The Baseball Game.

By: Melissa (Doc)

Part 1

"That was a strike!" Josh screamed from third base.

"Okay, I know nothing about baseball, but I know for a fact that what Sam just threw me was not a strike," CJ screamed back.

"It was over the plate!"

"It was not!"

"It was too!"

"Shut up!" Toby screamed from the dugout. "That was a ball."

"It was a strike!" Josh screamed again.

"Don't make me come over there Lyman!" Toby threatened.

"Fine. Cheat your way through life. I'll know the truth," Josh snapped back.

"Shut up!" Everyone on the field and from inside the dugout yelled.

"Fine," Josh said quietly and started kicking some dirt on the base.

"Come on Claudia Jean, knock it out of the park!" Toby encouraged.

"Come on Sammy boy. Show me what you got," CJ said while getting into hitting position.

"Don't yell at me when I strike you out CJ," Sam smiled and pitched. CJ eyed it carefully and actually hit it when the ball arrived at the plate.

"Oh my God. I hit it," CJ said to herself as she watched the ball fly into left field.

"Run!" Toby screamed when all CJ did was stand there, watching the ball fly away from her.

"Oh yeah." CJ snapped out of her shock, and ran down the first base line, still holding the bat in her hands.

"Drop the bat." Toby said as she ran in front of the dugout on her way to first base.

"Oh yeah." CJ threw it into the dugout on accident, causing everyone to scatter. "Sorry!" CJ yelled over her shoulder as she continued running. She jumped on the base when she arrived.

"I can't believe she hit it," Toby said to himself.

"Ed, throw the ball back!" Sam yelled.

"Oh, sorry," Ed smiled and threw it back to Sam.

"Ginger, you're up," Toby said after looking at his clipboard.

"Toby, I seriously don't want to bat."

"Why?"

"Because I suck at it," She stood as Toby started to put her helmet on.

"No you don't, just remember what I said. Be the ball," Toby said seriously.

"Be the ball?" Ginger repeated completely confused at the meaning.

"Be the ball," Toby smiled and patted Ginger on the head of the helmet, causing it to move down, completely covering her face.

"I can't see," Ginger muttered, trying to lift the helmet back up.

"Sorry." Toby fixed it and pushed Ginger out of the dugout gently. "We have two out. You can do this." He encouraged.

"Be the ball," Ginger repeated to herself as she stopped just outside the batters box.

"I'll be easy on you," Sam smirked

"Let her have it Sammy," Josh called from third base, adding a wicked laugh as he tried to scare her.

"What's wrong?" Sam asked after a minute had passed.

"What? I'm ready." She shrugged in ignorance.

"Ginger, get in the batters box!" Toby screamed from the dugout.

"Oh, right," Ginger moved up closer to the base. "Ready," She smiled. Sam nodded and pitched. Ginger let it fly right passed her.

"Strike one!" Josh smiled.

"Josh, I'm warning you," Toby glared. "Come on Ginger!" He focused his attention back on her.

The next two pitches, Ginger let them go right passed her. Not once even attempting to swing.

"You're out!" Josh went running into the other dugout that serviced his team. "Our turn."

"Ginger, you didn't even swing," Toby mentioned when she arrived back at the dugout to drop of her bat and get her baseball mitt.

"You told me to be the ball." She looked at him with wide-eyes.

"Yeah." He nodded, not understanding what the problem was.

"Well, if I were the ball, I wouldn't want to be hit by a large bat," Ginger stated seriously and went to grab her mitt.

"Here," CJ handed Toby his glove. "If Josh gets up to bat, please hit him with the ball." She said and walked over to cover first base.

"Yeah," Toby got the baseball and did a few practice pitches before Sam came out to bat.

"Knock it out of the park Sam!" Josh yelled from the dugout that sat next to third base.

"Bring it on." Sam smiled at Toby and got into hitting position. Toby smiled back and got ready for the first pitch. He thought of the perfect pitch and threw it. Sam could only watch it fly pass him.

"What the hell was that?" Josh yelled. "At least swing at the pitches!"

"Shut up Josh," Sam snapped at his friend over his shoulder. "Is that all you got, come on." He got back into position, keeping his eyes on Toby.

TBC