Page 1 of Batter Up!

Since 1959, the final game of every Little League World Series has been played at Howard J. Lamade Stadium. The stadium sits on land donated by the Lamade family.

“Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! We’re here! We’re really here!” I squealed with excitement as I put both my hands on the window frame and stuck my head as far out of the window as my seatbelt would allow.

My papaw’s booming laugh filled the car, and I looked over at him, grinning. His laugh was one of my favorite sounds in the whole world. “You would think I was taking you to Disney with a reaction like that.”

“Welcome to Howard J. Lemonade Stadium,” I read out loud.

Papaw laughed again, and he corrected me, “That’s Lamade, darling girl.”

I just shrugged, “I still can’t believe it’s free to come.”

“Oh, Molls, look at that,” Papaw said and pointed to the side of the stadium. Words were cut out of bushes on a hill next to the stadium that read, ‘Welcome to the Little League World Series.’ “We’ll have to get a picture in front of that for Mimi.”

“She would love that,” I said as we circled around looking for a parking space. Then, I saw a bunch of kids of all different ages sliding down a steep hill while riding in cardboard boxes. “Holy shit, that looks awesome!”

“Molly Nicole Green! Watch your language,” Papaw chided. “Your Mimi would have my hide if I let you use language like that.”

“Sorry, Papaw,” I murmured and hung my head. I didn’t like when he was upset with me.

When I was four years old, my parents were killed in a car crash after celebrating their anniversary. My grandparents, my mom's parents, were babysitting me when it happened, and they took over raising me. My dad's I don’t really remember too much about my parents other than the stories Papaw tells me or the pictures Mimi shows me. I couldn’t ask for better people to raise me.

Mimi was the bakery manager at the big department store in town, and because it was corporate-owned, she really couldn’t be creative with her baking. When she was home, however, she taught me all her skills. We would have the best time making up crazy recipes and testing them out on Papaw. He said I was just like my mom, Jennie, because we would both get so excited to try new things. I loved learning little things like that about her.

Papaw was the high school principal, and I secretly hoped he would retire by the time I got there. Talk about awkward! He had been the head baseball coach before he became principal, though he still helped coach each year. He taught me everything about baseball, especially how to love the game.

“I won’t tell Mimi if you don’t,” Papaw said as he gently squeezed my shoulder. “Just watch your mouth. It’s not nice language coming from my sweet girl.”

“Ok, Papaw,” I said as he finally found an empty spot and parked the car. As soon as he put it in park, he pulled out his cell phone and called Mimi.

“Hi, Eloise. I just wanted to leave you a message letting you know that Molly and I are here safely in Williamsport. We miss you and wish you were with us. Thanks again for packing the hazelnut chocolate chip cookies so we didn’t starve on the way here. Love you. Call me back soon.”

We walked up to the sign made from hedges and watched as several baseball teams, families, and even individuals took their turn taking pictures at the sign.

When we finally got to the front of the line, a woman was taking a picture of three boys, all wearing the same uniform.

“If one of those handsome young men is yours, I can take your picture with him,” Papaw offered with a broad smile.

The woman laughed. “I claim all three of them. That would be really sweet. Then, I can get a picture of you two.”

After the pictures were taken and we stepped to the side, I heard one of the three boys complaining about being hungry.

“You just ate!” Their mother said. “With the way you three eat, I’ll go broke trying to feed you when you guys are teenagers.”

“I have some cookies,” I offered. “We have plenty if you guys want to share.”

“Yes! Cookies!” The complaining boy cheered, pumping his fist in the air.

“That’s very sweet, honey,” the mom said, smiling. “But, knowing these boys, they will eat every cookie you have.”

“We have more in the car, so I’m not worried,” I said with a grin as I dug into my backpack for the ziploc baggie I’d stashed there earlier.

As I pulled it free, the other two boys turned around and grinned at the sight of the cookies. My eyes locked on the most beautiful green eyes I had ever seen. Those eyes were trained on mine, and I felt frozen in place. Butterflies began to flutter in my tummy, I had never felt like this before. My friends, Chelcie and Mary, always talked about how cute certain boys were on the playground at recess, but I hadn’t ever really noticed a boy until now.

“Hi,” he said. “Thanks for the cookies.”

“Hi,” I echoed, not sure what else to say. I didn’t want to look away from his eyes but wanted to take all of him in. Cute dimples popped out on either side of the wide smile that lit up his face.

One of the other boys grabbed the bag of cookies out of my hand, and their mom reprimanded him for being rude.

---