Copyright © 2019-2024 DouglasDD. All Rights Reserved.
EPISODE 9
THE TITANS (Part 3)
TUESDAY, MAY 13
<Aiden>
Whenever Aiden got on the bus and Kalie got up to let him sit by the window, Aiden knew she was horny. The process automatically gave him a hardon, even though each time Kalie touched him Aiden wished that it was Nolan sitting next to him. He was surprised when she did nothing but talk about baseball and softball.
“You guys better beat Clark Pass today,” she said. “We ten-runned them when they were beating you.” While the Titans’ 14-2 loss at Evans Middle School had been a horror story, their 6-4 loss to Clark Pass at home was their most embarrassing game.
Since he and Kalie were just talking, Aiden’s boner started going soft. “I’m going to be the starting pitcher again,” Aiden told Kalie. “And this time I’m going to be ready to do everything the best I can. Clark Pass is better than usual (they had a 3-5 record), but we all know we’re better than they are.”
As the bus pulled into the busway at the middle school, Aiden asked Kalie why she didn’t mess with him. “When you let me sit by the window you always touch my junk,” he reminded her.
“I know, but I just wanted you to get a boner and be excited since you have a game. Ian says he never jerks off when he has a game, so he has lots of energy.”
“What does that have to do with me sitting by the window?”
“Like I said, I wanted you to have a boner and not do anything with it which will make you full of energy when you play Clark Pass.”
Aiden shook his head as the bus rolled to a stop. As much as he liked Kalie, there was so much about her and other girls he knew that made no sense to him. Why give me a boner, he thought, if she isn’t going to do anything about it? He decided that when he had a chance he’d ask Gordy if she ever did stuff like that to him. Marty had told him when girls act like that they are called cockteasers.
The school day went routinely, at least as much as Aiden had to sit through since the bus for the game would be leaving at one-thirty. Aiden grabbed a window seat on the team bus, and was surprised when Scott Keller sat next to him. On a road trip, players didn’t usually sit next to the day’s starting pitcher unless something was arranged in advance. The difference in grades didn’t matter, at least as far as teammates were concerned. Socially, it was often a barrier, but, at least in Mayfield, a teammate was a teammate no matter what grade he was in.
“I’ll be out of your way before the bus leaves the school. I just wanted to know if I can sit next to you on the way home?” Scott asked.
Aiden thought it was a strange request, but he told Scott he was cool with it. “Win or lose?”
“Sheesh, Aiden, there is no way on Earth we’re going to lose.”
“You can sit with me now if you want.”
“It’s cool. I know how you like getting into your zone, so I’ll leave you alone. I want you totally ready to kick ass.” Aiden raised his eyebrows at Scott uttering the word ass. Scott Keller had the reputation of having the most sanitized language of any seventh grader in the United States. “Except maybe those going to church schools,” Mason had said once.
Clark Pass was a bit over 2,000 feet above sea level. Every year that led an “expert” or two to talk about the effect of altitude on pitchers. None of those “experts” was on the Mayfield coaching staff. Aiden closed his eyes and worked on getting into his zone. None of his meditations referred to altitude.
Of the two starting pitchers, the one who appeared to be affected by something was Loren Marshall, the seventh grader who started for the Clark Pass Eagles. He gave up four runs in the top of the first inning and two more in the second before he was pulled by the Clark Pass coach with the score at 6-0.
Aiden pitched five innings of shutout ball, giving up a walk and a single. He left at the end of the fifth with a 9-0 lead. Even though he was well short of his pitch limit, Coach Randall decided that since Aiden had pitched in relief on Friday he set his own lower pitch limit.
Collin pitched the sixth inning, giving up two runs. The Titans scored a run in the top of the seventh and Scott Keller pitched the bottom of the inning. The final score was 10-2 as the Titans more than avenged their disappointing loss back in April.
When the boys piled onto the bus after the game, Gordy sat next to Aiden.
“Scott Keller said he wanted to sit next to me and talk about something after the game,” Aiden told him.
“Did he say what he wanted to talk about?”
“Nope. And here he comes behind Jenny Morse, so the mystery will be solved soon.” Jenny sat next to one of the girls on the softball team. As Scott approached Aiden and Gordy, Gordy stood up and opened up the seat.
“You better be good to my best friend,” he said. “I mean, he was the winning pitcher.”
“I’ll be good, I just want to ask him something.” The serious look on Scott’s face had Aiden wondering what was on Scott’s mind. Everyone on the team agreed that if one of the postseason awards was the Nicest Guy Award, Scott Keller would win it in a landslide.
Scott said nothing until the bus pulled out of the school parking lot and onto Main Street. “I want to ask you a favor,” he said quietly. “You can feel free to say no and I won’t be mad or anything.”
“Jeez, Scott, I don’t think you even know how to get mad.”
After another stretch of silence Scott took a deep breath. “I have a couple of cousins who live in Tacoma. One is a girl. Her name is Sandy and she’s fourteen. The other one is her brother. His name is Ronald, but everybody calls him Ronnie.”
Aiden watched Scott wipe his eyes with his right hand as he tried hard to hide his sniffles. Aiden could tell that this was not going to be a pleasant story. “Anyway, Ronnie is eleven and he’s finishing fifth grade. He loves baseball and loves the Rainiers and well, he won’t be playing baseball this summer because he has…” Scott stopped and took another deep breath. Aiden placed his right hand in Scott’s left hand and felt a warm feeling go through him as Scott gripped it. “Anyway, he has cancer and has to get treated for it.”
“Oh, damn, I’m sorry dude,” Aiden said sincerely. “I’m really sorry.”
“The prognosis is good. Prognosis is a word I’ve been hearing a lot. It means outcome. The doctors say he’s improving some, but he and the other doctors are going to have to work hard at making him healthy and it’s going to take time and he’s going to be hurting and taking chemo and, well, I didn’t ask for you to sit next to me to listen to a lot of problems.”
“Hey, Scott, we’re teammates and more important we’re friends. So, I know you want me to help you with something. Tell me what you want, and I’ll do whatever you ask.”
“Like I said, he’s a big Rainiers fan. He and Uncle Dave have been to a couple of games this season, and hope to go to a lot more when Ronnie gets well.” Scott was letting the tears flow now, not caring who saw them. His teammates said nothing. They could tell there was something important going on between Scott and Aiden that they shouldn’t interrupt.
“Anyway, once he learned Marty Carlson was from Mayfield and that he was a friend of one of my teammates, Marty became his favorite ballplayer. Aiden, Ronnie’s a good kid. He doesn’t ask for much and he’s fighting like a son-of-a-bitch.” Aiden didn’t flinch when he heard Scott utter his mild curse, which sounded out of character and at the same time it didn’t.
“Ronnie asked me if there was a way he could get an autographed picture of Marty to put on his wall, and well, I was hoping maybe you could talk to him and…”
Aiden squeezed Scott’s hand and stopped him. “Don’t say anything else. It’s as good as done. Having a picture like that in my room would sure make me get better fast. I’ll let Marty know as soon as I get home. Since the Rainiers are on the road until Friday it might take a couple of days. Marty’s the best and he’ll come through, I can guarantee it.”
“I’ll text you Ronnie’s address, so Marty can mail the picture to him. Thanks for helping, Aiden, you’re the best. I won’t tell Ronnie until everything is set up. He’s going to be really happy when he finds out.”
Aiden let go of Scott’s hand and gave his leg a couple of strokes through his uniform pants. “Oh, and you can hold my hand anytime you want,” Scott grinned. “I’ll go now so you can sit with Gordy.”
“Don’t go anywhere. You’re the friend I want to sit with for this whole bus trip. And if I get a chance, I want to meet Ronnie. He sounds like a tough kid.”
“Oh, he’s tough and strong, and totally, awesomely nice all in one. I love the dude, Aiden. I’m serious. I wish we lived close to each other, so I could see him more.” Considering the kind of relationship Aiden had with his cousins, he wasn’t sure if Scott was hinting at something, but he didn’t care. Whatever kind of love Scott felt for his younger cousin was fine with him.
The boys looked at each other with the kind of love that boys that age can have for a best friend. They had liked each other as casual friends and teammates, but now there was a special bond between them that would get tighter. What they felt wasn’t romantic, even though it could have become that under other circumstances; the feeling was the singular bond that so often linked adolescent boys.
Larry was waiting for the team bus when it arrived at the middle school. The weekend had been busy for the Mustangs and the first Regional game wasn’t until Friday, so Larry gave the team Monday and Tuesday off. One other reason for giving them Tuesday off was so he could drive up to Clark Pass to watch Aiden’s game. He could have ridden the team bus, but he felt Aiden should be like every other player on the team and not have to deal with a parent riding the bus.
On the drive home, Aiden told Larry about his conversation with Scott Keller. “Do you think Marty will mail the picture to Ronnie if I give him the address?”
“No offense son, but does that sound somewhat like a dumb question to you?”
“Yeah, I guess it does. Of course, Marty will mail it because Marty is Marty which is another way of saying awesome.”
The Rainiers were playing at Salt Lake City, which would put them in Mountain Time, which was an hour later. Aiden felt safe calling Marty before he left for school without it being too early.
As soon as they finished their dinners, Aiden and Gordy were talking on the phone about the league scores for the day. The big score as far as they were concerned was Kentburg’s 4-3 win over Evans. Kentburg was now 5-4 and Evans was 6-4. That gave both teams four losses while Mayfield was right behind them with a 5-5 record. In essence Kentburg and Evans were tied for third. Since the top three teams qualified for the league playoffs, the Titans were now right in the middle of the playoff race.
WEDNESDAY, MAY 14
As soon as Marty answered his phone, Aiden could tell he had awakened his mentor. He apologized but went right into what he was calling about. “You’re hard to call after school because I have baseball and you have baseball and I wanted to tell you as soon as I could,” Aiden rambled.
“Wow, don’t worry about waking me up for something important like that. That’s a tough story, sport I can tell it has you worked up. I don’t think I’ve met your friend Scott.”
“Scott’s my teammate.”
“Dude, any teammate who trusts you enough to open his heart to you, is a friend. You tell Scott I’ll take care of Ronnie. All I need is contact info.”
Aiden gave him Ronnie’s address and phone number. “Thanks, Marty. I knew you’d help him out. I bet he’s gonna love that picture.”
“It’s always good to keep your fans happy, sport, and don’t you ever forget it.”
“I won’t and thanks again. I’m hoping we can make a game in Tacoma again soon.”
“You’re going to have to wait for school to be over to free up some time for you. And speaking of school, I’m sure you have a bus to catch and I know I have a nap to catch. Talk you ya’ later.”
Aiden didn’t have a chance to talk to Scott until lunch. They sat next to each other and traded a couple of cookies.
“That’s a great looking sandwich,” Scott observed.
“My dad makes the world’s best sandwiches. This is a tuna fish salad sandwich.”
“It makes my peanut butter and jelly sound kind of lame.”
“I called Marty this morning,” Aiden said as they started in on their sandwiches.
“What did he say?” Scott asked between chews.
“He said he’ take care of it. Ronnie’s gonna get his picture.”
“Oh wowsers, that is so awesome I can’t believe it. I owe you, dude.”
“You don’t owe anything,” Aiden said. “This is what teammates and friends do for each other.”
“Well, I’ll let you know what Ronnie says when he gets the picture.”
“Knowing Marty, he’ll put it in a big envelope, so it won’t have a single crease in it.”
“I think Ronnie’s going to go nuts when he opens it up.”
Scott and Aiden partnered for pre-practice warmups. It was bye time for the Titans. Coach Randall told them they would practice Wednesday and Thursday and would have Friday off. He encouraged everyone who could to head for Lacy for the Saturday afternoon Regional game between the Mustangs and Millers Glenn High School.
“I hate to root against a Miller,” Aiden said after Coach Randall ended the team meeting, “but GO MUSTANGS!”
SATURDAY, MAY 17
Four teams were in the Region 2 Regional at Lacy: Mayfield, Millers Glenn, Elwa Valley, and Robert Gray High Schools. Mayfield played Millers Glenn at one in the afternoon with Elwa and Robert Gray playing at four. The winners would play Sunday at two for a berth in the State Tournament. The losers would be out.
Fifteen boys from the middle school baseball teams were at the game, which was a little more than half of the team players. Five of the varsity eighth graders sat with the high school JV players while the other players sat together. Mayfield players, teachers and fans filled the bleachers. Millers Glenn had less than half the turnout.
Aiden was not only excited about the game, but about what would be happening after the game. Before leaving with Phil, along with Lenny and Lance, Nolan called and said his parents were okay with Aiden spending the night since he would be riding past Meadow Park on the way home. The overnight had him even more excited than the game, and he was very excited about the game.
Millers Glenn won the flip and were the home team. The game was a tight one and kept everyone interested. The teams entered the sixth tied at 4-4. Scott, Trent, Aiden, Gordy, Miles, and the twins were sitting in the fourth row behind the Mustang dugout. Like the eighth graders, they wanted to hang out with the older boys. After all, they would be starting middle school in September.
The Mustangs went down in order in the top of the sixth. Just as the Timbers ran off the field, Scott’s phone rang. “Whoever it is, I’m not talking to them,” Scott said. He pulled the phone out of his pocket and looked to see who was calling so he would know who he wasn’t going to talk to. “Oh, wow, it’s Ronnie. I gotta talk to him. Maybe Marty’s picture arrived.” Scott edged past Aiden and Gordy and then almost sprinted down the steps. Some things were more important than baseball. When he returned the Timbers had runners on first and second with one out. Aiden could see Scott glowing with excitement when he sat next to him.
“Did he get it?” Aiden asked, knowing from the look on Scott’s face that the answer was yes.
“Well, kinda.”
“What do you mean kinda?”
“Get this. Marty, Gary McGowen, and Filipe Martinez all came to his house.” Gary and Filipe played for the Rainiers with Marty. “They had Marty’s autographed picture, a bat autographed by the whole team, autographed baseballs, and free tickets for some future games. He got a get well-card signed by the friggen Seattle Mariners players, and get this, Chandler Michaels came with them and brought the card himself.” Chandler was the Mariners All-Star left fielder.
“Plus, he got a Rainiers hat and a Rainiers uniform shirt with his name on the back, a new glove—Aiden, Ronnie was so happy he was bawling. I haven’t heard him this happy in, like, forever.” Scott was dripping tears of happiness and wasn’t the least bit embarrassed by them.
Aiden was glowing. He knew Marty was good for the picture, but he had forgotten how often Marty could be bigger than life. He had come through big time and then some. Aiden sent Marty a text. “you’re the most amazing big brother in the history of the world,” it read.
By the time Scott finished babbling, everyone sitting around him knew Ronnie’s story, and the Mustangs had kept the Timbers from scoring.
The Mustangs scored twice in the top of the seventh and then set the Timbers down in order to earn a 6-4 win and a spot in Sunday’s championship game. It was like after Scott had talked to his cousin Ronnie and heard the amazing news the Mustangs were destined to win to make it a perfect day.
When Aiden got to Nolan’s house, baseball was a big topic of course. The Titans had a bye and the rest of the league played. Meadow Park won its game 8-2 and had a two-game lead with two games to go. Chinook had knocked off Evans and both teams were virtually tied for second with four losses. Kentburg and the Titans were right behind them with five losses.
All the contending teams had played ten games except for Evans. Evans had the bye on Tuesday and played Meadow Park in their last game on Friday. The Titans played Monte on Tuesday. Monte was in last place with a 2-9 record. They would finish off the season on Friday against Kentburg in game that could decide who the third playoff team would be.
“All I have to say is you guys better beat Evans,” Aiden told Nolan as they worked on his Lego town train layout.
“We’ll do our best. And you guys have to win both of your last games or you’re toast,” Nolan said.
“I know, and I’m sure everybody else will know, too, as soon as they see the scores.”
For Aiden the day ended in Nolan’s bed—naked, kissing his boyfriend, trading blow jobs, kissing his boyfriend, dry humping, and kissing his boyfriend. They talked about Nolan losing his cherry that night but decided to wait for a time his parents weren’t home since they didn’t know how much noise Nolan would make as a bottom. Still, spending the night with Nolan made the day even more perfect for Aiden, if that was possible.
The next morning, Aiden talked with Marty on the phone and learned that he had set up the big visit to Ronnie with Ronnie’s parents. He wanted to make sure they would be home and wanted to get Ronnie’s cap and shirt size along with some other information. The only one who was surprised by the visit was Ronnie and he was beside himself with glee.
SUNDAY, MAY 18
Paul took Nolan and Aiden to the ballfield in Lacy for the District championship game. Sadly, for the Mustangs, Robert Gray threw a senior pitcher who was 10-1 for the season and without a doubt an All-State player. He held the Mustangs to two hits as the Pilots shut them out 4-0. The Pilots would go on to win the State A Championship the next weekend. They finished with a 24-3 record. The Mustangs had a good season finishing with an 18-7 record for the year.
TUESDAY, MAY 20
The Titans struggled in their away game against the Monte Bulldogs earlier in the season, squeaking out a 3-0 win. Since then the Titans had turned their season around while the Bulldogs appeared to be playing out the string. Monte had the bye in the last day of schedule, so this was the last game of the season for the Bulldogs.
The Titans had no problem with the Bulldogs the second time around. It was the Titans’ last home game and the stands at the Mayfield Middle School baseball field were full. The fans cheered loudly when the Titans scored five runs in the first inning on their way to a 12-0 win that was called after four-and-a-half innings because of the 10-run rule. The Bulldogs’ effort was minimal. The Titan players, remembering how hard they played when things were going badly at the start of season, found little pleasure in thumping a team that had given up on their season.
Scott Keller pitched a five-inning shutout, giving up only one hit (a second inning, two-out double) while striking out six and walking one. Aiden started the game at third base. He was two-for-three with a double, a run batted in, and two runs scored.
With one round of games left in the season, the standings were a jumble. A win by Meadow Park would have clinched first place for the Cougars, but Chinook pulled off a 3-2 win. Kentburg knocked off Clark Pass 8-4 and Evans had the bye. Going into the last regular season games, Meadow Park was in first with an 8-3 record. Chinook and Evans were tied for second with 7-4 records, while Kentburg and Mayfield were each 6-5 and hoping that either Chinook or Evans or both lost.
The players were busy phoning and texting and chatting once they found out all the scores. Gordy set up a Skype group where the Mayfield players could congregate. Aiden was certain he had all the possible permutations of Friday’s results figured out, but he went over his calculations with Larry to make sure.
“Excellent work, son. There are so many things that can happen even I had to go through all the possibilities more than once.”
Since Mayfield and Kentburg played each other at Kentburg on Friday, only one of them could emerge with a win. Chinook played Clark Pass at home. The Mayfield players were in agreement that Chinook was a lock to win that game. The third game matched Evans against Meadow Park at Meadow Park. The Titan players agreed that they had to root for Meadow Park to win that game, which would give Evans its fifth loss, and Meadow Park would be the regular season champions.
Between Kentburg and Mayfield, one of them would finish the season 7-5. If Evans lost to Meadow Park, they would also be 7-5, creating a tie for third. Chinook would finish in second once they finished manhandling the Clark Pass Eagles.
“Don’t forget the Eagles knocked us off,” Trent typed. “So, they could beat Chinook this time.”
“True, but the Eagles have been really bad since they beat us,” Scott reminded everyone.
“And we’ve been really good,” Miles chimed in.
If there was a tie for third, the two teams would have a playoff game on Tuesday. If Evans and Mayfield tied, Evans would be the home team. Since they split their series, the next tiebreaker, which was run differential, would determine who got to play at home. That team was Evans, who outscored the Titans 16-6 in their two games.
WEDNESDAY, MAY 21
Aiden called Keith after he got home from school and baseball practice. He was wolfing down a bowl of beef stew since he had to be back at the school field at six-thirty for Yard Goat practice.
“Do you know if you’re pitching on Friday?” Aiden asked his friend.
“I’m not pitching; Edmond Stone is pitching. I’ll start on Tuesday if we beat you guys and Evans loses. What about you?” Keith replied.
“Yonder is pitching for us.”
“Oh, wow. Fast and wild,” Keith chuckled.
“Like you, I’ll pitch on Tuesday if we play Evans.”
“Well, it’s going to be the biggest game you and me ever played in. Even bigger than your no-hitter game last year.
“Yep. And it’s on your field and those stands are going to be packed. I can’t wait.”
“Me either. Do you think we could have an overnight after the game?”
“I have Yard Goat practice on Saturday, but it’s not until eleven. So, yeah, if my dads say it’s okay I think it would be awesome.”
“I have to ask my rents too since I just got this idea.” Both sets of parents agreed.
The Yard Goat practice ended up being mostly a meeting with the coaches, Scott and Connor. While Connor wasn’t going to start his college classes full-time until the fall, he was taking one class that would keep him from making all the practices until June. Scott and Connor hit grounders and flies, and Scott ran the meeting. He told the players turning out that he’d be keeping a roster of fifteen; twenty-one kids were turning out.
“If there is a conflict between the Titans and the Goats, the Titans take precedence,” Scott told them. “Our Saturday practice will be a full-out practice.”
“And it’s at eleven, right coach?” Mason asked.
“Yes, sir it is.” It didn’t surprise Scott that Mason was the one who had to ask the obvious question. “And good luck to the Titans on Friday. I have to work and will miss the game, but Coach Connor will be there to help cheer you on.”
That evening, arrangements were made for Aiden, Gordy, and Aiden’s dads to join Scott Keller and his parents at Sunday afternoon’s Tacoma Rainiers game. Aiden was excited to be able to meet Ronnie and to give Marty a hug for being beyond awesome.
FRIDAY, MAY 23
“Are you nervous?” Kalie asked Aiden when he sat next to her on the morning bus.
“Well, duh, wouldn’t you be nervous?” Aiden replied, his voice sounding snarky.
Kalie ignored Aiden’s tone. “Not today, since we won’t be making the playoffs no matter what. Gordy is really nervous, though. Usually when we talk on the phone I do most of the talking, but last night he couldn’t keep quiet, even when we weren’t talking about baseball.”
“Well, Evans has to lose or no matter who wins between us and Kentburg our season will be over.”
After the bus arrived at school, a couple of the eighth-grade baseball players wished Aiden good luck that afternoon. The Titan varsity was 10-1 going into their game with Kentburg and had clinched first place in the Seamount North league.
Lunch was routine. Aiden didn’t see Rusty at lunch or at any of the after-lunch classes he and Rusty had together. The only person Rusty would sit with at lunch was Collin. As much as Aiden begged, Collin wouldn’t tell him what was bothering Rusty. “I promised not to say anything until he told me it was okay.” Collin wouldn’t even give a hint about how serious Rusty’s problem was.
Aiden didn’t need a hint; he could tell by Rusty’s behavior that something serious was going on. His dads had told him that until Rusty was ready to talk that there was nothing he could do about it. While he was still concerned about his friend, he understood what his dads were saying and quit letting Rusty’s problems worry him.
On the short bus ride to Kentburg, the only thing worrying Aiden was the game. He closed his eyes and worked on concentrating on the upcoming game. Aiden’s teammates knew not to bother him when the eyes closed.
The game was an exciting one. Yonder was what Larry called “effectively wild”, striking out ten and walking four during the five innings he pitched. Jared took the mound in the bottom of the fifth with the Titans holding a 4-3 lead. The Royals scored a run against Jared, tying the score at 4-4. Trent, who had been sent down from the varsity and started at first, pitched a scoreless sixth. Trent was happy to be playing a big game on the JV team rather than being on the bench for most of the game on the varsity.
Aiden led off the seventh with a single and stole second on a 2-1 pitch to Trent. The pitch was ball three and on the next pitch, Trent took advantage of the favorable count to line a drive into the left-field gap to score Aiden. Muddy hit a two-out single to knock in Trent but was thrown out trying to go to second on the throw home.
The Titans took a 6-4 lead into the bottom of the seventh. Trent threw a perfect seventh inning, striking out two (including Keith), and the Titans were the winners. Trent was the winning pitcher in a big game, one more reason he was happy to be playing JV ball.
“I’ll see you in a few,” Keith said. He was going to ride to Aiden’s house with Larry. Aiden was going to ride the team bus back to school where Phil would be waiting to pick him up. He wanted to be with his teammates when they learned the score of the Evans game.
The bus had barely pulled out of the Kentburg Middle School parking lot when Aiden’s phone rang. Aiden looked at his phone and grinned. “It’s him,” he called out, meaning the phone call was from Nolan, his Meadow Park spy.
“How’d you do?” Nolan asked. They had agreed not to text the scores unless nobody answered the phone.
“We won 6-4, and you guys?”
“You’ll be playing the Evans Vikings on Tuesday,” Nolan gushed. “We kicked them 8-3. And I’ll be at your game no matter what.”
“Thanks for beating them and for calling. I gotta tell everybody. Love you. See you Tuesday.” Aiden disconnected and screamed out, “MEADOW PARK 8 EVANS 3!” The cheering on the bus was deafening. Later they learned that Chinook had throttled Clark Pass 18-3 to stay in second with an 8-4 record and avoid a three-way tie for third. Meadow Park won the regular season championship with a 9-3 record.
The Titans had won seven of their last eight games. They were the hottest team in the league. On Tuesday they would be playing the Evans Vikings for a chance to play for the league championship the following weekend.
Next: Postseason.