Rounding Third (15 page)

“Out!” The umpire yelled.

“Yes!” Rob recognized the whistled
S
as
belonging to only one person.

Rob felt the ball yanked from his glove.
Corey Brickman stood over him. “Nice catch.”

“Thanks,” Rob wheezed.

Brickman threw the ball to third then
extended his hand again. “I don’t want to spend the whole game picking you up.”
Brick smiled.

Rob slowly came to his feet. He saw stars for
a moment and as they cleared, he saw Josh coming off the mound and toward him.
Rob had never seen so much love and gratitude in his life. He knew if they got
close he’d want to kiss him. Rob held up his hand to wave Josh off.

Josh stopped, smiled and said, “Good catch.”
But there was so much more behind those words that Rob glowed.

“Thanks,” Rob answered with a smile and tone
that echoed Josh’s sentiments.

“Bobby, you okay?” It was Buff coming over
from first to check on him.

“Yeah, fine.” Actually he wasn’t sure he was
physically fine, but he was too high to care about minor things like broken
bones or the need for oxygen in his collapsed lungs.

“You okay, Wardell?” This time it was the coach.

“Fine!” After being touched with their
concern, he now wished they would quit treating him like a little kid. He was
fine, he was a ballplayer and he was ready to play ball. He slapped his glove
against his leg to send up a cloud of dust and walked back to his position
shouting over his shoulder, “C’mon one-seven. Two more outs!”

Another strikeout and a sorry excuse for a
ground ball to the mound that Josh flipped underhand to first and Josh’s first
no-hitter was in the books. Josh was already to the first base side of the
mound so he just turned and made a line right for Rob. He grabbed him, picked
him up and kissed him. Rob was shocked and wanted to tell Josh to put him down
before the whole team came down on them, but it was too late. The whole team did
swarm them, but with shouts of joy. The kiss must’ve been seen as the crazed
exuberance of a guy who just played the most amazing game of his career and had
his no-hitter saved by a spectacular catch. A solitary walk and an early error
by Taylor had allowed the only two Vikings on base. Two runners short of a
perfect game.

Rob felt himself being pulled away from Josh
and for a moment he wondered if this was when the tarring and feathering began,
but instead he was lifted in the air and found himself atop Buff Beechler and a
moment later Josh joined him on high as several other teammates hoisted their
pitcher in the air. Above the team, Rob smiled at Josh who smiled back.

The opposing teams lined up for the
handshakes. Rob heard several of them congratulate Josh. He was surprised when
several said “Nice catch” to Rob. As he was walking off the field a middle-aged
man, probably the father of one of one of the opposing players, hollered to him
from behind the backstop, “Nice slide and nice catch. You’re a helluva
ballplayer. I’m surprised you don’t start.”

                  
19

Josh and Rob went out to dinner to celebrate,
then to Cuyahoga Valley National Park. Josh took Rob’s hand as soon as he put
the car in park. He turned to him. “Thank you.”

“You didn’t believe me when I said I would do
anything for you?” Rob beamed.

“If I ever doubted it, I don’t now. You were
amazing.”

“You were pretty good yourself.”

“We make a great team.”

“We do,” Rob smiled. “But you know
Strongsville is going to kill us on Monday?”

“They won’t. But if they do, after today I’d die
happy.” Josh’s sideways grin lent proof to the statement then they finished the
kiss they had started on the baseball field.

*                     
*                     
*                     
*                     
*
   

By the time Rob woke up, his parents would
have long been at work. Rob loved teacher
In Service
days. In fact he
loved pretty much every day these days. He immediately called Josh who was
eagerly awaiting his call and came to get him. Josh had told him his mother
would be gone with the younger kids until dinnertime. They spent another day
hiking
in Cuyahoga Valley; Josh had to be home for dinner so he dropped Rob on the
fly.

  Rob was on the porch when he heard a honk and turned to see Josh
waving at Meg who was getting out of Ashley’s mother’s car. Meg gave him a big
smile and waved back. Ashley stared in awe. Rob went inside where his dad was
setting the table while his mom was in the kitchen putting the finishing
touches on dinner.

“Hi,” his dad
said, setting down the plates. “I saw the headline in the paper that Josh had a
no-hitter, but I didn’t have time to read the article. He must’ve done well
yesterday.”

“You should’ve read the article,” Megan
smirked. She turned to her brother and slugged him in the stomach. “Everyone
was talking about you at the mall.”

“Talking about you?” his mother asked,
putting the salad on the table.

His father unfolded the
Harrisonburg
Herald
and flipped to the sports page. “Nice photo!” he said and quickly
skimmed down the columns then read, “
Schlagel helped his own cause with a
perfectly executed bunt in the fifth inning which scored second baseman Bobby
Wardell on a squeeze. Wardell slid in under the tag of Viking catcher Bryan
Murray to add to the Hawks’ thin lead.
”

He stopped reading and Rob saw him looking
over the paper at his son.

“Keep reading,” Meg urged.

Mr. Wardell mumbled as he skimmed another
paragraph or two, then read, “
Schlagel’s no-hitter was in jeopardy in the seventh
when Viking shortstop Jeremy Clark ripped a shot up the middle. Hawks’ second
baseman, Wardell, a junior playing in his first game of the season, made a
dramatic dive to stab the ball out of the air and cancel the sure single. A
strikeout then a groundout to Schlagel ended the inning. The two heroes of the
day, Schlagel and Wardell were carried off the field by their teammates. The
Hawks must face Strongsville on Monday to advance to the Regionals.”

Rob liked the way that sounded,
Schlagel
and Wardell.
His father stopped reading and looked at Rob again. The
article wasn’t quite accurate--it wasn’t his first game of the year, but his
contribution in the other game was so minor that the paper could be forgiven
that mistake.

His mother hugged and kissed him. “Why didn’t you tell us?”

“I got in after you were in bed and got up
after you left.”

“Ashley said her brother said everyone was
shocked. No one had a clue Bobby was that good.” Ashley’s brother, Clint
Dominick, was a relief pitcher who rarely got to relieve.

“Sit down,” Mom urged. “I want to hear all
about it.”

“I would’ve loved to have seen that!” his
father said, folding back the paper to show his wife the photo of Rob and Josh
on their teammates’ shoulders.

It hadn’t occurred to Rob that there might’ve
been reporters or photographers at the game. He wondered if they caught the
kiss as well.

Mrs. Wardell grabbed the paper. “I’m going to
have to run out after dinner and buy twenty copies of the paper.”

Rob said nothing, but he wanted a few for
himself. Him and Josh basking in their shared glory. If his life ever sank into
its former nothingness, that photo and the memory of that moment could sustain
him forever.

*                     
*                     
*                     
*                     
*

Fame is fleeting, as Rob was quickly
reminded. On Monday when Rob saw Corey Brickman in the hall, Corey smiled. Rob
smiled back and said, “Hi, Brick.”

Taylor stepped from behind Corey and said,
“Only his friends can call him that.” Taylor pinned Rob against a locker. “And
don’t think ‘cause you made a lucky catch and got your face in the paper that
you are taking my spot in the line-up!”

“I don’t,” Rob murmured. It had never
occurred to him that one stellar day would qualify him to permanently replace
Taylor.

Taylor let go of him and Rob started toward
his locker listening to Taylor and Brickman laugh in his wake.

*                     
*                     
*                     
*                     
*
   

The Strongsville game ended 15-1; the Hawks’ score coming from a
solo homerun by Josh Schlagel. Everything that could go wrong went wrong as
though H-burg had saved all of their mistakes to make in one day. Buff was
shelled off the mound by the second inning. Andrews, Virtusio, Dominick and
even Schlagel had each taken an inning in relief but none of them had been able
to stop the hemorrhaging. Seven errors in the infield--none of them by
Josh--was a team, if not a league, record.

    
“There’s always next year,” Rob said as they drove home. “You were just
starting to hit your stride. You’re going to do great next year.”

    
“So are you. We need to practice over the summer and you’ll have Brick’s spot
at second.”

    
“I dunno about that.”

    
“Or you can take third since Rydell is graduating.”

    
“I have a hard time with the throw.”

    
“We’ll work on the throw. But if you prove yourself at second, maybe Coach
Hudson will move Brick to third and put you at second. It would be fun to have
our own half of the infield.”

    
“That’d be great,” Rob said. “It’s going seem strange to have all this extra
time. You getting a summer job?”

    
“I’ve got one. My father got me one doing track maintenance for the railroad.
It’s grueling, backbreaking work in the hot sun, but he said it’ll make a man
out of me.”

    
“You’re already a man,” Rob said, sliding his hand into Josh’s lap. “Too bad
you have a job. I was going to try to get you one with me. My mom got me a job
where she works. I’ll be doing warehouse stuff. Loading trucks and pulling
orders, I guess.”

    
“So you’ll be getting all buff, too?”

    
“But not tanned like you.”

    
“Are you going to be working Monday through Friday?” Josh asked.

    
“Yep. You?”

    
“Most of the time, unless there is an emergency or something, but that’s great.
We’ll have our weekends free together.” Rob looked at Josh and smiled. Josh
smiled back and continued, “I have lots of plans for us. I’ve never been to
Cedar Point. Or the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. And the Brewers are playing the
Pirates in three weeks. I thought we could drive down to Pittsburgh...”

    
“You’ve been thinking about this a lot. How did you know I’d say yes?”

    
“I was just hoping,” Josh answered. “And we can work out this summer. I can get
you to bulk up a bit and you can get me to run.”

    
“Okay, starting tomorrow after school, we lift in my garage then we run.”

    
“Promise me you won’t wear a shirt for either, and you’re on.”

    
“I was thinking Friday night...” Rob began, but stopped when Josh shook his
head. “What?”

    
“I have a date with Jenny.”

    
“You’re still dating her?”

    
“Yeah, I guess so. I think it’s best. It keeps my parents…”

    
“I thought we...” Rob began.

    
“We do. We are. But I have to keep up appearances.”

    
Rob nodded, accepting. In spite of the inconvenience of sharing Josh with
Jenny, Rob knew it was going to be the best summer of his, or anyone’s life.

20

Rob had always looked forward to the end of
school, but more so now that the summer meant time with Josh.

Not
that they needed anything to make their time together more special, but they
were always doing something wonderul. The trip to the amusement park at Cedar
Point. To Pittsburgh for the Brewers’ game. To Toledo to catch a Mudhens game.

Each day that Rob spent with Josh he was sure
was the happiest day of his life, but then the next day they were together was
even better. Each night he got what he was sure was the best sleep he’d ever
get, but the next night would be even more restful with seven or eight hours
straight through without the need of a nocturnal workout. He saved his workouts
for the daylight hours with Josh. The camping trips, when they could sleep
nestled in each other’s arms, were beyond heaven.