together and read them the riot act. The next errant pitch, and both the pitcher and coach would be gone.
I stole second again. This time, I was rewarded when I ended up scoring to knot it up, 3–3.
In the bottom of the seventh, the score remained tied, and I was up again. I stood in disbelief when they drilled me for the third time. The pitcher tipped his hat to me and jogged off the field, knowing he’d been ejected. Their coach gathered his charge in and started to the locker room, as he’d been kicked out as well.
Yuri had taken my spot in center field and followed me two batters later. The latest Washington pitcher had done a better job of holding me at first, so I hadn’t advanced as yet.
The count was even at one-and-one when Yuri got a pitch he could handle. He hit a slow roller to third. All the third baseman had to do was scoop it up and throw Yuri out at first, and we would have been going to extra innings. Instead, he tried to force me out at second.
Neither the second baseman nor the shortstop expected him to throw them the ball, so it flew into the outfield. I got on my horse and raced around third. Coach Haskins taught us that we had to be aggressive on the base paths and force the defense to make plays.
I might have been a little too aggressive because the throw beat me home. The catcher braced himself, expecting me to try to knock the ball loose. Instead, I slid to the side and reached with my hand. It slid across the plate before the catcher could put the tag on me.
We’d fought our way back to win 4–3 against a conference rival—all in all, a good day.
◊◊◊
After we’d shaken hands, I’d signed autographs and then showered. We quickly left for the airport. Darius and Dr. Rossetti were waiting for Fritz, Cassidy, and me when we pulled up.
Manaia had flown back to LA to pack for a more extended stay. It had been decided that he would help supplement my security here because I now had fans showing up at school and our house. Today’s game had been our first sellout. If you follow high school baseball, you realize how unusual that is. Usually, you’re lucky if parents show up for games.
With all that going on, Fritz made the call to add to our security. Fritz had also supervised the installation of the drone security stations. That was the novelty that drew the neighbor kids to our property. They would come to watch as the drones would either react to something or do a routine run around the yard.
If nothing else, I predicted the kids would help Dare figure out how to program the flock so it did its job. He and Fritz had been busy all week, working out the bugs.
Fritz would be flying with us today to help Grace’s security team configure their own security, utilizing Dare’s drones. The kid looked about ready to jump out of his skin when we boarded the plane, he was so excited. This was his first time in a smaller plane, and he acted like my niece when you let her fill up on sugar. I put Cassidy in charge of answering all his questions as I ran through our preflight checklist.
I appreciated that Roy came out and quizzed me on everything just to confirm what I already knew. After making sure all the luggage was stowed and everyone was secure, I got into the pilot’s seat with Fritz on my right while Cassidy fumed in the back seat. I looked back, and Dare was white-knuckling the armrest when the engine turned over. He was watching me like a hawk. I glanced over at Fritz and winked at him.
I put a confused look on my face. After all, I’m an actor.
