Out of Left Field: Marlee's Story Read Online Free
blankets. She didn’t bother to look for her mother because her mother couldn’t take time away from her real estate job. Marlee waved to the die-hard fans and knew that April in the North Country could be rough on outdoor spectators.
Marlee clapped Jeri on the back and said, “Are we going to rock their world today or what?”
“Sure, if Christy has the flu,” Jeri joked and retied her cleats. This was one of her pregame rituals. Her curly dark hair spilled over her forehead and she brushed it back with annoyance.
“Hand me my hat, Marlee. You had the right idea when you cut your hair short. This is so annoying.”
Marlee handed her friend the requested hat. “I don’t expect them to hit anything today, but on the off chance they do manage to hit one to center field, catch it, will ya?”
“Aww, they won’t hit a thing today because Marlee, future All-County pitcher, is on the mound. Okay, there’s no mound in softball, I know,” she amended, “but it sounds better than in the circle.” Pregame rituals complete, she added, “Just do me a favor and throw the pitches Lisa calls for.” She wagged a teasing finger in Marlee’s face. “Coach said you’ve got to listen to Lisa.”
Marlee snapped her teeth together as if to bite the finger. “Yeah, and at five-foot-nine, Lisa could probably beat me up if I don’t listen.”
“We should’ve asked her to come with us to the game last Friday,” Jeri said.
Marlee hadn’t even considered asking Lisa to the game. Lisa could have sized up the batters with her. “Yeah, we should have. I don’t know why we didn’t think of it.” Maybe, Marlee mused, she hadn’t considered taking Lisa since they only hung out at softball. And besides, Lisa was a sophomore, a year younger than Marlee, and they didn’t hang in the same social circles. What social circles? The me and Bobby social circle of two? She dismissed Bobby’s brief intrusion. Big game. No time for distractions. At that moment the umpires called for the captains’ circle.
Marlee and Jeri grabbed their gloves from the bench and jogged to home plate. Christy Loveland sauntered over with a cool I’ve-done-this-a-thousand-times groove. Marlee frowned. Did she and Jeri look like complete idiots running over? She yanked her hat off with her left hand and raked her right hand through her short hair in an attempt to cover her embarrassment.
The home plate umpire asked the players to introduce themselves and shake hands. Ground rules gone over, he reminded the players about their responsibilities as captains. This responsibility included good sportsmanship, but Marlee knew that Christy Loveland wasn’t going to be a good sport after Marlee pitched her perfect game against them. After the brief meeting, Marlee and Jeri coolly sauntered back to the Cougar team bench.
“Home team, take the field,” the umpire yelled and leaned over to brush off home plate.
Marlee’s stomach did a flip. She wanted to run to the pitcher’s circle, but willed herself to play it cool and walked out calmly and with confidence. If ever there was a day to pitch flawlessly, this was it.
“C’mon, Marlee,” Lisa yelled from behind the plate, “fire it in here.” She pounded her catcher’s mitt.
Marlee threw her five warmup pitches and felt strong and confident. She still felt strong and confident even after the first Panther batter swatted a single down the right field line. One runner on, no big deal, Marlee thought. I’ll just pitch a one-hitter today. She had to amend her one-hitter dream of glory to a two-hitter dream when the second batter beat out a bunt up the first base line. Marlee couldn’t figure out what was going wrong with her grand plan when she walked the third batter to load the bases. With no outs, big hitter Susie Torres, #7, was due up next.
Marlee McAllister, #3, tried to stay calm, cool, and collected. But when she watched Susie take her last practice swing in the on-deck circle her knees went
Marlee clapped Jeri on the back and said, “Are we going to rock their world today or what?”
“Sure, if Christy has the flu,” Jeri joked and retied her cleats. This was one of her pregame rituals. Her curly dark hair spilled over her forehead and she brushed it back with annoyance.
“Hand me my hat, Marlee. You had the right idea when you cut your hair short. This is so annoying.”
Marlee handed her friend the requested hat. “I don’t expect them to hit anything today, but on the off chance they do manage to hit one to center field, catch it, will ya?”
“Aww, they won’t hit a thing today because Marlee, future All-County pitcher, is on the mound. Okay, there’s no mound in softball, I know,” she amended, “but it sounds better than in the circle.” Pregame rituals complete, she added, “Just do me a favor and throw the pitches Lisa calls for.” She wagged a teasing finger in Marlee’s face. “Coach said you’ve got to listen to Lisa.”
Marlee snapped her teeth together as if to bite the finger. “Yeah, and at five-foot-nine, Lisa could probably beat me up if I don’t listen.”
“We should’ve asked her to come with us to the game last Friday,” Jeri said.
Marlee hadn’t even considered asking Lisa to the game. Lisa could have sized up the batters with her. “Yeah, we should have. I don’t know why we didn’t think of it.” Maybe, Marlee mused, she hadn’t considered taking Lisa since they only hung out at softball. And besides, Lisa was a sophomore, a year younger than Marlee, and they didn’t hang in the same social circles. What social circles? The me and Bobby social circle of two? She dismissed Bobby’s brief intrusion. Big game. No time for distractions. At that moment the umpires called for the captains’ circle.
Marlee and Jeri grabbed their gloves from the bench and jogged to home plate. Christy Loveland sauntered over with a cool I’ve-done-this-a-thousand-times groove. Marlee frowned. Did she and Jeri look like complete idiots running over? She yanked her hat off with her left hand and raked her right hand through her short hair in an attempt to cover her embarrassment.
The home plate umpire asked the players to introduce themselves and shake hands. Ground rules gone over, he reminded the players about their responsibilities as captains. This responsibility included good sportsmanship, but Marlee knew that Christy Loveland wasn’t going to be a good sport after Marlee pitched her perfect game against them. After the brief meeting, Marlee and Jeri coolly sauntered back to the Cougar team bench.
“Home team, take the field,” the umpire yelled and leaned over to brush off home plate.
Marlee’s stomach did a flip. She wanted to run to the pitcher’s circle, but willed herself to play it cool and walked out calmly and with confidence. If ever there was a day to pitch flawlessly, this was it.
“C’mon, Marlee,” Lisa yelled from behind the plate, “fire it in here.” She pounded her catcher’s mitt.
Marlee threw her five warmup pitches and felt strong and confident. She still felt strong and confident even after the first Panther batter swatted a single down the right field line. One runner on, no big deal, Marlee thought. I’ll just pitch a one-hitter today. She had to amend her one-hitter dream of glory to a two-hitter dream when the second batter beat out a bunt up the first base line. Marlee couldn’t figure out what was going wrong with her grand plan when she walked the third batter to load the bases. With no outs, big hitter Susie Torres, #7, was due up next.
Marlee McAllister, #3, tried to stay calm, cool, and collected. But when she watched Susie take her last practice swing in the on-deck circle her knees went
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