Storm vs. Rogues — Game 4 (Rogues Lead 2-1)

I knocked on the steel door leading into the visiting team clubhouse, standing outside the ballpark, one of the busiest blocks in downtown Shamar. The response was almost immediate; the door swung out towards me, the applied torque giving momentum to its revolving motion such that I had to back away quickly to avoid being struck, but the gloved hand holding onto the knob slowed the door to a halt halfway open, preventing the possibility of such a collision.

A familiar face stood in the doorway as expected, his signature dull red fur illuminated from how bright the day was. The expression on his face was blank at first, but it lit up a second later.

"Sonic! Long time no see." I chuckled. "You know practice doesn't start 'til two..."

"I know," I interrupted, darting past the tall hedgehog. I stopped and turned around, surprised that he didn't stop me in my tracks. He looked at me blankly again and shrugged. "Well, I'll see ya on the field." I waved at him before turning back around and dashing through the locker room, out onto the playing field, devoid of any intelligent life. I took in the fresh air all around me. Wow, did I ever need that.

R/R Sonic - RF #15
L/L Verne - CF #8
R/R Knuckles - C #3
L/R Storm - DH #20
L/R Jet - LF #1
L/R Wave - SS #2
R/R Marine - 3B #11
R/R Sonia - 2B #5
R/R Manic - 1B #0

"How you feeling, Verne?" I greeted the ivory bat as he ran out to his position during practice.

"You know I'm liking things right now," he replied, tossing me a ball.

"I guess I do," I chuckled, catching it into my mesh glove. "Have you played baseball before?"

"You mean before we went into all this?" I nodded. "I have, actually. My dad taught me how to play when I was five."

My face lit up at that remark. "Well it certainly shows." I tossed the ball back. "I haven't seen a performance like yours since Zenith started playing. You've just been tearing it up."

"You know, I always wanted to play against him." He trapped the ball in the glove attached to his right hand. "I never imagined getting to play with him, though."

"I see what you mean," I remarked. "But he knows you're good. You've been playing your heart out these last few games, and that's how you got a spot on the team."

"Just, wow." He tossed the ball again.

"But don't take my word for it. Take it straight from the horse's mouth," the horse referring to Zenith because he could still pitch nine innings every game after all these years. "So who's pitching today?" I inquired as I caught the ball.

"That would be Tails," he replied.

"You reckon he'll be ready to go?"

"He should be rested enough. He gave us five strong innings three nights ago."

"Alright..." I sighed, scratching the back of my quills for a few seconds. "I just hope he doesn't overwork himself."

"He'll be alright."

R/R Jeff - CF #9
R/R Mina - SS #18
L/L Flame - RF #24
R/R Kyle - C #6
L/R Crush - DH #25
L/R Rocky - 3B #16
L/L Shonen - 1B #77
R/R Tron - LF #51
R/R Clay - 2B #30

Only time would tell, it seemed. His opponent was Demitri, standing atop the mound as if it were his own. I grounded out to Shonen to begin the game. Verne flew out to Tron in left, and Knuckles struck out on four pitches. On defense, Tails displayed a similar level of dominance, striking out both Jeff and Mina, then getting Flame to fly the ball to right field, which I easily settled under and caught to end the frame. Things continued as such for the most part, despite the unusual multitude of base hits collected from either side, until the bottom of the fourth inning, when Crush the Badger knocked the ball into the gap at left center field, deep enough to dig into second base, beating the throw to Sonia by three steps. Rocky followed it up by grounding out to Sonia, allowing Crush to take third. Shonen then lined his first pitch such that Manic just missed diving for the ball, trickling into the outfield for me to throw back in only after Crush plated the opening run.

Rogues 1, Storm 0.

In the following frame, Sonia drew a walk after fighting off seven pitches. Watching from the on-deck circle, I could tell that the pressure to perform was trying to weigh down Manic. Nevertheless, he swung at the first pitch, a chopper that bounced high into the air. Curiously, both Demitri and Shonen ran to where the ball was about to land, but by the time Shonen fielded it, Manic had reached first safely without a throw, Sonia advancing to second meanwhile.

I walked slowly into the batter's box and looked all around me, staring through the angry fans in the stands, their rhythmic chant only growing louder from last night. I turned to face Demitri square in the eyes, holding my sticky up behind me, but I couldn't help but notice both Manic and Sonia, two hedgehogs I was blessed to call brother and sister, on base at the same time. I dropped the bat beside me, and suddenly I was back to pondering where all this time had gone. After I'd previously retired from baseball, I hadn't really kept in touch with... anyone. Trying to stay fast was the only thing I could think about, and I could understand if they had a problem with it. I often tried to remind myself who I was as motivation to do nothing but run. After a while, however, running gradually became monotonous such that I was essentially fighting fire with fire when it came to killing my boredom. In that sense, that chance meeting with Knuckles was nothing short of a miracle.

I let the first pitch zoom past me, a fastball down the middle for a strike. I took a few practice swings within the batter's box before holding the bat behind me, signaling that I was ready for the next pitch. However, Demitri wouldn't throw. He just held the ball, occasionally looking towards Sonia at second base, of which I didn't see the point as I'd never known Sonia as a particularly fast hedgehog. Finally he threw the ball high into the air at first, with the spin of the ball creating a magnus effect that pushed the ball back into the strike zone. The ol' Uncle Charlie. The next pitched ball zoomed past me, well out of my reach. I took some more practice swings within the batter's box and, upon Demitri's release of the ball, swung the bat square with the ball, knocking it wherever, before dropping the bat and chugging to first base. I only thought to look up after I'd stepped on the bag. Not seeing where the ball was at first, I quickly shuffled back to the bag, while Manic was dashing for third base and Sonia was making a run for the plate. I finally found the ball darting from somewhere in left field towards third, the burly mole on defense trapping it in his glove and lunging it towards the forest-green hedgehog with the shaggy hair, who slid head-first to beat the tag as Sonia meanwhile simply stepped on home plate owing to the lack of a throw.

"Safe!"

Storm 1, Rogues 1.

Manic extended his "thumbs-up" gesture towards me on the opposite end of the diamond. I simply smiled and waved at him.

Following my display of still being able to hit after all these years, Verne stepped up and smacked the first pitch high into the air, sailing down center field. I jumped off my six-step lead, but stopped halfway between the bases as the speedy buck settled under the ball. I retreated to first after he made the catch, while the wacky-haired green hedgehog broke for home with the ball just hoping to chase him there, the throw from the center fielder cut off by Clay at second base. Ball in hand, he proceeded to stare me down, laughing at any notion I didn't have of stealing a base, while Manic reached home easily as if sneaking past everybody. The ol' sacrifice fly.

Storm 2, Rogues 1.

That was all we were going to get, as Knuckles grounded into a double play. After Mina flipped the ball to Clay to force me out on a close play, he took his sweet time darting it to Shonen to get Knuckles out and end the inning.

Tails wasn't exactly known for his dominance on the mound. His long tosses to the plate were just that, seeming to take their time to reach the glove of Knuckles. However, the break he put on each ball was sharp enough to force some nasty swings out of his opponents for much of the game. Entering the bottom of the sixth inning, he started to approach every batter by taking more time than usual. This may have helped him at first glance, as he got Flame to chop the ball straight to Manic for the first out... on the eighth pitch of the at-bat. After that, both Kyle and Crush earned free passes on six pitches each. Now their patience was paying off. Before Knuckles threw the ball back, he jumped up and ran towards the mound to chat with the fox on the mound, who seemed jto be all ok-yep-I-got-it-Knux, like any pitcher would say in a typical mound visit.

Tails took even more time dealing to Rocky, throwing once every thirty seconds or so. Every pitch was a battle within itself, with the pitcher throwing anywhere with as much curve as possible and the batter getting a piece of the ball, but knocking it foul still, keeping the count at two strikes. Finally Rocky popped the ball straight up as if almost going invisible. For sure it wasn't going to reach me. Instead, Manic and Sonia scuttled a few steps inwards before Tails called it off for himself, prompting both hedgehogs to scuttle back. The umpires guarding first and second base both signaled the infield fly rule, making Rocky out by default. The fox caught the ball anyway, likely a good idea since Kyle, as the lead runner, was probably not going to steal third anytime soon.

As Shonen trotted towards the batter's box, he mouthed something towards Tails, who just stood intently on the white rubber mark at the center of the mound, watching the hitter's every move. Knuckles stood up slowly to his feet, staying in his position as the pesky hedgehog wearing the number 77 finally stepped in, readying the bat. However, the fox waited ten seconds before throwing the first pitch, forcing Shonen to back out of the box to avoid it. Perhaps he felt that the hedgehog was trying to gain an edge on the outer half of the strike zone by crowding the plate. Shonen apparently yapped something else towards the fox, suggesting that he felt he was being targeted at the same time. Knuckles simply remained crouched behind the plate and Tails retreated swiftly to the mound after receiving the ball back. His next throw went to the opposite side of the plate, missing the glove of Knuckles entirely and colliding with the backstop. As Knuckles ran back to get the ball, so did the pair of baserunners, nonchalantly slowing down halfway to second and third base. After that display, the fox's return to the mound was far less swift, showing a dejected feeling. Knuckles stood up just before Tails thought about throwing the next pitch and ran back to the mound, where the fox began to let his frustration seep through, frantically shaking his head as he yapped some things, presumably having nothing to do with the batter, who just stood there, taking a few practice swings. The echidna simply patted the fox near the shoulder area and then trotted back behind the plate, in front of the home plate umpire who pulled a protective mask over his face to signal that the game was about to resume, and so it did with the next toss from Tails, which landed softly in Knuckles's glove for a strike. The echidna looked menacingly at the runner on third base before throwing the ball back. Just seconds later, the fox threw the ball again, inducing the batter to swing below the pitch, thinking it would dip that low again. Two balls and now two strikes.

"Alright!" I shouted. "You got 'im, Tails!"

I guess he didn't hear me. When he caught the soft toss from Knuckles, the middle-aged fox anxiously stuffed the ball into his glove over and over. Meanwhile, I began half-bouncing in place, for even I could no longer bear to watch this at-bat and see everything potentially go wrong. The fox leaned towards the plate, his twin tails just flying in place instinctively in an attempt to distract the hedgehog in the batter's box. After the fox released the ball, Shonen immediately pulled his sticky back behind him, getting ready to swing. And so he did, keeping both hands sturdy on the bat through his gigantic follow through that came close to nailing Knuckles's catcher's mask. Shonen was now making a dazed and confused face that told the whole world that he had struck out.

Tails immediately pumped his fist and walked slowly towards the dugout, stopping at the foot to say something to Zenith. I sat next to the fox sitting at the end of the dugout bench.

"Hey Tails. Did you tell him you were done?"

The fox nodded.

"How have your latest inventions been coming along?"

The fox sighed. "I haven't really been moving along with them. I feel like, maybe I lost the motivation a long time ago."

"Story of my life," I chimed in.

He just stared intently towards me. Then he continued, "At least you have a reason to run now."

"Every time I get onto the field, that's true. During practice... on defense... at the bat."

"You know, I hadn't seen you with a baseball since you last played."

"Not once?" Not counting our random session just before the playoffs began, I thought I remembered picking up the bat for practice once in the last however-many years.

"Not once." He shook his head lightly. A surprised expression took over my face. "I've been thinking about it for a while. Are you going to play baseball again next year?"

"I don't know, Tails," I sighed, initially looking to dodge the question. In truth, Zenith was the main reason I myself wanted to pick up my bat. I considered the fox's inquiry for a while, realizing that I had no idea any of the other freaks surrounding me also wanted to play ball again. I was also surprised Zenith was even willing to recruit a couple of washed-up old timers onto his squad during the playoffs. I watched the tall red hedgehog, who was still standing on the edge of the dugout fence, intently eyeing everything that was going on, occasionally briefly looking towards me and Tails. He never showed it through expressions on his face, but somehow I could tell that deep down, it made him happy. It had to be the prime reason for him to keep playing all this time. I started to wonder if I myself was happy. Of course, I felt the adrenaline all over again every time I stepped onto the field. But more importantly, it brought me closer to my friends, including my kitsune brother. I could never give that up.

"Yeah," I finally muttered, smiling a little. "I think he'd like that."

The fox briefly eyed the dullish red hedgehog now standing atop the mound, effortlessly controlling the game with every toss of the stitched ball. Then he turned towards me again and said, "He'd like that a lot."

"Yeah," was all I could say.

"Now, don't you get all sappy in front of me," snapped Amy, who was sitting on the other end of the dugout bench. Neither of us could help but palm our faces and giggle a little.

I spent most of the remainder of the game just zoning out, to the point where I didn't notice the blast that Storm the Albatross sent into the right field stands in the eighth inning. Only when the albatross stormed back into the dugout amid the deafening commotion within the dugout did I figure out what happened.

Storm Solo Home Run: #20 Storm the Albatross.

Storm 3, Rogues 1.

After that performance, I remained seated on the bench for the rest of the game, giving me ample time to observe Zenith, who appeared more dominant than ever even after having pitched the whole nine innings the night before. That kind of endurace was unheard of, and yet I remembered that somehow this wasn't the first time he'd done something like that.

The dullish red hedgehog waited fiercely as Crush stepped in to lead off the bottom of the ninth inning, hoping to start a late rally. Instead, he swung right through every pitch he saw. The first two were fastballs that zoomed into the scarlet echidna's glove before the badger could get a piece of them. The third, in classic fashion, was a screwball that unconventionally broke away from the badger's outstretched sticky for the first out. Rocky followed it up with a long fly ball to center field, where Verne hardly needed to move an inch to track the ball and put it away for out number two, setting up an epic matchup with who could it be but Shonen at the bat.

Zenith leaned uneasily and stared the opposing hedgehog menacingly, aligning the stitches on the baseball with the fingertips on his throwing hand. Meanwhile, Shonen simply kept the bat tucked into his ready stance and kept it there as the first pitch simply floated past him, a knuckleball landing square in the zone for strike one. Unfazed, the naturally-colored hedgehog stepped out of the batter's box to take a couple of practice swings. As he stepped back in, he met Zenith's blank stare with a much colder stare of his own. He proceeded to swing at a very fast fastball, getting a piece but hitting it into the foul part of left field from whence it bounced into the seats. Free souvenir, I thought to myself. Upon receiving a replacement ball, the tall red hedgehog sort of drifted back to the mound, not necessarily walking directly towards it. Something seemed to be distracting him...

"Come on, Z!" I shouted. "You got 'im!"

I guess he didn't hear me. It seemed like an eternity until the crimson pincushion fixated his gaze where the opposing hedgehog stood, ready to strike at any moment. Finally Zenith released the ball, a slow roller that only seemed to float towards the plate, but riddled with a crazy dose of break. Shonen easily saw this coming, and with a firm grip across both hands, swung the sticky with brute force so as to almost clip Knuckles's mask once again. Knuckles jumped in front of the ball, as it had dipped well below, and towards the inside portion of, the strike zone. As the ball struck the dirt, the umpire guarding home plate made a slight hand gesture towards first base. Before the batter, now a runner, could do anything, Knuckles quickly scooped the ball from the dirt and applied the tag on the dazed, unsuspecting Shonen for the game-ending out.

FINAL: Storm 3, Rogues 1.

As the rest of the squad gathered near the mound to celebrate, Zenith walked straight into the dugout and sat next to the twin-tailed fox, presumably to chat about his performance on the mound. I watched on from the infield and sighed.

"Sometimes a guy needs a break," I said more or less to myself. "Being fast isn't everything."