Ann Martin - Kristy And The Walking Disaster

Or when Nicky retorted, "You guys must be pretty worried if you have to try to scare us."

Claud and Mal looked at Jessi and smiled.

The triplets shut up. And Margo kept her batting stance.

Jordan pitched.

Margo fouled the ball.

Jordan pitched again. Then seven more times.

Finally Jordan shrugged. Enough was enough. He let Margo walk to first base.

Claire's turn.

"It's the strike-out queen!" shouted Byron. But the Krushers didn't react, and Byron shut up.

"Come on, Claire," Nicky said seriously to

his sister. "One out. Runners at first and third. I know you've never hit the ball, but if you hit it now you could send Matt home."

Claire nodded.

"Good. I know you can do it," said Nicky.

On the sidelines, the baby-sitters smiled at each other again. Nicky was rarely so nice to his sisters. Usually he teased them with rude songs or played tricks on them or tried to gross them out.

"The Krushers stick together," Claudia commented.

And then Claire struck out.

"Whoa. Two outs. Tantrum time," muttered Mallory.

But nothing happened.

Nicky was up again. He swung and missed. Then he slammed the ball deep into left field. Matt ran home. Margo ran home. And Nicky reached second base before he realized he better not go any further.

The Krushers looked at each other proudly. Claudia told me later that the triplets seemed sort of awed. (And maybe just the teeniest bit proud.) To the Krushers' credit, they didn't gloat. I wish I'd been there. I would have been proud of them, too.

I would have been proud right up until what happened next.

Matt struck out, the triplets ran off the field - and Claire threw a tantrum. I'd never seen Claire throw a tantrum. I didn't even know she threw tantrums until Mallory mentioned it over the phone. But sure enough, as soon as her team had three outs, Claire clenched her fists, screwed up her face, and began screeching, "No fair! No fair! No fair!" until, according to Claudia, who got the job of calming her down, it sounded more like she was saying, "Nofe-air! Nofe-air! Nofe-air!"

"She only throws baseball tantrums," Mallory informed me later. "She does it with ball games on TV, too."

However, Claire got over her tantrum and Matt pitched to the triplets. They scored four runs in the first inning. In the second inning the Krushers scored zero runs and the triplets scored three more. By the end of the fifth inning, when Mrs. Pike came home, the triplets were ahead, sixteen to five.

But, with the exception of Claire's tantrum, the Krushers never once lost their patience or their courage. They did lose their concentration a few times, but what can you expect from 5.8-year-old kids?

When the game was over, Jordan actually said to Nicky and his sisters, "Good game,

you guys." Then he remembered to sign for Matt. Matt grinned.

Haley, who had watched the entire game with Claudia, Mallory, Jessi, and Vanessa, just said, "Whew. That was amazing. There was no way they could beat the triplets - but they never gave up."

"Never," agreed the others.

When Mal and Claudia told me about the game later, I felt terrific. My team, my Krushers, had real spirit.

Chapter 8.

"Claire, can you please get out of that tree? And Karen, stop teasing your broth - Jamie, what are you doing? Leave that bat alone. You're supposed to hit balls with it, not walk on it."

"I'm a tightrope walker, Coach." Jamie replied, but he stepped off the bat.

It was the beginning of another practice with the Krushers. I seemed to be having a little trouble getting everyone organized. Claudia was there, and she was supposed to be helping me, but she'd found some candy in the pocket of her jeans and was concentrating on unwrapping it. You could tell that the candy was much more interesting to her than softball.

I clapped my hands. Suddenly I felt like Mr. Redmont, my old teacher from seventh grade. He was always clapping his hands to get kids' attention.

"Hey, you guys!" I called. "Would you come

here, please. . . . PLEASE? . . . Claudia. I need help."

What was wrong with everybody? I thought these kids wanted to play ball so badly.

Claudia popped a piece of candy into her mouth and wandered over to me. "What do you want me to do?" she asked.

I could have been sarcastic, but I kept my temper. After all, the kids were nearby. I didn't want them to think I was an ogre.

"Just help me get them together. We need some practice time first."

"Come on, guys!" I called again. "Where's your Krushers spirit?"

Right away, the kids ran to me - except for Claire. She was stuck in the tree. Claudia had to lift her down.

Boy, all I had to say was "Krushers" and the kids jumped to attention.

I began assigning tasks. "Jamie," I said, "I know you're a little afraid of the ball. Can you throw it, though?"

He nodded.

"Great. I want you to pitch to Claire for awhile. She needs practice hitting the ball." And, I thought, if she actually did hit it, Jamie might try to catch it. (Either that, or he would duck it.)

"Okay," said Claire and Jamie.

"David Michael and Nicky, I want you to work on your pitching. You guys just toss the ball to each other, okay?"

"Yup," they replied.

This time I was prepared with more equipment. I'd asked the kids to bring along some of their own stuff so they would have enough to practice with.

Our afternoon got underway. I'd assigned each Krusher something to work on, and I walked around and gave the kids pointers.

"Hannie, run toward the ball," I shouted. "Don't wait for it to come to you. You have to go after it. ... Claire, keep your eye on that ball. . . ."

I almost shouted Matt's instructions to him, too, before I remembered that he wouldn't hear me. I signed to him instead, and he looked confused. I'd probably just told him to go price an elephant or something. I wished Haley or Mrs. Braddock or Jessi were there to help.

Claudia looked bored. She sat down in the grass and ate another piece of candy. Then she examined her fingernails.

"Time for a manicure?" I asked her.

Claud jumped. "Oh, sorry," she said.

"Listen, could you toss the ball to Jamie for awhile?" I asked her. "You're good with him," (it never hurts to flatter people), "and I'll work

with Claire. They're not getting much accomplished together."

Claire was singing "I'm a Little Teapot" to Jamie, and every time she got to the part about "tip me over and pour me out" she released the softball from her underarm, which Jamie thought was hysterical.

I let practice go on for about ten more minutes. Then I called, "Game time!"

What a reaction! The kids jammed themselves around me. I had them count off in twos again, and as soon as the sides were organized, we got a game going. Right away, the kids were all business. Karen was the catcher for her side. She crouched behind home plate, wearing her mask and slamming one hand into her glove. "Attaboy! Attaboy!" she kept shouting, no matter what was going on.

I let David Michael pitch. First up at bat was Matt Braddock. He swung the bat and fouled. David Michael, who barely knows any sign language, signed something that looked like "monkey." Then he remembered a softball sign, but it was the one for "safe." It took ages to get everything sorted out.

When the first half of the inning was over, which was pretty soon (since after Matt was up, the next three hitters each struck out), I let our walking disaster go to bat first. He hit

the ball and ran to second! While Linny Papadakis was at bat, Jackie stole third base. Then Myriah Perkins got in a single, Jackie ran for home, tripped over his feet, and was tagged out, just inches from the base.

"Darn, darn, double, double darn!" he shouted.

The other kids laughed, but not rudely.