Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Friday, April 26, 2019

It had been a week since Daniel’s last slumber party, and two weeks since the tournament in Yakima. The last week went by fairly quickly. They’d played three games this week, winning two. The first was a 7-0 shutout win, and then they split the other two; a two-run win of Wednesday, followed by a one-run loss this afternoon. The team they had lost to was Meeker Middle School out of nearby Tacoma. A good team, but not great. Despite that, they were probably the toughest game on the schedule this week, which was saying something because this was a tough week, and made tougher by the tournament this weekend. More games, less rest.

It was Jayden’s turn in the rotation, but he didn’t pitch that game. Coach Harris wanted to save him for the tournament. He wanted to make sure Jayden had both games of eligibility available. That normally would have meant Naresh would get the game, but Naresh had pitched Wednesday, against the second-toughest game of the week, the cross-town rival Mercer Huskies. That left Coach Harris with a choice; either Javier, who had pitched Monday, or Tommy, who wasn’t a normal part of the starting rotation. Coach Harris took a gamble by going with Tommy. Tommy had been showing improvement. Perhaps not enough to move him up the rotation ahead of Javi or Naresh, at least not yet, but he was getting better. That gamble almost paid off.

Tommy pitched a full game, but came out on the losing end of a 2-1 pitcher’s duel against Meeker’s best hurler. A moral victory, even if not an actual one, but despite that, nobody wanted to head into the tournament on a loss. As such, morale wasn’t great, but Coach Harris and Coach Eriksen had channeled the disappointment into a hunger to do better.

14-2 wasn’t a bad record. Heck, lots of teams would kill to have that record, but deep down they all knew they could have done better. Two one-run losses, sure, but against two inferior opponents. It was irritating. Doubly so when they ran out to a 10-0 record before going 4-2 in the next six games. It felt almost like a losing streak, even if it wasn’t. They were all ready and eager to fix that.

One thing that helped morale was that Sean was filling in as an assistant coach again. Last time that had been a surprise, filling a last-minute vacancy. This time, the school had known in advance that the other coaches would be unavailable because of soccer. The original plan had been to have the shop teacher, Mr. Taylor fill in, but Sean had done such an admirable job, and received such positive feedback from the coaches and players alike, that they simply asked Sean to fill in again. Of course Sean gladly accepted, not wanting to miss another golden opportunity with his boys. With the advanced notice, Sean had avoided missing any more of Daniel’s games, making up the missing weekend shift by pulling an extra half shift on Tuesday and Thursday.

Vancouver, Washington sits on the northern bank of the Columbia River, on the border between Washington and Oregon. Portland, Oregon is only about 10 miles away, just on the other side of the river. Vancouver is known for many things, its stunning river views chief among them. The boys from Seattle were used to picturesque water views, living along the edge of the Puget Sound, but that only made them appreciate the view from the hotel’s window all the more. They weren’t right along the river, but they could still see it easily from their fourth-floor vantage point.

Even though Vancouver was a strikingly similar drive to Yakima, far more parents had made the drive to watch the team. This time, even Esteban had managed to clear the weekend. Lyla had tagged along with Esteban, too, but the two of them were at a different hotel. They both had made a concentrated effort to be there for the boys, who were meeting their grandparents for the first time, in Daniel case, and for the first time in about a decade, in Sean's case. That was something that Daniel had been alternately excited and anxious about. Chris, meanwhile, was excited to see his old neighbors and friends again. Sean didn't know what to feel; he mostly just felt lost.

Other parents had their own reasons, of course, but a common one was that The Pacific Northwest Invitational Tournament, the PNIT (alternately pronounced by sounding out each letter, or by saying something that sounded a lot like ‘peanut’) was something of a big deal. It was sort of a fun rivalry between Washington and Oregon. Some folks even playfully called it the Baseball Border War because it bounced back and forth between Vancouver, WA and Portland, OR.

This year it was being held at the Heritage High School in Vancouver, Washington. The school had three baseball diamonds, consisting of two smaller fields and one proper stadium, that would be the perfect venue. The hosting Frontier High School Silverbacks played their home games there, anyway, so they were intimately familiar with the facility. The Ospreys would have to make do with traveling there first thing in the morning to get a feel of the place. The fields weren’t far from the hotel, and although the first games started at 8:00, the Ospreys didn’t play in them. Their first game was at 10:00 am.

The bus ride from Seattle to Vancouver took right around two hours and forty-five minutes, and it went just about like the ride from Yakima had gone. The boys chatted among themselves and lounged all over each other in an attempt to get comfortable and stave off the boredom. They were nervous, excited, and all fired up.

The check-in process was also eerily familiar. They divided into smaller groups and got their room assignments and got settled in just like last time. Sean and Daniel were together again, no doubt because they were related, but this time they had been paired with Tommy. Harry, Javier, and Jayden were in the adjoining room. As luck would have it, Chris, Noah, and Charles had the room right across the hall this time. Charles had already conked himself out on a sleeping pill with an alcohol chaser again.

“Okay, boys. Looks good. Lights out in ten minutes. I’ll leave you in Sean’s capable hands,” Coach Harris finished.

“Thanks, Coach,” the five boys chirped, one after and over another in a mixed jumble of young voices.

Coach Harris nodded and hurried away. He had his own selfish reasons, of course. Logan and Jarrett were waiting for him, so now that the bed checks were done, he was all set for having some fun with his boys. He had no idea that Sean was preparing for the same thing.

Daniel watched through the peephole and sent the all clear to Chris’s phone the second Coach Harris hit the elevators. He saw the room door open and Chris and Noah emerge before he had a chance to remove his eye from the peephole. He opened the door and ushered his friends inside with a big smirking grin on his face.

“Hey, Daniel,” Noah said sweetly.

Chris’s greeting was a little more direct; a steamy kiss on the lips.

“Mm, hello, Chris,” Daniel answered with a little giggle as the kiss broke.

“Hey, Noah, get in here, hurry,” Daniel whispered.

The two ducked inside and Daniel locked the door behind them. The adjoining room door was still open. Harry, Tommy, Javi, and Jayden exchanged quick greetings, too. A few feet later, Chris and Noah saw Sean and the greetings continued. Eventually, everyone had said hi and there was an awkward silence.

“So are we going to play Truth or Dare again?” Tommy asked.

“And is Sean going to play this time?” Javier asked.

The two newest members of the group smiled curiously, unsure of the plan. Daniel didn’t waste any time in answering.

“Nah, no need,” Daniel said.

“We can skip straight to the sex,” Noah said, smiling.

“Unless you guys just want to play Truth or Dare?” Chris asked.

Javier and Tommy looked at each other, grinning and shrugging.

“Nah,” they announced at the same time.

“Okay, good,” Noah said, smiling ear to ear.

“Yeah, good. I’m so freakin’ horny,” Daniel announced.

“Yeah, no need to beat around the bush,” Chris agreed.

The boys all looked around the circle and nodded in agreement. There were no objections to proceeding without the fanfare. Well, almost all of the fanfare. Now that the two new members were ‘sworn in,’ they could replace Truth or Dare with a different sort of party starter.

“Okay, circle up, boys. Assume the position,” Sean ordered.

The boys, including Sean, all stripped off their clothes and dumped them into one huge pile in the corner. Once naked, they gathered in a half-circle around the foot of Sean’s bed. It was a tight squeeze, especially once they ‘assumed the position;’ on their knees, hands behind their head, smiling up at Sean and waiting for further orders. The two new boys had been brought up to speed on all of this; what ‘the position’ was, how they should address Sean as ‘sir’ during their games, how the group had certain rituals they liked to follow. This one was what Daniel called the Kissing of the Cock. They’d done this before a few times, like at Chris’s birthday party. Everyone took a turn kissing, licking, and sucking Sean’s dick. Then Sean would choose one lucky boy who got to swallow his load.

“Good boys. So pretty on your knees for me,” Sean said.

The boys all smiled and nodded.

“Yes, sir,” they answered in unison.

Sean stepped up to the first boy in line, Jayden. Jayden kissed the head of Sean’s cock, then, as if deciding that was insufficient, suckled the head. Finally, he took it all the way down to the root, echoing the last time they had done this ritual.

“Good boy, pup,” Sean cooed, patting Jayden on his fluffy head.

Jayden let the cock slip from his mouth and smiled.

“Thank you, sir,” Jayden answered.

Harry was up next. Then Chris, then Noah, and then Daniel. Each in turn took Sean down to the root, each one making it look easier than the last one had. Each one got his words of praise and his pat on the head and each one thanked Sean for it, lips slightly puffy from the sucking.

Only two boys were left. The newest members, Javi and Tommy brought up the end on the right side of the semi-circle. Javi struggled only a little in taking the full length, being used to blowing his big brothers. Tommy barely struggled at all. Between Sean, Daniel, and Jayden, he was quickly getting used to sucking big cocks.

“Good boy,” Sean said, patting Tommy on the head.

Tommy couldn’t help but notice that all of the boys had a pet name except for him. Jayden was pup. Harry was duck. Chris was kit. Noah was baby bear, and Daniel was cub. Even Javi had one; bunny. Everyone but him.

Tommy returned to the position without saying a word, but Sean noticed Tommy’s look of distress.

“Something wrong, Tommy?” Sean asked.

“No, sir,” Tommy said in a would-be tough voice.

“Now, now, Tommy. You’re free to express yourself. What’s wrong?” Sean asked.

“Well, sir, I was just wondering when I might get a nickname,” Tommy asked.

“Ah, you mean like how Daniel is cub and all that?” Sean asked softly.

“Yeah. I mean, Yes, sir,” Tommy corrected himself.

“I’m not sure, buddy. Sometimes it takes awhile to find one that feels right. But I’ll bethinking about it, okay?” Sean said gently.

Tommy nodded eagerly, feeling much better that it wasn’t an intentional slight. Just the natural consequences of being the last one to the group. It would happen in its own time and Tommy could accept that.

“Yes, sir. Thank you, sir,” Tommy answered.

“Okay, that was so good, guys. Who wants to finish me off?” Sean asked.

Several eager voices jumped out at once. Daniel, Harry, and Noah were first. Jayden and Chris were only half a second behind. They understood and appreciated the honor it was within the group to be chosen to accept the load. They just didn’t quite have the genuine thirst for it like the other three. Javi and Tommy were last, more from a lack of experience than a lack of enthusiasm. This was the first big group Kissing of the Cock ritual for both of them.

Sean contemplated for a moment. He didn’t want to seem like he was playing favorites, and all three of the first boys to speak up were really good at giving head, but Daniel was the best and it wasn’t exactly a close competition. Harry and Noah were both truly excellent cocksuckers, but Daniel was simply Next Fucking Level.

“Okay, little brother. Let’s give the new boys a good show. Let ‘em see what cocksucking really looks like,” Sean said, smirking.

Daniel beamed ear to ear.

“Yes, sir. Thank you, sir,” Daniel answered.

Sean stepped up to Daniel’s spot in the semi-circle and Daniel leaned forward, eyes closed like he was going in for a kiss. Often that’s how he thought of it; making out with Sean’s dick. Daniel loved making out with his brother, and his Sean’s cock was no exception to that. He kissed the head and then suckled it with loud, wet smacking lip movements, moaning softly as he sucked.

“There’s a good boy, cub,” Sean sighed luxuriantly.

He wasn’t just enjoying this blow job, he was savoring it, indulging in it like a decadent dessert.

“Mm, fuck, that’s it, enano. Just like that,” Sean groaned.

Sean’s hand worked overtime in rubbing Daniel’s head and carding through his hair, even as Daniel put on a masterclass in giving head. This was a revelation, even for those boys who had seen Daniel work before, had felt those soft dusky rose lips massaging their own quivering cocks. Daniel was indulging, too, showing off his unmatched skills, as Sean had asked him to.

“Oh, wow, look at ‘em,” Chris sighed.

“Yeah,” Tommy agreed in wonder.

The boys had all stopped holding ‘the position’ when the show started. They were all gathered around the action, now, like they were watching a movie in the theater. The only thing missing was the bucket of popcorn.

Javier looked at the pair with a bit of jealousy. His sessions with his own brothers had never reached that level of passion or intimacy, not even with Jaime, who was the brother he had the closest relationship with.

Daniel bobbed and sucked and jerked and kissed and licked in a whirlwind of motion, a hurricane of ecstasy aimed directly at Sean. Sean groaned and sighed in pleasure. Daniel’s ministrations were sending him towards the edge at a rocket’s pace. He’d gotten so, so many blow jobs from Daniel, but this one was the crown jewel, the Mona Lisa, the pinnacle of Daniel’s prowess.

“Fuck, cub. I won’t last long,” Sean grunted.

This was music to Daniel’s ears. He picked up his pace, sucking Sean’s cock down to the root and then wrapping his hand around the cock to smear the spit as he pulled out and only to dive in again and move his hand down to fondle Sean’s balls. He repeated the motion over and over, like a machine. Each bob of his head built pressure then released it. Each trip to the head ended with a sensual, swirling lick. The air was filled with soft, wet smacks, slurps, and glugs; the sounds of a blow job performed like a symphony.

“Oh, mmm… Daniel…” Sean grunted.

Sean’s hand gripped Daniel’s hair, his face contorted with pleasure and he let out a soft, almost bewildered moan as he released his load. Daniel slipped down to the end of Sean’s cock as the first volley hit the back of his throat. He chugged and chugged, his Adam’s apple bobbing almost hypnotically as he sucked down each new squirt of hot teen cum the moment it popped into his mouth. His lips were stretch wide like he was drinking from a thick tan hose and somehow not choking on the torrent streaming from it.

“Whoa,” Tommy and Javi sighed in awed unison.

“Damn,” Harry whispered, clearly impressed.

“I know, right?” Jayden whispered.

“I got next,” Chris teased, licking his lips hungrily.

“Good boy, cub. That was… wow. The best one yet,” Sean said sweetly.

Sean’s hand gently caressed Daniel’s face, tracing the gentle curve of his brother’s jawline with one long finger. Daniel smiled contentedly and licked his lips, savoring the salty flavor of his brother on his lips and tongue.

There was a brief pause while everyone processed the steamy scene and then they all launched into short discussion in which they decided about who would do what with whom. They broke into pairs, grabbed some towels, and split up, two boys to a bed. Sean with Harry, Chris with Daniel, Jayden with Noah, and Javier with Tommy.

Harry got onto all fours on Sean’s bed without even needing to be asked. Sean started the preparation process, eating Harry’s ass like it was groceries. Harry moaned softly while Sean licked his hole. Harry mushed his face down into the pillow to muffle his voice. He stuck his ass up higher, giving Sean better access.

In the bed next to him, Jayden and Noah climbed in. Noah laid on his back, ass propped up by pillows while Jayden fingered lube into his hole. Jayden wasn’t much into ass eating. He’d never tried it and he didn’t have any interest in doing so. He did love shoving his dick into a good hole, though, and Noah was an awesome bottom. As eager as he was talented.

“I’m going to fuck you so hard you can’t walk tomorrow,” Jayden said with a teasing growl.

“Promise?” Noah teased back.

The other four boys went into the other room. Chris and Daniel claimed one bed and Javier and Tommy took the one that was left.

“So what do you want to do first?” Daniel asked.

“I want what you gave Sean,” Chris said, climbing into the bed with a come-hither smile.

“Okay. I love giving blowies,” Daniel answered with a satisfied smirk.

“Yeah? You wanna suck this dick?” Chris teased, squeezing his cock in his hand.

“Yeah,” Daniel said, crawling up between Chris’s legs.

Daniel set to work giving Chris a soft, sensual blow job to rival the one he just gave Sean. In the bed next to them, Tommy and Javi arranged themselves into a sixty-nine and got to work, albeit with a little less passion than Chris and Daniel showed.

For the next ten to fifteen minutes, the two rooms were filled with sights, sounds, and smells of sex until pair by pair, the boys reach their climaxes. Tommy and Javi finished first, followed shortly by Jayden and Noah. In both cases, the two boys came at about the same time. Chris and Daniel came next. Chris had not lasted long in Daniel’s mouth and they had swapped. Daniel didn’t last long, either. He was so worked up from all of the activities. Finally, only Sean and Harry remained. The rest of the boys reclaimed their clothes and slowly got dressed, watching Sean pound Harry’s hole fast and hard like a fleshy pile driver machine.

“Jesus, he’s really taking it,” Noah observed.

“How has he not cummed yet?” Daniel asked curiously.

“he has,” Sean answered with a smirk.

“Ah… mmm.. twice,” Harry admitted.

The boys watching moved closer and sure enough, there were quite a few sticky puddles on the towel beneath Harry, whose cock was already dribbling a long string of pre again.

“How,” Chris admitted.

“Really hot,” Jayden agreed.

“Wish it was me,” Noah grumbled.

“Maybe tomorrow,” Daniel answered.

The boys kept watching until Harry popped his cork again. He grunted, trembled, and buried his face in the mattress as he shot another little load onto the towel. This one, apparently, was enough to push Sean over the edge. He grabbed Harry’s hips hard, rammed his cock home and gasped, pumping his seed deep into Harry’s ass.

“Fuck, ducky, that was so good,” Sean panted.

Sean and Harry tumbled over together in a heap.

“Thanks, Sean. That was… incredible,” Harry sighed happily.

Sean’s wilting cock slipped out, leaving Harry’s hole gaping and dribbling cum in its wake. The boys all chuckled and stared in awe.

“Wrecked,” Daniel giggled.

The other boys chuckled, too. Yep. That was the sign of a well-used hole.

Chapter Text

Saturday, April 27, 2019

The weather was perfect for baseball. It was warm, but not hot, and a cool breeze rolled in over the river, cooling things further. The sun was shining brightly with not a single hint of rain on the horizon. The venue was pretty amazing. All three fields were in good condition, but the stadium field was a sight to behold. It was the biggest, nicest field that any of the boys had ever seen. It was a high school field, but it was as nice as the stadiums most college teams played in.

The team had been split into groups using the hotel room assignments. Coach Harris and his group were watching the Straub Middle School Wolves out of Salem, OR take on the Monroe Middle School Mustangs out of Eugene, OR. Charles and his group were watching the Roseway Heights Panthers out of Portland, OR, take on the Beaver Creek Middle School Beavers out of Beaver Creek, OR. That left Sean and company scouting out the hosting Frontier Middle School Silverbacks in their game against an opponent that was all-too-familiar for Daniel and his friends; the St. Michael’s Academy Saints from Tacoma, WA.

Esteban and Lyla were hanging out with Sean and Daniel’s group. Esteban, Sean and Lyla sat a row behind the five younger boys, who were all already in their uniforms.

Sean and Daniel had been keeping an eye out for their grandparents, but so far, neither of them had seen them. Then again, Daniel had no idea what they looked like, and Sean hadn’t seen them since before Daniel was born, so he wasn’t sure he would recognize them, either. But their dad was with them, too, and they were pretty sure Esteban would remember what they looked like, no matter how long it had been since the divorce. Daniel was turned around, talking to his dad.

“You’re sure they’re coming, Dad?” Daniel asked nervously.

“Yes, mijito. They said they would be here,” Esteban confirmed. “But they were coming for your game, and your game isn’t for another three hours.”

Daniel sighed and nodded. He knew all of that. It made sense, he was just so anxious.

“Just try to focus on the game,” Sean said, pointing toward the field.

Daniel sighed dramatically. Of course a distraction would be helpful, except that the game hadn’t actually started yet. They were just about to do the opening coin toss. The Saints’ purple and black uniforms with gold highlight were all too familiar. They had never seen them before, but they looked very similar to the basketball uniforms in color and style. They even used the same font for the lettering and numbers. That meant that the team in the silver-gray and black uniforms that were oddly reminiscent of the NFL’s Raiders uniforms had to be the hosting Silverbacks from right here in Vancouver.

“Okay, fine,” Daniel grumbled.

The Saints won the toss and elected to be the home team. The team representatives ran back to their dugouts, shouting their results and soon the field was alive with bustling activity as the players got ready to play.

“BAT FIRST?” The Silverbacks coach shouted.

“SCORE FIRST!” his team answered.

There was no fear in those voices. They were ready, even eager.

“Well, they’re not scared of being the visiting team,” Sean noted.

“Nope,” Daniel agreed.

Javi and Tommy chuckled along, nodding in agreement.

“They talk big, but let’s see how they back it up,” Jayden said.

The Saints all stormed the field and started their warm-ups while the Silverbacks slapped on helmets and gloves and prepared to bat. Their respective coaches talked or yelled, giving their players as much last-second coaching as they could.

“Just keep an eye out. Watch their pitchers. Watch their batters. If you spot any habits, let me know so I can write it down,” Sean said.

They all nodded. They knew why they were here. Scouting the competition until about 10:30am when they would all meet up and warm up for their own game. Everyone was watching for everything, but Sean felt like they had a pretty good mix of boys for this. Jayden, Tommy, and Javier were all both pitchers and outfielders. Daniel and Harry were infielders. Between the five boys, they had all manner of batting styles; Jayden and Javi relied heavily on their speed, Daniel relied more on making solid contact, Harry was more of a power hitter, and Tommy tried to maintain a more balanced approach. With any luck, that would all add up to give them a variety of insights from many different perspectives. Any one of them could prove useful.

“Anybody want snacks?” Lyla asked.

“I want nachos!” Daniel said.

“Oh, me too!” Tommy said.

“Yeah,” Jayden and Javi chimed in.

“Hold up. Make it popcorn,” Sean said.

“Aw, man, why can’t we have nachos?” Daniel asked.

“Do any of you want to be the kid who shows up to the game with nacho cheese on his uniform?” Sean asked.

The five boys sighed in unison. They certainly did not want that. They all knew Sean was right, even if they didn’t want to admit it because it sucked not having nachos.

“Here, mija. For the popcorn,” Esteban said, handing over some cash.

“Thanks, papito,” Lyla said, grinning widely.

“Thanks, dad. Thanks, Lyla,” Sean said.

The five boys chorused their own thanks as Lyla went off to the concession stand.

Charles’s group was also scouting a familiar opponent, or at least one that familiar to Charles and Chris. Or, more specifically, most of the group was scouting from the bleachers. Chris was down by the Beaver Creek dugout, chatting through the fence. The main focus of his attention was Chris’s old best friend, Hal, a boisterous boy with curly red hair, a face full of freckles, and bright green eyes But Hal was not alone, Chris’s other old friends, Justin, Kyle, and Stan were also on the team and they, too, had come over to chat.

“Oh, man, I missed you guys so much,” Chris said, smiling brightly.

“I missed you, too, buddy,” Hal said with a hint of sadness.

“Me, too,” Justin said.

“We all did,” Stan added.

“Yeah,” Kyle agreed.

Before the conversation could get too far, though, another familiar face came over to see what was distracting his boys.

“Chris? Chris Eriksen? My goodness, you must have grown a foot since I saw you last. What are you doing here?” Coach Williams asked.

Chris giggled. That was an exaggeration, but not by as much as you would think. Chris had experienced many rapid growth spurts since Coach Williams had last seen him. Almost a year and a half ago, that had been. Chris had been not quite ten when they moved. He was freshly twelve, now. The onset of puberty had certainly changed Chris’s body in some regards.

“Hi, Coach! I’m here with my school in Seattle,” Chris said, holding the front of the shirt of his Ospreys uniform proudly out to display the name.

The Ospreys uniform was quite different than the Beavers one. The Beavers uniforms were burnt orange and black, with white highlights. They were modeled after the Oregon State Beavers uniforms, but they had always made Chris think of Halloween.

“Well, I’ll be darned,” Coach Williams said. Coach Williams looked around. “Is your dad…?”

“In the bleachers. He’s one of the coaches. He’s doing better, now,” Chris said, smiling.

“Good, good. We’ve been worried about him,” Coach Williams said.

Chris pointed his dad out in the bleachers and Charles and Coach Williams waved at one another. Coach Williams understood ‘doing better’ to mean ‘sober,’ which was mostly true. Charles wasn’t sober, but he was drinking less, and he wasn’t letting it affect his work anymore. Chris recognized this as progress.

“Hey, Hal, Justin, you two are captains this time, go do the toss,” Coach Williams ordered.

“Yes, Coach,” the boys answers, hustling out to do the coin toss for their team.

The man smiled politely, a somewhat awkward look on his face. Chris had been one of his players, and that bond would always be there, so it pained him to shoo him off, but the game was starting.

“Hey, Chris. It’s great to see you, and I’m sure the boys are excited, too, but we’ve got a game to play. I’ll come out between innings to say hi to your dad, and I’ll try to let the boys come talk one at a time, as the situation allows, but for now, we can’t have the boys getting distracted.

Chris looked crestfallen, and the Beaver Creek boys didn’t look any happier at the news, but they all put on brave faces.

“That’s okay, Coach. I get it. Good luck out there,” Chris said brightly.

He grinned ear to ear, his slightly-gap-toothed smile on full display. That was one thing that had not changed.

“Thank you, Chris. You too. We hope to see you in the finals,” Coach Williams said.

“Now that would be something, wouldn’t it?” Chris asked, beaming. “Bye, guys! Bye! I’ll cheer for you!”

Chris hollered and waved over his shoulder as he returned to the stands.

Sean checked his watch. Jayden had been gone awhile. Jayden had specifically said that he needed to pee. He should definitely have been back by now.

“Um, hey, guys. Stay here with my dad. Nobody leave until I get back. I’m going to go check on Jayden,” Sean said.

“Can I come? I gotta pee, too,” Daniel said.

“Fine, but just you. Somebody has to take notes,” Sean said.

Sean handed the notepad off to Harry and hopped off the side of the bleachers instead of walking down. Sean put one hand out and Daniel used it as a support to slow himself as he also leapt off the side, landing with plastic crunch as his cleats collided with concrete.

There were two bathrooms on opposite sides of the complex. Jayden had gone in the one closest to them. They hurried toward the bathroom, not exactly running, but concern had certainly hastened their steps.

“You think he’s okay?” Daniel asked.

“He’s probably fine,” Sean assured his brother.

“What if somebody grabbed him?” Daniel asked worriedly.

Sean smiled reasuringly as they hustled.

“He’s a big, tough, kid. I don’t think he’d go down without a fight. There’s lots of people around. He’s probably just taking a shit and didn’t want to say so,” Sean said.

“Yeah, maybe,” Daniel said nervously.

Jayden had never been overly shy about saying so before, though.

“Or maybe he’s just jerking off,” Daniel giggled.

Sean laughed right back.

“Yeah, probably, or maybe…” Sean trailed off as he walked into the bathroom.

The bathroom was empty, except for two people. Jayden was coming out of the stall, adjusting the fit of his athletic protective cup and zipping up his pants. Coming out beside him was a familiar face.

“Hey, you’re that kid I saw at our games,” Daniel said.

It was the emo boy. The one who dressed head to toe in black and wore thick eyeliner around his eyes.

“Kyler. My name is Kyler,” Kyler said.

“Everything okay, Jayden?” Sean asked.

“Oh, yeah. Just need to wash my hands,” Jayden said, heading toward the sink.

Kyler looked around to make sure they were still alone.

“So do you two want to fuck me next?” Kyler asked bluntly.

Sean and Daniel’s eyes both went wide.

“Excuse me?” Sean asked.

“You heard me. I know you two fuck. You want to fuck me?” Kyler repeated.

“Trust me, it’s worth it. See you when you get back to the bleachers,” Jayden said with a smile.

Jayden walked past them and out of the bathroom.

“Dude, we’re brothers,” Daniel said, as if offended by the implication.

“Yeah, I know. That makes it so much hotter. I fucking love incest,” Kyler said, smiling.

Sean and Daniel were both a bit taken aback by this kid.

“Who are you?” Sean asked.

“I’m with Spokane. I’m the Coach’s son,” Kyler said.

“Isn’t the Spokane Coach a black guy?” Sean asked.

“Yeah? So? You never heard of adoption?” Kyler said.

“Duh,” Daniel said, rolling his eyes.

“I can tell you two play. The way you hug, the way you touch. I can just tell. It’s okay, I play, too. With my dad, or the players, or anyone who will let me. Like your friend, for example,” Kyler said, smiling.

Sean and Daniel looked at each other, weighing it.

“Come on, it’ll be fun,” Kyler begged.

“You’re very…” Sean started, trailing off as he tried to think of the right word.

“Horny?” Kyler suggested.

“I was going to go with something more like brazen,” Sean finished.

Kyler shrugged.

“I know what I like and I’m not ashamed of it. So come on. You can take turns. Or spitroast me. Which one of you is the top? Or do you, like, take turns?” Kyler asked curiously, with no more concern than if he were asking about the weather.

“Mostly he tops,” Daniel answered.

“Daniel!” Sean scolded.

“What? He already said he knew,” Daniel shrugged.

Kyler smirked. He noticed Sean’s eyes scanning him over. He couldn’t blame the older boy. He dressed provocatively for a reason. He noticed Sean’s eyes staring at the collar.

“You like the collar, huh? Your buddy did, too. He used it as a handle while he-” Kyler began.

“Okay, fine, just keep it down,” Sean said.

He felt crazy doing this. Anyone could walk in and find them. If they were busted, there would be no innocent way to explain why he was in a stall with two underage boys, one of whom wasn’t even with his team. Maybe if it was just Daniel, he could pass it off as helping his brother.

“Enano, lock the door next to us before you come in here,” Sean said.

“Got it,” Daniel said.

Sean and Kyler went into the stall and Daniel locked the cubicle next to them before stepping in behind them. Daniel had used his powers to do it, but fortunately Kyler didn’t notice anything fishy. The locks were the kind with a big indention in the lock. You could lock or unlock it from the outside using a pocketknife, a screwdriver, or even a quarter.

By the time Daniel stepped in, Kyler was already on his knees on the floor, looking up expectantly.

“Come on, guys. We don’t have all day,” Kyler demanded in a bossy sort of tone.

Daniel pulled the cup out of his jock and stuck it in his back pocket; the only pocket his uniform had. He finished dropping his pants, his jock, and his undies, letting his half-hard cock spring free.

“Whoa! Yours is as big as your friend’s was. I love big cocks. Especially brown ones,” Kyler confessed.

Kyler opened his mouth and slipped the head of Daniel’s cock into his mouth, moaning softly and swirling his tongue. Sean and Daniel both had the same thought. Those pale, pink, puffy lips, those cocksucking lips, looked really amazing wrapped around the thick tan shaft of Daniel’s cock.

Kyler shifted his eyes over towards Sean and waved his hand in a ‘bring it’ gesture. Sean chuckled and dropped his pants, letting his cloth-covered bulge feel the air. Sean smirked as he saw the pale boy’s eyes widen. Sean let his boxers fall and his cock was out in the air, swelling to full hardness with surprising speed. Watching the younger boy sucking off his little brother was making Sean pretty excited.

It apparently excited Kyler, too. He stopped sucking Daniel’s dick long enough to give a low whistle of appreciation.

“Damn! That’s even bigger than my dad’s. What do they put in the water in Seattle? Are you all hung like this?” Kyler asked, licking those pretty pink lips hungrily.

The brothers laughed softly.

“No, we’re just lucky,” Daniel said.

“I’ll say you are. You get to suck that every day? I’m legit jealous,” Kyler said softly.

“I do,” Daniel said, grinning. “And I do feel lucky for it.”

“I feel lucky, too. He’s really good at it,” Sean said, smirking.

“Damn, you gotta let me taste that,” Kyler said.

Sean stood next to Daniel and Kyler spent about a minute just sucking them both, one after another, like he was trying two flavors of wine and he couldn’t decided which one was better, so he was just sipping both. Finally, he seemed to make a decision.

“Okay, you totally have to fuck me with that,” Kyler demanded.

“Are you sure?” Sean asked.

“Dude, I just told you my dad has a big one. Maybe not quite that big, but I can take it,” Kyler assured him.

“Okay, then, little dude. Let’s see what you’re packing beneath those skinny jeans,” Sean said.

Kyler shrugged.

“Gotta see it to fuck it,” Kyler said nonchalantly.

Kyler stood up and dropped his jeans and undies to his ankles. He had a cute uncut cock. Maybe three inches and nail hard, sticking straight up against his body and twitching with his heartbeat. His skin was almost impossibly pale, paler even than Chris’s was, and it seemed thin, too, his little blue and red veins easily seen through the milky skin. He had not a single hair on him, neither above his cock or on his little high-hung balls.

The shaft was no thicker than Sean’s pinky; thin and delicate, and covered in a long foreskin that was pulled so tight against his cock you could see the helmet shape of his head through it. Despite his erection, the foreskin was so long that it went a good half-inch past the head and closed in on itself, looking almost like the end of a balloon only without the knot. The boy peeled the skin back, showing off that slender helmet head, which was engorged to a dark, angry red.

“Wow, you’re cute,” Daniel said, smiling.

“I like yours, too,” Kyler admitted.

“We’ve got to hurry or they’ll send somebody after us,” Sean warned.

“Yeah, man. I don’t mind a pump and dump. I’m still lubed from your buddy,” Kyler said.

Sean snorted softly. He pulled the boy around and checked out his hole. It was, indeed, still greasy with lube and maybe more. Obviously, it hadn’t had a chance to return to normal yet, still hanging open fairly wide from the fucking Jayden had given him. It was a cute, pert ass, with surprisingly ample cheeks. Sean would never have guessed that these globes were hidden beneath those black hiphuggers. And the hole itself looked like it would have been super cute before it was fucked. It was still hot, just slightly puffy and hanging open. Sean guessed their might be some small amount of bruising in a few hours, but it wasn’t purple yet.

“Go on, man, stick it in,” Kyler ordered.

Sean smirked again. This kid was something else. Slut was putting it mildly. When Sean didn’t immediately move to do it, Kyler spoke up again.

“Come on, man. I need it,” Kyler whined.

Sean chuckled. The way the kid said ‘need’ made Sean believe him.

“You asked for it, kid,” Sean said.

Sean slid in, surprised at how easily the kid took it. Normally Sean would have gone slow, started with the tip, let him get used to it. But the second he had lined his tip up with the hole, Kyler had pushed himself back onto it, impaled himself on it, desperate to be filled in a way that made even Noah look timid by comparison.

“Holy shit,” Daniel said in shock.

“Holy shit,” Sean groaned in pleasure.

“I can’t believe how easy that went in,” Daniel gasped.

“I can’t believe how fucking tight he is,” Sean said.

“Can you feel Jayden’s stuff in there?” Daniel asked.

“Yeah,” Kyler and Sean answered at once.

All three giggled. Daniel was talking to Sean, but it was still interesting to know.

“Sloppy seconds,” Daniel giggled.

“Come on, let me suck you some more,” Kyler said.

“Oh, yeah, totally,” Daniel said, sliding around the front.

Daniel slid his cock into the boy’s mouth and then the spitroast was on. Kyler pushed himself toward one brother’s dick and then the other’s, eager to stuff both of his holes with Diaz cocks at once. After only a few thrusts, Sean grabbed hold of the middle of the boy’s collar with one hand and used it for leverage to fuck his little ass even harder. Daniel followed suit, grabbing the edges of the collar in both hands to better control the boy’s head as he thrust his cock into the kid’s mouth. At that point, things turned almost feral. Kyler moaned and sighed in ecstasy, almost overwhelmed as the two brothers basically played tug of war with his collar, forcing him forward and backward between themselves.

Kyler closed his eyes, his hand snaking to his little pencil dick. He stroked himself furiously while the two brothers fucked him from both ends.

Kyler loved tournaments because he was usually able to get a cock or two. He felt super lucky. This was his second and third cock of the day and the first game wasn’t even over yet.

Kyler peeled back the skin one last time and came right there, his little cock quivering and shuddering. He couldn't spurt, not yet, anyway, but his little cock shook like it was trying its best to shoot, and he got the tingly, euphoric sensation of the orgasm just the same. That orgasm caused the same spasms, and that made the hot velvet walls of his rectum clench down on Sean’s cock, milking it hard.

Sean grunted and pushed all the way in until his pubes tickled the boy’s pale white cheeks. He unloaded several volleys of thick, white teenage cream right up the kid’s hole, yanking backward on the collar like he was trying to pull his dick all the way through the kid.

Daniel finished at the same time, unloading his own considerable load right down the kid’s throat. He could feel Kyler’s throat stretched tight around his dick. Could feel the almost-massaging motion of Kyler’s throat automatically trying to swallow his cock and his cum alike. Daniel tugging the boy’s collar in the opposite direction was probably the only thing that Saved Kyler from having a sore neck. The three boys panted and sighed as they came down from the sex high.

“Thanks, man,” Daniel said, releasing Kyler’s red collar.

“Yeah, kid. That was nice,” Sean said, sighing in relief.

“Thank you, guys. That was so hot. I always wanted to do a threesome with two brothers at the same time,” Kyler said, smiling happily.

The brothers chuckled and smiled as they all rushed to clean up.

“See you around,” Daniel said.

“Definitely,” Kyler said, smiling.

“Hope so,” Sean said, smirking.

Chapter Text

Saturday, April 27, 2019

The first round of games was in the books. None of them went extra innings, but the game between Monroe and Straub had turned into a back and forth offensive slugfest that made the game stretch out a little longer than the others. Even so, all the games finished within the allotted three hours between scheduled start times. Though technically a double header for some teams, all of the boys would have at least some time to rest between games.

Beaver Creek had also won its first game, putting away Roseway Heights 5-3 in what turned out to be a pretty decent pitchers’ duel. It was Roseway’s best pitcher against Beaver Creek’s second-best; Chris’s friend, Justin. The game was close for most of the stretch, with Beaver Creek putting in some distance late in the game, when the relief pitcher came in.

Daniel, Chris, and Noah were gathered around the standings board, checking out the results while Coach Harris, Coach Eriksen, and Sean were comparing notes on the scouting they had done.

“Hey, guys, what’s it look like?” Tommy asked.

He and Jayden joined the group checking out the standings. A moment later, Javier and Harry joined, too. Soon, they were joined by some familiar faces in orange and black uniforms.

“Yo, Chris!” Hal said, swooping in for a proper hug, since he couldn’t get one earlier.

Chris was surprised, but hugged his old redheaded friend right back.

“Thanks, Hal,” Chris said.

“Sorry we couldn’t talk during the game. You know how Coach gets,” Kyle added.

“Yeah, no worries,” Chris agreed.

“So, aren’t you going to introduce us?” Justin asked.

“Yeah, this must be your cousin,” Hal said, extending a handshake toward Tommy.

“Huh?” Tommy asked, confused.

“What? No, Tommy’s not my cousin, Noah is,” Chris said.

“So you’re not Noah? Who is?” Kyle asked.

“I am,” Noah said, raising a hand and an eyebrow.

“Oh, shit, sorry, bro. I assumed that since he was blond like you…” Hal trailed off.

Everyone smiled and laughed off the faux pas.

“Nope, just a friend,” Chris assured them.

“My dad is Hawaiian,” Noah explained.

“And his mom is my dad’s little sister,” Chris finished.

“Oh, gotcha,” Hal said, his cheek turning redder than his hair.

“Sorry, dude,” Justin said, extending his hand toward Noah, this time.

They all shook hands and made their introductions, chatting excitedly about what had happened in Beaver Creek and what had happened in Seattle. It allowed Chris to help balance the world he had moved to with the one he had left behind. It was a chance for new friends to get a better understanding of where Chris had come from, and for old friends to become better acquainted with who Chris was becoming now.

Meanwhile, the scouting conference was also turning up some new and unexpected findings.

“You’re sure that Chase has been scouting us, too?” Coach Harris asked Sean.

“Definitely,” Sean confirmed. “I’ve been seeing this emo kid in the stands at our games for over a week. He’s been to several games. Turns out he’s the Chase Coach’s son.”

“Okay, well, that’s good intel. Thanks, Sean. What do you think, Charles?” Coach Harris asked.

Charles paused to think about it. He understood what Coach Harris was asking; to what degree does this change their game plan?

“I’m not sure, Jack. I know St. Michael’s is a good team, but they may actually be the weakest opponent,” Charles said, rubbing his stubbly chin.

Coach Harris nodded back. His original plan had been to have his weakest starter, Javier, face off against Chase, but if the Chargers were taking the game this seriously, perhaps they would be a bit of a sleeper team. A crew that could sneak up on you by being better prepared. If they were facing the weakest pitcher and prepared for him, then that could be disastrous. But then the problem becomes, could Javier beat St. Michael’s? Especially with minimal prep? They had focused on Chase’s scouting reports in the practices.

Coach Harris scanned through Sean’s notes. He had assigned that game to Sean because St. Michael’s was the most familiar team to them. Frontier Middle School was a little less familiar than their nearby Tacoma neighbor, but they also usually hosted the Border War tourney every year, so they weren’t completely unknown. Despite that, Sean and his boys had noticed some things for both teams that had not yet made it into their existing scouting reports. He was exceedingly pleased with the information Sean had provided on those teams.

Coach Harris sighed heavily through his nose, his face a mask of stern indecision. This thing about Chase was even more unexpected.

“I know it’s not my call, Coach, but my gut says Chase is a trap,” Sean said.

Charles nodded solemnly.

“I’m inclined to agree, Jack. My instincts say Chase is the bigger threat,” Charles agreed.

Coach Harris’s face found sudden calm and clarity.

“That’s actually really helpful. It was my inclination, too. If all three of us are thinking it, maybe here’s something to it. Either way, we’ll be right as a team or wrong as a team,” Coach Harris said, smiling.

He turned to Sean and smiled.

“Oh, and Sean? Never be afraid to speak up. I don’t always take every bit of advice I hear, but I will always listen to it and weigh it,” Coach Harris said.

“Thanks, Coach,” Sean answered.

Coach Harris looked over Sean’s shoulder, seeing a situation unfolding.

“Looks like your dad needs you. Meeting your grandparents, right?” Coach Harris asked.

Sean smiled and chuckled.

“Yeah, how’d you know?” Sean asked.

“When my boys talk, I listen,” Coach Harris answered.

Sean nodded. Daniel had been nervous about that. Of course he had said something in front of Coach Harris, or maybe even directly to him.

“Yeah. I should go do that,” Sean said, smiling nervously.

Coach Harris smiled and nodded.

“Do your thing and then you and your brother try to get your heads on straight. Warm-ups start in half an hour,” Coach Harris said.

“I’ll be along in a minute. Not trying to intrude on your moment, but I wanted to say hello to them, too,” Charles said.

Upon seeing Coach Harris’s confused look, Charles explained.

“They were my next door neighbors in Beaver Creek before I moved here,” Charles said.

“Oh? I had no idea. Small world,” Coach Harris said, snorting bemusedly.

Naturally, he remembered that Charles was from Beaver Creek, which is why he had assigned that team to Charles to scout, but he didn’t know that he had been neighbors with the Diaz boys’ grandparents. That was indeed a strange coincidence.

Sean was fuming. Daniel didn’t seem to notice a problem, and Esteban was too polite to say anything, but Sean saw red. Literally.

“Sean and Daniel, these are your grandparents on your mother’s side. Stephen and Claire,” Esteban said, politely, if awkwardly.

“Seriously?” Sean asked.

Stephen and Claire seemed confused. Sean seemed irate.

“Sean, is something wrong?” Claire asked.

“You thought that would be appropriate to wear?” Sean asked angrily, pinching his nose.

“Sean,” Esteban said warningly.

Sean knew what his dad meant. He was always teaching them that people with their skin color had to always be on their best behavior. Society is always looking for an excuse, any excuse. And yet, Sean couldn’t help himself. Of all the things to decide to wear to meet their Latino grandchildren, they decided to wear those… those... things?

“Sean, have we offended you in some way?” Stephen asked slowly.

“You understand that those red hats are basically a symbol of hate for Latinos, right?” Sean asked.

Sean tried his best not to sound furious. He failed.

“We didn’t mean it that way,” Stephen insisted.

Stephen, at least, had the decency to remove the thing straight away. Stephen insistently elbowed Claire, who reluctantly removed hers, too.

“I’m sorry if our politics offended you, Sean. We just wanted to meet you, not cause a fight,” Claire said, perhaps a little prickly.

“It’s not just politics to us. It’s our lives,” Sean pointed out.

“Let’s not have this argument here and now,” Esteban suggested.

“Maybe we should just agree to disagree,” Claire suggested.

“We can disagree about tax policy and still get along. We can’t politely disagree about whether people who look like me are allowed to even exist in this country,” Sean said.

“That’s actually a fair point,” Stephen conceded, putting a firm hand on Claire’s elbow.

Sean saw the move, of course. Even if Claire was only holding her tongue to please Stephen, at least she was doing it. Sean would take it.

“So, um… hi. I’m Daniel,” Daniel said awkwardly.

Despite the contentious opening, things went fairly smoothly after Daniel’s awkward, nervous opening gambit. It probably helped that Charles showed up with some team hats a moment later. Esteban and Lyla helped calm Sean down a bit, and Chris and the rest of the team swarmed to Daniel’s side with comforting gestures of solidarity. In the end, things went well, notwithstanding the rough start, and the Ospreys had two extra fans in the stands when Chris and Daniel marched out to do the opening coin toss. Well, way more than two, actually.

Daniel and Chris recognized the familiar voices cheering as they walked out. The regulars were all there; Esteban, Lyla, and Tammy Wilson. Javier’s father and three brothers were in the stands; a ‘boys’ trip’ to see Javi play. Then there were the newly-introduced grandparents, of course. Even after one introduction, Daniel could recognize those voices. It was the dozen or so new ‘cheerleaders’ in Beaver Creek baseball uniforms that threw Daniel for a loop.

“WOOHOO!!!”

“GO CHRIS!!!”

“GO GET ‘EM, PAL!”

To Daniel these were just more nameless fans, unrecognized voices in the stands. Chris knew those voices, though, and his smile was ear to ear. His old team had come to cheer on his new team and it felt really special. Maybe they were just returning the favor from their game. Maybe they were scouting, too. Maybe they just had nothing better to do during their bye. It didn’t matter, Chris was really glad they were there in the stands. The bleachers on their side were packed and that was really heartening, especially when they yelled like that.

It was the top of the fourth inning and Javier was tired. His arm ached. It felt full and heavy, like it did after weight training. Like it was frozen, or on fire, or somehow both at once. But the game was tied 1-1 and there were already two outs. This batter was behind him, on a 1-2 count. He just needed to get one strike past the guy before he threw three balls. Or, if he really screwed up, allowed a hit.

Javi took a deep breath, centering himself.

“Venga, mijo! No te rindas!” Javi’s dad yelled.

“Dig deep, Liebre! You can do it,” Jose shouted.

“You got this, Javi!” Jorge yelled.

“Let’s go, big bro!” Jaime yelled, rising to his feet and bouncing on his toes in his enthusiasm.

Javier nodded. He wouldn’t give up. Especially not with his dad and brothers in the stand. He could do this. Just one more pitch.

There was a runner on first, but Javi ignored him. He wouldn’t matter as long as he got the out. He focused in on on Noah’s fingers. He was calling for a slider inside. If he did it right, the ball would look like it was going to crowd the batter, but then break toward the plate for a strike. If he missed, it would be hit, and hard. If he messed up the wrist motion, the ball wouldn’t break and he might actually hit the batter. A risky move, but he was running out of gas. He wasn’t sure if he had the juice left to throw a fastball.

So Javi nodded. Came set. Twirled the ball in his fingertips until he had the right grip. Made use of the full windup. Ignored the footsteps in the dirt of the runner streaking towards second base behind him. Held his breath.

“Have to nail the wrist motion,” Javi told himself.

He released the ball and exhaled, switching to a defensive stance as quickly as he could. If the ball came sailing back his way, he wanted to be ready to make the play. Or at least prevent the ball from smashing into his face.

The ball sailed into Noah’s mitt with a loud *snap* sound and Noah closed the leather around it like the glove was swallowing the pitch. He held his hand still, allowing the umpire to admire the pitch’s perfect placement.

“STRIKE THREE! YOU’RE OUT” the umpire shouted.

The batter sighed and thumped his bat on the ground. The crowd erupted into cheers on one side and jeers on the other.

“That’s the inning,” the umpire announced in a softer shout.

The boys jogged off the field as the batter returned to his dugout. The Saints coach looked at the boy questioningly, as if asking whether he should argue for his player, but the boy nodded his head and mimicked the curve with his hand. The coach nodded his understanding; the boy had fallen for the slider. Didn’t even swing. The coach trotted over to meet his boy halfway to the dugout. He threw a comforting arm around him and told the kid to cheer up, there was plenty of game left.

The Ospreys players received a much more energetic welcome to their dugout; more celebration than consolation. Javi, in particular, was crowded with pats on the back, slaps on the butt, playful punches to his glove arm, and other general roughhousing.

“How’s the arm?” Coach Harris asked.

“I’m sorry, Coach. I think I’m cooked,” Javi answered with genuine regret in his voice.

Coach Harris smiled.

“I’m proud of you for admitting it. That’s a good sign that you’re maturing as a pitcher. How are the legs?” Coach Harris asked.

Javier smiled at the praise, and also that he could answer in the affirmative this time.

“I can bat,” Javier said confidently.

“Good man. Get your gear,” Coach Harris said.

Coach Harris then turned to Wyatt.

“Get warmed up. Clayton, go catch for him,” Coach Harris ordered.

“Yes, Coach,” both boys answered at once.

Coaches Harris and Eriksen then left the dugout, leaving Sean to wrangle the mid-inning chaos and march the boys through the batting order.

Wyatt and Clayton both hopped up off the bench. Wyatt grabbed his glove and pulled a ball out of the ball bucket to warm up with while Clayton slipped on the spare catcher’s pads. Seeing that the two had the process in order, Sean turned his attention back to the batting order.

“Tommy, Javi, Noah, leading off,” Sean shouted.

The first two boys quickly grabbed their helmets, bats, and batting gloves. Sean helped Noah get out of his catcher’s equipment while the other two put on their gloves and helmets.

“Good luck out there, Tommy,” Sean said, still fiddling with Noah’s pads.

“Thanks, Sean,” Tommy said.

“you too, bunny,” Sean said.

“Thanks, Sean,” Javier answered. He smirked in satisfaction and amusement.

The crowd on the Osprey side cheered again as Tommy approached the plate. Javi walked to the on deck circle moments after. Finally free of his catcher’s gear, Noah slid on his helmet and batting gloves and loomed in the doorway, watching the action start up on the field.

There was no proper bullpen, so Wyatt and Clayton went out to the grass behind the dugout to warm up. With everyone in proper order, Sean joined Noah in the doorway. He put a hand on Noah’s shoulder.

“Doing great out there, baby bear. Keep your head on. Deep breaths. We just need one run to win this thing,” Sean said.

Noah nodded happily. He wished his mom dad could have made it. Or even Connie, the nanny. But Sean and his family would have to do. They were basically family, anyway.

“Thanks, Sean. We got this,” Noah assured him.

“I know you do. I believe,” Sean said, smiling.

Noah smiled back. It was good to be believed in.

Finally, the new pitcher for St. Michael’s finished his allotted warmup pitches and the umpire shouted for the game to resume. Tommy stepped up to the box.

“Go Tommy!!!” Tammy Wilson shrieked.

There was a smattering of other cheers as Tommy dug in. The St. Michael’s pitcher ground the ball against his black baseball pants like he was trying to polish it. He held his purple glove up against his chest, like he was trying to hold his heart inside his rib cage with it.

The umpire pointed at the kid to give him the all clear and the game resumed.

It was the bottom of the sixth inning. The game was still tied 1-1. Nothing much had happened in the last two innings. The Saints pitcher had retired the side in the bottom of the fourth, sitting down Tommy, Javi, and Noah in order. Tommy hit a weak grounder and got thrown out at first. Javier went down swinging. Noah got a piece of one, but not enough. The left fielder snagged it at the wall for the final out.

On the plus side, Wyatt was throwing straight gas. He had struck out the side in the top of the fifth. He needed only eleven pitches to get his nine strikes, and only one of the other two pitches was a ball. The other was a foul tip that gave the batter another chance to swing.

The bottom of the fifth inning didn’t go much better for the Ospreys. Jarrett went down on a swing-and-a-miss for the first out. Jayden managed to leg out a ground ball to get on first. Daniel lined out to a lucky stab from the shortstop for the second out, and Jayden just barely managed to dive back to the base to tag up in time to prevent the double play. Then Harry popped out on a shallow fly to right field to end the inning, stranding Jayden on the bases.

Wyatt sat the Saints down in order again, this time inducing two ground outs on throws to first and striking out the opposing pitcher to end the inning.

In the bottom of the sixth, Clayton had managed to get on first. It was just a little bloop single that had somehow found a way to squirt between the first baseman and the second baseman into the right field grass. Not an impressive hit, but there are no style points in baseball. A runner is a runner.

[“Now batting for The Ospreys, number 13, Chris Eriksen,”] the announcer said.

The Ospreys side of the bleachers cheered just as enthusiastically as they had for every other batter every other time. Something about hearing the name over the loudspeaker never got old. Whether it was your own name, or a friend’s, or a family member’s, or your neighbor’s; hearing it over the PA was always a magical moment.

Chris dug in and the Saints pitcher took his stance, pitching from the stretch. Clayton was not a particularly fast runner, so his lead at first was not commanding. He was not a serious base-stealing threat and everyone knew that. He led off only enough to keep everyone honest. Just enough to make the pitcher and catcher think about it, just enough to have an advantage on a hit.

Chris took the first two pitches. Both low and outside. Each time the fans in the stands said the same old things.

“Good eye.”

“Way to watch.”

“Pick your pitch.”

“Be patient.”

Chris ignored it all, filtering it out. His attention was on Coach Harris at first. Getting his sign. It was the same sign as the first two times. Swing away.

The next pitch was a fastball inside. Chris put a good swing on it, but just missed, his bat sailing over the pitch by mere centimeters.

“Two-One,” the umpire announced.

Chris watched down the line again. He got the same sign. He gave the same nod in answer. He dug in, taking a few practice swings while the pitcher came set. This time it was a fastball straight down the middle. The pitcher may as well have set it on a tee.

Chris swung for the fences and connected with the signature crack of ash wood slapping into leather-wrapped cork. Bat versus ball; the sound unmistakable. The ball rocketed off the bat and took a straight shot down the right field line, about teen feet into fair territory.

“That one has distance,” Sean said hopefully.

“Going… going… GONE!” Noah narrated.

Players and fans alike broke into roars of applause. Chris smiled widely in self-satisfaction as he trotted around the bases in what amounted to a victory lap. A two-run walk-off homer to end the game. And with all of his old friends and neighbors in the stands to see it.

“That’s my boy,” Charles said proudly as Chris rounded third.

Chris hopped emphatically onto home plate with two feet, falling into a veritable dogpile of teammates waiting to celebrate with him.

“THAT’S THE BALL GAME!” the umpire yelled.

And with that, the Ospreys joined Frontier atop the leader boards at 1-0. Monroe had already fallen to Roseway in the stadium game, but Chase and Frontier were still slugging it out on field 2. That game was tied 5-5 heading into the sixth inning. The teams hurried out to do the traditional post-game handshake, congratulating one another on a good game. Then all of them, Ospreys and Saints alike, rushed over to try to catch the end of that game, bringing their fans with them. That game would have big implications. If Chase won, then they and the Ospreys would be tied atop the Washington pool standings at 1-0. If Frontier won, they would jump out to a 2-0 record and take the top spot. They would all just have to wait and see what happened.

Fortunately, the next item on the schedule for every team was a one hour lunch break, so nobody was in too much of a hurry.

Chapter Text

Saturday, April 27, 2019

Lunch was good. Well, it was pizza, but pizza was always good, even the cheap almost factory-produced variety that they ate at the local pizza buffet/arcade joint. How did every town in America have one of those things? But, food aside, the real pleasure at lunch was the atmosphere. They had enjoyed one big friendly lunch between the Ospreys and the Beavers and all of the friends, families, and fans of both teams. It was actually really cool. Daniel and the boys got better acquainted with Chris’s old crew, and Hal, Justin, Kyle, and Stan got better acquainted with Chris’s new friends. Chris also introduced Sheila, Chris’s only female friend from back in Beaver Creek. Apparently now Hal’s official unofficial girlfriend in the grand tradition of middle school will they-won’t they relationships. Charles, too, enjoyed catching up with his old friend and coworker Coach Williams.

Esteban got to know Javier’s family better, too, a budding friendship based on their mutual Latino heritage. Even if Esteban was from Mexico and Javier’s family was originally from Cuba, they still shared a language and a lot of cultural similarities.

Sean and Daniel chatted a lot with Stephen and Claire. The tension was still there, especially among Sean and Esteban, but it had lessened, at least. They were all making a concerted effort to let politics and past sons be bygones and work toward a future that included all of them as an extended family, whatever that may look like.

All in all, a productive lunch break. The 2:00 pm post-lunch game slot was already in the books. All except for one. Beaver Creek had picked up its second win, a relatively easy 5-2 win that was never in doubt, and relegated Monroe to the cellar with an 0-3 record. The Mustangs were done for the day, but still watching the games and having fun instead of returning to the hotel to mope. Straub had won a tight 7-6 game against Roseway Heights to also climb to 2-0, setting up a de facto semi-final game between the Beavers and the Wolves in the 5:00 pm slot. Winner goes 3-0 and plays in the championship game. Loser goes 2-1 and plays the consolation game to fight for third place. Both teams were anxious for that.

But for right now, all eyes were on the rather contentious back-and-forth struggle between the Chase Middle School Chargers and the Osprey Middle School Ospreys. Both starters had been chased out of the game in the fourth inning, an inning that ended with the score tied 3-3. Josh Perrino had done his red-letter best, and to his credit, he matched the Chase reliever pitch for pitch. But the game was still tied, now 6-6, in the bottom of the sixth.

Josh shook off Noah’s sign. Noah put the sign right back up, gesturing more emphatically. Josh sighed. He wasn’t comfortable with his curveball right now, but Noah seemed certain. He remembered Coach’s pep talk before the game. Chase had good footage on them, good scouting. They would know that he’s not comfortable with his curveball. They wouldn’t be expecting one, he had to give Noah that much. They’d been throwing everything but the kitchen sink at Chase and chase had been doing the same to them. It had been pretty much the same result, chipping out a run here or there at a pace that averaged out to one run per inning.

Josh nodded, accepting the sign. He took a deep breath. The bases were empty, so he pitched from the windup. Two outs, full count.

“Here goes nothing,” Josh thought.

He went into his windup; a big, slow, exaggerated motion, but it gave you extra oomph on a fastball. Or it could really throw off the batter’s timing on a curveball. The ball sailed in a wicked curve. It traveled almost the width of the plate, fading to the outside at the same time it melted away toward the ground. The Chargers player swung and missed as the ball landed in the dirt.

By rule, a dropped strike three can be run on, so Noah deftly scooped up the ball and tagged the batter out before he even had the opportunity to get out of the batter’s box.

“Yer out!” the umpire bellowed. “That’s the inning.”

The players all rushed to swap roles, both tired and exhilarated. The crowd cheered its encouragement to the players. This one had just gone into extra innings.

A familiar black-clad emo boy waved from the dugout. Jayde, Sean, and Daniel waved back. Opponents or not, Kyler had been fun to play with.

The seventh inning followed the same pattern. The Ospreys pulled ahead 7-6 only for the Chargers to tie it up again in the bottom of the inning. Now, in the top of the eighth, Coach Harris was pulling out all the stops. Daniel had led off the inning, and had managed to steal second base, but that’s as far as he had gotten. Harry popped up to shallow left field. Daniel tagged up, but the ball was too shallow for him to advance to third.

[“Now batting for the Ospreys, the third baseman, number 11, Clayton Smith,”] the announcer said.

Chris moved out to the on-deck circle.

“Sean!” Coach Harris called.

Sean looked over. Coach Harris did a quick series of signs to him. It was far less complicated than the batting code, so Sean had had no trouble learning it. Sean nodded and ducked into the dugout.

“Hold up, Josh. Have a seat,” Sean said.

“Ah, man,” Josh said in disappointment.

Sean looked over at Tommy, perched atop the backrest of the bench, leaning back against the chain link fence like a lazy frog atop his lily pad.

“You’re up, froggy,” Sean said.

He clapped his hands in a driving fashion, as if to say ‘let’s go.’

“Really? Cool!” Tommy said, hopping down and collecting his batting gloves.

Tommy had gotten used to being a starter. In games like this, when Naresh started, though, he was back on the bench. Unless he got called on to sub in. So he was more than ready to get into the game. The fact that Sean had started calling him ‘froggy’ because of his posture on the bench had also lightened his mood. He was happy to finally have his affectionate animal nickname.

“Hey, chin up, Josh. You had a good game,” Sean said cheerfully.

Josh smiled as he took his seat on the bench. His teammates were supportive, too, but he felt deep down that giving up four runs in three and a half innings wasn’t the best showing he’d ever had. Still, his teammates made sure that frown vanished quickly, all pats on the back and ‘good game’ and other such displays until Josh was just smiling on the bench with everyone else.

Clayton went down swinging and Chris made his way to the plate. Coach Harris ran over to the umpire to report his substitution; Tommy in for Josh at the pitcher’s spot.

The Chargers coach took advantage of the break to have an intense, albeit coded, exchange with his pitcher using signs. The announcer announced Chris and everyone assumed their positions and the field was all set to resume play.

Chris dug in. The Chargers pitcher shook his head until he got a sign he liked. It was an intense showdown. Ball outside. Barely. Strike. Ball low. Strike. Foul tip. Ball. Foul tip.

“Full count,” the umpire repeated.

The same stand-off repeated. Chris dug in. The pitcher polished the ball on his hip. The cheers and advice flowed in from the bleachers.

“You’ve got this!”

“Go, Chris!”

“Defend the plate, son!”

“Knock it over the fence!”

Chris recognized Stephen’s voice as the guy who called him son. Hal was the one who cheered for a homer. The other voices blended together. He wasn’t focused on that. He was focused on the pitcher. The boy had apparently just found his pitch. Chris held his breath. He had about two tenths of a second to decide if he would swing at whatever this was. He processed the motion as the pitcher moved. Breaking ball. Looks outside. Chris left his bat on his shoulder, praying he picked right.

“Ball four, take your base!” the umpire shouted.

Like the other pitches, the throw had not missed by much. Just a little low, just a little outside, but it had missed, and in both directions. The Chargers side of field disagreed. The Ospreys side celebrated. The players and coaches knew better than to argue.

[“Now batting for the Ospreys, the pitcher, number 51, Tommy Wilson,”] the announcer announced.

“Two down, just get the closest out!” the Chase Coach yelled.

Any out ended the inning. Defensively, that just meant get an out wherever you could, no need to worry about lead runners or any of that. Offensively, that meant there was no need to tag up. It was like two players going all in during a poker game. Do or die time.

“Two outs, be running on anything,” Coach Harris reminded his players.

Just run.

The crowd cheered enthusiastically, especially Tammy Wilson, who voice could easily be picked out among the others.

Tommy let the first pitch go by. He almost never swung on the first pitch. It was straight down the middle.

“Stee-rike One!” the umpire yelled.

The next pitch was a ball, barely missing inside. The next was a swing and a miss. Tommy looked nervous bordering on terrified. None of the cheers from the stand seemed to be working. Sean had an idea.

“Deep breath, T-Rex! It’s feeding time!” Sean yelled.

Tommy blushed slightly and then actually smiled, giggling to himself at the line. The name T-Rex might not have meant much to anyone else, but the boys from Sean’s room knew.

“Yeah! Go T-Rex!” Chris yelled from first base.

“Rawr!!!” Daniel shouted from second base.

Harry, Jayden, and Javi charges the dugout fence, chanting at the top of their lungs.

“Chomp! Chomp! Chomp!”

Soon the whole rest of the team went to the fence, joining the silly chant. Tommy smiled, dug in. Stared down the confused pitcher.

You see, this morning, several of the boys in Sean’s room decided to do something silly. They all put their underpants in a bag and pulled a pair out at random. Daniel was wearing Jayden’s. Jayden was wearing Tommy’s. Chris was wearing Harry’s. Tommy? He had luckily pulled out Daniel’s undies. The very same Jurassic Park roaring T-Rex boxer briefs that Daniel had worn to the last tournament. That’s what Sean was referencing. The roaring T-Rex trapped beneath his jockstrap, nestled against his most private parts in silky nylon comfort.

Tommy smirked with newfound confidence as he dug in. The Chargers pitcher gripped the ball. Found his pitch. Came set. Threw.

*CRACK*

The ball rocketed off of the bat. It sailed low, following the right field foul line, landing deep into fair territory and then skittering into the corner. The umpires pointed inward to indicate it was fair ball and the play was on. The Chargers right fielder blazed after it, but it had taken a very lucky hop for the Ospreys. Daniel sailed home easily. Chris wasn’t too far behind him, arriving only seconds later. The right fielder found the ball. Charles waved Tommy home, windmilling his rm wildly as Tommy approached. Tommy tagged the base as he rounded, digging for home with all his speed.

The right fielder threw to his cut off man. The second baseman turned and fired the relay. The catcher caught it. Tommy slid into home with a plume of dust.

“Yer out!” the umpire bellowed.

Both sides of the bleachers erupted in cheers, the Chargers for the out, the Ospreys for what came before. The out ended the inning, but not before the damage had been done. Heading into the bottom of the eight inning, the Ospreys led 9-7.

The team cheered, too. The boys clapped each other on the backs, cheering and smiling and making silly dinosaur roars. Tommy held his arms close to his chest to mimic a T-Rex’s stubby arms and the boys all roared with laughter as they returned to the dugout with big stompy dinosaur steps.

“Okay, boys, now get out there and hold them,” Coach Harris barked, a stark reminder that this game wasn’t over just yet.

Tommy took a deep breath, juggling the ball with his fingertips until he found the right grip. He was in a bit of trouble, here. He had already given up one run, letting the score close to 9-8. There were two runners on, representing the tying and go-ahead runs. There was only one out.

Tommy checked the lead runner at second, keeping him honest before coming set to pitch. He just barely missed.

“Ball low. 2 and 2,” the umpire announced.

Tommy caught the throw back from Noah and looked the runner all the way back to the base. He took another deep breath. He was nervous again, and though his teammates tried mightily to calm him, it was having limited effect.

Noah called for a fastball inside. Tommy nodded to accept and checked the lead runner again. Got set. Pitched from the stretch.

*crack*

It was a solid hit, but not a hard one. He knew from the sound it would never get over the wall, but then again, it wouldn’t have to. If the runners scored, it was over. Tommy knew that, and the runners knew that, too. That’s why they jumped at the sound, taking off, thinking it would get down.

But as the bail rocketed toward second base, Chris made an amazing athletic leap. He stretched out high, his body looking almost like the iconic silhouette on the Air Jordan logo. He reacted on pure instinct, stabbing his glove out, hoping to get lucky. His mitt closed around the ball, making the catch for the second out of the half-inning. The second-base umpire raised his hand high to signal the catch and the out.

With the catch made, the runners were obliged to tag up. The Chargers coach jumped and shouted, waving his man back to the base. The runner came skidding to a stop in the dirt, turning about face and scrambling to get back to second. Daniel, seeing the play unfold, also raced to the bag to accept a toss from Chris, maybe a step ahead of the runner, but Chris sprinted to second base himself. With the ball in his glove, he needed only to touch the bag before the runner to make the force out himself. With no need to turn his hips, he beat both Daniel and the runner there for the final out. As Chris’s foot hit the bag, the umpire behind second base threw his hand high in the air, pumping his fist to signal the out had been made.

“OUT! That’s the ball game!” the umpire bellowed.

The Osprey side of the stands went wild with excitement. The Chargers side fell silent in shell-shocked disbelief. An unassisted double play is rare. You don’t see many of those. To end the game with one was even rarer. You could go your whole life watching baseball and never see a play like that. It’s practically a unicorn.

The teams both charged the field, the Ospreys in celebration, the Chargers to console their runners. Their respective emotions calmed quickly. The lined up to do the post-game handshake with the cheers in the stands still ongoing.

“Outstanding play, Eriksen,” Coach Harris said, patting Chris on the back.

“That’s my champ,” Charles said, grabbing Chris’s shoulder in a congratulatory grip.

The win put the team in prime position. They were now all alone at 2-0 in the Washington pool. Their final game was against the hosting Frontier Silverbacks. A victory in that game would assure them a spot in the championship game against the winner of the Beaver Creek versus Straub showdown. A loss would mean they would be in a potential three-way tie. Nobody wanted to leave it up to tiebreakers. The only math you can trust is the math on the scoreboard; have more runs than your opponent, that’s a lot easier than run differentials or other such common tiebreakers.

The coaches let them celebrate for a bit before breaking up the party, but they couldn’t let them celebrate for too long. The extra innings had taken time. They would have only a few minutes of rest before their final game of the night.

“Okay, boys. Time to get serious again,” Coach Harris said, making a calming gesture with his hands to bring the volume down.

The boys stopped talking and paid attention.

“We’re on Field 1 against Frontier for our next game. Warm-ups start in ten minutes, so if you need to go to the bathroom or have a snack, do it now,” Coach Harris advised.

“We’re setting up on the third base side,” Coach Eriksen added.

The boys all nodded.

“Enjoy your nine minutes. Go on, get,” Coach Harris said, making a shooing gesture with his hands.

Some of the boys just stayed to chat with their families. Some made a mad dash for the nearest bathroom. Others hungrily dove into the nachos, popcorn, or peanuts that their friends and family had been eating during the game, their worries of having a clean uniform having vanished with two games worth of dirt and sweat. A lucky few, like Daniel and Chris, did both at once, enjoying food and affection at the same time.

“Sean, could you join us for a minute?” Coach Harris asked.

“Of course, Coach,” Sean said, abandoning the group to go have a conference with the two primary coaches.

The three talked hurriedly about their plans for the next game, the clock ticking away rapidly. It was nothing new or surprising. Jayden was their only remaining starting pitcher. It was Logan and Jarrett’s turn to do the coin toss. They needed to refill the coolers with water to mix up some new Gatorade. Things like that.

After only a few minutes, they broke apart to do the necessary tasks. The equipment needed hauled to the new field. Several players volunteered to help the coaches move the bags and buckets of equipment. Brennan, Clayton, and Noah were assigned to help Sean with the water coolers. They moved like an army of ants swarming to their duties and the work was done quickly.

The Ospreys won the toss and were the home team again. The fans in the stands were a little restless; tired, but still excited after a day full of games.

“Go Birdies!” Lyla yelled.

The boys chuckled. Ospreys are a type of bird; a raptor that specializes in capturing fish. They lived along coasts, lakes, and rivers, which is why they were called river hawks, fish hawks, or like the Seattle NFL team, sea hawks. Most fans just called the team by its name; Ospreys. A very few called them Hawks. Only Lyla called them the Birdies. It was good for morale. The boys all loved Lyla, the unofficial big sister of the team. She was kind and motherly and funny with them all. It probably didn’t hurt that she usually had good snacks, either.

The other fans cheered, too. Esteban, Tammy Wilson, the Suarez family, the Reynoldses, and assorted others. There were even a few players and fans from other teams. Roseway Heights and Monroe were done playing for the day, but it would seem some, at least, we not done watching. There was no way either team would make the championship game, but there is always fun to be had in watching good teams play and rooting for your pick, even if you aren't necessarily emotionally invested in a team.

Some people watch for a particular player, too. There were already rumors about how good Jayden was as a pitcher. This would be the first chance for most people at the tournament to see him take the mound. The players in the stands seemed impressed already, just from watching his warmup throws.

The umpire called for the game to start and everyone settled down. Jayden took to the mound chomping at the bit. He’d been waiting all day for this. He liked playing left field just fine, but he loved pitching. It was where his heart was. No other position let you dominate a game the way that being the pitcher does, and Jayden had always loved to win.

He sat down the first batter in only three pitches, straight dealing from the mound. The first batter stumbled back to the dugout looking like he was still trying to figure out what the fuck just happened. The next batter moved from the on-deck circle to the batter’s box looking like he had no better answers than the first guy. He was visibly intimidated before he even dug in. Jayden smirked.

“That’s what I’m talking about,” Jayden boasted to himself.

This game was going to be fun.

Chapter Text

Saturday, April 27, 2019

Jayden pitched four shutout innings, each one nearly as pristine as that first batter had been. Jayden was on a roll. He could probably have pitched a complete game, possible even a complete game shutout. But Coach Harris wanted to save as much of Jayden’s strength as he could for tomorrow’s game. He intended for the Ospreys to be in the championship game, and if he had anything to say about it, they would win it. So he pulled his ace, leaving the fate of the game and the entire tournament in Wyatt’s hands with a 3-0 lead to start the fifth inning. Unfortunately, Wyatt didn’t have the greatest outing against the Silverbacks. In just one inning, Wyatt coughed up three solo dingers, allowing the tying run to score before getting that precious third out. Although he had since calmed down and shut out the Silverbacks in the top of the sixth, the Ospreys were still fighting for their tournament lives. They had gone several scoreless innings. They needed to answer back.

The Silverbacks were going for broke. When the time to replace their ace pitcher came around, they stuck in their second-best starter instead of a normal reliever. That would mean he wouldn’t be available for a potential championship game tomorrow, but they understood that unless they won this game, there wouldn’t even be a championship game for them tomorrow.

Jarrett Carter got a little too much contact. That meant the ball got to the fielder quickly instead of rolling slowly, and that in turn led him to be thrown out at first, despite his excellent speed. That ended the sixth inning. For the second game in a row, the Ospreys were headed to extra innings.

They trudged back to the dugout, feeling exhausted, both physically and mentally. Coach Harris delivered the traditional pep talk.

“Okay, boys. Dig deep. Everything you got. Let’s hold these guys,” Coach Harris said.

“Bring it in, team on three,” Coach Eriksen said.

The boys huddled up, put their hands in, shouted “Team!” on three. Then they stormed the field with as much energy as they could muster. Sean sat on the bench with the backups, taking a backseat to the primary coaches while the boys were in the field. That left him free to uplift the spirits of the boys on the bench.

“Hey, there, Big Bren, look alive,” Sean said in a playful tone.

Sean tapped Brennan’s cap down over his eyes and the big boy smiled and laughed. Their lighthearted diversion didn’t last long. There was the unmistakable crack of a bat making solid contact and then a moment later the entire crowd gasped. Sean looked up to see Clayton on the ground, clutching at his face. Daniel astutely collected the ball and tossed it to Chris at second, holding the runner at first. The umpire at third base quickly raised his hands and bellowed.

“TIME! WE HAVE AN INJURY TIMEOUT!”

With the play officially over, the boys swarmed to their fallen friend. The coaches and umpires followed suit. Coach Harris sprinted as fast as he could to get to Clayton, who was still holding his face and writhing on the ground, groaning in pain.

“What happened?” Sean asked.

Coach Eriksen shook his head in dismay.

“Took a bad hop. Missed his glove and hit his face,” Charles explained.

“Ouch,” Sean said, sucking in air in a sympathetic hiss.

“Yeah. It’s gonna leave a mark, but he’ll be okay,” Charles said wisely. Then, almost as an afterthought, he added, “Davis, grab your glove.”

“Huh? Oh, right. Of course. Thanks, Coach,” Brennan said.

It took him a moment to process, but the injury meant that Clayton was almost certainly coming out of the game.

“I’ll make an ice pack,” Sean said, bouncing to his feet.

“Good thinking. Oh, he’s up, boys,” Charles noted.

As Clayton regained his feet, hand still clamped tightly to his face, the crowd released a collective sigh of relief and clapped for Clayton. Even the Frontier fans stood and clapped politely. Nobody wants to see an injured player, especially at this level. It’s common courtesy to applaud when an injured player leaves the field. The boys in the dugout cheered and clapped loudest.

When Clayton was escorted into the dugout, he was greeted with a hero’s welcome. The boys gave him encouraging pats and the back and words of comfort. Sean gave him the makeshift ice pack; a Ziploc bag of ice wrapped in a compression bandage for comfort. Clayton gratefully accepted and held the bag to his eye, which was already swollen and starting to bruise. That was going to be one hell of a shiner tomorrow.

Coach Eriksen ran out to the umpire to make the substitution while Brennan took his new place at third base. The system worked out the switch. The umpire reported the substitution first to the scorekeeper’s booth and then to the opposing coach. The scorer announced the switch over the loudspeaker.

[“Coming in for the injured third baseman, number 6, Brennan Davis.”]

With the excitement over, everything went back to normal. The players resumed their positions, the coaches returned to the dugouts or base boxes. Wyatt shook his head, clearing away his worries about his teammate by sheer force of will. Clayton would be okay. He had three outs to make.

He wouldn’t have to do it alone. After only three pitches, Noah had noticed that the runner on first had a bad habit; he tended to relax too soon and meander back to the base without really paying attention. Noah signaled to Wyatt. Fastball to the outside, pick off attempt after. Wyatt nodded. He would do his part to sell the diversion. Wyatt covertly signaled Harry that there would be a pickoff attempt by

The pitch was perfectly placed, the batter’s bat missing by a solid six inches. Noah faked like he was throwing back to the pitcher. Wyatt faked like he was catching it. The moment the runner relaxed, Noah snapped sideways and fired an absolute dart down to first base.

Harry was ready. He snagged the throw in his mitt and tagged the runner, who still had no idea what was happening, still sauntering back to first like he had all the time in the world.

“Out!” the first base umpire yelled.

The kid looked up in absolute confusion and then saw the ball in Harry’s glove, held high to show the umpire that he had tagged the runner with the ball, as the rules require.

“Caught napping,” Coach Harris chuckled.

The rest of the dugout laughed softly, too.

“That’s why we say you have to always pay attention,” Coach Eriksen added.

The boys on the bench all nodded sagely, glad that they had always listened to their coach about that. They didn’t envy that kid the chewing out he would surely get in the dugout later.

With the bases emptied, Wyatt went back to the windup and the extra power it provided. He hurled another breaking ball, but it didn’t break as much as he had intended. There was a loud *crack* and the ball was in play again. It was eerily similar to the play that had just injured Clayton. The ball took a tricky hop, rocketing straight toward Daniel’s face on a scary trajectory. The whole field held its collective breath as the play unfolded, almost as if in slow motion.

But whether because his reflexes were faster than Clayton’s, or because he was on edge because of seeing what had happened to Clayton, or just because of sheer dumb luck, Daniel got his glove up in time, fielding the ball cleanly and made a sharp throw to Harry at first. It was a smooth-as-butter play for the second out.

“Nice play, enano!” Sean shouted from the bench.

The fans in the stands cheered, too.

“Thattaboy, mijo! That’s how you do it,” Esteban called, both relieved and impressed.

“Highlight Reel!” Lyla cheered.

Daniel chuckled, and then settled back into the game with a satisfied smile on his face. It was a good play, but they still needed a third out. Then they needed to score, but one thing at a time.

Wyatt got his sign. Came set. Threw the pitch. There was a soft, hollow *thunk* instead of the traditional crack and the ball soared upward in a high, slow arc.

“Mine, mine, mine!” Chris shouted.

He waved his hands to the side, as if making sure to clear away anyone nearby and camped out under the ball, waiting for what felt like forever for the ball to return earthward. When it finally did, he snagged the ball out of the air like he was picking an apple from a tree, holding it aloft victoriously as the umpire signaled the third out.

Chris tossed the game ball to the first base umpire as he trotted by on his way to the dugout, smiling ear to ear.

“Nice catch, Chris!” Hal called.

Chris looked over to see his red-headed pal, smiling and sweating, fingers wrapped through the spaces in the chain link fence. Hal and his friends had trickled over now that their own game was over. Practically the whole Beavers team was there, and not just to support Chris. With their victory over Straub, they had sealed a spot in the finals. Coach Williams was watching to see if the Ospreys would be their opponent.

It was Wyatt’s spot to lead off the inning, but the Silverbacks were not the only team going for broke. Coach Harris trotted out to make a substitution; Kole for Wyatt. The usual system played out; Coach Harris told the umpire, the umpire passed it on. The booth made an announcement.

[“Pinch Hitting for the pitcher, number 24, Kole Freeman.”]

In the dugout, Sean was riling up the boys.

“Rally caps, guys! Rally caps!” Sean said, clapping his hands to spur them on.

The call went up and down the bench, the boys turning their caps inside out and plopping them back onto their heads. They took up the call, chanting “Rally caps!” like a mantra. They climbed off the bench, hanging at the fence and shouting encouragements at Kole.

Kole dug in and took a few practice cuts. This was mostly misdirection. He wasn’t aiming for power. He wanted to hit a slow roller; basically a swinging bunt. Preferably down the left field side, far enough from the line that there would be a moment of delay while the pitcher and the third baseman determined who would attempt the play. He may not have been one of the team’s most experienced batters in game situations, but they’d done this a million times in practice. It was kind of his specialty. He just needed the right pitch.

He took the first two pitches. One was a ball outside, the other caught the corner, but it was going too fast for Kole’s purposes. He needed some sort of breaking ball, or a slower fastball. Something that wouldn’t fly off the bat; more bouncing off than shooting off.

He got it on the third pitch. A slider that broke in towards his hands. He swung anyway. He knew he would lose power on such a pitch, but that actually helped him in this situation. He leaned back just enough to get his swing off, blooping it in a straight, slow, rolling line halfway between the pitcher and third base. Absolutely perfect placement, and just the right speed. He wished he could stay and watch it, but he was already digging towards first as fast as his legs could carry him.

As desired, the third baseman had to call off the pitcher. The pitcher had to duck to clear a throwing lane. It bought Kole maybe a third of a second, but it was all he needed.

The bleachers and the dugout alike broke into cheers as Kole raced through the base, veering into foul territory where his safe status would be preserved. He turned and walked back to the bag with a grin on his face. That’s what all those hours of practice were for. So that when his team needed him, he could make the one play that they needed him to make and then pass the baton.

The scorekeeper announced Daniel’s name and his cheering section went wild. Daniel smiled. It made him feel so special to have so many people there rooting for him. His father, his brother, his former babysitter-turned-friend, and now his grandparents, too. There was even a smattering of cheers and applause from others whose voices he barely recognized and a few he didn’t. Teammate’s family members, and players from the other games who had come to watch, all politely clapping as Daniel took his place in the batter’s box.

His sign was to swing away. The coaches had reminded them before the inning started. Small ball. Hit for contact, take a walk, just get on base. No need to swing for the fences unless you’re already a power hitter. Like Kole, it was just a matter of waiting for the right pitch. Daniel got his shot on the second pitch. He chopped it a bit, but that turned out okay.

Kole had hopped off to a generous lead. The second the ball bounced off the ground he raced to second base. The third baseman charged in, chasing down the ball, but it was a slow two-hopper. By the time he got it and checked the throw to second, Kole was already hugging the base. He turned to throw to first, but Daniel was so close that he was forced to just hold the ball. He growled in frustration and tossed the ball back to his pitcher. Two on, nobody out. Not a great way to start the inning.

[“Now batting for the Ospreys, the first baseman, number 4, Harry Thompson,”] the scorer announced.

The crowd chattered its usual support while the coaches yelled advice to their players.

“Nobody out!” Coach Eriksen yelled.

“Be ready to tag up!” Coach Harris shouted.

Harry came to the plate with practice swings that suggested he was going to swing for the fences. He was a power hitter, so that was a credible threat. The outfielders gave themselves a couple extra steps of leeway. It was a risky proposition, no matter what. Too shallow and the ball gets over your head. Too deep and the ball bounces before you can catch it. Both things risked a run. But between the rock and the hard place, the safer option was to keep the ball in front of you. Its easier to run forward than backward, and if it’s in front of you, at least you have a chance to make a throw to stop a run, even if it’s only a slim one.

The Ospreys coaches flashed their signs. Harry nodded and took his practice swings. Maybe not on this pitch, but as soon as the opportunity presented itself, they were going to try the double steal.

The first pitch was a fastball, low and away that the umpire erroneously called a strike. There was some grumbling from the stands, but not too much. Mistakes happen, and besides, the game doesn’t stop for grousing. The call did have the effect of making Harry more aggressive, though.

The next pitch was right down the middle and Harry gave the ball a ride to the parking lot. Unfortunately, it was in foul territory when it left the park.

“Foul ball!” the umpire called, raising his hands to freeze play.

“O and two,” the umpire called, pronouncing the zero like the letter O.

The next pitch missed outside again, and by an even larger margin. This time the umpire called it correctly.

“One ball, Two strikes,” the umpire called.

The next pitch was inside. Way inside. So far inside Harry barely managed to get out of the way. Harry hit the dirt and the ball sailed over his head into the space his helmet had been before he ducked. The ball booted past the catcher and the umpire, hitting the backstop with a wooden thud and rolling back out. The catcher chased it down very adeptly, but not before Kole and Daniel had advanced a base, now occupying third and second, respectively.

“Two and two,” the umpire announced.

The usual calls and cheers came in from the bleachers.

“Good eye.”

“Pick your pitch.”

Same old same old and the game ground on.

The next pitch was a borderline pitch, but Harry wasn’t leaving anything to chance. He fouled it off, sending another missile down the line, this time barely missing fair territory on the right field side.

“Straighten it out, now, Thompson,” Coach Harris said, clapping his hand in an energetic rhythm.

“Foul ball! Still two and two,” the umpire announced.

The pitcher pulled his hat off his head and swiped his forearm across his brow, then wiped the sweat onto his black shirt. He slammed the hat back on his head and took a deep, anxious breath. He was a good pitcher, but he was also tired, and definitely in trouble. The pressure was on.

The next pitch went badly wide again, but this time the catch managed to stab his glove out in time, preventing the runners from advancing.

“Three balls, two strikes. That’s a full count,” the umpire announced.

The next pitch Harry was early, driving the ball to the parking lot off the left field foul line again.

“Foul ball! Still a full count,” the umpire announced.

Apparently the Silverbacks coach had seen enough, though. The call came in from the Frontier dugout, and neither the catcher nor the pitcher seemed happy. But first base was open and with Harry barely missing for the third time, an intentional walk was a better outcome than risking a walk-off three run homer. Especially with a substitute batting next in the lineup. Brennan, filling in for the injured Clayton, was in the on-deck circle. Better to pitch to him with a force out at every base than risk a hit to end the game.

Harry took his base and Brennan stepped up. He smiled, hearing his name over the PA. As a backup, it wasn’t often he got the chance to hear it. Even rarer for that opportunity to come in a point of the game that carried any weight. Usually it was garbage time against weak opponents that had no hope of coming back. This at-bat counted, though. This one mattered.

Brennan tried his best, and managed to foul off a few, defending the plate admirably until he popped one up behind the plate. The catcher got under it and made the catch while the pitcher covered home to make sure the runners couldn’t advance.

That brought Chris up to the plate. The crowd cheered as the scorer announced him. Aside from the usual suspects, the Beaver Creek team also cheered loudly for their friend and former teammate. Chris smiled as he dug in.

“CHRIS! CHRIS! CHRIS!” they chanted, Hal leading the way.

The Ospreys in the dugout joined the chant, waving their turned-out rally caps enthusiastically. The game ended on the next pitch; a fastball down the middle. The Silverbacks pitcher was tired. He’d lost a little velocity. The ball may as well have been on a tee.

The *crack* of the bat sounded and the ball looped over the shortstop’s head, landing in shallow left-center field.

Charles jumped up and down, waving the runners home. Kole crossed the plate only seconds later, Daniel mere moments behind him, but Kole’s score ended the game, so that was a moot point. Harry would have scored, too, if it had counted. A stand-up double to clear the bases in any other inning. A walk off RBI in this instance. Still a good hit and a good game, no matter how it was written on the official scoresheet.

The crowd went wild, the boys launched their hats into the air. They didn’t get far, hitting the top of the the chain link cage and plummeting back onto the concrete floor of the dugout. But throwing the hats wasn't the point, anyway. They were just ecstatic about making the finals. They stormed the field, congratulating Chris and hoisting them on their shoulders like he was a pint-sized crowd surfer at a rock concert.

They calmed down and composed themselves, congratulated their opponents, listened to the post-game wrap-up speech from their coaches, but none of them much cared about the pizza party or the hotel pool or anything else the coaches talked about. They were in the championship game of another tournament tomorrow. That’s all any of them could think about.

Chapter Text

Saturday, April 27, 2019

The boys jumped and splashed and squealed in delight as they played around in the pool. Their sore, tired, aching muscles were forgotten in their childlike joy at the simple pleasure of cooling off in a swimming pool. After the long, hot, exhausting day, it was a true blessing to dip in the gloriously cool crystal clear water of the hotel pool.

With dinner behind them and their families lodged at a different hotel, the evening was all theirs. What was left of it, anyway. It was already after 9:00 pm. The hotel pool closed at 10:00 pm, but lights out was at 10:30 pm, so they couldn’t stay later, anyway. They would need to dry off and return to their rooms as soon as the pool closed. Tomorrow was a big day, but fortunately, not an early start.

In the morning games, schedule for a 9:00 am start, there would be three games. In the stadium, the game for third place; the Chase Middle School Chargers from Spokane, Washington versus the Straub Middle School Wolves of Salem, Oregon. With both teams having a 2-1 record, that was expected to be a good one.

Field 1 would have the fifth-place game: the Frontier Middle School Silverbacks from Vancouver, Washington facing off against Roseway Heights Middle School Panthers from Portland, Oregon. Both teams had finished 1-2. As the hosting team and the team that often hosted when it was Oregon’s turn to host, both teams were disappointed in their finish. Still, there would be some measure of bragging rights moving forward for the cross-river rivals.

Field 2 would be the battle for the basement. The Saint Michael’s Academy Saints from Tacoma, Washington would face the Monroe Middle School Mustangs from Eugene, Oregon for the ‘somebody has to win game’ between two very disappointed 0-3 teams.

The Ospreys wouldn’t play until the championship game. The Osprey Middle School Ospreys from Seattle, Washington versus the Beaver Creek Middle School Beavers from Beaver Creek, Oregon. There was plenty of drama there. For everyone, there was the big city versus small town and Oregon versus Washington angle. For Daniel, the matter of his newly-met grandparents. For Chris and Charles, their past and their present colliding in an unexpected way. But all of that was secondary to the game itself. Two undefeated teams slugging it out in a game only one could win.

Little wonder that this game would take center stage. It was not just scheduled for the stadium field, but it was the only game scheduled in their time slot. The game was set to start at noon. The awards ceremonies would be in the afternoon, after the game.

But all of that seemed a distant memory at the moment, pushed to the background by the promise of boyish fun in the pool. With fifteen boys and 3 adult chaperones, the team dominated the pool area. The boys were quite the collection in their varied swimsuits. Most of the boys wore classic swim trunks in various styles and patterns; the kind that were basically nylon shorts with a drawstring and built-in mesh underwear.

The big boys; Noah (rainbow stripes), Brennan (sharks), and Clayton (jellyfish); wore a longer and somewhat baggier style that was roomier and more flattering to their larger frames.

Some of the slimmer boys; Sean (dolphins), Daniel (Power Bear), Chris (Hawt Dawg Man), and Kole (bright blue); wore shorter, less baggy trunks. Chris’s and Daniel’s in particular were a little snug. They had been purchased before their last growth spurts and it was obvious that it would soon be time for a new pair.

Tommy, Logan, and Jarrett all wore board shorts; thicker, longer trunks that went down to the knees. Tommy's and Logan's were both in tropical prints. Tommy’s featured surfboards, breaking waves, volcanic jungle islands, and hula dancers. Logan’s featured hibiscus blossoms, pineapples, coconuts, palm trees, and islands. Jarrett's were in a brilliant shade of grass green that was beautiful and interesting to look at despite being a solid color.

Jayden and Harry had form-fitting shorts that looked something akin to a bicyclists Lycra compression shorts. Jayden’s were black with blue camo panels for color in a style called aquashorts. They went to the upper thigh, fitting a lot like boxer briefs. Harry’s were black and steel gray, and in a longer style called jammers. They went almost to his knees. In both cases, though, the tightness made them revealing, despite their length. The boys’ bulges showed clearly through the tight, thin fabric.

The Perrino twins wore swim briefs in the same style and brand; Kampos, an Italian luxury brand favored by their father; but differing colors. Josh’s were a bright Mediterranean blue, while Wyatt’s were a simple black. That left Javier and Naresh in the classic American style swim briefs. Javier’s were Adidas in neon orange. Naresh’s were the iconic Speedo brand  in the classic red color. All were form-fitting and revealing, fitting basically like a pair of tighty-whities underwear, but slightly skimpier. They left little to the imagination, cupping the boys’ bulges in a way that definitely highlighted their goodies.

Between the boys and their bodies, it was a veritable kaleidoscope of contrasting colors. From the pale white of Chris’s untanned tummy to the deep chocolate brown of Kole’s skin, from plain black to neon orange, it ran the gamut.

The three chaperones supervised the circus with varying degrees of interest. Sean was in the pool, splashing and playing with the younger boys. Charles, though in a swimsuit, sat in a lounge chair poring over clipboards full of statistics and other data, his mind more on tomorrow’s game than tonight’s fun. Coach Harris sat in a lounge chair, too, ostensibly reading a book, but actually drinking in the view over the top of the pages. If anyone had paid attention, they would have noticed he had not turned the page since he first opened the book. He was too distracted by the parade of bodies on display; half-naked, wet, slippery, muscles flexing, bulges swaying, voices laughing, eyes sparkling with joy and amusement, all lost in their diversion, if only for the time being.

It was past lights out, now. The boys swimwear was all hanging up to dry in the shower. The boys themselves had not bothered to get dressed after stripping off. No one but Sean, who answered the door for bed checks in his boxer shorts. He wasn’t wearing those anymore, though. They skipped straight to festivities. Namely, Javier’s final bottoming ceremony. Just one week after successfully taking his first real cock, Javi figured he was ready for Sean’s. He had mastered taking Barney and was now ready for the real deal.

After some discussion about possible positions, Javier opted for the somewhat unusual, but still beginner friendly lap dance option. As the name suggests, the position looks like a lap dance.

The boys, except for Sean and Javier, were arranged in a semi-circle watching the show with keen interest. Such initiation rituals were always fun, exciting, and popular. Welcoming a new boy to the club, or seeing him reach a new milestone was like earning a merit badge in some twisted sexual version of the boy scouts.

Sean was seated on the edge of the bed, feet on the floor. Javi was standing, his cute little Latino ass backed all the way up against Sean’s lap. In this position, he could control how much of Sean’s cock went into his ass and the speed and force of the entry, simply by how he stood up, sat down, or gyrated his hips. That’s why it was so good for beginners. If he felt pain he could adjust or stop on his own without needing to tell Sean anything.

Javi’s initial pace was really slow. He couldn’t believe how full Sean’s cock made him feel. Something about the heat, the hardness, and the pulsing made Sean’s real cock feel bigger than Barney. It took some getting used to. Perhaps most amazing, though, was that he could take it at all. After the disastrous efforts to take his older brother’s cocks, he didn’t think he would ever enjoy anal sex at all. He certainly hadn’t tried again with them. But Daniel had fucked him good and hard, yet gentle, and it had shown him that the pleasure was often in the technique. Sean continued to prove that now, his hands roaming across Javier’s body, rubbing his nipples, caressing his tummy, stroking his cock, playing with his balls. Javier never knew where Sean’s hands would end up next. It was nearly as pleasurable and erotic as the ass-fucking itself. Almost, but not quite, because of the prostate. In this position, Javier could hit his prostate on every stroke, using Sean’s big swollen cockhead to massage his joy button senseless.

“Mm… fuck, Sean,” Javier moaned, low, almost beneath his breath.

“Yeah, bounce for me, bunny,” Sean cooed.

Sean nibbled behind Javier’s left ear and tweaked Javier’s left nipple in his left hand while stroking Javier’s cock in his right hand.

“That’s so fuckin’ hot,” Daniel observed.

“Yeah, we should try that position,” Chris agreed.

“Totally,” Daniel agreed.

The more experienced bottom boys had their favorite positions. Harry preferred doggy style. Noah liked to be on his back. Daniel liked riding cowboy. Tommy and Javi were still figuring things out, but Javi seemed to really be enjoying this one.

“I can’t believe he can take it,” Tommy said, obviously impressed.

“Yeah, look at him fuck himself on my brother’s big dick,” Daniel smirked.

Tommy’s cock lurched and leaked a drop of pre at those words.

“I got next,” Harry said, chuckling at his own joke.

“Slut,” Jayden teased.

“So?” Harry answered.

All of the boys laughed at the banter. Everyone except for Javi and Sean, that is. Javier was too busy bouncing on Sean’s dick and moaning in ecstasy while Sean nibbled at every sensitive inch of skin on his neck.

“You gonna cum for me, bunny?” Sean teased.

Javier puffed and groaned, half anticipation and half impatience.

“Yeah… almost… there…” Javi groaned.

“Good boy, bunny. Fuck yourself harder. Fuck your own brains out,” Sean teased.

Javier moaned, his little cock twitching at the dirty words. But he also sped up, doing his damnedest to obey the lustful orders. He bounced on Sean’s lap as fast as he could, driving the thick teen cock up his little tween hole so hard and fast that both of the Latino boys were having trouble breathing.

“God damn, look at him go,” Jayden smirked.

“Hot,” Noah said.

“Definitely,” Harry agreed.

Javi thrust himself down and back onto Sean’s cock, taking it about halfway down on each bounce, just enough to hit his joy button on the way in and then reverse course and hit it again on the way out. His jaw was going slack, his eyes half-lidded in lust as the pleasure overcame him.

“Mm…” Javier moaned.

He wanted to say Sean’s name, but just now he was having trouble remembering how to form words. Sean let go of Javi’s dick and focused on his nipples, still making out with the boy’s neck.

“Let go, bunny. Cum for me,” Sean whispered.

Javier tried to say ‘almost there,’ but couldn’t.

“Ah… ah… a-ah…” Javier stammered, then gasped then sighed in relief as the euphoria of his impending orgasm washed over him.

“Do you hear these adorable little slut moans?” Sean teased, almost in a whisper.

“Yes, sir,” six young, husky, turned-on voices answered.

“Almost there, bunny. Bounce on it. Bounce!” Sean whispered gruffly.

Javier worked his hips even faster, fucking himself on Sean’s cock with quick twitchy thrusts of his hips like his rabbit namesake.

“Ah… mmm… oh-oh-oh… ah….” Javi moaned, then gasped, then sighed.

His little cock twitched and he came all over himself, trembling and shaking on Sean’s lap. He relaxed as his orgasm hit him, sinking slowly down Sean’s length until he bottomed out. Sean’s cock twitched and pulsed in the wet heat, Javi’s inner walls milking the shaft like a massage. Sean pumped load after load up there, sighing in pleasure as he filled Javi’s guts with hot sticky cum. Sean wrapped his arms around Javi and fell backward onto the bed, taking Javi with him.

The boys giggled and golf-clapped as the show ended. Several of them inspected the coupling from the new angle provided by the post-coital collapse.

“Oh, man, Javi. Your hole is stretched like crazy,” Noah observed.

“And still tight,” Jayden noted.

“Look at it gripping Sean’s dick,” Harry said, smirking.

“Like it doesn’t want to let go,” Daniel teased.

Javier chuckled, his cheeks darkening.

“Stop, guys,” Javier whined in an embarrassed tone.

“Dude, don’t be embarrassed. We’ve all taken a dick before,” Noah interjected.

“And we all nutted from it,” Daniel pointed out.

“Even Chris and Jayden?” Tommy asked.

“Yeah,” Chris and Jayden admitted at the same time.

“Whoa,” Tommy said.

Tommy knew that they had all taken Sean’s cock. Everyone else except for him, that is. But he had no idea that they had all enjoyed it, much less reached orgasm from the pleasure. That was intriguing, and almost surprising, news. Jayden and Chris seemed like such tops, and yet they had enjoyed bottoming, too, at least a bit. It set Tommy’s mind to wondering. What other surprising things might he learn about his friends and even himself if they kept doing this?

After Sean and Javier had recovered, the group broke off into smaller groups so the boys who hadn’t had an orgasm yet could have some fun, too. And of course Sean and Javier were ready for round two, so no one would be left out.

Sean, Noah, Jayden, and Harry were in one group. Chris, Daniel, Tommy, and Javi were in the other. Each group piled into a bed to have fun.

Daniel had Chris next to him on the bed, laying side by side and making out. While they were doing that, the other two boys were on the bed, too, providing slow, soft blow jobs to the happy couple. Tommy was sucking Daniel’s dick again, seemingly one of his favorite new hobbies, and Javier was dutifully servicing Chris. The understanding was that they would switch places afterward. Two blonds, two Latinos, four happy boys.

This arrangement might have seemed somewhat pedestrian compared to some of the wild activities the boys had gotten up to, but it was still nice. More intimate in its lessened scale. Getting a blow job was always nice, but getting one while also engaging in slow, sloppy make out session with Chris? That seemed somehow even better. Something about it scratched both his emotional and physical needs at once, and it was very satisfying.

The other group, meanwhile, had opted for a less emotional and more physical display of affection. The old tried-and-true 1691 they had first tried on that ski trip. Although back then, that had been Chris and Daniel instead of Harry and Jayden. This time, it was Harry on all fours, locked in a sixty-nine with Noah on his back beneath him. Sean was balls deep in Harry’s ass while on the other end, Noah was taking Jayden’s cock like a champ.

Daniel kissed Chris’s lips, savoring the way they tasted against his own as his hands explored, one on the back of Chris’s head, the other searching his chest for a nipple. One of Chris’s arms was pinned beneath Daniel, the other softly stroking the back of Daniel’s arm. It was clumsy, awkward, and difficult, given both their positions and the inability to turn their hips for fear of interrupting the blow jobs they were getting. Neither really cared, though. It was worth the effort. The whole thing was so intimate and erotic, lost in their own little world of pleasure.

Javier sucked Chris’s dick dutifully and well. Chris’s dick was a good size for him; big enough to be a mouthful without hurting his jaw the way that Sean’s, Jayden’s, and Daniel’s could do. Heck, even Jose’s could be a stretch at times, but Chris’s was closer to Jorge’s size and that was pretty much the sweet spot. He didn’t mind to give so long as he knew he would receive in turn, and his baseball teammates were much better at returning the favor than his older brothers were. Javi briefly wondered if poor Jaime was having to fill in for him in the hotel room his three brothers were sharing. Maybe his older brothers didn’t manage to get rid of their dad long enough to have the chance for this sort of fun. Who could know? Certainly not Javi.

Tommy was quite enjoying himself, too. He actually liked the way Daniel’s big Latino cock filled up his mouth and made his jaw sore from stretching around it. He liked the little noises of pleasure Daniel made and the way he squirmed and the way his breathing sped up. He still liked those things, even if Chris was helping Daniel to make them. Tommy wasn’t exactly in it for the reciprocation, not exactly. He liked sucking Daniel’s dick, and he would have done it anyway. That said, he really was looking forward to Daniel returning the favor. He still had an enormous crush on Daniel, and the boy was a world-class cocksucker. Tommy knew he wouldn’t last long. That is to say, shortly after his turn came, so would he.

Meanwhile, in the other bed, Jayden had hold of Noah’s hips as he took the Hawaiian boy to pound town on the BBC express. Just like out on the field, Jayden was pitching and Noah was catching, a thought which amused Jayden to no end. He smirked an amused grin as he really let his hips fly, grinding his six and a half inches against Noah’s sweet spot and making the boy moan in pleasure around Harry’s cock.

Nor was he the only one moaning. Harry was on his own journey to the promised land and Sean’s cock was getting him there in a hurry. He really loved the way Sean’s dick rearranged his guts. He could feel Sean’s cock filling him, full and deep. He loved every second, every inch of it. He was getting close, and so distracted from the fucking that he was drooling down Noah’s little cock as much as actually sucking it, but Noah didn’t seem to mind. He had distractions of his own.

Harry and Jayden came first, and at nearly the same time. They flopped over to the side and laid out of the way to recover while Sean and Noah switched positions. Sean pushed Noah’s legs back, and Noah hooked his hands behind his knees, helping hold them back and giving Sean better access to his hole. Sean wasted no time in sliding into Noah’s hole. It was Sean’s turn to have a dirty and entertaining thought. This was the second time today that he was taking Jayden’s sloppy seconds; a thought that put an amused smirk on his face as he began to thrust.

Not long after Jayden and Harry came, so did Chris and Daniel. They had since swapped out. Javi and Tommy hadn’t originally been too keen on making out together, but they had decided, almost at once, to give it a try. Their first smooches were slow and tentative, but things quickly heated up. Turns out Chris and Daniel were onto something. Getting head was nice, making out while getting it was a whole new level of awesome.

Tommy was really excited, not just because he was getting a blow job. True he never could have imagined this scenario, even two months ago, but now that it was happening, it didn’t seem that weird. No, mostly he was excited because it was Daniel giving it to him.

Javier was enjoying his own blow job, and noticing that Chris was actually pretty good at it. It occurred to him that he hadn’t seen Chris giving head all that often, and it was usually with Daniel, but that was a shame, because it seemed a waste of his talents.

Chris, meanwhile, was just noticing that Javier’s shorter, more tapered dick was considerably easier to suck than Daniel’s was. He would have preferred to be sucking Daniel right now, but hey, a deal’s a deal, and Javier had done his part. He tried to keep his mind on the task at hand and not get jealous over the fact that his boyfriend’s mouth was even now on another boy’s cock. Another blond boy’s cock, at that. But Chris knew that Tommy had been working on keeping his jealousy and his crush in check, and Chris was doing the same. So he kept his eyes down and his cheeks hollowed and showed Javier why Daniel was so smitten with him.

Before too long, Noah groaned and trembled and came like a volcano, his ass twitching around Sean’s cock like it was trying to pull it off of Sean’s body. Sean kept going, fucking Noah senseless for a good forty five more seconds before cumming again himself and finally letting the poor overstimulated boy relax. Noah lay back, goofy grin on his face, sighing in satisfaction as Sean’s load leak slowly form his gaping hole and onto the towel spread out beneath them.

“Thanks, Jay. Thanks, Sean. That was quite the tag team,” Noah sighed dreamily when he finally remembered how to speak.

They all chuckled and Sean joined the other three in lazily lounging on the bed in post-coital bliss.

In a scene that almost mirrored his older brother, Daniel’s partner finished first. He swallowed Tommy’s load, wiped his mouth on the back of his hand and swapped over to relieve Chris from what Daniel considered fun and Chris considered a chore. Javier didn’t last long once Daniel took over, and soon the four of them were also recovering just like the four boys on the other bed.

They all laid there, each group in their own bed, just relaxing and vibing in the moment. Finally, Sean sat up and sent everyone to bed, dumping the soiled towels in the laundry and flipping the lights out for everyone.

“Good night, boys. Sleep well. Sweet dreams,” Sean said.

All of the boys returned the sentiments and within ten minutes, all eight of them had drifted into a deep, peaceful, contented slumber, exhausted from a full day of baseball, swimming, and sex.

Chapter Text

Saturday, April 27, 2019

The early slate of games was a mixed bag. Some things went exactly as expected. Some things were big surprises. Most of the games were still fun to watch either way, though.

On Field 1, Roseway Heights beat Frontier in a game that was closer than the 5-1 final score might indicate. Frontier never stopped fighting, but they essentially just ran out of gas. The game was close early, but Roseway pulled away a little when the Frontier ace had to leave the game. After draining their pitching staff in their attempt to sneak away with a win against the Ospreys yesterday, though, they couldn’t hold on. Still, they went down swinging. The game and the inning ended with the bases loaded, meaning that even then, The Silverbacks could potentially have tied up the game with a single swing of the bat.

On Field 2, things were less competitive. St. Michael’s had displayed excellent pitching the entire tournament. Despite going 0-3, they were kept in every singe game because even against offensive powerhouses, their pitching kept things from getting too far out of hand. Monroe had been the opposite; an offensive juggernaut with not-so-great pitching. Every game was a footrace, but they ended up going 0-3 in pool play because they couldn’t stop anyone from scoring. Something had to give, somebody had to win. In the end, St’ Michael’s pitching held firm and Monroe’s bats went silent. A few mental errors later and the game was 5-0 before Monroe knew what hit them. They kept playing, but they never recovered, losing the game 9-2.

The stadium game was everything one could have hoped for in a third-place showdown. The Chase Middle School Chargers and the Straub Middle School Wolves were pretty evenly matched. Both sides had good pitching and good hitting. It was a back-and-forth contest the whole game, ending up 6-5 in the Chargers’ favor.

The Ospreys, watching from the stands, suspected they had not seen the last of these pesky Chargers. Everyone expected to see them in the state championship tournament a month from now. That wouldn’t be so bad. Sean noticed the coach’s son, the little emo boy he and Daniel had spitroasted yesterday morning in the bathroom, sitting in the dugout for most of the game. They hadn’t had another opportunity to fool around with Kyler, but judging from the boy’s contented grin after returning from the bathroom, he had found somebody to fill him up. If not multiple somebodies. But Sean didn’t have much time to dwell on that right now.

The game was about to start. Warm-ups had already begun.

The tournament had pulled out all of the stops for the championship game. The boys of both teams were lined up down the baselines. Beaver Creek was on the first base side and the Ospreys on the third base side. They all stood, lined up like a boy buffet in tight polyester pants, hands over their hearts and caps in their hands as a guest singer sang the national anthem into a microphone at home plate.

The Ospreys were in their home uniforms, resplendent in white and Vegas gold with black and brown piping and highlights. Beaver Creek apparently only had the one style of uniform; the same black pants and orange shirts that they had worn yesterday. Regardless, they all looked magnificent; neat, clean, and sleek in their uniforms.

After the anthem ended, Jayden and Brennan went out to do the coin toss. Kyle and Stan were their opposite numbers from Beaver Creek. Beaver Creek was allowed to call it in the air. Stan called Tails, but despite the saying, Tails failed him this time.

“We want home team,” Jayden said.

The umpire nodded.

“Ospreys, you are the home team and will bat last. Beavers, you are the visiting team and will bat first. Take the field and let’s… PLAY BALL!!!” the umpire said, bellowing out the last part so loudly that it kind of hurt the boys’ ears.

The boys trotted off to their respective dugouts, relaying the parts that the umpire had not shouted.

“We got home!” Jayden and Brennan shouted as they ran back.

“We’re batting!” Kyle and Stan shouted in a less enthusiastic tone.

There was polite, subdued applause and some shouts of encouragement from the bleachers. Sean and Daniel recognized some of the voices. Esteban, Lyla, their grandparents, Tammy Wilson, and Javier’s family chief among them.

The stands were really full, though, and many of them were actually strangers. Most of the other teams and their fans were packed in tight to watch the game, too. Probably from a lack of anything better to do while waiting for the game to start. A fair few people had left for lunch, but most of them had just grabbed food from the concession stand; a smorgasbord of hamburgers, hot dogs, french fries, popcorn, nachos, and soft giant pretzels. Whatever their reasoning, it gave the whole thing an almost professional feeling. Like a real major league game.

The boys warmed up with much nervous excitement, the Beavers taking their practice swings and the Ospreys throwing the ball around. Finally, the umpires called for balls in. A minute later, Jayden took the mound and the first Beaver Creek batter stepped into the box and the game was on.

After three innings, the Ospreys were clinging to a 1-0 score with excellent pitching on both sides. Kyle was pitching for the Ospreys and has was having a good day. He’d given up some hits here and there, but the only score so far Daniel, who had scampered home from a nice solid hit by Brennan, who was playing third base today. Bending, but not breaking. It had worked so far.

Clayton was in the dugout. The majority of the upper right quadrant of his face was an ugly shade of purple, and his right eye was still quite swollen. Not quite enough to truly blind him, but enough that Coach Harris left him on the bench just to be safe.

They had taken Clayton to visit the local urgent care early this morning, when he woke up with the injury still swollen. There, the had taken some x-rays, which revealed a minor hairline fracture to Clayton’s cheekbone. There was really nothing to be done about it except to wait for it to heal. But there would be pain and swelling and bruising for the next couple of weeks.

It wasn’t a season-ending injury. He could play again as soon as the swelling went down, although the doctor’s recommended a face shield until it healed properly. But for today, though, he was riding the pine and Brennan was in at Clayton’s usual spot. It was a testament to the team’s depth, and to Coach Harris’s trust in his players, that he just swapped out players and carried on, not adjusting the batting order at all. ‘Next man up and do your job.’ Coach always said.

Kyle was certainly doing his job for Beaver Creek, but Jayden was putting on a master class. It was now the top of the fourth inning and he was still working on a perfect game. No hits, no walks, no runs. Hunting goose eggs, as they were fond of saying, and Jayden had himself a basket full of them.

Hal was Beaver Creek’s third batter, and he was facing off against Jayden for the second time of the game. The first time he’d gotten a piece of one, but not enough, a nice shot caught by Tommy in deep right field for the out. This time, Jayden was ahead of the count 0-2, and Hal was fighting to keep his at-bat alive. He had fouled one off, the ball slicing over his own dugout and out into the grass between the stadium and the concession stands.

Jayden nodded. Breathed deeply. Came set. Let fly.

For one breathless moment, it looked like Jayden was throwing at Hal’s head. Indeed, had the ball traveled in a straight trajectory, it may well have. But the curveball had crazy movement. By the time the ball reached home plate, it was a ball’s width over the inside corner and sliding towards the outside even as it dropped toward the dirt like the bottom had fallen out of it. To Hal’s credit, he didn’t flinch as he turned his back, thinking the ball was heading right for him. He was shocked to hear the umpire ringing him up.

“Strike three! You’re out!” the umpire shouted.

He looked over at his coach, befuddled, and his coach nodded and waved him back to the dugout. That ended the top of the fourth. The teams swapped places and the crowd exchanged nervous, polite applause once again.

It was Noah’s turn at the plate to start the bottom of the inning. By this time, Kyle was getting a little gassed, and Noah took advantage. Kyle had left a pitch out over the plate that was meant to be inside. Noah gave it a nice ride, a liner that slipped just over the shortstop’s glove as he made a diving attempt to stop it. The left fielder made a good play to get to it in time to even attempt a throw, but nevertheless Noah had an easy stand up double, easily beating that throw.

That brought up the speedy Jarrett Carter. They attempted to bunt. Jarrett, fast though he was, didn’t managed to beat out the throw. Noah trotted into third, just barely ahead of the shortstop scrambling to cover the bag. Hal had charged the ball and made a good throw for the put out. Both sides felt pretty happy with the play. The Ospreys moved their man closer to home. The Beavers took a speedy runner off the bases without giving up a run.

The problem for the Beavers was that Jayden was just as fast as Jarrett and he was up next. Sean kept the line moving. Daniel went to the on-deck circle. Harry was in the hole, watching from the dugout’s doorway.

“Look alive, Big Bren. You’re in the hole next,” Sean warned.

Sean then moved to the doorway with Harry, looming over his shoulder and shouting encouragement to Jayden.

“You got this, J-Dawg!” Sean shouted.

The calls from the bleachers were similar.

“Big Stick!”

“Let’s see those wheels!”

“Let’s go Ospreys!”

“We need runners, now!” Coach Eriksen called from the third base coach’s box.

“Wolf! Wolf!” Tommy cried.

Noah took a step back towards the bag without looking, keeping his eyes on the pitcher, who was watching him right back. Noah recognized Tommy’s voice, and knew that the signal meant that the third baseman, Hal, was sneaking up behind him for a possible pickoff attempt. The warning and the movement must have dissuaded Kyle, though, because he didn’t throw to the bag.

The pitch to the plate was on time and on target, but Jayden got a nice piece of it, tapping a swinging bunt toward the second baseman. Noah was already legging it down the baseline, barreling toward home as the catcher moved forward to try to chase down the ball. By the time he realized it was past him and retreated back to the plate, Kyle had already come off the mound, but it got past him, too. The second baseman fielded it cleanly on the charge, and checked home plate, but Noah was already there. He swung his eyes toward first, already cocking his arm back to throw, but Jayden had already reached first safely.

Now the Ospreys were up 2-0 in the bottom of the fifth with only one out and a speedy runner at first. In short, Kyle was in trouble and fading fast. Coach Williams came out to the mound to make the replacement.

“I’ve got one more batter in me, Coach,” Kyle insisted.

“I know you do, kid. But you’ve earned your rest. Let Justin clean this up,” Coach Williams insisted.

They did a bit of a shuffle. Justin moved from second base to the pitcher’s mound. Kyle moved to shortstop, and Stan moved from shortstop to Chris’s old position at second base.

Justin was fresher, but didn’t fare much better than Kyle had. Jayden stole second base. Daniel hit a long fly ball that ended up dropping into mid-shallow left field. Jayden eventually advanced to third on the play, but had to wait for the ball to drop so he would know if he had to tag. Daniel managed to scamper into second, since he didn’t have to worry about the catch as much. If it was caught, he was already out. If it dropped, Jayden would almost surely be advancing.

That put runners at second and third with still only one out. Justin fought hard but Harry battled harder, fouling off an admirable number of good pitches until he had earned himself a walk.

Bases loaded, one out. Brennan walked to the plate. Despite the fact that Brennan had been having a good day at the plate, Justin pitched bravely, going after him quite aggressively. After only five pitches, he managed to slip strike three past Brennan’s bat. The bases were still loaded, but with two outs, any out ended the inning. The game felt like it was hovering on an important moment. Beaver Creek wanted to hold the bleeding to only 1 run. The Ospreys wanted to break it wide open.

None other than the one, the only Captain Spirit, Chris Eriksen, strode to the plate to face off against his friend and former teammate with the game on the line. Chris still had quite the imagination. He pictured himself as a brave knight facing off against a fire-breathing dragon, represented by his old pal Justin.

“Two on, two out! Be running on anything!” Coach Harris shouted.

“Two outs, forces everywhere, just touch the nearest base!” Coach Williams countered.

The first pitch was a ball. No doubt nerves. Justin was deep in the pressure cooker at this point. But he calmed enough to deal some strikes after.

“Two and Two,” the umpire announced.

Chris took a practice swing while Justin shook his head until he got a sign he liked. Coach Williams knew from Chris’s time in Beaver Creek that Chris had often had trouble hitting a curveball. Justin knew that, too. What they didn’t know is that was one of the first things Coach Harris had worked with Chris to improve.

Chris managed to pull the curveball just enough to slide the ball between Hal and Kyle. Both of the boys took wild, diving attempts to field it, but missed. The ball skittered into the left field grass and the race was on. Jayden crossed home like a lightning bolt and Daniel was hot on his heels. Harry rounded third, heading home as Chris rounded first and streaked toward second. The left fielder had already tracked the ball down, he looked up, but didn’t like his chances at home. He instead threw to second, where Stan snagged the throw and applied the tag in a very slick piece of glovework.

“Out!” the second base umpire shouted.

The umpires huddled up to discuss the timing. Since it was not a force out, the runs would count if the runners crossed before the out ended the inning. Jayden and Daniel definitely scored, and the scorer had already counted their runs, but the timing between Harry crossing home and Chris being tagged out at second was closer. Hence the conference. Finally, they came to a consensus, correctly deciding that Harry had not yet crossed when Chris was tagged out. The umpires broke apart. The first base umpire explained the results to Coach Williams and Coach Harris on the first base side while the third base umpire explained the situation to Charles on the third base side. The home plate umpire, meanwhile, talked to the scorer and the announcer over an intercom, explaining what had happened.

[“The first and second runners scored before the out. The third runner did not. The score remains 4-0. That ends the inning,”] the announcer explained over the loudspeaker. The crowd had been restlessly awaiting the verdict, but they took it well enough on both sides. They all cheered; the Ospreys for their two runs scored, the Beavers for ending the inning.

The teams swapped places yet again, and the Beavers prepared to take their last shots at evening up the game.

“Do or die time, now, boys!” Coach Williams shouted.

The Beaver Creek boys shouted and chanted “Rally Caps!” and turned their hats inside out. Jayden paced around on the pitcher’s mound. He still had his basket of goose eggs. Three outs away from a perfect game. Everyone on the Osprey side of the field was aware of this. Nobody spoke of it, though, for fear of jinxing it. There are a lot of superstitions in baseball, including that one.

Jayden set down the first batter with only two pitches. He blew a fastball right past him and then drew weak contact on a bouncer towards third. Brennan fielded it and delivered an absolute rocket straight to Harry’s glove. Harry didn’t even need to stretch to catch it. The umpire flashed the Out sign and shouted as much. That brought up the Beavers catcher, who popped up the first pitch; a high, arcing ball that had no chance of leaving the infield.

“I got it! I got it!” Chris called, settling under it.

He was right. He did have it.

“Two outs!” the boys cheered among themselves. They didn’t need the coaches to remind them this time. Now one out away from a perfect game, but still nobody dared mention it.

It was Kyle’s turn at bat, and Coach Williams was tempted to pull him, but after seeing the boy fight so hard as pitcher, he wanted to give his player a chance to redeem himself. Besides, Kyle was only batting last because he was the pitcher; an old-school strategy to minimize his at-bats and preserve his energy for pitching. But Kyle was also a shortstop and an able batter, and there was no real reason to pull him.

Three pitches later, on an 0-2 count, Coach Williams was glad he had left Kyle in.

“Well, he got all of that one,” Coach Eriksen mumbled.

It was a moon shot; a long home run that cleared the fence by at least fifteen feet. Just like that, Jayden’s perfect game vanished into the ether. The scoreboard updated; Visitors 1, Home 4.

The Beaver Creek side of the bleachers cheered enthusiastically. Daniel heard his grandparents cheer for it, too. He couldn’t blame them too much. Of course they were rooting for both sides.

“Stay calm, Robinson, you’ve got this,” Coach Harris yelled.

Jayden nodded and took a deep breath. His perfect game was gone. His no hitter was gone. But he could still do a complete game and claim the win.

Two batters later, Jayden did exactly that. The final score held at 4-1. The Ospreys players stormed the mound in celebration and then formed up to do the post-game handshake. Several of them couldn’t help it, giving hugs to their counterparts, who looked both proud and devastated at the same time. Once the dust had settled, camaraderie and sportsmanship took over. These were opponents, not enemies. There were many promises to see each other next year. While there was no guarantee that all of these boys would make their JV or Varsity squads next year, or that both schools would be invited back, it nevertheless felt like a valid hope, even if not a valid promise.

The awards ceremony was really cool. The trophies were even bigger than the ones they had gotten for the last tournament. Everyone got a plaque and a t-shirt. The school got a massive trophy. This time, the MVP award went to Chris, whose little freckled face couldn’t have looked happier. The vote was closer this time. Jayden got a lot of votes, and Daniel and Tommy got a few votes, too. Heck, even Brennan got one, and it wasn’t even his own. But in the end, it was Chris who took home the hardware; a sizable hunk of walnut and gold-tinted resin shaped like a baseball backdropped by three shooting stars.

The team and its fans had one last dinner together, this time hitting a Chinese buffet, since everyone was tired of pizza. The drive back home was quiet, despite the team’s excitement. They were all pretty well worn out after the tournament. It had been three straight days of baseball, and they all knew they had a game tomorrow, too. Daniel groaned just thinking about it.

Harry laid his head on Sean’s shoulder and napped. Daniel did the same to Chris in the seat across from them. Chris was too excited to sleep, though. It had been a great weekend.

Overall, Sean was pleased, as well. His boys had all had fun. He’d had fun, too. He was happy for the team, and for his boys, and then there was the matter of his grandparents. After that initial awkwardness, they had been nicer to Sean and Esteban. Every following interaction had been pretty good, actually. Daniel seemed to like them, and they seemed not just pleased, but motivated to see the boys more often. All in all, a crazy weekend. It was good, but also exhausting. Sean was ready to get back home and so were his boys.