Page 2 of Crew
Torres fired it off, this one a little higher than I’d wanted, but the batter still swung and missed.
Strike one.
Torres took a deep breath. I called for another fastball, the pitch I knew was working for him tonight. He nodded again and went into the windup. The pitch came in hard, but the batter adjusted, slapping the ball foul to the right side.
Strike two.
Wanting to test Torres’ slider, I gave him the sign. It was right on the money and the batter swung and missed completely.
Strike three.
As the next batter stepped up to the plate, the momentum was on our side, and I could feel it.
We were going to have a goodgame.
It wasthe bottom of the fifth, and I sat on the bench, catching my breath before I needed to head to the on-deck circle. Our first baseman, Long, was at bat, and I was scanning the field trying to determine any holes I could hit to as he worked the count.
He made contact with the pitch, sending the ball sharply into left field. A solid hit. My eyes tracked the ball, but my attention quickly shifted back to him as he sprinted down the first baseline. In an instant, he pulled up short. His face twisted in pain, and his hand grabbed the back of his leg, right above his knee.
“Shit,” I muttered under my breath, standing up as I watched him hobble toward first.
He barely made it to the bag before he came to a stop.
The stadium went quiet as Rios, our trainer, rushed out onto the field. Long dropped to a knee, grimacing.
“Hamstring,” Rios called out, shaking his head. “He’s done.”
Schmitt, the Rockies manager, quickly signaled to the dugout, giving the nod for a pinch runner. A hamstring injury wasn’t something that could be walked off. It wasn’t a couple of missed games—it could mean weeks, maybe months, on the IL if he’d torn it. And in baseball, a guy going down always meant someone else needed to step up.
I just didn’t know the guy getting the call was about to shake up more than just the lineup.
2
Knox
Tappingthe speaker button on my phone, I placed it on my bedside table and continued chatting with my parents while I unpacked from my team’s recent road trip. We tried to call each other once a week, a tradition that had started when I’d left for college six years ago, but with my busy schedule it wasn’t always possible. As the oldest of five kids, it had been quite the change for my family when I’d moved out, even though Cal State Fullerton was only an hour north of where I grew up in Carlsbad.
“How was the trip?” Dad asked as I tossed clothes into a pile to wash later.
“It was okay, I guess. We went two for four, but I had a couple of good games.”
“We saw. Your dad checks your stats every morning,” Mom chimed in.
A smile tugged at the corner of my lips. Neither of my parents had been the athletic type, but when I had wanted to sign up to play Little League when I was six, they’d been supportive. Before long, they hadboth becomeexpertson the sport. “Hopefully, I’ll keep it up this season and maybe get traded or something.”
It wasn’t as though I didn’t want to be a part of the Rockies organization, but Nate Long had first base locked down, and whenever he needed a day off they moved their catcher, Crew Stratton, over to cover, so it was doubtful I’d be called up from the minors any time soon. The best I could hope for was another major league team taking notice of my skills and including me in a trade offer.
“Well, your father and I were just talking about going to Albuquerque next month after the school year ends. But we can travel wherever if you end up somewhere else. Your brothers and sisters want to come as well.”
My parents were both elementary school teachers, so they had been able to visit wherever I was playing during the summer. My younger sisters, Ella and Avery, still lived at home and always tagged along, but it was nice to hear Noah and Owen, who were in college, also wanted to come see me.
“Hey, Singleton, the game’s on,” my teammate Schultz shouted from the living room of our three-bedroom apartment.
“I gotta go,” I said to my parents as I picked up my phone. “But I’d love to see you guys. We can work out the details when it gets closer to summer.”
“Okay, we’ll chat soon,” Dad replied.
“Love you,” Mom added.
