In the fourth and fifth innings, Robby’s domination of the Osage Bears continued. After a few strikeouts in the fifth, Robby strode off the mound confidently to take his place in the dugout. Robby knew that holding back Osage would probably not be that big of a problem, but scoring was getting to be a bit harder than what he had expected it would be. The Wildcats had managed to put a man on first, but with two outs, this inning was beginning to look like another frustrating one. Robby buried his head in a wet towel. The icy water soaked towel felt refreshing on his hot, sweating crown. “Goodbye, Graduation Carnival,” he thought to himself.
Ping! The sound of the metal bat connecting with the ball raised Robby out of his doldrums. He looked up to see the ball flying over the fence in left field. His catcher, Tim, had put them ahead 2-0. As their fans stood and cheered in the stands above, Robby got up to congratulate Tim.
“Nice rip, man,” said Robby as he met Tim’s fist with his own.
“You just keep up the lead, big man,” returned Tim. “Let’s actually win this one.”
As Tim walked away, Robby thought of all the times he had royally screwed up for his team. He knew that this time he couldn’t lose his cool.
When they took the field for the top of the sixth, the crowd’s cheers were deafening. Even Georgie was on her feet screaming her lungs out. Robby promised himself that he would not let them down. PHS had not won a conference title in nearly a decade, and he wouldn’t deprive them of another.
Robby breezed through the inning, notching his eleventh and twelfth strikeouts of the game. The Osage fans were beginning to look a little depressed by the time Robby went back to the dugout. The Wildcats failed to score in their half of the inning, so on it went to the all-important seventh inning.
Robby headed out to the dugout, ready to put this game into the bag for his team and school. He watched his opponent take his stance with the bat. Two quick strikes and Robby was ready to add strikeout thirteen to his game total for the day. That thought disappeared when the batter whacked Robby’s fastball into centerfield for a clean single. The crowd suddenly hushed, with the exception of the Osage fans, who were making their first noise for the night. Robby’s perfect game was gone. He hung his head. Coach Perkins and Tim both came out to the mound, the usual move when a pitcher loses a perfect game or no hitter late in the game.
“Don’t worry, Coach,” assured Robby, “I’ll get it all back under control. I swear.” But he knew they would worry. This moment was sort of like déjà vu. Only he knew it had happened before, but usually they had managed to pull off the win anyway. Hopefully they would this time too.
As his coach and catcher departed from the mound, Robby scratched his eye and wiped the sweat off his forehead. He readjusted his ball cap, and then nervously popped his knuckles. His eyes searched the stands, closing in on Georgie. She caught his eyes, and waved to him with a smile. He watched her as she mouthed the words, “I know you can do it.”
That was all it took to get Robby’s head back into the game. No way no how was he going to lose a date with the girl he’d been chasing his whole life. As Osage’s next batter took his place, Robby quickly pulled himself together. The first pitch was a fast, clean, straight throw. He watched as it whizzed across home plate and landed squarely in Tim’s waiting mitt. Robby’s second pitch was a fastball, a little inside on the left. He watched as the Osage batter swung and hit the ball. It soared into left field, a little too left. The umpire called it as a foul. The next pitch was also a hit, but it flew right into the shortstop’s open glove, who then threw it to second just in time to catch the runner. A perfect two outs.
As Osage’s next batter emerged from the dugout, Robby continued to remind himself to not to lose his cool. This last batter was important, and he knew if he let him on base that the Wildcats would have little chance of winning, not to mention he’d be out of a date. Robby decided he needed to put all of his heart into what would hopefully be the last pitches of the night.
Robby thrust the first pitch with all his might. It was gone before the batter knew it had been there. Strike one. For the second pitch, Robby threw a curveball that gave the batter no chance. Strike two. Before the third pitch, Robby said a little prayer to himself about both the game and his possible date. When he was through, Robby open his eyes and took a deep breath. He pulled his arm back, threw it forward, and released the ball. His eyes followed it down to the batter, where the player from Osage took a powerful swing at the ball. Robby watched nervously as the ball sailed right beneath the bat. Strike three! Robby exhaled and watched as the stands erupted in celebratory cheers for the Wildcats. Robby’s teammates rushed out to him. It was bodies on bodies as they all congratulated each other. Because there was no possible way Osage could win, the second half of the inning would not be played, and now was the time to rejoice.
Through all the pandemonium, Robby spotted Georgie making her way onto the baseball diamond. Robby broke loose from the rest of his team to meet her.
“Looks like you got a date,” said Robby with a grin. “For a second I wasn’t sure if I could pull it off.”
“Only a second?” she teased. “Not that it matters, I would have gone with you anyway. You were fantastic.”
And right then and there, Robby grabbed Georgie as she threw her arms around his neck, and they shared their first kiss amidst all the cheers and Wildcats celebrating behind them.