1Jayna stepped up to the plate. Her hands tightened around the baseball bat and she expertly loosened and tightened them again, letting the grip work it's magic. She got into her stance and made sure her helmet was on straight. Her legs stayed parallel to the diamond and she pulled her arms back as far as she could, to give herself enough force for when the ball came. A bead of sweat fell down from her forehead and dropped onto the gravel covered white plate.

The ball came fast and hard, zooming straight out in front of her. She swung the bat with all her might. Her eyes had closed instinctively and her whole upper body had pivoted with the movement of her legs. There was, however, no familiar crack of wood and leather meeting at 70 mph. There was nothing, just air whooshing by.

"STTTTTRRIIIKE!" called out the umpire from behind her. She heard the catcher snicked as he threw back the ball.

"Nice miss, Drake. God, you're so bad at this, it'll be a miracle if they let any girls play next year, you stupid cunt," he whispered to her as he crouched back down.

Jayna's eyes shot over to him, fury seething out of them. If looks could kill... She closed her eyes and tried to calm down. She had to make this hit, the team was depending on it. They were depending on her. She was the best hitter on the team, despite what the catcher said. She took a deep breath and go into her stance again. This time the ball made contact.

Crack! That lovely sound she knew so well, which always meant run, run, run! So she did, without even thinking. She got all the way to first base before she knew that the umpire was shouting "Foul! Foul ball! Strike two!" The ball had gone left, deep left and out of the field. Some small child had picked it up and was throwing it back to the pitcher. Then pitcher caught it and for a split second made eye contact with Jayna. He smirked. Then, in a swift motion that looked like he was brushing something off his chin, he dragged a finger across his throat.

She groaned and turned back to head back to home. She had just picked up her bat when the coach of the other team called a time out. Jayna leaned on the bat and surveyed the scene. She had a runner on second and third, both itching to get home. The score was in favour to the other team, 18 to 17. It was the last inning. There were 2 outs. They needed Jayna to hit her boys home.

The other team's coach talked to the pitched and the catcher, who had just jogged up from behind the plate. The coach was talking quick whisper; you could see the boys straining to hear every word. He pointed vaguely in Jayna's direction. She looked around slightly and saw her coach walking towards her. She took a few paces towards him, not wanting to stray too far from the base.

"Jayna, are you all right?" He asked quickly.

"Yeah, I'm totally fine. It's those guys who seem troubled," she said, jerking her thumb at the other team's pitcher and company.

Her coach chuckled. "I know, you've never let me down and I know you never will. But Jay, hon, I know there's a first time for everything, but don't let this be the first, ok?"

She looked up at him and grinned. "No problem, Ted," she said confidently. He patted her on the shoulder and walked back to the dugout. She watched him go then turned to the pitcher's mound and shouted, "Come on, I haven't got all day!" The crowed laughed at this and she smiled politely at the other team's coach. He looked at her in disgust and continued talking rapidly to his pitcher and catcher.

The umpire looked at his watch and shouted, "Play ball!" The coach looked up and talked even faster. The boys looked even more intense now. "Coach," shouted the ump, "Get off the pitch!" The coach obeyed but continued to give his players hand signals as he left.

Jayna just smiled. Now that she had hit on of the pitches, she knew she could hit another, no problem. She feel, yet again, into her stance. The pitcher was taking cues from the catcher, shaking his head until he saw the right pitch, then he nodded. His left leg lifted off the ground and he leaned slightly to his left. His hands, once together cradling the ball, separated; the left making a graceful arc down towards his left thigh. The right one pulled back with the ball and made a complete circle. As it neared the original position, the ball suddenly shot out of it.

She didn't have to duck. She only had time to see white and flecks of red zoom towards her face. She didn't have time to react. She just watched it. It was like slow-motion. It didn't even hurt, more like hitting your funny bone. Not really pain, just that awkward feeling. Then, all was black and it felt like she was falling for an eternity.