Little League Softball Champs

by Joe Jackson

They won another game that week, beating the Eagles in a 10 to 2 score with Destiny Johnson pitching for the Purple Panthers. Hannah Miller hit her second home run over the center field fence. Isabella Lopez also hit a home run and Madison Moore came through with four hits in five times at bat.

  At the end of the week, the league standings appeared in the Lake Forbing newspaper and Emilee studied them carefully, as she sat at home in the finished basement with Destiny Johnson, Madison Moore, and little Sofia Hernandez. The American League standings showed the Purple Panthers undefeated and leading their league. Melissa Williams’ Pink Sox were in last place.

  Destiny Johnson pointed with her finger at the paper and she said to Emilee slyly, “What do you think of Melissa Williams’ Pink Sox now, Emilee?”

  Emilee just shook her head perplexed. The Pink Sox lost their first two games and were now in last place in the American League standings.

  “Everybody wanted to play for Coach Williams,” Madison grinned, “but you’ll notice Coach Wilson’s team is on top.”

  “We’ll stay there too,” Sofia said slowly. “We’re going to win the pennant in this league and then we’re going to beat the winners of the National League in Lake Forbing and then…..”

  “Hey,” Madison broke in laughing. “We’ve only played two games so far, Sofia. We might lose the next ten.”

  Little Sofia shook her head. “We have the two best pitchers in the league,” she stated, “in Madelyn Taylor and Destiny here, and we have the best hitters.”

  Emilee sat on one of the basement benches listening to the talk. It was Saturday morning and with no league games scheduled for the day, Coach Wilson had called a practice session at the park grounds for that afternoon.

  “Lots of things we have to work out here,” coach told them after the Eagles win. “Some of you girls aren’t hitting well enough yet and the infield is a little sloppy, especially the throwing. Then there is bunting, base stealing, and sliding techniques that we really need to work on. It always helps us to practice whenever we can. We have to get the fundamentals down. We have to be fundamentally sound out there on the field.”

  It was a hot and humid Saturday in early July as the Purple Panther squad straggled down to the park playing field. When Emilee arrived with Destiny Johnson from her block, she found Madison, Isabella, and Hannah sitting on the bench waiting for them.

  Sarah was playing catch with Jasmine Brown out on the field. Maria Rodriguez and Samantha Smith were just coming up from the water cooler, sweaty and dusty. Coach Wilson drove up in a shabby little roadster she had just bought. It was painted green, at least fifteen years old and it made a great deal of noise as she rolled into the parking lot nearby. It was a real rust-bucket.

  Emilee saw Hannah Miller and Madison Moore eyeing the old car thoughtfully and then Hannah said, “Old junk-heap. Did you see Melissa Williams’ big SUV? She can get the whole team in it, almost.”

  “Well, that SUV can’t hit, can’t field, and certainly can not throw a softball so that big SUV will never win a ballgame,” Madison said from the other end of the bench. Madison had just arrived and was putting on her new softball shoes, a nice pair with the molded cleat design that all the players seemed to be raving about these days. Madison’s father had bought her the shoes after the outfielder had made three hits in the Eagle game.

  Coach Wilson hustled up. She wore baggy slacks, a faded blue shirt with the sleeves rolled up and a softball cap. As usual, she was smiling broadly, clapping her hands, full of pep. She said,

  “What do you think about a little batting practice right now, gang? I want you to think about your hitting zone, concentrating and expecting a pitch in your zone every time you get up to bat. Maria, you can do the pitching for us.” Then she looked at Emilee and said, “Everybody here Captain?”

  “Everybody, except Madelyn,” Emilee told her while looking around.

  Coach nodded. “Madelyn can not make it this afternoon,” she said, wiping the perspiration from her face. “She texted me earlier in the day to confirm that she had other plans.”

  Isabella, who had been putting on her kneepads to catch for batting practice stopped, looked at the Purple Panther coach steadily and asked, “Why?”

  Coach shrugged, “Her family left for the weekend and Madelyn had to go along with them.”

  Emilee saw Isabella’s lips tighten and there was a grim smile on her face as she walked to the plate. Emilee heard her say,

  “Must be nice to be down at the beach on such a hot day like this? Too bad we all can’t go.”

  Emilee said quickly, “I think Madelyn would much rather be here with us, Isabella. She couldn’t help it if her folks decided to leave town for the weekend.”

  “Okay,” Isabella snickered. “I didn’t mean anything, Emilee.”

  Emilee trotted out to second base and she watched as Coach Wilson worked with Sarah and Jasmine at the plate. Neither player had done much as of yet and Sarah had been especially weak, striking out four times in the two games played.

  Coach worked patiently with her skinny shortstop, getting her to change her style of batting. Sarah had been taking a full wild swing at the pitches, but coach was trying to get her to shorten her bat by choking up on it. Coach wanted Sarah to punch at the ball as it came in, just meet it with the bat barrel. Coach kept repeating, “Let the bat barrel do the work for you.”

  It took a while for Sarah to catch on and the players in the field were getting impatient. Madison, waiting out in deep short, slapped her glove a few times and kept muttering to herself that coach had made a big mistake signing Sarah with the club and that they’d do better to trade her to the lowly Eagles, or even down to the lower league in Lake Forbing, a league comprised of younger, less capable ball players.

  Emilee edged over toward the redhead and she said quietly, “If Sarah hears you talking like that, Madison, it’ll be harder for her. Sarah is trying and she is a good infielder.

  Moore laughed jeeringly. “Can’t hit, can’t field, and can’t run. What’s she good for?”

  Madison had just said the words “good for” when Sarah lined a nice ball right between Madison and Emilee. Sarah managed to hit a few more balls sharply before coach sent her out to the field and went to work with the tall Jasmine Brown.

  Sarah was not sure just where to go as she came out on the field with her glove. She looked at Madison, who was standing at short and then she started out to the outfield. As she went past the redhead, Emilee heard Moore say something. Emilee did not make out the words, but the remark could not have been complimentary.

  Sarah stopped and her face turned red. She stared at Madison for one long moment and Emilee started to walk that way, thinking Sarah was going to make an issue out of it. Sarah then turned and walked away, looking down at the ground.

  Jasmine was another gate swinger and Emilee heard Coach Wilson say to her patiently, “Keep your eyes on the ball, Jasmine. Don’t ever take your eyes off the ball when it’s coming toward the plate.”

  Jasmine’s weakness was swinging the bat from the shoulder. Coach had her drop the bat a little as the ball started to come in. This adjustment caused Jasmine to swing level and she no longer had the chopping swing she had been taking. Her swing now looked very fluid.

  Suddenly a loud metal noise was heard, not a “tink” but a “tunk” sound. They were all very surprised to see that Jasmine had finally caught hold of a ball and hit it far over Hannah’s head in center field. Coach Wilson slapped Jasmine on the back as she left the plate. Jasmine was grinning with that big beautiful smile.

  Madison said to Emilee, “That girl is going to be a hitter. Hannah Miller has never hit a softball that far in her whole life.”

  Emilee nodded, very happy that Jasmine seemed to be making strides. She played next to her on the infield and she had come to like her very much. Jasmine was quiet, but she gave her best all the time and she was working very hard on her fundamentals at first base.

  They had infield prac
tice after the batting session and Emilee was amazed at some of the stops Sarah made. Sarah covered a great deal of ground at short and her throws to first were hard and accurate. Madison Moore, on the other hand, was just the opposite on her throws to first from third. Wild and inaccurate, to describe her throws across the diamond, would be an understatement. “Where is Madison’s head?” Emilee wondered to herself.

  For thirty minutes, coach batted ground balls to each fielder while watching the way they handled the balls, making positive suggestions. Her blue shirt became sweat stained, yet her enthusiasm never let up and Emilee could definitely see the improvement on the field after a while.

  Coach then trotted out to second base, letting Destiny Johnson hit the infield grounders. She worked with Emilee and Sarah on double plays at second, showing them exactly how they were to handle the throws as they touched the bag while turning to whip the ball across to first.

  Sarah had the habit of trying to get rid of the ball almost before she caught Emilee’s throw and as a result, she threw wildly or dropped the ball, ruining the play. Coach worked with her to slow down.

  “Keep the runner off of second base. Make sure we get her out before we try for the next one,” coach grinned. “Work too fast and we lose both runners. We have to get the lead runner out coming down from first. She is the most important. Keeping runners off second base is very important in this game of softball. Remember that.”

  She taught Emilee how to whip the ball across the letters of her shirt, dragging her foot over the bag while taking Sarah’s throw and after a while, it became very smooth.

  “Don’t worry,” said coach. “We’ll get better. When you’ve done it a couple of thousand times you will be doing it in your sleep.”

  They had sliding practice after that and coach taught them how to hit the dirt, doing it herself a half dozen times, demonstrating how they had to move in toward the bag in the hook slide, falling away from the infielder’s tag, leaving only the tip of the cleats, to hook the bag with one toe.

  The Purple Panther coach was dirty and dusty when she got up to watch the players do it, her face streaked with sweat and dust. Nevertheless, she was smiling broadly, really enjoying her time here.

  The players lined up and slid into the bag one after the other with Coach Wilson standing by, watching each one, correcting them, and showing them how to avoid a “strawberry.” By keeping your hip slightly elevated until the slide finished, you protected yourself from developing a red abrasion, or a strawberry, at the hipbone. Sofia Hernandez proved to be the best slider on the team. The small girl could run like the wind and she quickly caught on to the hook slide, literally flying into the bag, then fading away.

  Isabella Lopez proved to be another good slider. Isabella was the reckless type, tearing into the base high and hard, and hitting the break away bag with great force. When she got up after one of her slides, she looked at Emilee grimly and said,

  “You know, it is a lot cooler down at the beach, Emilee?”

  Emilee slapped her on the back. “Forget about it, Isabella,” she smiled.

  “Si, si!” Isabella grinned sheepishly.

  Madison Moore did not like Sarah and Emilee noticed that Hannah would watch Jasmine Brown occasionally, nonchalantly, with a small frown on Hannah’s wide face. Hannah was the acknowledged home run hitter of this team, gunning for the big trophy and now one of her own teammates had suddenly demonstrated that she could hit a very long ball too. Jasmine might well begin to challenge Hannah for the honor.

  The practice session broke up at four-thirty. Coach Wilson climbed into her “new” old jalopy, dirty and sweaty, smiled and waved to the team, and then drove away. Emilee gathered at the water cooler with the other players for a good drink of cold water before walking home with Destiny Johnson.

  It was at the water cooler that the tension between Anderson and Moore broke out into the open. Sarah was having a drink when the redhead came up, swaggering a little, with her glove dangling from her fingertips. Emilee sensed trouble immediately and she looked around quickly to see the taillights of Coach Wilson’s car disappear around the corner. With the Purple Panther coach gone, it was up to her as team captain to keep things in hand.

  Moore said evenly, “Okay Sarah, hurry it up.”

  Sarah had just started to drink and she was thirsty. She lifted her head slightly and put it back down to the water cooler. Moore lifted her glove and slapped it hard across Sarah’s back. She said tersely,

  “You heard what I said.”

  Sarah straightened up, her face white and Emilee eased over to them hastily.

  “There’s plenty of water here, Madison,” she protested. “Let’s not start any trouble.”

  Madison Moore said grimly, “Move away, Anderson.”

  Sarah said slowly, “No.”

  Moore pushed her hard then backed away, dropping her glove. Sarah straightened up and rushed at Madison, in a full-blown rage. She slapped the redhead a few times in the face, light blows, and then Moore, known as one tough cat, knocked her down with several sharp-fisted punches to Sarah’s face.

  Emilee moved in between them, grasping the strong redhead’s arms. She said pleadingly, “Look, Madison, we can’t have fights on this team. It is not good. Sarah’s one of our players. You are both on the same team.”

  Sarah got to her feet, blood trickling from her cut mouth. She did not back down. She came around Emilee, tears of rage in her eyes, knowing that she was going to take a licking from the bigger, stronger girl, but she was not afraid.

  Moore broke away from Emilee and as Sarah rushed at her, they met with a flurry of energy, Sarah getting the worst of it again, trying to hold her ground, fighting back hard as she could, but having to retreat as Moore kept charging her.

  Again, Emilee broke in between them and this time Isabella helped her. Emilee had not anticipated Isabella as a source of help, figuring others did not want to have the spiteful Moore turn on them.

  Isabella said sourly, “Cut it out, Madison. You can lick this girl with one hand. Let it go at that.”

  Moore stepped back, pushing Emilee’s hands away. She said to Isabella, her face flushed, angry, green eyes wild, “Keep out of this, you twit.”

  Isabella looked at her. “Don’t call me that,” she said slowly.

  “Listen,” Emilee begged. “We can’t have this whole team fighting.”

  “She’s tough,” Madison sneered. “Let’s see how tough she is.” She had forgotten about Sarah, recognizing the fact that Isabella, her own size and with a reputation of her own as a tough one, was a better match.

  Ashley Jones called suddenly, “Here comes a park attendant. We all better get out of here now.”

  The park attendant had seen the fight between Sarah and Madison and was walking briskly toward them from across the field. His presence broke up both fights. Madison left with Hannah. Isabella, her catcher’s equipment under her arm, started north across the railroad tracks. Jasmine Brown went with her while the others split up in different directions, going to their homes. No doubt, now, there was bad blood between Moore and Lopez, the two toughest girls on the Purple Panther team and two of the best players.

  Later that night at dinner Emilee’s mother said to her, “Well, with two straight wins in the league it looks like your Purple Panthers are going to make a clean sweep of the American League and get into the playoffs.”

  Emilee looked at her glumly.

  “No?” her mother asked curiously. “Are you having any trouble, Emilee?”

  Trouble, Emilee thought miserably, is not the word for it. CHAOS sounded much better.

  “Tell me about it,” her mom urged.

  Emilee told her the story of the fight at the park and the remarks Isabella Lopez made about Madelyn Taylor.

  “I don’t think it’s just because Madelyn’s father is rich and Isabella’s father is poor,” Emilee muttered. “It goes deeper than that.”

  “Some girls just do not hit it off with oth
er girls,” her mother said, nodding sympathetically. “I can see you have a problem on your hands, Emilee, but keep your chin up. Things always look worse than they really are. When this team of yours really starts clicking you’ll see a big difference.”

  Emilee hoped fervently that this was so.

  GET RID OF HER