The pitcher threw one into the dirt for a ball. Suddenly the ump called time and signaled to the Pirates’ coach. “That’s eighty-five,” Derek heard the ump say. “I’ll take the ball, son,” he told the frustrated starter.
The Pirates’ new pitcher was a lefty, Derek noticed. He wondered if their coach had put him in just to pitch to the left-hitting Avery.
If so, they were in for a shock. After watching the new kid throw his warm-up pitches, Avery calmly walked around to the right-handed batter’s box and took a few practice swings.
Derek smiled as he saw the coach’s eyes go wide with surprise. A switch-hitter! Oh, well, Derek thought with amusement. There was nothing the coach could do about it now.
Avery let one pitch go by, taking a strike. She might have been new to playing ball, but for years she’d watched every game her older brother had played. He’d been headed for a college baseball scholarship—until the car crash. That had been a year ago. Now Avery was playing to honor his memory. Derek knew that was why she took it so hard when things went badly.
Avery let another pitch go by, a ball that evened the count at 1–1. Then she lined a fastball right back at the pitcher, who ducked, protecting his face with his mitt.
Incredibly, the ball stuck right in it! Realizing he’d caught it, the pitcher threw quickly to second, where the shortstop tagged Harry before he could get back to the base.
Double play!
“NOOOOO!” Avery screamed in fury, smacking her bat hard onto the plate, then kicking the dirt before heading back to the bench.
There was no consoling her. She angrily shook off pats on the back, then plunked herself down at the very end of the bench, alone and despairing.
“Hey, we’re not done yet!” Derek called out, meaning it for her, even though he didn’t dare look her way.
Ryan came to the plate, with Pete on third and two out. Ryan was their season RBI leader, and once again he came through in the clutch—lashing a double down the left field line! Pete scored easily to tie the game, 2–2.
After JJ popped out to end the inning, Coach K offered Avery the ball. “You good for one more inning?” he asked. She nodded, took the ball from him, and marched out to the mound for the top of the fifth.
After getting the first two outs, though, she seemed to tire. Her pitches were all over the place again, like in the first inning. She walked two, then gave up a double that scored both the Pirates’ runners!
Coach K walked slowly to the mound, took the ball from her, and motioned for Harry to come in from third to pitch. Tre’ entered the game to play third, and Avery walked slowly to the dugout, never once looking up from the ground. She sat down so heavily that it seemed to Derek she never meant to get up again.
He wanted to tell her that he understood, that he was feeling a different version of the same thing. He wanted to tell her not to give up, that the Yanks still had plenty of fight left, and that a 4–2 deficit wasn’t an impossible mountain to climb—not with six outs left!
But there was no time to talk. Harry was done warming up, and the game was about to resume.
Harry threw one pitch, and it was enough. The hitter smashed it just to Derek’s right. He snagged it, planted his foot, and threw a BB to first for the final Pirates out of the inning!
In their half of the fifth, the Yankees brought the bottom of their batting order to the plate, to face yet another Pirates pitcher—a righty this time. Derek saw that this one’s pitches started off looking good but then faded, winding up in the dirt. They looked tempting, but they were more like fish bait.
After two strikes, the Pirates’ pitcher finished Elliott off with a high floater that dropped in for a third strike. Derek took careful note.
“Hey, Vij,” he said to his friend in the on-deck circle. “Don’t bite on those fastballs. Wait for the high, slow pitch.”
Vijay gave Derek a nod and a wink as he walked to the plate.
“Come on, Vij,” Derek muttered under his breath. “Keep it going, man…. Get me an at bat.”
Vijay took two balls in the dirt, then swung hard at the floater. He cued it off the end of the bat—just a dribbler, really—but it took a crazy bounce, and Vijay wound up beating the throw, for a single!
Derek clued Mason in too, and he worked a walk. Suddenly, with men on first and second, it was all up to Derek!
This time he didn’t just need to get on base. He didn’t need to take a strike. He needed to hit one as hard as he could and tie up this game!
The first pitch he saw was the floater—the pitcher had obviously decided to trick him by changing his pattern. Derek waited on it, then leaned in and whacked it to left.
He took off running like a shot. Vijay and Mason raced around to score ahead of him, and Derek wound up on third with a super-clutch, game-tying triple!
The Yankees and their fans were going wild with excitement. Even Avery was up and shouting now.
Derek could feel the blood pounding in his head. He’d done it! Now, if only they could finish the Pirates off…
The pitcher, clearly rattled, hit Pete in the butt with a slow curve. Pete yowled comically, rubbing the sore spot as he limped to first. The Yankees laughed and clapped, enjoying themselves now. The Pirates, meanwhile, stood staring glumly as their playoff dreams evaporated before their eyes.
Harry put the icing on the cake by creaming a
