Curveball by Rich Wallace Page A

and jackets onto the bench in the third-base dugout.
    Eddie scanned the spectators and found his parents and Irene. He knew they would be there. But he was surprised to see his brother with them, too. Lenny stood up and lifted his fist as he caught Eddie’s eye. Eddie gave the same gesture in return.
    Coach pointed toward left field. “Out there,” he said, and he started jogging that way, leading his players.
    Spencer and Miguel put the team through some jumping jacks and other exercises, then made them drop for crunches. The players ran a few short sprints, then fell into pairs to throw baseballs back and forth.
    Eddie noticed that his brother had moved down from the bleachers and was standing along the fence. He tossed the ball to Ramiro and jogged over.
    Lenny reached out his hand and Eddie shook it.
    â€œHad to cut a class, but I wouldn’t miss this for anything,” Lenny said. “Biggest game of your life, huh?”
    â€œSo far,” Eddie said. “Tomorrow will be bigger…we hope.”
    â€œOne at a time,” Lenny said. “We’re really proud of you.”
    â€œMe, too. Proud and nervous.”
    â€œTake a deep breath, little brother. In a lot of ways, it’s just another game.”
    â€œDoesn’t feel like it.”
    â€œYeah, but make believe that it is. I mean, play harder than you ever played in your life, but keep your wits about you. You hear me?”
    â€œYeah.” Eddie nodded and looked back at the field. David was throwing hard now, zeroing in to get ready to pitch. Lamont and Spencer looked intense as can be as they stretched near third base. Miguel was sitting on the ground, reaching for his toes, staring at the backstop.
    Lenny had been through this sort of playoff pressure a million times. It was easy for him to say things like that. But Eddie knew he was right. The clutch players always came through, no matter how much pressure they were under.
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    Jamal—the shorter guy with the big curve—was pitching for Liberty, but he’d learned not to be so rigid with his pattern. And he’d added a decent change-up to the curve and his fastball. The Hornets went three straight innings without getting a base runner.
    David had been efficient as well, but Liberty had squeaked across a pair of runs by capitalizing on two walks, a throwing error by Spencer, and a bloop single into right. So the Hornets were down, 2–0, as they came to bat in the fourth, even though Liberty had managed only one base hit.
    Eddie leaned against the dugout fence as Lamont strode to the plate. Lamont had been in a bit of a slump, and he’d struck out to start the game.
    He took Jamal’s first pitch for a strike, but smashed the second one deep into left-center. Eddie stood on tiptoes to see over his teammates, and he felt a surge of energy as the ball cleared the fence for a home run.
    Lamont leaped high into the air as he rounded first base, breaking into a huge smile. Several Hornets left the dugout to slap hands with Lamont as he rounded third. Eddie and Jared met him at the plate with big embraces.
    The pitcher stood with his hands on his hips, a blank stare on his face. The umpire tossed him a new baseball, and he caught it in his bare hand.
    â€œJared!” yelled Spencer. “Keep this thing going, buddy!”
    Suddenly it seemed like a different pitcher out there. He threw four bad pitches to Jared, putting the tying run on first base.
    Eddie took a deep breath and bent down to wipe some dirt off his shoe. Then he stared at the pitcher until he made eye contact. Eddie allowed himself to smile slightly, letting this guy know he had no fear at all.
    The Liberty coach called time out and walked to the mound. He spoke calmly to his pitcher and tapped him on the shoulder. Then he jogged off the field, adjusting his glasses as he went.
    Eddie looked over at Jared and nodded. Things just felt right all of a sudden.
    The pitch was fast