by Jake Maddox
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Chapter 1: The Same Old Crew
Chapter 2: Stolen Equipment
Chapter 3: Something’s Weird
Chapter 4: Borrowed?
Chapter 5: 500!
Chapter 6: Nervous
Chapter 7: Second Stakeout
Chapter 8: Haley
Chapter 9: Confession
Chapter 10: That’s What Friends Are For!
About the Author
About the Illustrator
Glossary
The ABCs of Softball
Discussion Questions
Writing Prompts
Other Books By Jake Maddox
Internet Sites
Copyright
Back Cover
CHAPTER 1
THE SAME OLD CREW
Becca rode her bike as fast as she could along the side streets, making sure to watch for cars. It was a warm June evening. The sun wouldn’t set for hours, and Becca was on her way to the first softball practice of the summer.
Becca played in the local summer softball league. She had been looking forward to starting practice since school let out a couple of weeks earlier.
Soon, Becca arrived at the softball field. Her best friend, Eva, was already standing on the field with a bunch of other girls and their coach.
Becca recognized all of the other players. It looked like the team would be the same as it had been the year before.
Too bad, Becca thought. She had been hoping to see some new faces this year.
As Becca parked and locked up her bike, Eva spotted her and ran over.
“Hey!” said Eva. “It’s the same old crew on the Lions this summer. We have Coach Jones again, too.”
“I saw her,” said Becca. “I wish there were some new girls, though,” she added. “It would be really fun to meet some new people.”
Just then, Coach Jones blew her whistle. Becca and Eva headed over with the rest of the team. All ten girls gathered around their coach.
“Hi, girls!” the coach said, smiling. “It’s nice to see you all again. I hope you’re having good summer vacations so far.” All the players clapped.
Coach continued, “Our first game is scheduled for Saturday. We don’t have much time, so let’s get to work. Give me four laps around the bases and then head out to the outfield for stretches.”
Becca and Eva jogged around the diamond together. After they’d finished four laps, they headed to the outfield. Once everyone was done running, Coach Jones led the team in stretches.
When they were finished, Coach Jones said, “Okay, everyone. Find a partner, grab your gloves and a ball, and spread out in the field. We’re going to warm up a little before we get into some hitting drills.”
Eva and Becca didn’t need to talk about it. They were always partners. Together, they jogged to the dugout and grabbed their gloves.
Becca dug a softball out of the tall canvas bag where Coach Jones stored them. Then the girls headed out to right field and started to toss the ball back and forth.
Becca and Eva had been friends for eight years, since kindergarten. They’d been playing softball together almost as long. As they tossed the ball back and forth, it was clear that they loved playing together.
Becca was tall and quick. She could throw hard and fast, so she played shortstop.
Eva was shorter and had very strong arms. That was perfect for playing catcher, which required her to throw from her knees.
Eva sighed happily. “I love softball season,” she said, picking the ball out of her glove and throwing it easily back to Becca. “Don’t you?”
Becca laughed. “You know it!” she said, smiling. Then she frowned. “Hey, who’s that over by the left field fence?” she asked.
Eva turned and squinted against the setting sun. A girl was standing alone outside the fence. “That blond girl all by herself?” Eva asked.
“Yeah,” replied Becca. “Do you recognize her?”
“No,” Eva said. “I’ve never seen her before in my life.”
Then Coach Jones blew her whistle. Becca and Eva forgot all about the unfamiliar girl.
CHAPTER 2
STOLEN EQUIPMENT
After warm-ups on the second day of practice, all the girls crowded around Coach Jones at home plate.
“All right, everyone,” the coach said. “Make sure you’re all stretched out, and I’ll go get the equipment bag.”
Becca sat down next to Eva and stretched her legs out. She carefully bent over, reaching her hands toward her feet. The stretch felt great.
Suddenly, she heard Coach Jones yell from the storage shed.
As quickly as she could, Becca got up and ran over to the shed. She pulled the door open.
Coach was standing inside. She had her hands on her hips and an angry look on her face.
“What’s wrong, Coach? Are you okay?” asked Becca, worried.
Coach Jones crossed her arms and shook her head. “The equipment bag is missing,” she said. “Who would take a bag full of balls and bats?” She sighed angrily.
“Wow!” Becca said. “That really stinks.”
“Yes, it does,” Coach Jones replied. “Well, I guess practice is over. I don’t have any other equipment.”
They walked out of the shed. Most of the team was gathered outside. “What’s the matter?” asked one of the girls.
“The equipment bag is missing,” said Coach Jones. “We’re going to have to cancel practice today.”
Everyone started talking at once. Coach Jones raised a hand to quiet them. She said, “We don’t have any equipment. We don’t have anything to practice with. I’m really sorry, girls.”
“I have an idea, Coach,” Eva said. “My house is right across the street. We have bats and a couple of softballs. Do you want me to go get them?”
“Why didn’t I think of that?” said Becca, pretending to smack herself on the forehead.
“Eva, you’re a lifesaver!” exclaimed Coach. “Go get them!”
“I’ll come with you,” said Becca.
The two girls ran as fast as they could to Eva’s house. In the garage, they found three softballs. Then Eva grabbed a couple of bats and they ran back to the field.
When they reached the team, everyone was still trying to figure out what had happened to their equipment. All of the girls were talking about it.
“Girls, we’re not going to figure it out tonight,” said Coach. “Let’s get down to business. Eva, you catch. Sasha and Ashley can take turns pitching. Laura, Becca, and Maria, you three spread out in the outfield. Not too far, though. The rest of you are going to take turns hitting.”
Becca and the two other outfielders jogged out to the grass. The two pitchers started warming up their throwing arms.
Eva grabbed her shin guards, which, luckily, she’d kept at home, instead of with the other equipment. Coach Jones helped her put her shin guards on. The girls who were waiting to hit warmed up by stretching their shoulders.
Finally, they were ready to start practicing. The first girl up to bat hit a line drive down the third base line. In the outfield, Becca hurried to grab the ball. She threw it back to the pitcher.
With a loud clang, the second girl at bat popped the ball straight up in the air. Eva had to throw off her mask to look up and catch the ball.
After a while, the girls in the outfield traded places with three of the hitters. When it was Becca’s turn to bat, she swung as hard as she could and hit the ball over the left field fence.
She easily made it around all the bases. But as one of the fielders ran to get the ball, Becca noticed something strange.
That same blond girl from the day before was back, watching them from behind the right field fence.
CHAPTER 3
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sp; SOMETHING’S WEIRD
The next day after lunch, Becca rode her bike over to Eva’s house. They sat on Eva’s porch, drinking homemade strawberry lemonade.
“So where do you think it went?” asked Eva, her eyes closed to keep out the bright afternoon sun.
“The equipment bag?” Becca asked. “Well, I’m pretty sure it didn’t walk off on its own!”
Eva rolled her eyes and laughed. “I know that it didn’t walk off on its own,” she said, looking over at Becca. “But who would take it?”
“I don’t know,” replied Becca. “It’s kind of weird. I mean, there’s a whole bunch of other stuff in the storage shed. I saw it yesterday. Footballs and soccer balls and stuff. Why would they take the softball equipment but nothing else?”
“Maybe Coach Jones just left it at her house and forgot about it,” said Eva.
“Yeah, maybe,” said Becca. But Eva could tell she didn’t really think so.
* * *
After dinner, the girls grabbed their gloves. They walked across the street to the field for practice.
As they rounded the corner of the shed, they found Coach Jones. She was looking through the equipment bag.
“Hey, the bag is here!” Eva said.
“Yes,” Coach Jones said slowly.
“Where did you find it?” Becca asked.
“It’s the funniest thing,” Coach Jones replied. “I went to the store last night and bought more equipment. More balls and bats and even a few mitts. I got here this afternoon and was getting ready to store the new equipment. And that’s when I found our bag!”
Eva and Becca looked at each other.
“This is so weird,” Becca said. “Why would someone take the bag from the shed one day and then bring it back the very next day?”
“And who would do that?” asked Eva. “I mean, borrowing the equipment bag? It doesn’t make any sense.”
“No, it really doesn’t,” said Coach Jones. She thought for a minute. Then she went on, “Well, I’m just glad it’s back. Ready for practice?”
“Yeah,” said Eva.
Becca wasn’t listening. Something else had caught her eye. The same blond girl was standing behind the right field fence again.
CHAPTER 4
BORROWED?
After practice, Becca went back to Eva’s house. As they watched TV in Eva’s living room, Becca couldn’t stop thinking about the girl she’d seen hanging around the softball field.
Becca said, “Most criminals return to the scene of the crime, right?”
Eva laughed. “What are you talking about?” she asked. “Have you been watching detective shows or something?”
Becca shook her head. “No. I’m just thinking about the equipment bag,” she explained. “I think whoever borrowed it will probably go back and borrow it again.”
“Borrowed?” Eva asked. “Don’t you mean stole?”
Becca frowned. “I don’t think so,” she said. “No one who was really stealing something would bring back the thing that they stole.”
“That’s true,” Eva said thoughtfully.
“Anyway,” Becca said, “I think we should stay up and catch whoever was borrowing the bag. If they come back tonight, we can figure out who it was. And maybe we can stop them.”
Eva thought about it for a while. Finally, she nodded.
“Okay,” Eva said. “I see what you’re saying. I’ll get Mark to set up the tent in the front yard. We can see the field really well from there.”
While Eva’s older brother, Mark, set up the family tent in the front yard, Eva and Becca gathered their supplies. They made several trips between the house and the tent with sleeping bags, pillows, flashlights, and snacks.
By the time they crawled into the tent, it was dark out. The night air quickly turned cool. Eva made one more trip to the house to find two sweatshirts that they could wear.
Finally, she crawled into the tent. “So what are we going to do if we catch the thief?” asked Eva. She opened a bag of chips and popped a few into her mouth.
“I don’t know,” replied Becca. She took a long drink of soda. “I guess we could call the police. Or we could ask the person to turn themselves in.”
“I just don’t understand why someone would do this,” said Eva.
“Yeah, I know,” said Becca, shaking her head. “We probably won’t understand until we find out who did it.” She let out a long breath. Then she asked, “Can we talk about something else?”
“Like what?” asked Eva.
“How about . . .” said Becca, pausing to turn her flashlight on Eva. “Boys!” she said in a silly voice.
Squinting in the beam of the flashlight, Eva blushed bright red. They both started giggling and didn’t stop for a long time.
The girls stayed awake as long as they could, but they didn’t see anyone near the softball field.
Neither girl knew what time it was, but the neighborhood was quiet when they both started drifting off to sleep. The excitement of the day had tired them both out.
The last thing Becca said before closing her eyes was, “I really hope our bag is there tomorrow.”
CHAPTER 5
500!
The next day at practice, everything was back to normal. No one had forgotten about the strange things happening to the bag, but everyone was excited for their game against Springfield on Saturday. It was only two days away.
After the players warmed up with laps and stretches, Coach Jones said, “Everyone grab your gloves and spread out in the field! We’re going to play 500!”
All the girls cheered. 500 was a really fun game to play. Plus, Coach Jones usually gave a prize to the winner.
“I’ll hit,” Coach Jones said. “I’ll use a t-ball stand so no one will have to pitch or catch.”
The rules of 500 were pretty simple. As Coach Jones hit each ball, she would call out a number.
Whoever caught the ball won that round, and would get as many points as the number Coach called out. Whoever got to 500 points first would be the winner of the game.
Becca knew she had to be careful, though. Coach was famous for yelling out negative numbers that would make a score go down!
“Make sure you’re listening when I yell out the points,” Coach Jones said. “Okay, let’s play!”
The softball players ran to the field. They all spread out.
“The rules are the same as last year,” Coach Jones shouted. “Everyone keep track of your own score. First girl to get 500 points wins a prize.” She placed a t-ball stand at home plate and set a ball on top.
The girls were all in position. “Everybody ready?” yelled Coach. Then she gripped the bat and swung.
The ball flew to the outfield as Coach shouted, “Fifty points!”
“Mine!” Eva called. She put her glove up to catch the ball. With a muffled thunk, the ball landed in her glove.
“Nice catch, Eva,” Becca said.
Eva grinned. “Thanks!” she said, throwing the ball back to Coach.
Coach Jones swung and hit the ball again. “Two hundred!” she yelled.
“Got it!” called Becca. She caught the ball with a smile and threw it back to Coach.
The game took up the rest of that day’s practice. Becca and Eva and their teammates ran all over the field, catching balls and sending them back to Coach Jones.
Every once in a while, Coach would yell out a negative number, just to make sure they were paying attention. Once, Eva stopped herself just in time to let a negative ball hit the ground.
The game finally ended when Coach hit a high ball that flew way into the outfield. She yelled “Five hundred!”
Since Becca was taller and faster than almost everyone else, she ran back and caught it.
“Yay!” she yelled. She’d never won 500 before. It felt great!
“Way to go, Becca!” Eva said, smiling.
“Nice job, everyone,” said Coach. She pulled something out of her pocket and held it out toward Becca. “Here’s your
prize, Becca. You did a great job today.”
Becca smiled. “Thanks, Coach,” she said. She opened the small envelope that Coach Jones had handed her. “A gift card to Pizza Moon? This is awesome!” she said. “Thanks so much!”
“You earned it,” Coach said, smiling. “See you all at practice tomorrow.”
Smiling, Becca walked off the field and headed for her bike, which she’d locked to the fence. But as she carefully opened the lock, she had the strange feeling that she was being watched.
CHAPTER 6
NERVOUS
Becca felt nervous before Friday’s practice. She always felt nervous on the day before the first game of the season. But this time was different. She couldn’t stop worrying. What if the equipment bag was missing again?
Everyone was gathered around the storage shed when Becca arrived at the field. Her stomach dropped. Not again, she thought.
When she noticed Eva running toward the field, carrying two bats and two balls, she knew that her worries were right. Someone had taken the equipment bag again.
“What’s going on?” Becca asked Coach Jones.
Coach crossed her arms. “Well, the bag’s gone,” she said sadly. “Including all the new equipment I bought. Luckily, Eva went home to grab some of her own equipment again.”
Coach sighed. Then she said, “I think I’ll have to start storing everything at my house. Or buy a lock for the shed.”
“Don’t you think the person will return the equipment again?” Becca asked hopefully. “Like last time?”
Coach shook her head slowly. “No, I don’t,” she replied. “Maybe the person felt guilty last time and returned it, but I don’t think it’ll happen again. Now, let’s just move on. Warm up. Then we’ll practice hitting.”
“But . . .” Becca began.
“No buts,” Coach Jones said. “Let’s go. We have a game to get ready for.”
