Page 84 of Crew
Grady whipped his head around and beamed. “Yeah! I told my daddy to hit a home run.”
I chuckled. Crew had set himself up for that, seeing as he hit a three-run bomb at Grady’s first game. “Hopefully, he does.”
Just then, Jacobs sent a shot into the left-field bleachers. Grady watched as a couple of kids ran to where it had landed.
“You get a ball yet?” I asked.
Grady shook his head, his bottom lip sticking out in a slight pout. “No.”
“Let's fix that.” I showed him the ball and tossed it over the netting for Mallory to catch.
“Thanks, Knox!” He hugged it to his chest after his mom handed it over, and in that moment, I felt like the coolest guy out there.
“You’re welcome, buddy. Hope you have fun tonight.”
“Good luck,” Mallory said. “We’ll be cheering for both of you.”
“Best cheering section ever.” I flashed her a grin and walked back to the dugout.
When I hit the steps, I saw Crew crossing the field from the bullpen. He went straight toward his son, and it was clear nothing could take away from the happiness he felt having Grady there to watch him play.
It would have beeneasy for members of a new team to let the pressure of the playoffs get to them, but the Seawolves had shownall season that we were the real deal. And tonight, we were proving it again.
Crew had done a great job behind the plate, keeping Meija calm and focused. The Royals had only scored one run through the top of the eighth, and looking at their dugout, I could tell they felt the game slipping away.
We were leading by four, with two runners on and two outs, when I stepped up to the plate. It felt like the win was within reach, but we couldn’t let up now.
The Royals’ reliever loved using his slider whenever he was ahead in the count, and it just so happened I’d been working on hitting that exact pitch in the batting cages the last few days, preparing for this possibility.
He got ahead of me in the count, and I knew what was coming next.
When the off-speed ball moved into the zone, I drove it up the middle, straight into center field. Both runners scored, and my teammates cheered from the dugout as I pointed to them from first.
Sabato followed but popped up to the third baseman.
We were three outs away.
Jensen came into pitch and made quick work of the first two batters.
The crowd got to their feet.
Crew sent Jensen a sign, and I watched as the ninety-nine-mile-per-hour fastball sailed past the batter for strike one.
The next pitch was another fastball that was fouled off for strike two.
I could barely hear anything over the cheers ringing throughout the stadium, but I maintained focus and watched Crew set up to receive the next pitch.
It was a curveball that dropped into the strike zone at the very last second. The umpire called strike three.
We swarmed the mound, everyone hugging and grinning like idiots. We were division champs.
The season before, I’d been in a similar situation with the Twins, but this felt different.
I had more than just the game I loved; I had the man I loved by my side as well.
The celebration on the field continued in pure chaos, but I couldn't stop watchinghimin the middle of it all.
Crew pulled off his gear and walked over to Grady, who was jumping up and down, hands raised in the air.
