By Emily
“I thought you didn’t like jocks.” Robby went back to his warm-up pitches along the first base line. He had no time for her right now. He was preparing to pitch in the season’s biggest game, and he knew he would have to concentrate if he planned on beating Osage High for the conference title.
“I never said that,” began Georgie. “I just don’t date them.” She smiled at Robby and winked slyly.
Robby knew that first hand. All through high school he had tried to get her to go out with him, but he had been turned down time and time again. Now, just over a month remained until graduation. Robby felt that focusing on trying for a ball scholarship was more important than some girl making eyes at him for kicks. “I really don’t have any time for this,” said Robby, echoing his own thoughts.
Georgie watched Robby’s near perfect pitching skills. He felt her eyes searing into him. “Well, you never answered my question. Is this game in the bag or what?”
Robby knew what she was asking. Lately, he’d been losing his pitch near the end of the game, and due to this his teammates were having to work extra hard to make up for his mistakes. He hoped to God that didn’t happen today. “Yeah,” he said, attempting to mask his own fears. “I’ll bet we beat Osage today.”
“Well, you sure sound pretty confident,” commented Georgie. “I’ll bet a guy with that much confidence has no problem finding a date for the Graduation Carnival. Girls are probably lining up for a night with you.”
“To tell you the truth, I haven’t really had a whole lot of time to think about it,” answered Robby. “I’ve been busy with baseball practice and scouts coming to watch me all the time.” He hoped he hadn’t laid it on too thick. The truth was, he wanted to go with her. “Who’s taking you?” he asked.
Georgie noticed that he seemed interested. “Well Robby,” she replied, “It just so happens that I’m not going with anyone…not that you’d care, right?”
“Maybe, ya know, if you want…”
“Got something to ask me, baseball star?” teased Georgie.
“Well, if we win this game tonight, would you let me take you?” Robby couldn’t believe that these words were coming out of his mouth. Again. He should have remembered all the other times she’d pretended to be interested just for the fun of letting him down.
“What do I get if you lose?” Georgie countered. “I think if you lose, you have to cut your hair. Short.”
Robby reached back and felt his shoulder length dark hair. It was his trademark. He felt it made him look tough on the pitcher’s mound, maybe even mysterious. But then again, hair always grows back, so he took her challenge.
“There’s just one more catch,” she added. “You gotta hold them scoreless. Take it or leave it. It shouldn’t be all that hard, Mr. Pro Scouts Are Bothering Me.” She walked off as she said this.
Robby watched her as she left. He almost didn’t hear his teammates calling his name, telling him to join them in the dugout. He headed in just in time to hear his coach give them a little pep talk before heading out onto the baseball diamond.
Upon taking his position, Robby scanned the field. On the other side, Robby watched as the Osage High Bears took their places. Robby took a deep breath of the clear air. He loved all the scents of baseball. The dust and sweat mingled with aromas of popcorn and hotdogs, all on a platter of fresh-cut grass. He rolled the game ball around in his hand, really getting a feel on it.
Robby waited for the referee’s okay and looked at the batter crouching there, waiting to play. Robby inhaled deep, and watched the ball sail across home plate. He exhaled. The batter looked at Robby, clearly surprised. Robby smiled to himself. “That one was just for show,” he thought as he found Georgie’s smiling face in the stands. He grinned at her and turned back to the game.
For the rest of that inning, the Wildcats managed to keep the bears from scoring. Actually, Robby had kept them from hitting the ball at all. Unfortunately, PHS had also been unable to score. “The Bears are better this year than they were last year,” thought Robby to himself. It was true, last year PHS had demolished them, and this year they were actually managing to hold their own.
In the first half of the second inning, Robby struck out three batters in a row. Now, it was Robby’s turn to bat. He wasn’t as comfortable batting as he was pitching, but he knew he had an above average ability in all aspects of baseball. He decided to swing at the first offering near the strike zone. On the first pitch he connected and sent a hard ground ball deep to the short stop. With as much speed as he could muster, Robby took off down the line. The throw to first base beat him however, and he was sent back to the dugout to join the rest of his waiting team.
