Published: 2025-09-30

It was the bottom of the ninth inning. One out, a man running on first. The score was 3-2. New Town High School had managed to make it this far, but they were having second thoughts about winning this one. Every game mattered, and their rival, Mountain Peak High School, was ranked better ranked than them. Virtually every other team in the nation was. The pitcher got distracted, and the man in first ran; the catcher didn’t bother trying to take him out. It was a clean steal. They couldn’t go for a double-play anymore, and the tying run was now on second. New Town High School’s coach left the bullpen; he was now in the field. Players started to reunite on the mound.

“Son, I think you’re losing it. You have pitched the entire game; maybe we should bring a closer to finish this.” The coach said.
“With all due respect, sir. We don’t bring a closer with a man in second and only one out. That’s suicide. We need someone who is already hot.” Luis said.
“What are you suggesting, son?”
“If everyone agrees, sir, I’ll get the job done.”

The coach looked the young man in the eye. He exuded confidence, but the game, the season was on the line. The coach started to motion to ask for the ball when someone said, “I believe in Luis. He brought us here, let’s leave it to him.” It was John, the catcher. “Leave it to Luis.” Said another player, and then another, and another. Win or lose, they all agreed, let Luis pitch. The coach sighed, leaving Luis in went against his better judgment, but the kids deserved it; it was their game to win or lose. “All right, you stay in, Luis, but if we don’t win this and the next game, we won’t go to the nationals. You know it, right?” An umpire has joined the improvised meeting and demanded that it be dissolved immediately. As he returned to the bullpen, the coach turned his head towards Luis and said, “Give ‘em hell.” Luis saw his lips move, but had no idea what he had said. It didn’t matter anyway.

The game was on its way once again. Luis prepared to pitch. The batter stood still. Before he knew it, the ball rested comfortably in the catcher’s mitt. “Strike!” Said the umpire. It was a fastball right down the middle. Luis smiled; the batter tightened his grip on the wooden smacker. Luis nodded at the catcher and threw with all his might. “Another fastball. These farmers underestimate me.” The batter thought as he swung with all his might. “Strike!” Said the umpire. It was a curveball. Luis smiled; the batter sighed and relaxed his shoulders. New Town High School commanded the pace of the game once again.

“Ball!” Said the umpire. The next three pitches were all ball. Luis wanted a risk-free out, but the batter wouldn’t budge. Luis took a deep breath. It was him and the batter; at that moment, nobody else existed in the whole world. He prepared, he motioned, he pitched. As soon as the ball left his hand, he knew he had made a mistake. “Not now. Please, not now.” The ball was behind home plate; it was a wild pitch. Luis looked at the man on third and ran to home plate. Everything moved in slow motion now. A man sprinted towards first, and another towards home plate. They might get one or neither of them out. Luis kept shouting to the catcher, “First! Throw it at first.” The catcher had his back to home plate; he didn’t know if the man on third had scored, but judging by Luis’s shouts, he knew it might be so. He threw with all his might; it was out on first. Luis stood firmly in front of the home plate, looking in the direction of first base, extending his glove. “Throw it!” The first baseman understood the assignment and threw a missile towards him. As soon as Luis felt the ball make contact with his glove, he turned his hips 90 degrees and extended his arm as far as he could. A cloud of dust rose above the home plate, the stadium fell silent, everybody in both bullpens stood motionless, people in the stands dug their nails into their seats. Like a clap of thunder, the umpire's voice broke the silence, “Out!”

The New Town High School players ran towards Luis as he stood at home plate and left a victory cry escape. The first one to reach him was the catcher, then the first baseman, and finally, one by one, the rest of his teammates. The stadium erupted in an uproar; the home crowd was not drawn to the idea of losing against a lower-ranked team. They felt cheated; they felt the umpires sold the game. However, they felt one thing was certain: New Town High School, one of the lowest-ranked schools in the nation, was one game away from classifying to the national tournament for the first time.

The New Town High School baseball team still celebrated in the locker room as they prepared to leave. A messenger entered the locker room and asked, “Is Luis still here. Somebody wants to meet him.” Neither the kids nor the couch recognized the messenger, but he had access to the locker rooms and wore an identifying pass. Luis sat on a bench, soaked in sports drink, trying to recover his breath when he heard the man calling his name. He accompanied him to meet this mysterious person who was interested in him. It was a man in a suit. He sat in the stands, looking at the baseball field. Even though he hid his eyes behind dark glasses, his love for the game showed. “Oh, Luis. The man of the hour,” said the man after seeing him, “come here, let me introduce myself. I am Derek Smith. I work with high school talent like yourself.”

“You are a recruiter?” Luis said.

The man smiled, “You are a sharp one, aren’t you?” He said, “I’ll be honest, we are interested in you. You showed a lot of promise today, not only because you threw the entire game, but because you were able to call the right play at the right time. That 3-2 double play to win the game was beautiful… Anyway we are thinking of offering you a scholarship.”

Luis as bewildered, he had just played the most important game of his young career, and now this man was offering him a scholarship. It was too much. “Your agency want me?” He said, since all vocabulary seemed to have disappeared from his brain.
“You’re damn right we do. But… there’s this teeny tiny issue we hope you can help us with before we invest in you. You see, my boss is from González Villa. He’s a huge fan of their high school baseball team, and they’re one game away from making it to the national tournament, you know what I’m saying?”
“You want me to throw our next game?”
“Now, that’s not what I’m suggesting. I’m just saying, maybe you don’t show up for that game. Maybe you have the flu. Diarrhea is very common this time of the year.”
“I’m sorry, sir, but I think this conversation is done.”

Luis started to walk away when Derek stood up from his seat. “I know about your arm. That wild pitch; it was no accident. Your arm had been hurting the whole game. You are lucky it hasn’t broken again, but it will in time.”

Luis stopped, frozen in place. Derek walked up to him and put a hand on his shoulder. “Look, son, it’s nothing personal, it’s business. Every recruiter knows about your arm; you don’t have a career in baseball in your future, heck, you barely have a career in baseball in the present! We wanna do a good deed. Take the scholarship; nobody else is going to offer you one. Then go to college, play until you are able, and get a real career. You’re a good kid, you deserve it. All you have to do is do us this solid.”

Luis turned around and looked Derek in the eye. He had the cunning smile of a used car salesman. “Thanks, Mr. Derek. It has been a pleasure meeting you.” He said, before turning around and heading for the locker room.

“Do you think we got him?” Derek’s companion asked.
“Oh, we got him.”

THE END.