The Kernels outfielder had missed the ball, so both Mandi and Tara came in, too.
“Way to go, Tara!” Joelle shouted as Tara crossed the plate.
After that, Leah struck out. And Paula was thrown out at first to retire the side. But all in all, it was a great start.
“Come on, Mandi,” Joelle clapped her friend on the back as they headed out to the field. “Show them what you’re made of.”
“Don’t worry, I will.” Mandi gave the ball a toss in her mitt. She struck out the first three batters in order. One, two, three.
At the end of the first inning, the score was Green Sox 3, Kernels 0. Somebody in the stands whistled sharply.
Hopefully this game won’t be too easy, Joelle thought. She wanted to win, of course, but she wanted to work for it a little, too. Besides, the crowd always liked a close score.
As the game went on, the Kernels pitcher learned how to handle the Green Sox. In the third inning, she struck out Paula, Tara, and Leah. And the next time when the Kernels were up, they scored three runs.
“We’re tied now,” Nikki moaned as the Green Sox headed back to the dugout.
“That’s okay. We’ll score again this inning,” Joelle said confidently as she wiped her forehead with a towel.
Luckily, they did. Elizabeth scored a run. She was so excited she ran over and hugged her dad after she crossed home plate.
“Way to go, honey!” he said as Elizabeth laughed and jumped around. “That’s my little slugger.”
“Dad!” Elizabeth stopped jumping. Her face was as red as her hair. The Kernels scored two more runs that inning, too, which put them one ahead of the Green Sox.
“Give it up, Green Sox!” one of the Kernels called as the two teams switched places at the top of the fifth.
“Try and make us,” Tara shot back.
The Green Sox dropped their gloves, grabbed their water bottles, and plopped down on the bench.
“Hey, look. It’s not just Channel 6 that’s here!” Brooke noticed as Paige went up to bat. “Channel 9 from Cedar Rapids came, too! Wow.”
All the girls turned. Sure enough, there was a tall guy in a baseball cap standing on the other side of the fence behind third base. He carried a large camera with the Channel 9 logo on his shoulder.
“He’s filming us!” Mandi squealed.
“People all over Eastern Iowa get Channel 9!” Leah exclaimed.
“Come on, Paige!” Brooke called. “Let’s score this inning. We want to look good on TV!”
Paige struck out. But the Green Sox scored three runs that inning, bringing their total to 7. The Kernels closed out the inning at 5.
The Green Sox scored one more run in the sixth. Then it was the Kernels’ final turn at bat.
“Come on, Mandi,” Nikki said, “Strike ’em out, one, two, three. Just like you did in the first inning.”
“I’ll try,” Mandi said.
She struck out the first two batters easily, but the third batter nicked the ball as it made its way to Nikki’s mitt.
“Strike one!” Coach Shaw called.
Mandi wound up and fired again. The batter swung. The ball went down the foul line and bounced out of bounds. “Strike two!” Coach Shaw called.
“Come on, Mandi,” Joelle yelled. “Just one more.”
Mandi paused. Then she stepped forward and fired the ball with all her might. It sailed straight into Nikki’s mitt.
“Strike three!”
That was it. The game was over. The Green Sox had won, 8–5.
All the Green Sox and Kernels players ran out on the field. “Good game! Good game!” They passed each other in two long lines, shaking hands.
The crew from Channel 9 recorded the whole thing. A newscaster Joelle recognized from billboards all over town whipped out a microphone, put on a wide smile, and said for the camera, “This is Lydia Morris. I’m here with the Greendale Green Sox and the Chesterfield Kernels after a truly exciting ball game. That’s baseball, folks.”
Joelle and Elizabeth exchanged glances. The way the newscaster said “exciting,” you’d think she’d played in the game herself.
“I want to point out to all you viewers that these are all-female baseball teams. No boys allowed, right, girls?” Lydia smiled again for the people at home.
“Yep, girls only,” said one of the Kernels.
“So what’s it like playing on an all-girls’ baseball team?” Lydia thrust her microphone in Leah’s face.
Leah stepped back a little. “It’s uh … great,” she said, obviously unprepared.
“The Eastern Iowa Girls’ Baseball League rocks!” Nikki called out loudly from the back of the crowd.
All of the girls laughed and cheered.
“But we need more players,” Brooke added, stepping forward. “Come join the Green Sox!”
One of the Kernels next to her gave her a playful shove. “Join the Kernels!” she said, shouting into the microphone.
Lydia took a few comments from the coaches and from Mrs. Holmes and Mrs. Fenner. Then she finished her report by urging anyone who was interested in playing or helping out with the new girls’ baseball league to contact either Coach Shaw or Coach Kennedy.
Still beaming, Joelle turned to see if her family was anywhere in sight. But she suddenly found herself face to face with Coach Carlyle. And Ryan.
Joelle’s glove slipped from her hands. “Uh, hi, Co—I mean, Mr. Carlyle,” she said as she bent to pick up her glove. Her heart was pounding harder now than it had during the game.
Coach Carlyle just looked at her and nodded. “Good game,” he said finally.
“Thanks,” Joelle said carefully.
Coach Carlyle started to move on, but Ryan hung back. “I think I see now why you wanted to do this rather than play for the Hawks,” he said.
“Really?” Joelle said in surprise.
Ryan grinned. “Yeah. This baseball league of yours is big! Practically the whole town is here!”
Joelle grinned back. What could she say? It was true.
“It’s so weird,” Joelle said to Jason as she leaned against his car later that afternoon. “Before we moved to Greendale, I never even thought about playing on an all-girls’ baseball team.”
Jason tossed his duffel bag into the trunk. “And now you actually helped form one,” he said. “Way to go, Jojo.”
“We’re all proud of you,” their dad said, coming up and putting an arm around Joelle.
“I guess I’ll have to get started on a women’s league now,” Mom said.
“Just let me know if you need any pointers, Mom,” Joelle teased.
Jason walked around to the side of his car. “So, do you still want to come back to Minneapolis and move in with me?” he asked Joelle. He held open the door. “Hop in, Pest.”
“Move in with you?” Joelle cried. “Are you crazy? You’re a total slob!”
They all laughed.
Jason turned to hug Mom and Dad, then Joelle. “See, I told you things would work out,” he said.
“I still wish you were here with us, too,” she said. “Then everything would be perfect.”
“I’m not that far away,” Jason said. “And I’ll be back for the summer. I’ll call you, okay?”
Joelle grinned. “Yeah, sure you will.”
As she stood on the front porch with her parents, waving good-bye to Jason, she thought about how much things had changed lately.
She’d thought moving to Greendale was the end of the world. But instead it turned out to be just the beginning.
Things were going to be okay here, Joelle could tell. And if something suddenly wasn’t okay … well, then she would just have to do something about it.
Author’s Note
Sliding into Home is a work of fiction. Greendale is not a real town. Joelle and her friends are not real people. But Joelle’s situation is very real.
I got the idea for this book when I read a newspaper article in the late 1990s about a young girl who wasn’t allowed t
o play baseball. Intrigued with her story, I looked on the internet to find more information. During my search, I discovered that other girls who wanted to play baseball had been told no. Girls all across the country are still being told no.
When I looked back at the history of baseball, I couldn’t understand why young women would ever be denied the chance to play. Women have been playing baseball since the game was invented. Vassar College, a prestigious all-women’s institution, was founded in 1865. Within a year, Vassar had two baseball teams. Shortly thereafter, several other women’s colleges also had baseball teams. The players wore long-sleeved shirts with high necklines, wide skirts that hung to the ground, and high-button shoes. But it wasn’t long before disapproving mothers forced all of these early teams to disband!
During World War II, while many of the male Major League ball players were off fighting in Europe and the Pacific, the All-American Professional Girls Baseball League was formed. Young women played in this league from 1943 until 1954. The popular 1992 movie A League of Their Own was based on these players’ experiences.
Today there are more than twenty-three all-women’s baseball teams throughout the world. As of this writing, the Women’s Baseball League (www.baseballglory.com) is in the process of obtaining approval for the American Athletic Union (www.aausports.org) to sanction girls’ baseball in the United States.
The Pawtucket Slaterettes Girls Baseball League in Pawtucket, Rhode Island is a real girls’ baseball league. And they really do have a website at www.slaterettes.com. This league has been around since 1973, when nine-year-old Pookie Fortin wanted to play baseball with the Pawtucket Darlington American Little League (DALL). That organization did not allow girls to play on their teams and refused to let her join the league. The young girl’s family took DALL to court. Pookie never did play for DALL, but her situation led to the formation of the Pawtucket Slaterettes Girls Baseball League.
Perhaps there will come a day when any girl who wants to play baseball will be able to. The Women’s Sports Foundation (www.womenssportsfoundation.org), is another organization that is working toward that goal.
While writing this book, I corresponded with several girls around the country who were eager to play ball but couldn’t, for one reason or another. I hope to hear soon from girls whose baseball dreams have come true.
We all have dreams—and that’s what Sliding into Home is really about!
—D. H. B.
All rights reserved, including without limitation the right to reproduce this ebook or any portion thereof in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, events, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2003 by Dori Hillestad Butler
Cover design by Paul Casale
Book design by Melanie McMahon Ives
ISBN 978-1-4804-6708-8 (ebook)
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