697 V2 ch169 (2/2)
Julian singled on the third pitch to Kyle in right field. Dave sprinted around third and went on home. Kyle fielded the ball and threw directly to Alex at home plate. Dave had already slid in before a tag could be made. Alex didn't dwell on it and threw the ball to Jason at third, where Noah was trying to slide in.
Jason came down with the tag.
”Out.” Stu declared.
”Noooo!” Noah flopped over onto his back in the dirt. ”I swear I was safe.”
Stu laughed. ”Sorry. The call is final.” He looked up to Mr. Miller. ”Now that the score is tied, do we let the game end or play in extra innings?”
Mr. Miller walked over to Stu. ”Better if it just ends here with a tie. Otherwise these boys will want to keep going until the day is done.”
Zeke and his team all came out of the dugout as my team came in from their positions. Once everyone was close enough, Mr. Miller announced the end of the game.
Dave squatted near Noah and lightly punched him on the forehead. ”You dummy. Zeke was up next. We could have had a walk-off win.”
Noah held the spot that was hit. ”I was safe! It's not my fault that Stu got it wrong.”
”There's no replays in high school ball.” Stu shrugged, not caring about Noah's complaints. He looked to Mr. Miller. ”Do we have to clean up here? Or can we leave it to the kids?”
”Leave it to us.” Zeke stepped forward. ”I appreciate you guys coming out here for the afternoon.” He looked down at Noah.
Noah quickly got up. ”Yea! Thanks! We appreciate it!”
”Thanks!”
”Thank you!”
”It was fun to have you guys be the umpires. Felt more real.”
Everyone started to show their appreciation to the men that spent their Saturday afternoon watching us play just for fun.
Mr. Miller waved his hands to cut us off. ”Alright, okay, we get it.” He looked around. ”It was a nice little reunion and I'm happy to be apart of it. I'll miss those of you that have graduated. Make sure you come to visit in the future if you have the chance. As for everyone else, I'll see you boys on Monday.”
Mr. Miller and Stu said their goodbyes, gathered their stuff and left us at the field.
”Monday!” Noah clenched his fists. ”I can't wait!”
”You just came from a camp.” Andy pointed out.
”So what?” Noah shrugged. ”It's not the same. The high school camp is like a long tryout. A prequel for the future season.”
Andy looked to me.
I shrugged. I wouldn't know. I wasn't here last summer or fall. I barely came in just before the season started. My tryout was strictly facing the twins and Garret's pitching.
”Let's clean up the field and make sure it looks better than when we arrived.” Zeke spoke loud and clear, and started to hand out directions for everyone to pitch in.