They said it was only a game. But it still hurt. Sometimes things happen in life that you can't control. This was one of those times. This is a chapter of persistence and strength.
A Boy's Dream
Baker University Football
Peter Martin was a popular kid. He had lots of friends and Pete loved sports. Growing up most of Pete's friends also played sports. During the summers all the friends played touch football, basketball and baseball. They were too young to play in competing leagues. But they all knew that if they worked hard, when they were old enough to play in those leagues, they would have most of the skills down.
Pete's popular sport was baseball. He did okay in other sports but his biggest desire was in baseball. When Pete was old enough to play in exiguous League, his coach, Mr. Barton saw something in Pete that was special. Pete could throw a baseball hard and had command of his throws. That was unusual for an eight year old!
Pete played two positions. When he wasn't pitching he played first base. During those first summers in exiguous League, Pete became known for his pitching style. In the games that Peter pitched, all of his friends and house were all the time there to preserve him. For some of his friends, there were on dissimilar exiguous League teams and they got to see first hand Pete's pitching.
As all the kids grew, they soon attended Madison High School. By this time, Pete had come to be a very good pitcher and his credit was known in the surrounding communities. When school was out, Pete and his friends played in the Babe Ruth Leagues and finally in the American Legion Leagues. Pete had honed his pitching skills so much that the other teams feared playing when he was on the mound.
During Pete's freshman year, the head baseball coach, Mr. Robinson, had appropriate a coaching assignment at a major University in other state. The new head baseball coach the school hired was Mark Stevens. Coach Stevens had a son who played baseball. Justin Stevens was also a freshman and Justin wanted to be a pitcher.
Coach Stevens knew of Pete's abilities and he knew that he was best than his son. So when the baseball season came around, everyone knew that even though Pete was a freshman, he was going to be the starting pitcher on the Senior Varsity team. Coach Stevens had other plans in mind though.
When tryouts were over and the lists were posted, Pete's name was not on the Senior Varsity list. His name wasn't even on the Junior Varsity list. There was Pete's name... On the Freshman list! And who was playing on the Senior Varsity team? You got it, Justin Stevens, the coaches' son.
Pete was stunned as were all his friends. His parents supported him and told him that maybe next year he would be on the team. Pete made the best of the situation and the Freshman team won every game that season.
Before Coach Robinson left the school, He had led Madison High to three State Championships. The Baseball schedule was one of the best in the region. There was a lot of community preserve for the schedule and the school's credit as a powerhouse was well documented. This was the same for all of the sports programs at Madison High. Being a member of Madison High School was something to brag about!
Well, the first year under Coach Stevens was dismal, to say the least. The team won one game all season. It was the first time in 25 years that a Madison High baseball team had only one win in an whole season. The school's Booster Club was trying to outline out what happened, the community was in shock, and the players were stunned. Coach Stevens was extremely recommended as an superior baseball coach!
The amount one speculate they had a bad year? Coach Stevens put his son in as the starting pitcher. There was only one problem, Justin couldn't pitch! Justin either walked the batters, hit the batters with a pitch or the ball was right over the plate and the batters had a field day at the Eagles expense! All Pete could do was sit In the stands and watch the team get embarrassed in every game. The question was every time other pitcher on the team got into a jam, instead of letting the pitcher work his way out of it, Coach Stevens would pull the pitcher and put his son in. Before long the game was out of reach.
During Pete's sophomore season, he was located on the Junior Varsity squad. The Jv squad won every game they played. Pete was overpowering as a pitcher. But the Varsity team again was losing. This year, they didn't win a game all season. Population were calling for Coach Stevens' resignation. The question was, because they were told that the Coach was so good, they gave him a five year contract and if they fired him, the school would have to still pay the coach for the whole contract. It seems the school was lied too!
In the first two seasons as the head baseball coach, Coach Stevens' description was 1 win and 22 losses. The biggest speculate for the losing record, was Justin. He never should not have been pitching. As it turned out, Coach Stevens wanted his son to get a college baseball scholarship and would do anyone for his son to get one.
Pete's Junior year still saw him on the Jv team. The Varsity team? Well, the once proud Madison High School Eagles were now the laughing stock in the State's High School Baseball programs.
In Pete's Senior year, he finally made the Varsity team. But he was not the pitcher. Coach Stevens put him in right field and still had Justin be the starting pitcher. Once again the team was losing every game.
On the last game of the season, Coach Stevens called Pete into his office and told him that he was going to be the starting pitcher. Pete was ecstatic! Word got out all over town and everyone showed up to the game.
The Game
The team that the Eagles were playing was their cross town rivals, The Spartan High Warriors. The Warriors had not lost a game in three years and had won two state championships. They were finding transmit to other championship
As Pete took the mound, a strange feeling came over him. The fans were yelling his name and there seemed to be electricity in the air. The first inning came and went with three straight outs. So did the second inning, the third inning, the fourth and fifth innings! Peter was in the middle of throwing a excellent game!
When Madison High came to the plate During those first five innings, they got three runs and led the game 3-0. When Pete took the mound for the sixth and seventh innings, no Warrior batter got a hit. In the eighth inning, the team helped Pete get all three batters out. By this time, the crowds in the stands were going crazy! One more inning! In the lowest of the eighth inning, Madison scored one more run and led the game 4-0. Now here it was! The top of the ninth inning. If the Madison Eagles could get the final three outs, Pete would have thrown a excellent Game!
As Pete took the pitcher's mound, his stomach was tied in knots and there were butterflies everywhere inside him. Now the three batters Pete had to face were friends that he had played against in the American Legion. Bill Baker, Steve Ammon, and Brad Butters. It just so happened that these three batters were the heart of the Warriors lineup!
Pete struck out Bill on a nasty curve ball. As Pete was getting ready to pitch to Steve, he saw his coach approaching from the dugout. Coach Stevens asked Pete if his arm was okay. He assured the coach that all things was okay. Coach Stevens left the mound and returned to the dugout. Pete was confused as to why the coach even came out all.
When Pete threw to Steve, Steve hit the ball deep into center field and the centerfielder; Rich Combs caught the ball on the warning track. Peter gave a "thumbs up" to Rich for manufacture a good catch. As Peter had his back toward the fans, he began hearing boos! As Peter turned around there was Coach Stevens approaching him! By league rules, when a coach goes to the mound twice in one inning, the pitcher was forced to leave the game.
Coach Stevens said to Peter, "You threw a heck of a game. But I'm taking you out. I think your arm is getting tired." "But coach! This is the final out! I'm one out away from a no hitter!" Coach Smith just smiled and said, "You didn't think that I would let you show up my son, did you?" Peter looked over at the pitching mound and sure enough, there was Justin warming up.
Now the team was all around the mound yelling at the coach. The umpires were all confused. The Warriors team was shocked, and the fans were beside themselves. Bedlam was taking over the game.
There as nothing Pete could do but give the ball to the coach as Justin walked to the mound. Pete sat down in the dugout bench. He was numb and confused. He was holding back the tears because he didn't want to let the coach get any satisfaction in what he had done. Pete could not believe what had just happened! How could man be so cruel?
The second pitch Justin threw to Brad Butters, Brad hit the ball out of the ball park. There went the no hitter. The next batter was hit by the pitch and took first base. The next batter hit a double in the middle of the left and center fields scoring the running from first base.
The score was now 4-2. Justin walked the next two batters and loaded the bases. The next batter hit the ball over the left field fence for a grand slam. The Warriors now lead the game 6-4. The hitting onslaught prolonged until the Warriors scored a total of 11 runs before the Eagles got the final out. The Eagle players were so demoralized that the three hitters just stood at the plate and let pitches go by without even swinging the bat. After the third out, the final score was Warriors 11 the Eagles 4.
Coach Stevens was mad that the team just gave up! To make matters worse, Justin was complaining that the team never gave him any support! If he had some back up the score would have been closer! This came from a guy who in four years of pitching for the team had not won a particular game in those four years! The comments from the coach and his son sent the team over the edge. The players attacked Justin and Coach Stevens! The scene inside the dugout was unblemished chaos! Both father and son barely got out of the dugout with only a few minor cuts and bruises. As the Coach and Justin left the the dugout they had to face a very angry crowd. The two had to run to their car to avoid getting hurt my the fans!
The Aftermath
The Warrior team had already come to home plate to shake the Eagles hands as a token of friendship. The Eagle team was so upset that no one came out until one player began walking toward the other team. There was Peter Martin, important the way to shake the Warriors' hands. When the rest of the Eagle team saw Pete, they all followed him to home plate.
As Pete 'High Fived' the Warriors team, everyone said, "I'm sorry" to him. As Pete got to the end of the line, there stood his first exiguous league coach, Coach Barton! Pete didn't perceive that Coach Barton was the head coach of the Warriors!
Coach Barton pulled Pete aside and put his arm around him. The Coach said, "10 years ago I saw this scrawny finding kid who wanted to be a pitcher. Today I saw that kid come to be a man. Son, I am so proud of you but I want to wring Coach Steven's neck!" Coach Barton went on, "You had every right to try and get that last out. A no hitter is very special and the chance doesn't come by very often." "But coach," Pete said, "I might not have gotten Brad out!" "That's okay, son! At least you would've known if you did or not."
As the two ended talking, they turned around and saw both teams standing there finding at them. Pete also noticed that none of the fans had left. Even the umpires were standing around! Coach Barton looked at the teams and Brad Butters, the last batter Pete would have faced, said, "Coach, I know it won't convert the score or anything, but we would like to play the last out. We want to give Pete a chance to pitch to me so we'll know if he would've had a excellent game."
The fans were chanting "Pete! Pete! Pete!" Coach Barton looked at Pete and gave him the well, "what do you want to do look!" Pete opinion for a occasion and agreed. The crowd went nuts! The Eagles took the field and Brad got his bat and approached the plate. Pete went to the mound. He looked at his teammates, looked at the Warriors bench, and then at the crowd. Then he saw them! His parents, standing behind the Eagles dugout. His mom was crying and his dad was beaming from ear to ear!
As Pete got the signal from his catcher, he threw a slider over the plate. Brad swung and hit a deep foul ball out of play. Charge one. The next pitch Peter threw was a fast ball low and exterior the plate. Brad swung hard and missed the ball. Charge Two! One more Charge and it would be over. Pete decided to throw his best pitch and if Brad hit it that would be okay. Peter took the conclusion and threw his nasty curve ball as hard as he could. Brad swung...the ball hit the catcher's mitt..."Strike three!" yelled the umpire!
The fans went nuts! They came running onto the field! Both teams were jumping up and down and hugging each other! Even though it didn't count, everyone knew that in their hearts they had witnessed a young man throw a excellent game. Brad came out to the mound and hugged his friend. Brad told Pete that he knew that he would've struck him out if the coach had let Pete stay in the game.
Prologue
Coach Stevens was fired as the head baseball coach. Justin never got one scholarship offer from any school in the country. The Steven's house moved from the area and was never heard from again.
Several of Pete's friends went on to play college baseball but none made it to the 'big leagues.'
And Pete? He went on to play ball at Eastern State College. During his second year, Pete tore several tendons in his pitching arm and shoulder. There was surgery to heal the tendons, months of corporeal therapy, Pete realized that his baseball days were over. His arm never got strong enough to throw like he used too. While at college, Pete found the love of his life and got married.... And as they say...the rest is history!
a fantastic read How To Throw A exquisite Game And Still Lose
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