A LESSON IN SOFTBALL

The Amnesty Lady Black Cats recreational softball team had a 3-4 record going into their final game. A win would earn them second place in the Rockford County Conference and a trip to the conference play-offs.

Guen Goode, Yarra Smythe and Connie Osbourne were on the team, as well as their friends Nautica Chen and Rio Delmonico. Because of the girls' busy school, work and practice schedules, a regular season high school softball season conflicted with their various weekly activities. The alternative was the Rockford County Recreational Girls Softball League, which featured only one practice session a week on Friday afternoons and one game on Saturday mornings. This was a viable option, because the activity was sponsored by the high schools of the participating towns in the county and noted on the girls' high school transcripts.

Guen and Yarra proved to be solid players in the first two lead-off spots, with a high on-base percentage as singles hitters. They would "set the table," so to speak, for the Lady Black Cats power hitters, Rio and Connie.While Rio was placed in the third spot by Coach Persephone Chen because she was an excellent doubles and triples hitter that could be counted on to score Guen and Yarra from first and/or second, Connie batted fourth, because of her home run power. And when Connie did not hit home runs, she usually stood at second or third with a long double or triple. It was then up to Coach Chen's daughter Nautica to get Connie home.

Defensively, all the girls were solid at their positions. Guen and Yarra proved to be adequate at second base and short stop respectively, while the same could be said of Nautica at first. Rio was a very good third base woman. But Connie, as a starting pitcher, proved to be the most athletic and talented player on the field, comparable to some of the juniors and seniors. She was an excellent pitcher with a high strikeout ratio and a great defensive glove that earned her all-star status in the Rockford County Conference.

The Lady Black Cats played their arch rivals, the Hampstead Villagers. The Villagers were in first place and play-off bound with a 5-2 record. The Lady Black Cats and Lady Villagers played each other once earlier in the season. The Lady Villagers pulled out a 7-5 victory in the top of the sixth inning in Amnesty. The current match up found the Lady Black Cats on the road at Hampstead. But the Black Cats would have Connie on the mound with a 2-1 record, a 2.25 ERA and 19 strikeouts in 12 innings pitched.

"Alright, you guys," Coach Chen said to her Lady Black Cats just prior to the game. "This is the last game of the season. If we win, it will mean that we earn the third play-off spot. And that's great, but-- even if we lose, you have absolutely nothing to be ashamed of. We've had an awesome season and we've come a long way. Now, we got Connie on the mound, so let's give her some support out there in the field. Be alert, tight defense, no errors. We've got first at bat, being the visitors, so let's get off to a good start offensively. Guen and Yarra, I'm counting on you guys to get on base in the first couple of innings and set Rio and Connie up."

Nods of acknowledgment.

"Nautica, remember that as the fifth batter, you're often our lead-off batter for the second half of the line-up, so do your best to get on to give the six through nine hitters a chance, alright?"

"Alright," the younger Chen said to her mother and coach who continued.

"Now, we lost to these guys last time in the last inning. Let's establish a lead early, so that doesn't happen to us again. Alright, everybody bring it in."

The girls followed their coach's lead and put a hand in the middle of the circle that defined them at present.

"Black Cats on three. One, two, three...."

"BLACK CATS!"

"Alright, guys, have fun out there and go get 'em."

                                                                                                                                            *****

Middle of the fifth inning.

"Three outs, you guys. Three outs and we're in the playoffs. Sound good?"

"YES!"

Coach Chen turned to Connie. "Con, you're gonna start the inning."

"Thanks, coach."

"But the first time they get on base, I'm pulling you and bringing in Andie, alright?"

"Uh, huh."

Andromeda Sanders, a senior, was the Lady Black Cats' relief pitcher. Her younger sister Alexandria, a junior, was Amnesty's catcher.

"Alright. Let's do this. Who are we?"

"BLACK CATS!"

"Let's go."

The Lady Black Cats took to the field. After some warm up tosses around the horn, the first Lady Villager came up to the plate in the form of their second place hitter. Thus, Hampstead's third and clean-up hitters waited in the wings. It was crucial, therefore, that Connie was able to keep runners off the base pads to prevent a multiple run inning that resulted in a tie or walk-off win.

"STRIKE!" The umpire bellowed out loud as Connie's first pitch, a blazing fastball, stayed down and over the center of the plate. Of course, this was to Coach Chen and Connie's teammates' liking.

Connie's next pitch was in the exact same position as the Lady Villager swung through it without contact, for strike two. With the count 0-2, Connie studied Alex's (the catcher's) finger for the next pitch.

A curve ball, outside.

Connie nodded, set herself and went into her wind-up.

"STRIKE THREE!" The umpire announced with a corresponding, emphatic punch-out.

"YES!" Coach Chen said with a wide grin. She clapped. "Way to go, Connie. Two more . C'mon, now."

Connie worked the count to one ball and two strikes on the Lady Villager who batted in the third spot.

And then the unthinkable happened.

"HIT BY PITCH! HIT BY PITCH!" The home plate umpire yelled and waved his arms. He looked at the batter and pointed down to first. "Batter, take your base."

The pitch by Connie was an inside fastball that caught the batter on the front part of her thigh. Although it stung for a minute or two, the Lady Village was able to shake it off and stay in the game.

Unfortunately, the pitch proved to sting Connie even more.

"That's it, Connie," Coach Chen said and took the softball from her visibly upset ace starter. She put a hand on the disappointed girl's shoulder. "You pitched a great game today. Nothing to be ashamed of, OK?"

Connie nodded, head down.

"I'm bringing in Andie to close it and get us outta here." Coach Chen motioned for her relief pitcher as Connie's teammates huddled around her and said words of encouragement and consolation. Connie made her way to the Lady Black Cats bench as Andromeda Sanders jogged on to the mound.

"OK, Andie," Coach Chen said and tossed her the softball. "Two outs. That's all we need. Let's continue the solid pitching that Connie gave us today, alright?

Andie nodded. "Got it."

Andromeda Sanders was a tall, attractive blue-eyed girl who wore her long blonde hair in a ponytail. She sported a blazing fastball and a wicked curve that the bottom dropped out of at the last possible second. Another all-star for the Black Cats, Andie had three saves on the season and fifteen strikeouts in nine innings of relief. She faced the Lady Villagers' power hitter, who featured a .380 batting average and seven home runs. Of course, Coach Chen was well aware of these daunting statistics.

"Andie, I want you to walk this batter, so that we're facing the fifth batter in the line up instead of the clean-up batter. OK?"

"OK," Andie said with a nod.

"Good. And keep the ball down when you're pitching to the fifth spot, so that we have a chance at the double play. Everyone watch out for the bunt. I wouldn't put it past them to try and load the bases up by bunting with one out."

Nods of acknowledgment.

Coach Chen turned to her third base woman. "Rio, you know what that means. Come in if you sense the bunt. You, too, Nautica."

"Got it."

"Alright, go get 'em, guys," Coach Chen said with a pat on Andie's posterior. She made her way back to the dugout as everyone returned to their positions.

After a few warm up pitches, the umpire pointed to Andie, who gave the nod that she was ready.

"Next batter," the umpire called out.

As per Coach Chen's instructions, the Lady Black Cats avoided pitching to Hampstead's power hitter. They intentionally walked her on four straight pitches. This put the tying and winning runs at first and second with still one out.

"Alright. Two, Andie. Let's get two. C'mon, now."

Andie got ahead early on the Lady Villagers’ fifth position batter with a 0-2 count. But the duel was quickly evened up at 2-2 with two curve balls that just missed their mark. It was now totally evident that the Lady Villagers were not thinking bunt in this situation. They were swinging away. After the Lady Villagers’ batter fouled off a couple of inside fastballs, Alexandria Sanders signaled to her sister to come outside with a curve ball, in an attempt to finish the batter off. Andie nodded approval to her sister’s request.

The pitch was perfectly placed but, to Andie and Alex’s surprise, the runners were off as the batter went with the pitch and golfed a shallow airborne shot between first and second. A hit and run. The Lady Black Cats’ right fielder desperately sprinted in to snag the rapidly sinking ball and dove for it at the last possible second.

She missed.

With the runners going with the pitch, it was a fairly easy task for the Lady Villager at second to come around and score the tying run. Fortunately for the Lady Black Cats, the center fielder had the wherewithal to back up her right fielder and prevent the live ball from rolling to the fence and ending the game. The winning run came halfway around third and was halfway home when the Lady Black Cat center fielder got to the ball and fired an off-balance bullet towards the plate.

The ball arrived to Alexandria Sanders on one hop. She instinctively whirled around and put the tag on the Lady Villager, who slid feet first into home.

“SAFE!”

The umpire yelled with an emphatic wave of his arms and signaled that the Hampstead player scored ahead of the tag.

Game over. Lady Villagers win, 3-2.

                                                                                                                                           *****

As can be imagined, the short bus ride back to Amnesty High School did not only seem like it was twice as long, but proved to be an extremely silent one. The Lady Black Cats players sat next to each other in pairs of two, but totally alone with their thoughts. Coach Chen was also no exception. She attempted to figure out what she could possibly say to a devastated bunch of teenage girls that had just been denied an opportunity to advance to the postseason, not to mention that they were beaten for the second straight time in one season by their arch rivals. And both times in dramatic walk-off fashion, no less.

When the girls had showered and dressed, Persephone called them all into the locker room one last time. As the girls took seats on the benches in front of the lockers, Persephone pulled up a chair and placed it in front of a blackboard. She sat down.

Long faces.

Coach Chen studied the silent study in dejection before her. Then she stood up and grabbed a piece of chalk on the blackboard’s bottom tray. She began to write.

“Something that my grandmother used to say,” Persephone announced as the girls in the room read the gradual revelation made manifest by their coach:

                                                                          THERE ARE MORE THAT DIDN’T MAKE IT THAN THERE ARE THOSE THAT DID.

Persephone placed the piece of chalk back on the tray and looked at her players.

“Hopefully next season, you’ll be in the minority.” She said.

And left.