All-Star Jake

“No No No! This can’t be happening,” yelled coach as he ran onto the field to his all-star pitcher.  Coach had heard the elbow snap and he saw his pitcher go down in pain.  The six four, hundred and sixty pound right hander was their best pitcher.  He could throw the ball so hard that the batter wouldn’t even see the ball coming.  Jimmy laid on the luscious green infield grass.  There were five or six guys standing around him trying to get him to calm down.  He was in a lot of pain. 
    Coach had to make a decision about who to put in to take Jimmy’s place.  Coach could either put in Jake, who was pretty good at pitching but had some control issues, or he could put in Joe.  Joe had a little more experience at pitching but had some problems throwing the ball over the plate.  Coach decided to put Jake in.  Jake was excited because this was the first time he got to pitch in 4 games.  Jake threw his warm-up pitches, which were not too bad.  When the batter got into the batters box Jake got chills down his back.  There was only one guy on and he was at first base. 
    Jake threw the first pitch and missed the strike zone by a little bit.  Jake walked the batter with 4 straight balls.  Coach left Jake in for the rest of the game but the Orioles ended up losing the game five to two.  Jake allowed the 3 runs that let the Jay Hawks win the game.
    Jake's dad offered him a ride home, but Jake liked to walk home.  They only lived a few blocks away from the baseball field so it wasn’t that far of a walk.  Jake also liked to look at all the beautiful gardens that the people had in their front yards. There were to many flowers to count planted in the gardens and that also gave Jake time to think about the game.
    When Jake finally got home his dad had supper ready but he wasn’t hungry.  Jake was only five feet eight inches tall and only weighed  hundred and ten pounds.  He never really ate that much and since he had just gotten done playing a baseball game he wasn’t hungry at all.
    It was Saturday now and Jake had practice once again. The team decided at the beginning of the year that they wanted to have practices on Saturday as well so they could improve even more. If Jake wanted to pitch again he would have to practice being able to throw the ball over the plate.
     Coach had some words to say to the team about the game the night before and how Jimmy was doing with his elbow.  Then he told the team to go warm-up, but he kept Jake back to tell him some good news.  Coach told him that since Jimmy is out for the rest of the season he will have to be the starting pitcher.
     So coach told him to work on his delivery and getting the ball to cross the plate.  Coach also said that Jimmy will be back next week to help out if Jake needed him to give him some pointers.  Jake practiced his delivery and got it down.  He would be starting the next game against the number one team in state. Jake was excited that he would actually get to start a game for once.  He came through and pitched a really fantastic game that included a shutout through five innings.  They accomplished their goal and beat the team that was number one just one short year ago.
    Jake lead the Orioles to the Championship that year but lost a close game that was sent into extra innings.  They were the second best team in the state that year, and the team was very proud of their season.