Mayfield Magic

 

CHAPTER 9

PLAY HARD, PLAY SMART

 

SUNDAY, JULY 5

 

After returning home, Aiden checked his email and texts. He found a text from Nolan telling him they had just lost the game for 4^th place in the Eugene Tournament to a team from Oregon City by an 8-5 score. The loss gave them a seventh-place finish in the 16-team tournament. Nolan thought it was a good finish considering the number of teams in the tournament from bigger cities than Centralia.

 

At lunch Aiden chatted with Larry and Phil about the Emerald City Boys and their coining a name for themselves. “Us Mayfield boys never had any time to come up with a name of our own. I didn’t even have a chance to suggest we think of one and now Logan and them are ahead of us,” Aiden lamented.

 

“From what I hear you saying, the only reason you think your group of friends should take on an identity is because your cousin’s group of friends did it,” Phil said.

 

“Well, why shouldn’t we have one like them?”

 

“I guess my question is, other than not being one-upped by those Seattle boys, why should you have one?”

 

Aiden thought for a moment and then broke into a wide grin.

 

“What do you find amusing?” Larry asked.

 

“GO GOATS!!!” Aiden shouted. “I guess that should be good enough for everybody.”

 

Larry roared with laughter and Phil said, “That sounds good to me. With that resolved, I think it’s now time for somebody to clean up the pool patio, take down the tent, mow the area the tent was in, and straighten the games room and the back room of the basement.”

 

“What about the shower and bathroom in the basement?”

 

“No worries, Diana can take care of that on Tuesday.” Diana was their housekeeper who came in every other Tuesday to do a deep cleaning of all the rooms except Aiden’s bedroom, Phil and Larry’s bedroom, and Larry’s office. Aiden, Phil, and Larry took care of their own rooms.

 

“Do I get cookies when I’m finished?”

 

“You peeked into the kitchen, didn’t you?” Phil chuckled. “I’ll pop them into the oven, and you get your ass in gear and do your job.” Normally, Aiden would have had a friend or two help clean up after a party, but it didn’t work out that way this time.

 

With some help from Phil, who did the mowing after the tent came down, Aiden worked hard at his tasks and was finished in an hour and a half. He stripped naked at pool side and took a cooling swim. Phil and Larry joined him after Phil finished the yard work. There was a lot of splashing and some dunking but because they were all naked there was no grabbing or wrestling. Aiden left the pool when he heard his phone ringing.

 

The phone was in a front pocket of his shorts, which he had tossed on the ground next to a chaise lounge. He took the phone out of the pocket, saw that the call was from Gordy and answered it. Gordy announced he was home from his weekend trip and Aiden invited him to come over for a swim. Gordy got parental permission and said he would bike over and be there soon.

 

A call from Nolan came soon after. He was home as well. The boyfriends talked baseball as well as Nolan’s move to Mayfield. The move would become a reality on Thursday when the movers would arrive at Nolan’s house. On Friday, Nolan and his father along with members of the Centralia Model Railroad club, would take down the model railroad and move the modular sections and the boxes of trains, buildings, and all the other accessories that were a big part of model railroading.

 

A third call came just as Gordy arrived. Knowing how Gordy felt about nudity, Larry and Phil had left the pool area. Aiden saw that the call was from Cal. He told Gordy he was going to answer the call and to go ahead and hit the pool. Gordy stripped as Aiden greeted Cal.

 

Once again, the main topic was baseball, in particular the Mayfield/Clark Pass game on Wednesday. “Do you know who’s starting for you in that game?” Cal asked Aiden.

 

“All I know is Trent is pitching against Kentburg on Tuesday,” Aiden replied. The league had squeezed back-to-back games into the schedule on the last week of the season to get the league playoffs in before the end of the month. “After that it depends on if our game means anything in the standings.” Clark Pass was 12-2, Mayfield was 10-4, with Winton and Kentburg both sitting at 9-5 in the Mountain North standings. Three of the four teams would qualify for the playoffs.

 

“Got it,” Cal said. “I know I’m pitching against Tenino on Tuesday and who goes against you guys on Wednesday depends on who wins or loses on Tuesday. It’s like if you guys win on Tuesday and we lose then our game is suddenly going to be for first place because you could end up tying us if you beat us.”

 

“It’s mega confusing, that’s all I know. Except for who’s pitching, I haven’t really thought much about Wednesday’s games. I can stay focused better if I think about a day at a time.”

 

“That’s more than I can do, way more than I can do,” Cal acknowledged.

 

They ended the phone call and Aiden jumped into the pool. He told Gordy who the call was from and what they talked about. “Hey dude, what are you doing for dinner?” Aiden asked.

 

“Eating my mom’s cooking, I guess,” Gordy replied.

 

After Aiden and Gordy had jumped through the necessary parental hoops the boys had arranged for Gordy to have a Phil cooked dinner and then spend the night at Aiden’s.

 

The dinner was a simple one but one the boys liked: grilled cheeseburgers on toasted buns, with baked beans and coleslaw with servings of Phil’s freshly squeezed lemonade. Dessert was a freshly baked peach cobbler. The boys, who were clad in just t-shirts and underpants, dug right into the meal as if they had been on a weeklong starvation diet.

 

“Wow, we have weapons for a farting contest in this dinner,” Aiden announced as he finished off the beans on his plate.  Gordy turned bright red as Larry and Phil broke out in loud laughter.

 

“I’ll concede the contest to Aiden,” Gordy finally said.

 

As much as he wanted to blow a fart, Aiden fought the urge since he knew how his dads would react to him passing gas at the dinner table. The dinner conversation turned to baseball, in particular to the game that had already started on television. That game was the ESPN Sunday Game of the Week which featured the Mariners playing the Rangers at Arlington, Texas.

 

The boys helped clean the table and kitchen and then headed to the Mariner viewing room where they were joined by Larry and Phil. Aiden wanted to strip off his t-shirt and undies, but in deference to his best friend, he removed only his t-shirt.

 

“I don’t care if you get naked. The deal is that I don’t want to get naked,” Gordy reminded his best friend.

 

“I’ll go all the way next time,” Aiden told him. He didn’t fool anybody. He had no problem making his best friend feel comfortable.

 

The game was a good one. The Mariners went into the eighth inning down 4-2 and tied the score in the top of the inning on Marty’s two run double. With the score 4-4 in the top of the ninth, Wade Whalen hit a two out, solo home run, giving the M’s a 5-4 lead. Mario Diaz, the Mariner closer, pitched a 1-2-3 ninth, striking out two, and the Mariners had a win on the road. The game was the 81^st for the Mariners, making it the mathematical half-way point of the season. They had a 48-33 record and a two-game lead over the Angels in the American League West. The Halos were 46-35 after losing 7-2 to the Astros, who were in the thick of the race with a 43-37 record.

 

The announcement of the All-Star Game starters was scheduled to be made in a half-hour. “Marty was in the lead in the MLB writer’s AL Rookie of the Year poll,” Aiden said. “He’s third in the All-Star voting at third base, so he might have a chance of being named to the All-Star team, but no way he’s going to be a starter.” Which ended up being the case. The All-Star team starters were voted in by the fans, except for the pitchers. Every team was guaranteed one player on the All-Star roster.

 

When they went to Aiden’s room after the game, the boys got naked, took care of their bathroom business, shared Aiden’s gratitude prayer, and went under the covers. “Are you up for some messing around?” Aiden asked.

 

“Yes, but no fucking. I’m pretty sure I want you to fuck me soon, but not tonight,” Gordy replied.

 

“Sounds fair.”

 

The two friends ended up enjoying a very satisfying sixty-nine, with Aiden cumming first and Gordy about twenty seconds later. Aiden noted that Gordy’s cum seemed thicker and more plentiful that it had been the last time he had sucked Gordy off.

 

After they settled into place, Aiden ripped off a loud, smelly fart. Gordy then blew a louder and longer one. “I won,” Gordy said. “Now, let’s get to sleep. Oh, and by the way, there’s gotta to be something seriously wrong with your insides because your fart REEKED!”

 

“Are you sure that wasn’t you?”

 

“Positive. My farts don’t stink.”

 

“Dreamer.”

 

Aiden gave Gordy a quick kiss on the lips and the two BFFs fell quickly to sleep.

 

MONDAY, JULY 6

 

<Mayfield Middle School baseball field>

 

Yard Goat practice was scheduled to start at five-thirty, but the entire roster except for Max, Rusty, and Emmett were at the field playing catch by five o’clock. Eric was there at five as well and had already set the ballbag out. The players knew that Coach Hallion would be showing up at any minute; he was sometimes delayed a few minutes at work. Kevin wouldn’t be arriving until just before six because of his work schedule.

 

Emmett arrived at ten after. He looked embarrassed when he came onto the field and saw that almost the entire team had already arrived. He felt as if he had been late for practice.

 

“Sorry for being late, but my sister was being a brat,” Emmett told Aiden who was playing three-way catch with Gordy and Mason.

 

“Not a problem,” Aiden replied. “Practice isn’t until five thirty.”

 

“Yeah but…”

 

“Emmett, it’s all cool. Why don’t you go and grab a ball out of my bag and play catch with Gordy and I’ll keep throwing with Mason.”

 

When Max and Rusty arrived, there were no apologies. They believed that five thirty was five thirty and being late was being late and not being less than fifteen minutes early.

 

Coach Hallion, who had arrived in time to witness the little incident involving Emmett and Aiden and to observe the usual arrival times of Max and Rusty, was fascinated by the differences in attitude among the boys on the team. The day’s arrival times were a prime example. Almost the entire team was at the field by five even though the early arrival hadn’t been planned. Emmett was chagrined even though he had arrived twenty minutes early because he was later than most of his teammates.  And Max and Rusty showed their disdain for the arriving fifteen minutes early mantra even though it was an informal policy set by the players and not a rule laid down by the coaches. Still, the two worked their tails off once practice started and, for the most part, were positive members of the team. He left it up to the team captains to deal with their ignoring the arrival issue. Since Trent said it was no big deal, Coach Hallion left it at that.

 

Considering the team hadn’t practiced in a while, Coach Hallion and Eric were pleased by the crispness of the drills and with the concentration during batting practice. The team worked hard, there was a lot of positive chatter, and the concentration level was high.

 

Eric put in some one-on-one pitching work on the side with Riley, Grant, Aiden, and Lance and worked with Emmett to finish up. Eric thought Riley was showing incredible improvement in both his fundamental skills and his mental approach. He was an intelligent, talented young player who was eager to learn. Eric hoped that the work Riley was putting into his pitching would pay off before the season was over. He knew that Riley and Lenny played catch together almost every day.

 

After Kevin arrived, he worked with Lenny and Muddy on their catching skills. Kevin felt that Lenny had a good future as a #1 catcher, but that Muddy would never be more than a backup. Given the way Muddy hit the ball, Kevin wished that Muddy could get more playing time on the field to make him a more complete ballplayer.

 

Coach Hallion ended practice with a meeting. He thanked the players for their hard work in practice and reminded them about the importance of the final two league games which were being played on Tuesday and Wednesday. “And I know I don’t need to remind you that if we survive that gauntlet, we’ll barely have time to breathe before the league tournament begins on Saturday. That said here are the starting pitchers for the next four games, should we be privileged enough to play all four.”

 

“We’ll be in that tournament, and we’ll be winning that tournament,” Mac stated confidently. His statement was met with cheers from his teammates.

 

Once the cheers died down, Coach Hallion, sporting a broad smile, continued. “You all know that Trent is starting tomorrow.” Everybody nodded since that was old news. “Aiden is going to start against Clark Pass on Wednesday.” That brought a quick murmur since most of the players thought Scott would be the starter for that game. The coach ignored the murmur and went on. “Scott will start Saturday’s tournament game and Trent will start Sunday. If we have to play a playoff game to make the tournament, it will be on Thursday and Scott will start then. Trent would then go on Saturday and Aiden on Sunday. That’s as far as I’ve scheduled so far.

 

“I’ve only made out the lineup for tomorrow. It will be Gordy leading off and playing short, Aiden will be batting second and playing second, Trent pitching, Muddy will be the DH, batting for Rusty, Scott at third, Miles in right, Mac catching, Max at first, Riley in center, and Rusty playing right. Any questions?” There were none. “Game time tomorrow is six on Field 1. I’ll expect to see you all no later than five fifteen.”

 

Most of the Goats had either walked or ridden their bikes to practice. Trent and Mac, who had walked to practice, rode home with Trent’s dad, and Riley rode home with Eric, who loaded Riley’s bike into the bed of his pickup. Riley, who understood how Eric’s coaching was helping his pitching, had a huge boy crush on the assistant coach and had asked him for the ride. Eric spent the brief ride answering Riley’s questions about the skills they had discussed in practice.

 

“Coach Simmons, do you think I’ll ever get a chance to pitch when it’s really important?” Riley asked as they pulled up to Riley’s house.

 

“You’ve pitched in a couple of tough spots.”

 

“I know but I meant like now. Look how big and important all the games are this week. And if we win them, they get ever bigger. And then after league is over, we go to California and play those teams with lots of big studs. It’s all gonna be really important. I want to pitch a lot more to try and see how all the stuff you’ve been teaching me works.”

 

“You used some of what we worked on in Federal Way.”

 

“But I want to do it even more.”

 

“Well, look at it this way, Riley. When Coach Hallion puts you into a game you’re going to be prepared. And next year, Scott and Trent will move up a league and so will Max. When your time comes to shine next spring, you’ll be ready to shine, both in school ball and in summer ball.” Eric meant every word he said.

 

Riley nodded his head in understanding. “I’ll be super ready,” he grinned as he opened the passenger door. “Thanks again for all your help.”

 

“You’ve been a good student, Riley. I don’t know when your time is going to come, but when it does, I do know that all the hard work you’ve been putting in is going to make you, well, like you just said, super ready.”

 

Eric lifted Riley’s bicycle from the truck and gave it to Riley, who wheeled it to his house. Riley couldn’t wait to tell his parents how Eric said he would be “super ready” to pitch when his time came.

 

As Eric watched Riley walk up his driveway, he thought about what a teachable kid he was and how positive his attitude was considering some of the shit he’d had to face in his young life. He wished Max, who possessed as much, or more, talent than Riley had Riley’s drive to succeed. He would be a number one or two starter with Riley’s kind of attitude.

 

<Mac and Trent>

 

“Are you going to let me be your catcher stud tonight?” Mac asked Trent as they finished up their chili.

 

“I’ve been named the starter tomorrow, so I guess that sets things in motion. Time for you to be my Catcher with a capital C, even though I’m the one who will be doing the catching,” Trent smirked.

 

“And you’re the one who will be having my baby as a result.”

 

“Having your baby? Where did you get that line from? I mean, come on dude, I’m all male.”

 

“I read it in some story on a website that has dirty stories. I thought it sounded sexy and made the dude sound studly.”

 

“Yeah, but that was a guy and a chick doing it.” When Mac said nothing, Trent gave him a long look. “Dude, was that a gay story?”

 

“I was looking for something studly to say,” Mac said without conviction.

 

“Whatever. Let’s put our dishes away and go up to my room and fuck.”

 

When the two teens got to Trent’s room it didn’t take long for Mac to take over and become the pitcher’s stud catcher. Mac hammered Trent hard and was soon filling the pitcher’s ass as the pitcher shot hot teen cum over himself.

 

TUESDAY, JULY 7

 

<Mayfield Parks Field 1>

 

Miles and Aiden decided to be partners in the pregame warmup. “Are you bummed that you’re missing John’s birthday?” Aiden asked Miles. Miles’s brother John was celebrating his sixteenth birthday.

 

“A little. But there will be cake and ice cream when I get home from the game and I won’t have to deal with John and Bryce bragging about how stoned they’re going to get tonight,” Miles answered.

 

“How many are going to be there?”

 

“John says a dozen, seven boys and five girls, so it’s going to be crowded. But I think only John, Bryce, Simon, Trisha, and Amber are serious pot smokers. I suppose a couple of others might join them if they can find a place to do it. So, anyway I’m happy I’m not there. Even if they don’t do it, they’ll still try to get me to do it with them first chance that they get to do it.”

 

“I suppose we should get our minds on baseball,” Aiden suggested.

 

“Sounds like a plan to me.”

 

Ironically, with everyone in uniform and throwing their warmup tosses, nobody was talking much baseball. It was almost like they were too nervous to talk about the game. But after a few tosses, their chatter finally ended or they started getting their brains as well as their arms into game mode.

 

When the team took infield the baseball part of their brains was totally turned on. Everyone focused on the Kentburg Stingers as they took their infield. Once Trent was ready to throw the first pitch, they were all about baseball.

 

Trent was a little off to start, allowing a walk and a single before getting the first out. After the #3 hitter struck out, the cleanup hitter belted a two-run double. Trent got the final outs on a grounder to second and another strikeout.

 

Keith was pitching for the Stingers who were a game behind the Goats in the standings. Like Trent, he was a little off and gave up a run when Gordy led off with a triple and Trent singled him in. The score was 2-1 after the first inning ended.  

 

Both pitchers settled down and the score remained 2-1 going into the bottom of the fifth. Muddy led off the inning with a single. Coach Hallion had Emmett go to first base to run for the lead footed DH. Scott laid down a perfect sacrifice bunt, sending Emmett to second. Miles then rapped a single to right and Coach Hallion waved Emmett home. The right fielder’s throw was on the money, but Emmett made a perfect slide, avoiding the catcher’s tag, to tie the score. Mac then flied out to center and Max struck out to end the inning.

 

Trent pitched a 1-2-3 sixth inning. Riley walked to lead off the bottom of the sixth. This time Gordy laid down a sacrifice bunt, putting Riley on second with Aiden due up next. Aiden hit a line drive to left but it was right at the third baseman who caught it for the second out. Trent then hit a long fly ball to left center that hit the chain link outfield fence between the center and left fielders. Riley scored standing up making the score 3-2 and giving the Yard Goats their first lead of the game.

 

The Kentburg coach came out of the dugout to make a pitching change. Miller Beckett was the new pitcher for the Stingers. The first batter he had to face was Emmett who was batting in Muddy’s place. He fell behind 2-0. Miller’s 2-0 pitch was a fastball down the middle and Emmett lined a single to left, scoring Trent. The score was now 4-2. A double by Scott scored Emmett making the score 5-2 before Miller finally got the third out by getting Mac to ground out to third.

 

After Riley scored, Coach Hallion had Max warm up so he could finish the game and pick up the save.

 

Max proceeded to walk the first two batters. Mac asked for time and jogged out to the mound. “You’ve got a three-run lead dude,” Mac said. “All you gotta do is throw strikes.”

 

“They’ve got some fucking good hitters on that team,” Max whined.

 

“So why help them out by putting runners on base to knock in. Besides, we got a fucking good pitcher on the mound, so get your head out and throw strikes like you know how to do.” Mac returned to home plate surprised that neither Eric nor Coach Hallion had come out to talk. What he didn’t know was that Coach Hallion decided the situation was a good one for Mac to deal with on his own. However, if Max didn’t turn things around right away, Coach Hallion planned on heading to the mound in a hurry.

 

Max took a deep breath and decided that Mac had turned into a total asshole since he became the number one catcher. He was certain that Mac didn’t really mean what he said when he called him a fucking good pitcher and decided to show the asshole that he really was a fucking good pitcher. He proceeded to strike out the next batter and induced the following batter to hit into a beautifully turned 6-4-3 (shortstop to second to first) double play to end the game.

 

The Mayfield Yard Goats had won what, at that point, may have been their biggest win of the season, 5-2 over the Kentburg Stingers. Winning any kind of a game over Kentburg was always a big deal, but this one was a very special win.

 

<Aiden and Nolan>

 

Aiden and Nolan met each other on Skype as quickly as they could. “Wow, things sure got exciting for tomorrow,” Aiden gushed after he and Nolan exchanged an air kiss.

 

“Great games for both of us today and we both will be playing for a chance to win our division championship tomorrow,” Nolan agreed.

 

“Yep. Tenino knocking off Clark Pass was huge for us, because if we beat C P tomorrow, we end up tying them for first and will have to play a playoff game on Thursday.” Tenino had defeated Clark Pass 5-4 at Clark Pass.

 

“And you’re starting against who?”

 

“I got a text from Calvin before today’s game saying Russell Baker started today’s game instead of Calvin and that Calvin would be pitching against us tomorrow.”

 

“Did he say why they made the change?”

 

“All he said was sometimes coaches do weird things.”

 

“No doubt about that. And with us it was all about us beating West 2-1 and tying them for first.”

 

“And I know you pitched,” Aiden said. “Did you go all the way?”

 

“Yep. I gave up three hits, walked two, struck out nine, and gave up the one run of course. And before you ask, yes it was earned. Our win means if it ends up in a tie tomorrow, we have a playoff on Thursday. The winner gets the first-round bye in the league tournament and the loser plays Tenino. The winner of that game plays the winner of our playoff game for the division.”

 

“Damn, you almost need a PhD in logic or something to follow this shit. Even if we lose to Clark Pass tomorrow, we get to play a first-round game because our 11-5 record would be good enough. The only question is whether it’ll be against Winton or Kentburg. The only way we play Kentburg is if Winton loses to South Centralia and Kentburg beats Parkview. Then Kentburg and Winton would be tied at 10-6 and would have a playoff to see who plays us in the first round. I don’t even want to think about what happens if we tie Clark Pass and Kentburg and Winton tie.”

 

“That would make it beyond PhD time,” Nolan laughed. “And hey, I’m sure you saw that South Centralia got their first win.” South Centralia had knocked off East Olympia 7-5.

 

“Yep. I’m happy for them. They’re a good bunch of guys who play hard even with their crappy record. I don’t know if I could do that. You gotta respect those guys.”

 

“Who knows, maybe they’ll finish with two straight wins.”

 

“I see they’re playing Winton,” Aiden said. “As much as I respect those guys from South, Landon plays for Winton and if Winton wins tomorrow, they will beat out Kentburg for the third playoff spot.”

 

“I totally understand. We gotta support our fellow foamers—unless we’re playing them, of course.”

 

“Exactly. I like Landon a lot and you know what I think of Kentburg. Oh, and one more thing before we go. You know there’s a chance you and I could end up playing each other for the Mountain North championship.”

 

“I know,” Nolan said. “And that would end up being totally psycho. Well, I’ll talk to you tomorrow after our games.”

 

“And after that our talks will be able to become live most of the time I hope.”

 

“I love you, Aiden.”

 

“I love you too, Nolan. Kick ass tomorrow.”

 

“You too.”

 

The boys had already agreed they wouldn’t have virtual sex that night. They wanted the next sex they had together to be live and in person. And they could hardly wait.

 

Next: PhD time.