Back to Part 34
Finals Game 1
Transcript excerpt from Mound City Bleachers Report
SLICEY WEBSTER: Well we should have seen this coming, but here we are! It’s late February, the weather is awful, and it’s a great time for the Ultimate League Corkball Championship!
CYAN MEAN: Right you are, Slicey. We’re about to watch the two best teams in the league face off for what I’m sure will be an incredible series! From the Eastern Conference, we have the Alton Thunderbirds, with pitching menace Amylee Washington and powerhouse batter Shiny Fitzgerald proving to be a serious threat to everyone they come across. They left a powerful Weathermancers in ruins.
SLICEY WEBSTER: Really rained on their parade, didn’t they?
CYAN MEAN: And when it rained, it poured! The Thunderbirds rained out the ‘Mancers three games to nothing, with Washington throwing a shutout. Matt Dream might have had the season of their life, but the ‘Birds were just too much for them.
SLICEY WEBSTER: And from the West Conference, the Clark Avenue United stuns the Chesterfield Flood, also washing them away in a three game sweep. This is in no small part thanks to Spencer Agami on the mound, and Oliver Trashcat in the outfield Hoovering up anything that comes at him.
CYAN MEAN: A real surprise this season, but all that means is that this will be a match up to remember. Who you got your money on, Slicey?
SLICEY WEBSTER: My gut says the Thunderbirds, but the United have really come into their own. I think United has a slight advantage here. They got home field advantage, and I think they have surprises we haven’t seen yet.
CYAN MEAN: I think that’s the safe bet. I think we’ll see United take this in seven.
SLICEY WEBSTER: Corkball in March. You love to see it.
On the day of game 1, the fans of United surrounded the Civic Center, setting out grills and building fires to keep away the bitter frost of February. Some fans started right at sunrise, staking out their places on sidewalks and closed off streets. A concert stage had been set up the night before, and bands from around the city took their turns playing to cold but cheering fans. And when the time came, the March to the Match gathered at the train station and paraded down Clark Avenue, signing, banging drums, waving flags proudly, the marching brass band following them.
The Clark Avenue United team didn’t watch the march to the match. They kept their heads down in the locker room, silently getting ready. Oliver didn’t bother changing in a stall — no one was looking, no one cared, no one was even in the head space to care. Even Spencer, who had been flirting in exploratory expeditions with Oliver kept their eyes on the wall of the locker room. No music, no chatting, no nervous jokes. Oliver was all the happier for it.
Finally, as the clock ticked down closer to the start of the game, Crasher gathered the team. They opened their mouth, starting a speech that faltered and collapsed like a house of cards. They shook their head. “I know this is going to be hard. We all know what’s at stake, and frankly I’m proud of you all just for showing up. I’m not going to tell you to have fun out there, because I’d understand if that feels wrong to you. So give it your all. What ever happens, we can at least say we went down fighting.”
On their way to the dugout, Spencer trotted up to Oliver, matching his pace. They took Oliver’s hand and squeezed, giving them a soft, encouraging smile before running ahead to get out onto the field. Crasher set their starting five, and the players ran out onto the field as their names were called:
Catching: Ashlyn Menna
Infield: Elliot Keel
Midfield: Krisjen Dusky
Outfield: Oliver Trashcat
Pitching: Spencer Agami
They took their positions on the field as the Thunderbirds sent Shiny Fitzgerald to the plate. Spencer read Ashlyn’s signs, wound up, and pitched, low and inside. Shiny clocked the pitch, firing a hit off the left safety glass. Krisjen dove for it, but they fell short, and Shiny notched a double for the Thunderbirds. Spencer narrowed their eyes, their large ears lowering. They took the ball back and watched Hubert Hodge take the plate.
Spencer wound up, testing Hubert with a fast ball on the outside corner of the plate. Swing and a miss. Spencer set their mind to this. Two more. They’d just need two more to finish this plate appearance. They caught the ball Ashlyn returned to them, listening to the crowd in the stadium jumping up and down, singing, chanting, clapping. They squared their shoulders, and threw a fast ball right down the middle of the plate. Hubert popped the ball up, and it wobbled into an unsteady arc. Elliot got under it, and it was as if the ball made itself land in her glove.
Spencer nodded. This was feeling better. They nodded to Ashlyn, and in quick succession struck out the next two players, stranding a Thunderbird on second. As they went back to the dugout, Ashlyn stepped up next to them.
“You better? You started shaky,” Ashlyn said.
“Just trying to get into the game,” Spencer said. “My mind is anywhere but.”
“I feel ya. Good start. We’ll get em.” Ashlyn gave them a reassuring smile.
Spencer nodded. “We’ll get em.”
Ashlyn hit them on the arm with their catchers mitt, and jogged to get ready to bat.
Crasher watched as Amylee walked out to the mound, her head down, focused on the game. She didn’t look at the United dugout, didn’t acknowledge the crowd’s polite applause as she came out. She threw a few warm up pitches to her catcher. Krisjen Dusky stepped into the batters box, and eased into their stance.
Amylee nodded at a sign, and threw a blistering fastball over the plate. Krisjen tried for a piece of it, and it screamed off foul into the stands. The United fans cheered for their effort, cheered for the enthusiasm. They remembered how scary Amylee was for them, and it was no different when she stood on the other side of the field. Krisjen shook off the foul and got ready again. Amylee lowered her head, her gaze sharp.
“Oh god,” Crasher said. “I know that look. She’s toying with them. Like a predator.” They got up to the dugout bar and waved to Krisjen. They made hand signals, telling Krisjen to hold off. Krisjen nodded.
Amylee wound up, and threw high and outside. Krisjen let it go. Ball 1. Amylee held her glove up to get the ball back, and just for a second cast a glance at Crasher, who watched intently. Was that a glint in her eye? She turned back to the plate and fired a fast ball low and way too inside. Krisjen stumbled back. Ball 2.
“Okay,” Crasher said, laughing. “How dare I perceive you. Got it.”
Amylee threw another fastball over the plate, and Krisjen caught a piece of it, sending the ball out over the outfield. Nigel Crush got under it and easily caught it. Amylee watched with satisfaction.
Oliver stepped up to the plate, doing his best to look like he wasn’t entirely terrified of the situation. Amylee had gone out of her way to help him before, to help build his confidence on the field. Oliver was under no illusions that was going to happen tonight. Amylee gave a hint of a nod, and then, in quick succession, mercifully struck him out without fanfare. Which was the best he could have hoped for, really.
Crasher looked over their notes with Ashlyn and Spencer. “We’ve got Fitzgerald, Optimal, and Crush coming up. Pretty straight forward. Get them swinging and they don’t stop. Fitzgerald, I think we can hit him with off speed pitches.”
“He’s been weak on the slider lately,” Ashlyn said.
“I can work with that,” Spencer said.
The game started to become a pitchers’ duel, the Thunderbirds sending three batters up, and Spencer sending them all back. Amylee did the same thing, up until Crasher got up to the plate. Amylee tracked them up to the plate, her tail twitching behind her.
Crasher took a few practice swings outside the box, and took the opportunity to make eye contact with her. She blinked, as if she wasn’t expecting it, the sudden familiar intimacy of that look. Her ears lowered, her eyes dropping away, a reminder of what she was missing.
Crasher stepped into the box. Amylee nodded at a sign, wound up, and blasted a four-seam fastball over the plate. Crasher looked at the catcher’s mitt in surprise, then back at Amylee. She raised her eyebrows, smiling. Don’t think I’m going to go easy on you.
Crasher stepped outside the box. Got it. It’s going to be like that. They adjusted their gloves, and stepped back in.
Amylee wound up, and pitched. Crasher swung, connecting with a crack, and sent the ball deep into the outfield, over the wall. Amylee watched it go, and turned back to Crasher. Crasher beamed, holding their bat above their head, waving to the fans, who cheered their name. They turned to Amylee, still beaming. Don’t think I’m going to go easy on you, either. Amylee just laughed, despite the home run. Alright. War it is.
Spencer and Amylee held off more runs each. The few times Spencer misjudged a pitch, Oliver was able to sweep in to a quick catch. Nigel Crush ran defense for Amylee. Until the bottom of the fifth. United led 1-0. Elliot managed to hit an off speed pitch from Amylee, sending the ball low over the field into a decisive double. The United fans cheered, waving their flags, excited by the sudden action.
Ashlyn grounded a solid single, and suddenly United was another hit away from scoring again. When Krisjen got up to bat again, the Thunderbirds’ catcher, Gil Carmelo, called for time and jogged out to meet Amylee at the mound. Oliver took the time to look around the stadium, and picked out Rammy and Mariya sitting together. They both looked worried, concerned even. Oliver thought about texting them, but his phone was in his locker, and the reception in a stadium full of people would have been awful.
Gil took his place back at the plate, and Amylee made quick work of Krisjen, getting her back on track.
Bottom of the seventh, and a hard earned run was batted in by Oliver. Just one, just from a single, but it put them up 2-0. Oliver had learned to take the small victories. The fans still chanted “O-K Trash-Cat!” but it felt so different now. He felt like he could chant along with them. He held his bat high, and the fans shouted back at him.
Top of the eighth, Shiny Fitzgerald hit one off the outfield wall, putting a triple on the board. Billie Optimal’s double sent the run in, and the Thunderbirds were trailing 2-1. The United fans only redoubled their efforts, getting louder. Spencer shut down the batters after that.
Amylee threw a clean eighth, three up, three down. And Spencer mirrored her inning at the top of the ninth, right up until Nigel Crush and Hubert Hodge doubled in quick succession, tying the game. Spencer and Ashlyn conferenced on the mound.
“Just one more,” Ashlyn said. “We’ll get em.”
Spencer nodded. They stretched their shoulder, a hundred and thirty pitches into the game. “I’m thinking we do sushi tonight?”
“You and your boy not doing something?” Ashlyn smiled.
“We can after sushi. It’s been a while, it’ll be fine.” Spencer looked out to Oliver, who still scanned the stadium. “Plus, we all need to mingle more.”
“Good call.” Ashlyn looked out to the Umpire, who seemed to fume from behind their mask. “Knock them dead, champ.”
“Yeah, sure thing, slugger,” Spencer said. They reoriented themself on the mound as Ashlyn pulled their mask down and squatted behind the plate. Shiny Fitzgerald came to the plate again, staring out at Spencer. Spencer shook off a few signs, picked a curveball, and pitched. They watched, almost in slow motion, as Shiny stepped into their swing, and made contact.
Spencer didn’t turn to look, they knew it was gone. They knew by the way the Birds fans cheered that the ball had cleared the outfield wall. They knew by the way the fans shouted, “SHAAAAME” down at United. The game ended 5-2.
Ashlyn ran to the mound to catch Spencer before they could leave the field.
“Don’t worry about it,” Ashlyn said cheerfully. “We got like six more of these.”
Spencer nodded. “Yeah. Just wanted to win.”
“We all do. That’s okay, though. Sushi awaits! Oh, look!”
Oliver came up from the dugout and met Spencer on the field, pulling them into a hug.
“Hi,” Spencer said, laughing. “I’m fine. I promise.”
Oliver nodded. “I just wanted to be sure. You did really good!”
Spencer hugged Oliver closer. “So did you!”
Crasher wandered to the Birds’ dugout, and Amylee came up to meet them.
“You did great,” Crasher said. “You were on fire.”
Amylee smiled, and leaned into a hug, resting her head on Crasher’s shoulder. “Thank you. You were great too. You and your home run.”
“Are you mad?” Crasher asked, putting their arms around her.
“No,” Amylee said sharply, her tail thrashing behind her.
“Oh my god, you’re so mad!”
Amylee punched their arm, but closed her eyes and sighed. “You get one. Just one.”
Crasher laughed. “You try and stop me.” And Amylee laughed with them, tired but contented. “So it sounds like the team is going out, but I’ll be by afterwards.”
Amylee looked up. “Oh, I was thinking I would go out with the team, too. They were making plans…”
“Look at you! The social butterfly!”
Amylee rolled her eyes. “If we were not in the finals as enemies, I would be with you.”
“You’ll have fun. I’m sure they love you just as much as United does.” Crasher gave her a squeeze. “I should get going…”
Amylee nodded. “I will text you when I am done.” Crasher leaned down, touching their head to Amylee’s. In that moment, the world could have ended right there, and they’d have been content.
Which was good, since in that moment, everyone who was not a player disappeared from the arena.
-g
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