The Ballpark Part 2 the Game

It only took about ten minutes for me to warm up, so, I had time to play catch with a friend on my team. The line-ups were given to the umpire, the umpire yelled two of my favorite words, “Play Ball”. We were the visitors, so we batted first. Our games were between four and six innings long, depending on the time. Our games were limited to one and a half hours. I was a good hitter, so I usually hit third in the line-up. A ground out, then a strike out, it was my turn to bat. The count went to 2-2, then the pitcher made a mistake, it was right over the plate; I slapped it to left field for a single. The coach signaled me to steal second. I was a very short kid, but also very fast. On the first pitch I was off and running, and got my first stolen base of the season. Our next batter was our clean-up hitter. He slammed the first pitch over the center field fence. It was great to score, but more fun to watch Johnny do his homerun jog around the bases. The whole team mobbed him at the plate, then the next batter grounded out to the first baseman. I was happy to have a 2-0 lead as I threw my warm-up pitches. The catcher caught the last pitch and pegged it down to second. I took a second to enjoy the moment under the lights, got the signal from my catcher and fired my first strike. I struck out the first two hitters, then the third hitter lined out to the second baseman and the inning was over. The other pitcher and I were both on, and the rest of the game was scoreless. I finished all six innings with eight strikeouts. I only allowed one walk and two hits in my 2-0 shutout. I had a walk and another stolen base to finish the night. Mom and dad took me to Dairy Queen for a burger and fries. My dream had come true, I played at The Ballpark. My team won, I pitched well and got a hit and two stolen bases. We went undefeated that year and the next. We won the league championship both years. My dad got a new job and we moved from Texas to Oklahoma. Everything in my life changed, but it didn’t matter; my dream came true!