Mayfield Titans

 

CHAPTER 72

SUMMER BASEBALL BEGINS

 

TUESDAY, MAY 26

 

<Aiden>

 

When Aiden woke up to his alarm, he was a little disoriented. He didn’t remember falling asleep nor did he remember setting his alarm. His plan had been to spend a couple of minutes recovering from jerking off and then call Nolan about how his family meeting came out. He remembered brushing and flossing his teeth and washing his face so all he would have to do after talking to Nolan was piss and he would be ready for bed. Instead, his casual playing with himself after climbing into his bed turned into serious masturbation and closing his eyes for a moment led him to falling asleep. Aiden turned on his desk lamp—he didn’t remember turning it off last night, but he obviously did. The Cousin Dozen weekend must have worn him out more than he thought.

 

He climbed out of bed, saw that he had texts from Gordy and Nolan, and went directly to his boyfriend’s text. It read: “good morning sleepyhead”. Aiden grinned—Nolan knew him all too well. Gordy’s text read: “I hope you had a good time at your big party. Nice the mariners won”.

 

He replied to both. “Talk to you tonight,” he texted Nolan, and he texted “See you in school,” to Gordy.

 

Larry was finishing up breakfast when Aiden came stumbling down the stairs. “Good morning, pop,” Aiden yawned.

 

“Good morning. You must have been tired last night. I checked on you before going to bed and had to turn your desk lamp off and your alarm on.”

 

I guess I didn’t remember doing those things because I never did them, Aiden thought. “Thanks. Yeah, it was a long, busy weekend. I usually can’t fall asleep at night with the light on. I never called Nolan, either.”

 

“Wow, then you WERE tired. Have you ever failed to call him before?”

 

“Yeah, and he’s missed calling me, and then, like last night, we missed calling each other.” Aiden poured some Rice Chex into his bowl, scooped up a dollop of raspberries, covered the mix with milk and a bit of sugar, and dug in.

 

“Well, enjoy your return to school.”

 

“Only eleven days left in the year counting today,” Aiden grinned.

 

“You’re staying at Gordy’s after school, right?” Larry asked.

 

“Correctamundo. His mom will feed us before practice and then take us to practice and then you or dad will pick us up, right?” The Goats’ practice was scheduled for six o’clock at the middle school.

 

“I think you have the plan down pat. I’ll see you at or after practice.” Larry took his bowl, spoon, and coffee cup to the kitchen and went to his bedroom to put on his shoes and a windbreaker. The morning routine on school days called for Larry to lay out the breakfast items and for Aiden to put everything away before he went out to catch the bus. Larry often took his stuff out to the kitchen and put it in the dishwasher since Aiden tended to put himself on a tight schedule.

 

“Good morning, champ,” Mrs. Emerson grinned when Aiden boarded the bus.

 

“Thanks, Mrs. Emerson. I hope you called Kalie ‘champ’, too.”

 

“Thursday and today. You get your second shot tomorrow, and then it’s back to normal.”

 

“Hey, it will never be normal like you’re saying since we’ll always be champions,” Aiden said as he headed up the aisle.

 

“Good point, Aiden, good point.”

 

Aiden sat next to Kalie as he usually did. “Good morning, champ,” Kalie said.

 

“Good morning, champ,” Aiden returned.

 

“Mrs. Emerson says it will be normal greetings tomorrow.” Aiden told Kalie what he had said to Mrs. Emerson. “Yeah, you’re right.” She kissed Aiden on the cheek. “You’d make some girl a great boyfriend, you know.”

 

“Kalie…”

 

“I know, I know, you’re making a boy an even better boyfriend. I was just saying.” Kalie told Aiden about Gordy having Sunday dinner with her and her family but mentioned nothing about the brief make out session in her bedroom. She figured Gordy could talk about that since she knew how easily Gordy could be embarrassed. She had given Gordy permission to share any sex they had together with Aiden if he wanted to. She also knew how close the two friends were to each other, sometimes feeling as if Gordy and Aiden had a closer relationship with each other than she and Gordy had.

 

When Aiden got to school, he found his Titans teammates to be in a state of excitement. It was something he felt as well. This was their first day in school since winning the baseball championship and they found themselves being treated like celebrities.

 

Mr. Donovan’s first morning announcement was about the Titan baseball team. “Congratulations to the Mayfield Middle School baseball team for winning the Seamount League championship with a 5-4 win over the Monte Bulldogs on Thursday. For the first time in school history, the baseball and softball teams won the league championship the same spring. There will be a special assembly on Thursday to honor our champions.”  Even though most of the student body knew about the championship, hearing the news in class and learning about the upcoming assembly generated an air of excitement.

 

“I would also like to congratulate seventh grader Mason Johnson for his fabulous rendition of ‘The Star Spangled Banner’ before Thursday’s game. Mason not only delighted staff and students, he even got into the game as an outfielder. Again, congratulations to Mason Johnson for making everyone at Mayfield Middle School proud to be a Titan.”

 

Aiden, Gordy, Miles, Riley, and Rusty, who were all in Miss Trufan’s home room looked over at Mason and gave him a thumbs up. Mason returned it with a smile and a salute. Mason had not known his name would be mentioned during morning announcements, although he should have presumed as much. What surprised Mason the most was that rather than embarrassing him, the announcement made him as proud to be a Titan as anybody in the school.

 

After homeroom, Aiden’s morning was routine until he started on his way to lunch after Core class. Brittany caught up with him before he got out of the door into the hall. “I need to talk to you real quick,” she told him.

 

“Meet me at my locker,” Aiden said knowing that his locker was located on her way to the lunchroom.

 

Gordy and Riley, who were in both Aiden’s homeroom and Core class, walked with him to their lockers. Since lockers were assigned in homeroom, the three had lockers close together. “I wonder what that’s about?” Gordy asked.

 

“I think I know,” Aiden replied. “I bet it has to do with a certain campout in June.”

 

“Who’s camping out?” Riley asked.

 

Gordy blushed when he heard Riley’s question. Aiden gave Gordy a look that said, oops, I screwed up. Since what was being planned at the campout didn’t embarrass him, Aiden decided to let Gordy handle Riley’s question. Gordy decided being honest with his friend was the best way to go.

 

“Aiden and I are going to do a tent camp out with Kalie and Brittany sometime in June,” Gordy said. “But we’ll be sleeping in different tents,” he quickly added, hoping that Riley wouldn’t get the right idea.

 

“Cool.” Riley had a ton of questions he wanted to ask, but he decided that if it was his business his friends would tell him.

 

“We’ll tell you more about it away from school sometime.”

 

“It’s cool. Don’t tell me anything that’s none of my business.” Aiden mentally gave Riley a point in his “good friend” column.

 

As soon as Aiden had his books stashed and his lunch bag in his hand Brittany came up to him. “I’ll see you guys at lunch,” Aiden told his friends. Gordy and Riley left him standing with Brittany. “So, what did you want to talk about?”

 

“Kalie wanted me to ask you if you plan on making out with me when we camp out and she’s with Gordy.” Aiden grunted as he and Brittany walked together down the hall. “You don’t have to tell me anything,” Brittany added quickly. “I’m not like Heather. I was just wondering is all.”

 

“All I can say is, I don’t know.”

 

“Okay,” Brittany shrugged. “I know you’re gay and have a boyfriend and everything, but this is gonna be a special night.”

 

“I know and I plan on being there for Gordy.”

 

“Do you think maybe if we practiced making out it would help you decide?”

 

“I don’t know, and I don’t plan on finding out.”

 

“Okay. Kalie wanted me to ask. I think she’s afraid that if I’m sleeping in a tent with you, I’ll get bored because we won’t be doing anything.”

 

“Nobody’s making you be there. And also, there’s stuff we can do without making out. We’ll have cards and a lantern and we won’t be bored. Think about it, even if we do nothing else, we’ll hear everything going on in their tent.”

 

“That’s true. Well don’t forget, I’m not a virgin, so you don’t have to worry about doing stuff with me.”

 

“I know, and thanks for asking about it. We’re friends and we’ll have fun, and you won’t be bored,” Aiden assured her. Although, there’s a good chance I will be bored, he thought to himself. The two split up when they entered the lunchroom. Brittany headed for Kalie’s table and Aiden went to join his friends at the baseball table.

 

<Aiden and Gordy>

 

After school, Gordy and Aiden headed straight to Gordy’s house and to his room when they reached the house. Gordy quickly took off his school clothes and hung them up.

 

“You look good in those black boxers,” Aiden told his friend.

 

“You sound like a gay boy or something,” Gordy grinned.

 

“Who, me? Gay? Nahhhhhhh.”

 

Aiden was sitting on Gordy’s bed admiring the body of his half-naked friend. Gordy was starting to get some muscle definition and Aiden was intrigued by it. His friend had come a long way since they met as skinny little eight-year-olds in what seemed like a lifetime ago. 

 

“You’re seeing me in my undies, so how about letting me see you,” Gordy said.

 

“You sound like a straight boy or something,” Aiden said as he stood up and peeled off his school uniform polo shirt and then his jeans. He was now stripped down to his socks and a pair of blue Hanes briefs with a black waist band. As was the custom at Gordy’s house, the shoes had come off in the mudroom.

 

“You must be gay,” Gordy said. “Being in your underwear with me has you boned up.”

 

“Do you want to feel it and make sure it’s real?” Aiden asked.

 

Gordy grinned and fondled his friend’s erection through his briefs. “It’s real all right.” Gordy let go of Aiden’s cock, sat on his bed, and indicated for Aiden to sit in the space on his right side.

 

“How did your dinner with Kalie go?” Aiden asked as he settled next to Gordy.

 

“The food was good, her parents liked me, and I got to suck on her boobs for a minute or so in her bedroom but then we had to go downstairs.”

 

“You didn’t even get to cum?”

 

“I came in my undies and all over her hand.”

 

“Sweet,” Aiden said. “I want to cum all over you.”

 

“Just like the gay boy you are.”

 

“Yep,” Aiden muttered as he leaned in, wrapped his arms around his best friend’s bare shoulders, and placed his lips against Gordy’s. Tongue was exchanged and Aiden reached under Gordy’s waistband and started masturbating his leaking cock.

 

“Let’s get naked,” Gordy rasped.

 

Aiden wordlessly rolled off Gordy and yanked off his briefs. At the same time, Gordy raised his ass and removed his boxers. Except for their socks, the two boys were naked.

 

“When does your mom come home?” Aiden asked. He wondered why he hadn’t asked that question before they started undressing.

 

“She’s subbing in Clark Pass. She told me this morning she’d be home by four-thirty or so to make us dinner.”

 

“That only gives us a half hour.”

 

“I don’t think we’re going to need that much,” Gordy said. He got on top of Aiden and started humping.

 

“Do you want to practice on me?” Aiden asked.

 

Gordy properly translated the question into, “Do you want to fuck me?” “No. I’m really horny but I just want to cum with you and cum on you and kiss you and I gotta stop babbling.”

 

Gordy then deep kissed Aiden as he slid his precum slickened cock along Aiden’s crotch and belly. Then he scooted down and sucked Aiden’s nipples like he had done to Kalie on Sunday. He thought Kalie’s nipples were sexier, but Aiden’s were much more special because they belonged to Aiden. Gordy scooted back up and went back to deep kissing his best friend.

 

Gordy again broke the kiss—this time he buried his head into the crotch of Aiden’s neck and shoulder. “Ungh…I’m gonna cum….ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh,” Gordy moaned. Aiden felt Gordy’s hot, creamy cum shoot over him. That was all he needed to send him over the top, shooting his thin, watery shots over himself and Gordy, mixing his emission with Gordy’s.

 

“Wow, that was intense, not to mention a surprise,” Aiden breathed.

 

“I swear I didn’t plan this. All I did was take my school stuff off so I could put my practice gear on,” Gordy said.

 

“Then why don’t we put our practice gear on now before your mom gets here.”

 

“Sounds good. Thanks for messing around with me.”

 

“Gordy, you don’t need to thank me for that. You’re my best friend other than my boyfriend. We weren’t messing around, we were loving each other like best friends do.”

 

“Aren’t you going to clean the cum off you?”

 

“Nope. I want to have you on me for the whole practice.”

 

“You might sweat it off.”

 

“Nah, it’ll just cover more of my body,” Aiden grinned.

 

“I love you, you know,” Gordy said softly.

 

“I know you do. And I love you, too.” Aiden pulled on his practice shirt. “Oh, and Gordy,” he continued when his head surfaced. “I just want you to know that Kalie better appreciate you because you really are special.”

 

“Thanks. I know I appreciate her for being my girlfriend, plus I appreciate you for being my best friend.”

 

They both started pulling on their sweats when they heard Gordy’s mother enter the house about ten minutes earlier than her ETA. “I’m home, boys,” she called out.

 

“Whoa, we finished just in time,” Gordy said.

 

The boys were soon eating a macaroni and cheese dinner with Gordy’s parents Flo and Aaron. Flo was a believer in feeding the boys carbs to work off in practice.

 

<Yard Goats>

 

With Yard Goat practice slated to start at 6:15, in true Mayfield Titan fashion, the players were all at the middle school baseball field by 6:00. They warmed up their arms on the  sideline since the 11-and-under Explorers had the field reserved until the Yard Goat starting time.

 

“Where’s Eric?” Aiden asked Coach Hallion. Eric Simmons had volunteered to be a part-time coach for the Goats. Working with the pitchers would be his primary duty. Coach Hallion knew the basics of pitching, but Eric had a much broader knowledge; the coach was certain that having Eric help with the pitchers would be a big plus for the Goats.

 

“Coach Simmons was hung up at work and will be around twenty minutes late. I told you at our first meeting that he would often be late. We also discussed that no matter how well you know Eric, you will be calling him Coach Simmons at all team functions,” Coach Hallion said sternly.

 

“Sorry coach. I’ll work at it,” Aiden said. He returned to warming up with Mason feeling properly chastened.

 

“Was Coach mad at you about something?” Mason asked.

 

“He wasn’t mad. I forgot a couple of things he told us about and he had to tell me again because, well, I guess I didn’t listen too well.”

 

“That happens to me all the time.”

 

What bothered Aiden the most was that he felt like he had let his coach down. Coach Hallion rarely chewed anybody out; in fact this was the first time the coach had barked at him except for the normal yelling in drills. And when he did that, he was yelling instructions not chewing anybody out.

 

The Explorers left the field on time and the Goats went right to work on fielding drills. Eric arrived a few minutes later and worked on baserunning drills and then worked with the pitchers in pairs. And suddenly it was seven-thirty and practice was over. Aiden couldn’t believe that the Goats would be playing their first game the next day.

 

When Aiden got home, he completed what little homework he had and then called Nolan. “Hey, Aiden, I wondered when you were going to call,” Nolan said.

 

“You could have called me first, you know.”

 

“I got loaded with homework. I’m still not done and was being good and following the mom rules—homework first, chat second. Unless, you call first; then, for some reason, I seem to forget her rules.”

 

“She’s mean. Which brings up what my dads told me. They said that your mean mom might be interested in a house in Mayfield.”

 

Nolan giggled and said, “She’s not mean, she’s just strict and has some weird ideas, but dad and I are getting her trained. But, yeah, she likes that house up the road from you. She surprised the shit out of dad and me when she told us that.”

 

“Can you imagine you and me going to the same school and, even better, playing on the same teams together?” Aiden said excitedly.

 

“I’ve been imagining that for a long time. What I can’t believe is that it might actually happen.”

 

“I wonder what your mother would do if I started sneaking to your house.”

 

“Oh, she told me exactly what she’d do.”

 

Aiden waited for Nolan to finish, but when he stayed silent, Aiden relented and asked, “What?”

 

“She said she’d castrate you.”

 

Now it was Aiden’s turn to be silent. Finally, he said, “That’s not so bad—it solves one problem.”

 

“What?”

 

“It means I won’t have to worry about getting you preggers.”

 

Nolan laughed out loud and said, “Sugar Cakes, I love you when you’re goofy.”

 

“Only then?”

 

“It’s all part of your big picture.”

 

Aiden told Nolan what he and Gordy had done on Gordy’s bed after school. “I love you even more when you’re a horn dog,” Nolan said.

 

“Want to jerk off together?”

 

“I’d love to dude, but I got homework to finish.”

 

“Well kick some ass tomorrow and I’ll talk to you again soon. Oh, and tell your mom I said that house is a great deal and she shouldn’t pass it up.”

 

“It would be better if I told my dad. Anyway, kick ass in your game too.”

 

“You, too,” Aiden responded. Nolan’s East Centralia team was playing Kentburg.

 

“Thanks.  I love you, Sweet Cakes,” Nolan said.

 

“And I love you more, Sugar Bear.”

 

WEDNESDAY, MAY 27

 

<Parkview High School>

 

Aiden, Mason, and Miles rode to the game with Larry. Mason’s mother would be riding to Parkview with Miles’ parents. The game would be played at the high school, which had a dirt infield, which allowed for various sized fields.

 

The Yard Goats got off to a good start in the game. Aiden hit a leadoff triple and the Goats scored three runs. Scott tossed a 1-2-3 inning, and the Goats had a 3-0 lead over the Parkview Panthers.

 

At the end of the third inning the score was 9-0 and Coach Hallion started clearing his bench. The Goats scored two runs in the fourth, extending the lead to 11-0. Aiden came in to pitch in the fourth and gave up a run in the bottom of the inning when he issued a one-out walk followed by an RBI double. The fifth was scoreless and the Yard Coats ended up with a five inning 11-1 win over the Panthers. The game was shortened by the ten-run mercy rule.

 

That night Aiden and Nolan talked on the phone. “It’s a lot harder to get scores in this league than in school ball,” Aiden said.

 

“I heard they don’t plan on updating the website until the next day,” Nolan said.

 

“That said, we 10-runned Parkview 11-1.”

 

“Good job. And that said, we beat Kentburg 6-5. Dominic went yard in the top of the seventh with a two-run shot to give us the lead.”

 

“I pitched the fourth and fifth and gave up the run.”

 

“So? Give them up when they don’t matter. Is Parkview that bad?”

 

“I don’t know. Maybe they just had a bad game. But they didn’t do much right tonight. Any more news about the move?”

 

“Mom made an appointment for us to tour the house on Saturday,” Nolan told Aiden.

 

“I wish I could do the tour with you. But I have a feeling that if I did the castration would start and I like my balls.”

 

“I like them, too. How about we get online so I can see your balls and see what it is they produce.”

 

“Sounds like a plan to me,” Aiden said.

 

The boys had a quick but satisfactory masturbation session. As they whacked their puds they told each other how they would take care of their evening horniness once they were neighbors.

 

THURSDAY, MAY 28

 

<Mayfield Middle School>

 

Mr. Donovan, the principal, reminded everyone during morning announcements that they would be on the assembly schedule to set aside the time needed for the student body to honor the softball and baseball teams.

 

The assembly was held that afternoon after seventh period. Mr. Donovan, Coach Ecklund, Coach Loomis, the softball coach, and Coach Fitzgerald, the school district athletic director, along with the school’s cheerleaders, had put together a great show. The JV players were included in the ceremony because their contributions to the program were important. The boys JV also got special recognition for winning the Seamount League East.

 

Aiden thought about what Marty and Eric had told him about middle school JV baseball having a championship playoff game back in their day. It reminded Aiden of what his dads keep telling him: “Just because things change, it doesn’t mean it’s always for the better.”

 

At the end of the assembly, everyone was instructed to go their home rooms until the dismissal bell rang. Mrs. Trufan let the students chatter among themselves for the 10 minutes until the bell rang. After the bell sounded, the class was out the door in a hurry.

 

<Mayfield Community Center>

 

Aiden’s evening was taken up by the general meeting of the Mayfield Baseball Club. The executive board had changed the tentative meeting dates set for the next week because of conflicts with teams’ baseball schedules.  

 

Since Aiden was on the club’s board, he had to attend the board meeting, which started an hour before the general meeting. Four of the five at large members played for the Yard Goats: Aiden, Mac, Trent, and Scott. which irked many of the high school players. As Aiden told Nolan in one of their chats, nobody stopped the high school players from showing up at the election meeting and electing high school board members, so they had nothing to complain about. Junior Andy Hoffman was the only high school at-large member.

 

Coach Hallion and Larry treated the four Goats along with Jackson Hallion to pizza at the Bear. Jackson was Coach Hallion’s older son as well as the board president.

 

The business at the board meeting went quickly. The board approved two requests for tournament entry fees—one from the Dynamos and one from the Explorers. The attendance at the general meeting was slim. The Yard Goats had the best representation with everyone except Max, Emmett, and Muddy in attendance. Aiden was proud of his teammates for showing up. He knew Emmett had something going on with his family and Muddy rarely showed up for Club meetings; he had no idea why Max was a no-show.

 

The only business on the floor was a vote by the members on each of the entry fee requests and a motion for the Club to pay for a picnic for the members. Parents and siblings were invited to come but would have to pay a flat $10 fee per family.  Leslie Hazen, Bob Jackson, Mac, and Aiden were appointed to an ad hoc planning committee.

 

That night Aiden and Nolan chatted before retiring. “Are you guys still looking at the house Saturday?” Aiden asked.

 

“Last I heard,” Nolan replied. “I convinced Dad to look into changing the time so I could go with you to watch the steam engine. Dad convinced mom that this was a big deal, and then mom convinced the realtor. He’s going to show the house at ten and I’ll be done in plenty of time.” The 4449 steam locomotive and the excursion train it would be hauling were due to run through Centralia at around two in the afternoon.

 

“We’ll pick you up at quarter to one to ensure we get a good viewpoint on the hill.” Aiden and Nolan planned on watching and photographing the train on the hill south of Centralia that offered a panoramic view of the tracks to the north and the south. The train would be approaching from the south. The weather forecast was for sunny weather with a few clouds. Since the hill was on the west side of the tracks, the light would be ideal for photography.

 

“Don’t you think a lot of people will be on that hill to watch the train?” Nolan asked.

 

“Pop thinks that nobody really knows about that spot except peeps around Centralia and Olympia.”

 

‘Well, my father says that the knowledgeable foamers know all about the best spots for train watching and photography. We need to make sure we get our favorite little nook. Let’s make it a twelve-thirty pickup instead of quarter to one. Those fifteen minutes might be huge.”

 

“Isn’t your dad coming?” 

 

“He’s joining the model railroad club members at the club house.” The Centralia Model Railroad Club rented the third floor of a three-story building. An antique store used the first two floors. The building was situated on the west side of the BNSF tracks and offered a great view of the downtown railroad action. Dad said I could join them, but I think the view from the hill is better plus I hear that there will be a tasty Sweet Cake there taking pictures. How could I pass that up?”

 

Aiden felt a flush of love wash over him. “And rumor has it he really loves it when a Sugar Bear is taking pictures with him.”

 

“Then how can we go wrong?”

 

The boys changed the subject to their next day’s baseball games. The Goats would be playing Clark Pass at home, while the East Centralia Scrappers would play the East Olympia Senators at home. “We get to find out who has the best East team,” Nolan chuckled.

 

“Well, at least we won’t have to go against Cal, since he pitched yesterday,” Aiden said. Cal Loggins, the Clark Pass ace, had pitched a complete game four-hitter in a 5-1 win over Winton.

 

“Who will you see?”

 

“Lenny thinks it will be Drew Pointer, who pitched on the JVs. He’s a sixth grader and Lenny says he’s pretty good. Not as good as Cal, who’s a seventh grader pitching varsity, but probably the best on the JV team. What do you know about the Senators?”

 

“Not much since their school team didn’t play in the Seamount League. They lost 7-4 to the Wildcats yesterday.” Nolan was referring to the West Centralia Wildcats. All their players were from Kennedy Middle School which fed West High School in Centralia which, like Centralia High School, was a Class AA school. Kennedy played in the South Sound League; the same league as East Olympia.

 

“You know what I think?” Aiden asked his boyfriend.

 

“You think I’m cute and really sexy.”

 

“No, doofus. I think you’re a really sexy stud. No, I think it’s really weird that I’m worried about a game with Clark Pass. Since we’ve been playing school sports Clark Pass has always been a joke—and now suddenly they’re good.”

 

“Their being bad goes back a lot farther than us. Who knows? Maybe they all quit fucking their sisters and cousins and came up with good ball players.”

 

“Yeah, tell that to some of the guys on the Goats. From what I heard before and after the meeting tonight, a lot of them don’t seem real worried.”

 

“Whatever. They must not have looked at Clark Pass’s record in school ball.”

 

“I know I did. The varsity was 8-4 and the JV was 9-3 and we’d better be ready to play tomorrow.”

 

“Well, good luck Sweet Cakes, I love you,” Nolan finished.

 

“Good luck to you, too, Sugar Bear. And I love you more.”

 

The boyfriends said goodnight and logged off, both hoping that Nolan’s parents, especially his mother, would fall in love with the Barnes house on the lake.

 

FRIDAY, MAY 29

 

<Mayfield Middle School Baseball Field>

 

As soon as he saw that the entire team had arrived at the field, Coach Hallion called for a quick meeting. “This will be quick and is essentially for the pitchers, which is a good number of you. As you were told by Coach Ecklund, the state athletic association raised the middle school pitch maximum to 90 pitches except for JV games where it will stay at 80. I was informed by the Southwest Washington League today that they are raising the maximum for all pitchers in the 13 and under leagues and above to 85 pitches. The rule will be effective starting with today’s games.

 

“If you have any questions, ask me after the game. Now, grab a baseball and get your arms warmed up.”

 

Trent was pleased to hear about the rule change. Having five more pitches to use meant he could stay on the mound for at least one more batter. Trent simply loved pitching.

 

After the Clark Pass Bucks arrived, Aiden gave Cal a quick greeting. While he and Cal hadn’t become friends by any means, something had clicked between them the times they had met. Cal was obviously pleased that Aiden had gone out of his way to talk to him and vowed to return the favor at the next opportunity. The boys agreed to meet quickly after the game and exchange contact information.

 

The game was a quick one, taking an hour and fifty minutes to play. Clark Pass starter Drew Pointer, who would be an incoming seventh grader, had pitched JV ball exclusively during the school season. His relative inexperience didn’t hold him back against the Yard Goats. While he didn’t overpower anyone, he threw strikes and kept the Goat batters off balance, giving up one run on four hits over seven innings.

 

Trent was at the top of his game as well. While he overpowered many of the Bucks’ hitters, he gave up two runs in the fifth inning which scored on a walk, a single, and a double. The result was a 2-1 loss by the Mayfield Yard Goats to the Clark Pass Bucks.

 

The Goats didn’t think Pointer was good enough to hold them to one run but had to acknowledge he was good enough that evening. The Bucks improved to 2-0 and the Goats dropped to 1-1. For the players who had been on the Titan varsity, it was their second straight loss to Clark Pass.  

 

Aiden met Cal in the park’s parking lot after both teams dealt with their after-game procedures. “Nice game by you guys,” Aiden told Cal. “You have a really good infield.”

 

“We needed it,” Cal said. “Drew only struck out four, but our infield was really busy, as you know.”

 

“He didn’t walk anybody. We could hit him, but we couldn’t hit him hard.”

 

Cal and Aiden traded phone numbers. Cal went to his car where his parents were waiting, and Aiden got into the backseat of his car.

 

“Tough loss,” Larry said.

 

“It was almost tougher than that extra-inning loss to them in school ball. That game they just plain beat us. I don’t think we were ready to play this game. I think it’s time for everybody to take Clark Pass seriously.”

 

“I can’t argue with that. Did you take care of your business with Calvin?”

 

“Yeah. I really like him. And if he beat us, it would be easier to take than losing to that Drew dude.”

 

“Aiden, that Drew dude beat you. He threw strikes and kept you off balance,” Phil said. “He pitched a good game.”

 

“I know, but…”

 

“But excuses are for losers. You guys need to bury that game and decide what you need to do is get some spark in the offense. You played well in the field, Trent pitched a whale of a game, but you guys were dead on offense. Good pitching will do that, but Drew was beatable if you had showed up with your A game.”

 

“We’ll have it our next game,” Aiden promised.

 

“Good. And when do you start working on it?” Larry asked.

 

“Right now,” Aiden replied. He knew what his pop was looking for and he gave it to him. Now, he just had to believe it was true.

 

<Aiden’s Bedroom>

 

“Well, you kinda thought things might be tough,” Nolan reminded Aiden as they Skyped.

 

“Yeah, but I didn’t think it would be that tough,” Aiden said.

 

“What were you at the plate?”

 

“Oh, for three. Grounded out to short twice and popped up to left. His stuff looked so good to hit and I wasn’t patient. I think that was true for all of us.”

 

“You guys had a good game, it looks like,” Aiden continued. The East Centralia Scrappers knocked off the East Olympia Senators 5-3. Nolan started the game and gave up two runs in four innings, striking out seven and walking two. He was the winning pitcher. The Scrappers were now 2-0.

 

“I got Calvin’s number,” Aiden told Nolan.

 

“We should invite him when we have Skyler and Greg over. Make it a big baseball player bash.”

 

“We’ll need to find him a partner.”

 

“Mason would love to sample a new cock from a different school.”

 

“You have a filthy mind, Sweet Cakes.”

 

“It’s so dirty, I want us to watch each other jerk off.”

 

“That’s the right amount of dirty,” Nolan grinned. “I think the group of us can do a wicked job of being dirty together.”

 

“Or, we can think of doing homework together at my house and taking care of business in my bedroom after we’re done,” Aiden said.

 

“I like fantasy number two.”

 

Aiden said nothing. He started jerking his four and a quarter inches, watching Nolan hammer his five plus inches as he pounded his pud. The two came close to simultaneously, wishing they could clean each other up.

 

“Have fun house hunting tomorrow,” Aiden said after they finished.

 

“You can come over and spy on me, you know.”

 

“I don’t want to remind your mom about how close I live. But, why don’t you see if they can drop you off at my house after you see the house. That way, we can go straight to Napervine Hill.”

 

“Tooooooot tooooooooooot,” Nolan called out before he signed off.

 

Next: Foaming