Free Baseball Flyhawk by Matt Christopher Page A

look on Ray’s face, though, showed that the words gave him little comfort.
    “Hurry in! Hurry out!” snapped the plate umpire.
    Frankie walked the first man to face him. String Becker yelled to the infielders to make some noise, and they all began chattering
     at once.
    A strikeout and two pop-ups ended the Braves’ chance to score.
    Center fielder Joe Ellis led off the top halfof the fifth. He grounded out to short. Then Dutch Pierce smacked one out to deep center for a triple, and the fans came to
     life.
    This was the Royals’ chance to break the tie. String Becker was up.
    String threw left and batted left. So far he had blasted a double. His second time up, he had hit a high one to right field
     that was caught. It was no wonder now that the fielders shifted to the right and stepped farther back.
    String took the first pitch. A ball.
    He swung at the next one.
Crack!
The ball sailed high and deep . . . deep . . . deep! The right fielder went back . . . back. . . .
    Over the fence went the ball for a home run!
    “Hooray! Thataway, String! Nice blast!”
    The fans stomped their feet on the stands. String crossed home plate, a smile on hisface from ear to ear. Every member of the team was waiting to shake his hand.
    The Royals now led, 6 to 4.
    Right fielder Billy Hubble walked. Buddy and Chico grounded out to end their at-bat.
    “Let’s hold them!” Coach Day yelled to his boys.
    Frankie worked hard on the mound. He looked tired. The sweat rolled from his face. He kept wiping it with the sleeve of his
     baseball jersey.
    One . . . two . . . three outs. The Braves hit each time, but into someone’s glove.
    The sixth and last inning. Dale Hunt singled. Frankie lined one to short. The ball was scarcely six feet off the ground. The
     shortstop caught it, pegged it to first, and Dale was out.
    Double play!
    Coach Day had Kenny Morton pinch-hitfor Ray. Kenny singled through short. Then Joe Ellis struck out.
    “All right, boys! This is it!” said Coach Day. “Plug up all the holes!”
    “Let’s hear the chatter!” cried String.
    The Braves’ lead-off man struck at the first pitch.
Crack!
A high foul ball right over Dale’s head.
    He waited for it to come down. Caught it! One out.
    Then Frankie got a little careless, maybe because he was tired. He walked the next man. The next pounded out a single, a Texas
     leaguer over second. String called time and walked to the mound. He said something to Frankie, then returned to his position
     at first.
    The Braves fans were yelling excitedly, trying hard to offer encouragement to their players.
    Chico, in left field, felt his heart poundinghard. With two men on, the Braves could tie the score and go on to win.
    “Strike him out, Frankie!” he yelled. “Strike him out!”
    A left-hand hitter stepped to the plate. The fielders moved slightly to the right. Frankie pitched.
    The batter swung. Bat met ball, and Chico saw the little white pill soar high into the air. It sailed toward left field about
     halfway between Chico and the infield!
    Chico ran in hard. “I got it!” he yelled. “I got it!”
    For a moment he wasn’t sure he would get it. He ran harder. Then he put out his glove, and the ball dropped into it.
    “Great catch, Chico!” yelled Dutch Pierce from third.
    “Thataboy, Chico!” He heard String all the way from first.
    Chico’s heart tingled.
    He ran back to his position.
It’s a good thing I caught that ball,
he thought.
    He felt so good about it, he didn’t realize which batter had come to the plate. The Braves’ number one slugger. A right-hand
     hitter.
    Frankie breezed in a pitch, and the tall Braves hitter smacked it. The ball left the bat as if it were shot from a gun. Chico
     could tell instantly that it was going over his head.
    He turned around and started running as fast as he could. It wasn’t fast enough. The ball dropped and bounced on. By the time
     he picked it up and pegged it in, he was too late.
    It was a home run. It won the