Ben and I decided to take a little different tack here. I hope you enjoy how we presented this chapter as the Boys of the Lady Lex fight to gain respect...and more.
The Boys of the Lady Lex Chapter 50 "Press Box" Written By Douglas DD and Benjamin T. C.
"Good morning and welcome to the second day of the Junior Sol Force Alliance Academy Olympics. This is Rick Monroe and teamed up with me for a second day in a row is Olympic God Medalist, 2 time Stanley Cup winner, and MVP of the year, Jason Cantrau."
"Thanks, Rick for telling everyone about my credentials, but you have quite a record too. Three Stanley Cups, 5 consecutive seasons of most goals in a single season, you rank #5 of scoring most career goals, and you are a member of the NHL Hall of Fame in Toronto," said Jason Cantrau.
"I have no doubt that you will be joining me in the Hall of Fame on the next vote. You were the top goalie in your time and you are a shoe in on your first time up for nomination."
"That would be sweet, but let's turn the attention to the ice. JSFA Gettysburg' is warming up and they look hot. They came in second place for their division this winter, losing only to the Orion'. When they played in an invitation tournament that consisted of members from the 10 top playing teams, they took the trophy and didn't lose a single game."
"That's right, Jason. I'm sure if the Orion was invited to this tournament, they would have taken it, but fate didn't go their way when the tournament's regulations stated that a team had to be in existence for at least 1 year before being invited." , "Well, Rick the Orion and Gettysburg are pretty much evenly matched and it will be a close and exciting game if they end up playing each other for the title. Which is my prediction. But right now, the Gettysburg has to beat the Lexington who lost terribly to the Spirit yesterday."
"Jason, I give Captain Hatcher lots of credit, trying to change these boys around and make them productive citizens instead of a menace to society like they were, but half these boys don't belong on the ice."
"That's because most of them never touched the ice until they joined the team. Hatcher didn't have much choice in the matter. But after losing like they did yesterday, to the worse team in the division that didn't win a single game the past two seasons, they are doomed before even beginning today," said Rick as he jotted some notes down on his notepad.
Jason took a sip of his hot chocolate. "I will say this for the `Lexington'; they sure look on fire this morning. They seem to be really pumped up."
"That is a good thing coming into a game like this. Like any sport, the mental portion of the individual and team is so much more powerful then the skill and talent. But will it be enough to keep this team alive?"
"We are about to find out, Rick. Dylan McIntire takes up his position for the face off. Spencer Harris is the right wingman with Kyle Osbourn as the left wingman. On Defense you have Mike "the Donkey" Wakeman and Roc Harding. TJ Polaski is defending their goal."
"The Gettysburg' has their top players starting on the ice. Nicholas Gavanci will be facing off with Dylan McIntire. Gettysburg' wingmen are Elmer "El-J" Cressmore and Norb "Pags" Rivers. `Gettysburg' defense is John "the Hammer" Clark and Andre' "Devil's Own" Wagner. And Goalie is Knute Ridgebottom.
"The puck is released; Dylan's stick tangles in Nicholas's stick. Dylan kicks the puck through Nicholas's legs. Spencer Harris swings around and scoops up the puck. He passes it to Kyle who shoots and scores!!!"
"I don't believe it. Not even 10 seconds in the game and the Lexington' is one up on Gettysburg'."
Roy Pointer had just watched the pitchers for the first baseball game of Tuesday warm up in their respective bullpens. Dominic Rogers of the "Port Royal" was a big, strapping, left-handed senior, throwing some blazing heat and a sharp breaking slider as he got loose in the first base side bullpen. Across the field in the third base side bullpen, Douglas Daniels, a slender, short freshman was throwing an assortment of fastballs, change-ups, and breaking balls. He obviously did not have near the stuff his opponent had been displaying. He definitely didn't have the physical make-up, and if yesterday's scores were any indication, he didn't have the mental make-up either.
The "Lexington" had been hammered by the "Orion" in a game called after five innings thanks to the mercy rule. The "Port Royal" had had a tougher time with the "Monitor" but still had ended up with a fairly easy 8-1 win. Pointer wished he had a better match-up to broadcast, but he knew they would come after the weaklings like the "Lexington" until they had been eliminated.
He climbed up into the broadcast booth, which was situated above the stands behind home plate. The game would start soon and he needed to finish going over his notes with Willie Claussen, his broadcast partner. The game was scheduled to start in ten minutes.
The umpires came out and went over the ground rules with the coaches and the team captains. The "Lexington" was the home team and they took the field after the conference. It was almost game time.
"I couldn't help but notice the difference between the two starting pitchers as I watched them warm up," Pointer said. "Dominic Rogers not only looks more imposing than Daniels, he also looks much more confident and at ease. I couldn't help but think Daniels looked scared. This should be another game decided by the mercy rule."
"I have to agree," Claussen said. "But I can't help but admire what the `Lexington' has accomplished over the last few months. It's just a shame that her future rests on the outcome of these games. Competitively she doesn't belong here, and in a couple of weeks she will once again be retired."
"You have to take your hat off to them. Those boys have a lot of heart and courage to just take the field as overmatched as they are. Yesterday they got slaughtered by the newest ship in the JFSA fleet. Their reward is having to play the strongest team in the fleet, not to mention the defending champs.
Douglas finished his warm-ups. Ben trotted out to the mound and handed him the ball. "Kick some ass. I love you."
Douglas gave him a piercing stare. Ben liked that stare. What Roy Pointer saw as fear, Ben saw as concentration and determination. His boyfriend was ready to pitch. The Boys of the Lady Lex were ready to play.
"The first batter is the center fielder, Cole Duncan, a senior," Claussen announced. "He has great speed and should be a challenge to the Lady Lex infield if he decides to bunt. He takes his place in the batter's box. And here is the first pitch from Douglas Daniels. It's a slider over the outside corner for called strike one."
The count ran to 2-1 when Cole bunted a waist high fastball up the third base line and beat it out for a hit.
"Cole is a definite threat to steal," Pointer said. "He is going to distract Douglas; leaving things wide open for the number two batter, second baseman Brian "Squirt" Holman. This will be a big play here."
"Here's the pitch, and there goes Cole. Ben Collins, the catcher throws to second, but it is not in time. Cole is safe on a stolen base. Watch for him to steal third now," Claussen said. "Already the speed of the `Port Royal' looks like it will break this game open early. The pitch to Brian Holman is a ball."
"I wouldn't be surprised to see two pitches and two steals here," Pointer said. "Ben's arm is no match for the speed of Cole Duncan."
"Here's the 1-0 pitch to Brian, and there goes Cole to third. Here's the throw and it's right on the money to Travis Tucker and Cole is OUT at third!"
"What a throw by Collins," Pointer said. "He sure didn't look overmatched on that play."
"That pitch was a strike. Douglas was forced to throw fastballs with Cole on base. Let's see what he throws with nobody on."
What he threw was a change-up that Brian Holman swung on a bit early and dribbled to short. But he was almost as quick as Cole and beat it out, bringing up Barry "Cuda" Lang.
"Barry Lang may be the best hitter in the fleet. He dominated last year's Olympics as a junior. He may even have the potential for a pro career," Pointer said.
Barry worked the count to 3-1 when Douglas fed him a fast pitch. "That ball is BELTED!" Claussen yelled excitedly. "Donyelle Frazier is running to the fence, he leaps, he hits the fence and falls to the ground, but that ball is GONE!!! The Royals lead 2-0 on Barry Lang's home run to dead center...wait...Frazier is throwing the ball in to first! Squirt Holman is sliding back in head first, the tag, and he's out! Double play! Oh my, let's see the replay on that one. It appears Donyelle Frazier caught the ball when he hit the fence. What an amazing catch!"
"You can see on the replay that his glove was just above the fence as he hit it and that he did indeed make one of the greatest catches I've seen at any level. And so, after a half inning of play, it's the Royals nothing and the Lady Lex boys coming to bat."
Will Matthews, a man in his 70's, sat in his chair in the announcer's box. Sitting next to him was a much younger fellow by the name of Gabe Townsend. Both of them set each other off. One was young, the other old. One had pure white hair, the other jet black. One talked like a British Butler while the other talked like a stable boy from New York. But the one thing they both have in common is that they won gold medals in the Olympics for fencing.
"I say dear old chap, this has been an exciting day in the world of fencing," said Will Matthews.
"Maybe for the Kritons. They are blowing their competition out of the water. It's unbelievable," replied Gabe.
"This doesn't surprise me at all. The bloody Kritons learn how to fence with their baklava's before they even begin to walk. This will definitely be their event."
"But I must say, the Lexington Cadets turned their team around. Their Junior Varsity team has won all four of the fencing events against the Monitor. The Varsity team is just one event away from sweeping the Monitor as well."
"The `Monitor's' broadsword man, Jonathon Styles, a senior, will be competing against' Lexington's' Brian McDowell. Styles won his event yesterday as he beat the Spirit's, Gianni Bernetti," said Will Matthews.
"McDowell and Styles step into the image chambers. They draw their swords. There goes Styles on the attack, McDowell tries to block, but he fails. Styles decapitates McDowell. Lexington wins the fencing competition against the Monitor, but McDowell kept them from earning a sweep."
"This has been an exciting game so far," said Jason Cantrau. "We are 2 minutes into the second period with the Lexington leading 1-0. Lexington's goalie, TJ Polaski, has put on a brilliant display as he blocked 37 attempted goals."
Rick Monroe interrupts, "There goes Kyle Osbourn of the Lexington up the center. He has the puck. He pushes the puck towards his feet, Gettysburg's goalie, Knute Ridgebottom shifts, Osbourn kicks the puck back out to his stick and shoots. HE SCORES!!! Lexington is up 2-0 in the second period.
The speedy Donyelle Frazier led off for the Lady Lex. Like so many of the Lady Lex cadets he had never played baseball, or any other organized sport, but had a great deal of natural athleticism. He had worked hard on his skills, but he had never faced a pitcher with the talent of Dominic Rogers. He barely twitched as two fastballs came scorching past him. Dominic grinned. Now it was time for high heat.
"Frazier looked overmatched on those two pitches," Claussen said. "They were right there and he didn't make a move to hit. It was like they were too fast to see."
"Dominic could easily dominate this game," Pointer agreed. "Douglas struggled through the first inning, but with these two pitches Dominic is showing who the superior pitcher is."
Donyelle knew exactly what to throw. High heat. Up the ladder and let the rookie go fishing. He and his catcher were in complete agreement. The pitch was up in Donyelle's eyeballs, and he did exactly what they expected. He swung and missed and there was one out.
Douglas came up next. "Daniels has a lot of experience playing ball," Pointer said. "He isn't going to go as easily."
His analysis proved to be correct. Douglas had always been a patient hitter, and he worked the count to full, fouling off a couple of two strike pitches, before hitting a soft opposite field line drive to right.
"That was a nice job of hitting by Douglas Daniels," Pointer said. "He turned a quality at bat into a hit. Now the question is will the Lady Lex try the running game. Catcher Warren Knutson is supposed to have a great arm. Let's see if the Lady Lex is willing to test it."
Travis Tucker was up. Travis had played some ball too. He was a big, strong boy. He looked to third for the signs, nodded and dug in, ready for the first pitch. It was a strike.
"Douglas had a nice lead, but showed no sign of going," Claussen observed.
"He might be checking out the pitcher first. See what kind of move he has."
Dominic's next move was to first, but Douglas got back easily. He then took a bigger lead, and this time Dominic gave his best move, maybe a bit too soon. Douglas dove into the base, barely safe. The next pitch was a ball, making the count 1-1.
"Here comes the 1-1 pitch," Claussen announced, "and there goes the runner." The Lady Lex correctly guessed off speed pitch. Travis swung and missed, Warren fired the ball to second, where the second baseman waited. The ball just beat Douglas, the second baseman put the tag on the sliding, but the ump didn't make a call.
"The ump is asking to see the ball," Pointer said, "and he won't find it in the second baseman's glove. It seems to be on the ground."
The umpire, now seeing where the ball was, signaled an emphatic "SAFE!"
"The count is now 1-2," Claussen said. "Now let's see what kind of hitter Travis Tucker is. Here is the pitch, Tucker swings, and lines it hard into the gap. The ball is cut off and Douglas is rounding third and being waved home. Here comes the throw home, Douglas slides, and is safe! The throw was just a bit offline and the Warren wasn't able to get the glove around in time. A nice throw and a great slide by Douglas Daniels to avoid the tag. The Lady Lex now leads one to nothing."
Ben came to the plate.. He, too, had played a lot of ball. Unlike his patient boy friend, Ben loved to swing the bat, and rarely worked the count. The first pitch that was close was a pitch to like. The Royals scout had noticed that the day before, and Dominic gave Ben a fastball just off the plate. Ben swung and missed.
"Collins looked bad on that pitch. He needs to show more patience if he wants to hit a pitcher the caliber of Dominic Rogers."
The next pitch was in the dirt, but Ben stayed off it. "Here comes the 1-1 pitch," Claussen said. "Swing and a miss on a high fastball. That was the same pitch Frazier struck out on. Ben looked bad on it."
"I agree," Pointer said. "Ben is now at the mercy of Dominic."
Ben stared Dominic down with a look of determination. No way was he going to give in to the big pitcher. Big time Port Royal or not, defending champs or not, senior dominated team or not, today was not going to be like yesterday. Today the Lady Lex was going to show the fight they had in them, and he was going to make sure to put an exclamation point on the first inning. He closed his mind to everything but Dominic and the next pitch.
"Here comes the 1-2 pitch. Ben swings at a low pitch and golfs it into the air. Cole Duncan, the centerfielder turns his back and runs back. That ball is going...going..going..GONE! It clears the fence for a two run homer, and suddenly the Lady Lex has a three nothing lead. What a hit by Collins as he golfs a ball below his knees over the center field fence."
"The Lady Lex cadets had better enjoy this while they can because, over seven innings, the cream will rise to the top."
The Lady Lex boys swarmed over Ben as soon as he crossed the plate. Their smiles replacing the fearful frowns of the day before, just as their bald heads had replaced their regulation hair cuts of the day before. Yesterday was yesterday, today they were not to be outdone.
The first inning ended at three to nothing. After that came a game of determination and hard play. Ben guided Douglas and his assortment of pitches through the tough Royals lineup. His pitches were in and out, up and down, fast and slow, as changing location and speed kept the Royals hitters off balance. Behind him good plays were made, with a couple of great ones thrown in.
"Less then a minute in the game. The Lexington leads 2-0 with their Left Winger, Kyle Harris scoring both goals. TJ Polaski has put on a spectacular show at the goal. I don't know what got into these boys, but it sure impresses me," said Jason Cantrau.
"But is this a fluke? Or did Hatcher actually built himself a competitive team?" asked Monroe.
"We will find out when the Lexington takes on the Oriskanee tomorrow. There goes Dylan McIntire in front of the goal. He skates over the puck; he slips his stick in between his legs. He shoots. Scores!!! What an unbelievable shot. There goes the buzzer. The Lexington wins 3-0."
Dominic settled down and threw his heat along with some unhittable breaking balls. Ben's home run had shown him that the Lady Lex was not going to be a pushover. Each team got some men on base, and each team failed to take advantage, except for a solo home run by Warren Knutson in the fifth inning. Going into the seventh and final inning, the score was the Lady Lex three and the Royals one.
Roy Pointer was almost gushing into the microphone. "What a game the Lady Lex cadets have played. If they can hold on here in the seventh, they will have pulled off one of the biggest upsets in any sport in junior academy Olympic history!"
"They have indeed played a great game," Claussen agreed, "but they haven't won anything yet."
The most important conversation was going on down in the Lady Lex dugout, however. It was between Douglas, Ben, and Doctor Daniels, who was now operating as Douglas's coach instead of his father.
"Do you have another inning left in you?" Doctor Daniels asked. "I have Brett warmed up and ready to go. But this is your game." Doctor Daniels hadn't seen Douglas play as many games as he would have liked, but he knew him well enough to trust him to make the right decision.
Douglas knew what he wanted to say, but he also knew what had to say, which was the truth. He wanted to go on, to be the hero, to have the team run out and congratulate him after stopping the mighty Royals for seven innings. But he knew he was done. He had received all his arm could give him. It was time to step aside, because the Lady Lex was more important than his being a hero. He looked at Ben and at his dad the coach, and he made not only a mature decision, he made a heroic decision.
"No. I'm done. That's what my arm is telling me."
His dad looked at him seriously, but inside he was beaming at the courage and integrity shown by his son.
"Douglas will take second, Brett will pitch, Gary will move to left field, and Scottie will come out."
The lineup for the final inning was set. Left hander Brett Howard took the mound.
"Douglas has been replaced on the mound by Brett Howard," Pointer informed the audience. "Let's see if Brett has what it takes to hold this two run lead. He will be facing the two, three, four hitters. This will be no easy task. Douglas must be tired. Nobody has played enough games to truly be stretched out and Coach Daniels is making a change before fatigue becomes a factor.
Brett proceeded to walk the "Squirt" Holman on four pitches, none of which were close, bringing up "Cuda" Lang. Ben walked out to the mound and had an animated conversation with his pitcher. Brett took a long deep breath and threw a pitch low and away. "Cuda", hoping to be a hero quickly for the frustrated Royals reached for it and tried to pull it.
"It's a hard ground ball to Lance Pound at shortstop," Claussen said. "Lance grabs it and feeds it to Douglas at second for the out, who pivots and fires a perfect strike to Travis Tucker at first. The umpire pumps him out, a perfect 6-4-3 double play!"
If the walk to "Squirt" had raised the spirits of the Royals, "Cuda's" double play had quickly snuffed any hope. Darnell Coleman, the cleanup hitter swung at the first two pitches from Brett.
"It almost looks as if Coleman wants to end the game and get off the field. The amazing play of the Lady Lex has demoralized the mighty Royal baseball team," Pointer observed.
"You have that right," Claussen agreed. "The Royals came into this game expecting an easy victory, and instead they got the battle of their lives from the scrappy Lady Lex boys."
Ben called for a curve, low and away. Brett threw it and as it headed for the dirt, Coleman swung at it half-heartedly. It bounced into Ben's mitt, and Ben put the tag on Coleman as the finishing touch. The game was over. The Lady Lex had won, 3-1. There was no rushing out of the dugout as Douglas had fantasized. The players quietly shook hands, shook hands with the Royals, many of whom refused to look their opponents in the eye, and headed for the locker room.
"The Lady Lex took that win rather calmly," Pointer said. "It's as if their mission isn't over."
"It's not," Claussen said. "They are fighting for their very survival and for this surprising and amazing win to be more than a moral victory, they need a lot more efforts like the ones they got here, today."
Claussen's observation summed up the attitude in the locker room. "That's one," Ben said, seriously. "We have along way to go." The win by the baseball team was a message to all. The Boys of the Lady Lex were now focused on their mission, and were willing to stand toe to toe with anyone, even the boys of the mighty "Port Royal".
"It was interesting to see that Hatcher had moved the Carson Brothers from center to defense, to skate along side of RJ Polaski," said Rick Monroe.
"But it did the trick. With ten seconds left to the game, the Lexington JV Team leads 4-1."
"And the `Gettysburh's' JV team only scored that goal because the brothers and Polaski got sent to the penalty box for boarding. I'm sure the two of them will get a chewing out on that maneuver from Captain Hatcher."
"There's the buzzer. Lexington beats Gettysburg 4-1."
The JV baseball team didn't have the fanfare of the varsity. It did have a nice crowd however, many of whom were rooting for the Lady Lex. Admiral Whitaker, Captain Avery, and the "Port Royal" had few friends in the Sol Force Fleet. The JV baseball team had one more thing; it had Trek the Hawke. Some of the loudest rooters for the Lady Lex were members of the crew of the "Cape Intrepid" which had been assigned to Hawking's Planet to help keep the fleet stocked. After watching the Lady Lex compete against the "Orion" on Phosphorous Prime, the crew had developed a soft spot in their hearts for the boys of the Lady Lex. That, coupled with a natural resentment against the "Port Royal", gave the Lady Lex her loudest group of rooters.
Trevor fed off the energy of the crowd and put together a game to remember. He had pitched yesterday, so he was ineligible to pitch in this game. However, he played a spectacular shortstop, taking away two sure base hits, and was a force at the plate. He hit a run scoring double in the first inning, a triple in the third, a single in the fifth, and capped it all by hitting a game winning three run home run in the seventh to lead the Lady Lex to a 7-6 win over the Royals. Trev had hit for the cycle, scored two runs, and knocked in six.
Trevor accepted the congratulations of his teammates with a glare. "This isn't over," he declared. "The Lady Lex is going all the way, and the Hawke will help take them there."
Trevor had worked too hard to play ball in the Olympics to accept anything but the best for himself, and he had grown too proud of his ship to accept anything less than complete victory.
General Eliju stood on the bridge of his new flagship, the "Krath-Rah". He looked through the view screen at the massed Kriton fleet. His fleet. A fleet that was poised and ready for battle.
The peace talks were breaking down. Even the diplomatic skills of Ambassador Ka, whom he had tried hard to replace, couldn't repair the damage he and the Earth admiral had administered. Even though the admiral's plan to have the Earth ambassador completely under his control had not succeeded, enough misinformation and misdirection had been tossed into the peace talks to guarantee their failure. Maybe not as fast and completely as he would have liked, but they were shaky enough that he felt confident in embarking on the last part of his plan. Even with their academy ship at the silly Olympics, even with peace talks going on, he had put enough spin into motion so that every average Kriton was almost seeing an Earth invasion fleet landing in his back yard.
He knew the fleet was a sham. It would move towards Earth in a matter of days. The Earth fleet would stop it. War would be declared. By the time the dust settled he would be the true leader of Kriton; the admiral would have unprecedented military and political power, and the galaxy would be theirs to split. That was the plan he and the Earth admiral had worked on for over two years.
He smiled inwardly. But of course, there was the true plan. When the fleet departed for its "battle" run it would be under his command. Six ships would be left behind to escort the ship that the true plan was built around, the "Shakala", a science ship. The flotilla would be under his trusted aide, Admiral Gragosh. It was the success of that flotilla and its Xanthium bomb that would decimate Earth and make him the most powerful man in the history of the galaxy.
To be continued...