AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Okay, so, first off I would like to thank you guys! Thank you for all of the reviews and favorites and alerts. It really means a lot. I love to hear feedback from all of you! I hope you all are enjoying this story so far and continue to!

I do have to admit that I am not a big fan of this chapter. It just helps the plot, though. It's necessary for continuing and adding Riley into the story.

Anyway, enjoy!

My prayers for some sort of miracle in Scott's favor seemed to be answered when Benny jogged over to my brother. I watched as Benny gave Scott some sort of advice. My younger brother looked a little relieved when Benny went back to home plate to bat again. I held my breath as Benny sent the baseball flying towards Scotty again. With his glove in the air, Scott closed his eyes. The ball fell right into his glove, perfectly. I let out a gasp. Scott looked just as shocked as I was. The other boys were wide-eyed and I couldn't help but cheer. Yeah, in their little jerk faces.

Scott threw the ball (another shock) to Bertram. The boys seemed to find some new respect for Scotty. Jokes were made (the good kind) and they even started to give Scott some tips. They played a few more innings before deciding to call it a day. The other boys went their own ways, while Ham, Scott, Benny and I all walked back towards our own houses. We all told Ham goodbye as he walked in to his own house, which turned out to be only a house away from ours. We agreed to meet again at eight A.M. Before we could walk inside, Scott called Benny back.

"Benny, wait! Your glove!" he shouted after the older boy.

Benny waved his hand dismissively. "Keep it, man."

"Thanks!" Scotty replied, sounding extra excited.

I had walked onto the porch when Benny called after Scott this time. I leaned against the house and listened to him talk.

"Bring a t-shirt and jeans tomorrow, okay? Oh! Um, do you got a fireplace?" Benny asked and Scott nodded. "Throw that hat in there, man."

I couldn't help but laugh. It was a pretty dorky looking hat.

"Oh, yeah. You know, it was the only one I had."

Benny shook his head and pulled a hat from his back pocket. He handed it to Scott. "Not anymore. Wear my old hat."

I smiled. That was actually really nice of him. You could tell that Scott really appreciated it, too. He ran past me for the door, calling for our mom. I giggled and looked over to Benny's house. He was still standing on his own front porch, looking towards me. I blushed but hid it with a wave. He nodded his acknowledgement and then stepped inside. I did the same.

Inside, Scott was excitedly retelling the story of the sandlot to Mom. She was smiling just as wide as he was. I'm sure she was glad that Scott was finally making friends.

"What about you, Ri? Did you make any friends?" she asked me once Scott was done.

I shook my head. "I just watched Scott play baseball."

"Why didn't you play, too?"

"Yeah!" Scott chimed in, agreeing with Mom. "You should have! You're a great thrower."

I laughed and corrected him. "Pitcher. And they don't want to play with a girl. No matter how great of a 'thrower' I am."

"I'm sure they would have let you," Mom replied, with a sweet smile. She obviously didn't understand how pre-teen boys worked.

The weeks following were spent with Scotty improving his baseball skills greatly and me watching it all from the sidelines. I was definitely having some proud older sister feelings the whole time. Something seemed off, though. I noticed that Kenny wasn't his usual self. He kept quiet and didn't smile much anymore. One day, he didn't show up to practice. Benny looked upset.

"Kenny moved," he stated to the group. Everyone exchanged shocked glances.

"What do you mean Kenny moved? He was just here yesterday!" Ham replied.

"I just went to his house and out front there was a moving van," Benny answered. "Kenny was outside and told me they had been packing for weeks. He just didn't want to tell us 'cause he thought we'd be mad."

"What are we going to do without him?" Squints asked. "He was the best pitcher of all of us!"

Scott's head shot up and he gave me a wide-eyed look. I knew that look. It was his 'I've-got-a-great-idea-look-but-it's-actually-prob ably-a-horrible-idea' look. Getting what he was thinking, I shook my head wildly at him.

"I know someone who can replace him!" he said to the rest of the group. I reached over to shut up him but he dodged me. The other boys looked at him expectantly. "Riley!"

As I expected, they all started laughing. It was apparently the funniest thing they had ever heard.

"She can't play," Ham choked out between chuckles. "She's a girl!"

Even after hearing this same argument for years, this still made me angry. I crossed my arms over my chest and glared at him.

"I bet I'm ten times better than you," I challenged, smirking at Ham.

"Yeah, right," he scoffed, rolling his eyes. The other boys nodded their agreement.

"I'll prove it," I replied. "Unless you're scared that you'll lose."

I knew exactly what I had to say to make him upset. It must have worked because he balled his hands into fists and glared back at me.

"Fine," Ham huffed. "But don't cry when you lose."

I stood on the pitchers mound, adjusting my baseball glove. I pulled my hair back into a ponytail and fixed my hat up so it wasn't covering my eyes. I took a few deep breaths and kicked at the ground; nervous habits of mine. Not that I was nervous. I was just stalling. I knew it would irritate Ham.

"Oh, come on!" Ham shouted on cue. I smiled to myself. "I don't got all day!"

I stood up straight and took the baseball from my glove. An idea sparked in my mind. I was having way too much fun making Ham angry. I threw my first pitch, purposely making sure it went far over his head. As the boys howled with laughter, I pretended to look embarrassed.

The second pitch, I wasn't faking anything. I was going to show them just how good I was. Ham smirked as he watched me prepare for it. I couldn't wait to see how cocky he was after I threw. When I did, it flew past him, right into Benny's glove.

Strike one.

"That was a lucky throw," Ham mumbled.

I readied myself again, waiting for Ham to raise the bat. When he did, I wound up and pitched.

Strike two.

Ham was turning visibly red. He was practically steaming with anger. The boys in the field went silent. They stopped jeering and just stared. But I didn't worry about them. I had one more pitch to prove them wrong. I was going to make the most of it. So, I gathered up all of my own anger and narrowed my eyes on the boy standing on home plate. I pulled my arm back, ready to strike him out. I held my breath and closed my eyes as the baseball left my hand and went soaring towards Ham.

I heard a faint whooshing sound and then silence. Slowly, I opened my eyes to see both Benny and Ham staring at me in shock. I spun around to look at the other boys. They too were at a loss for words. And then, out of nowhere, Scotty started shouting.

"Yeah, Riley! Woo! Great job! See, I told you guys!" he yelled, walking in from left center field. "I told you!"

Strike three.

"I did it?" I questioned quietly to myself.

"Yeah, you did," a voice said from behind me. I looked up to see Benny, who had an approving look on his face. He looked to the sandlot boys. "Are there any objections to Riley playing with us?"

If anyone did, no one said anything.