Natalie Hyde - Saving Arm Pit

For Chelsey, my first reader

Acknowledgements:

It turns out that writing a book is a team sport, too. A heartfelt thanks to all the Kidcritters who gave such wonderful feedback on this manuscript. Special thanks to the gang at Summer Writing Workshops who helped me brainstorm the title.

Thank you also to Patricia Lee Gauch, who worked with me on an early draft of this story.

I would also like to thank everyone at Fitzhenry & Whiteside for the wonderful job they did bringing this story to life, especially my editor, Christie Harkin, for her wonderful suggestions, her warmth and her great sense of humour.

Most of all I wish to thank Craig, Alex, Chelsey, Nathan and Haley for pinch-hitting with the chores when I had a deadline looming. Your love and encouragement mean the world to me.

Copyright 2011 Natalie Hyde
ePub edition copyright October 2011

Published in Canada by Fitzhenry & Whiteside,
195 Allstate Parkway, Markham, Ontario L3R 4T8

Published in the United States by Fitzhenry & Whiteside,
311 Washington Street, Brighton, Massachusetts 02135

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Fitzhenry & Whiteside acknowledges with thanks the Canada Council for the Arts, and the Ontario Arts Council for their support of our publishing program. We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Canada Book Fund (CBF) for our publishing activities.

Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication
Hyde, Natalie, 1963
Saving Armpit / Natalie Hyde.
eISBN 978-1-55455-950-3
I. Title.
PS8615.Y44S29 2011 j813'.6 C2011-901398-3

Publisher Cataloging-in-Publication Data (U.S)
Hyde, Natalie.
Saving Armpit / Natalie Hyde.
eISBN: 978-1-55455-950-3
1. Baseball - Juvenile fiction. 2. Community life - Juvenile fiction. I. Title.
[F] dc22 PZ7.H934Sa 2011

Glossary of Baseball Terms

Bunting Deliberately hitting the ball gently by holding the bat still, in front of the batter, and letting the ball hit it so that it rolls a short distance on the ground.

Cut-off man A fielder that cuts off a long throw from the outfield so he can get the ball to a base quickly in order to put out a runner.

Double play A play where two players are put out on one play.

Grounder A ball that is hit on the ground so that it bounces in the infield.

Infield The area on a baseball field that is inside the three bases and home plate.

Inning A period of baseball in which both teams take a turn being up at bat AND playing defense in the field. In the Major Leagues, there are nine innings in a regulation game. In Minor League/ Little League, there are usually only seven innings.

Lead (or lead off) When a base runner takes a step or two off the base before the pitch is thrown so he has a shorter distance to run to the next base.

Line drive A ball hit sharply, low and fast, so that it usually flies in a straight line.

Mercy rule In Little League, this rule ends one teams turn at bat after they have scored a certain number of runs (usually five or six). It can also end the game if one team has scored a certain number of runs more than the other team by the end of the 5th inning.

Outfield The grassy area of a baseball field past the lines connecting the bases.

Pop fly A ball that is hit high into the air. If the fielder catches it before it hits the ground, then the runner is out and whoever is already on base has to run back to their bases before they are tagged.

Rundown A play in which a runner is stranded between two bases, running back and forth, trying not to be tagged with the ball.

Shortstop The fielder who plays between second and third base.

Tagged A runner who is touched by a fielder with the ball is tagged out.

To learn more about the rules of baseball,
visit these sites:

Major League Baseball
www.mlb.com

Baseball Canada
www.baseball.ca

Little League Baseball
http://www.littleleague.org/learn/rules.htm

For more information and some fun activities,
visit our website at
www.fitzhenry.ca/savingarmpit

Chapter 1

I gripped the bat with clammy hands. It was the bottom of the last inning and the pitcher for the Bulldogs had a nasty drop-curve ball that would home in on my shin like a cruise missile. I was still limping from the last time I came up to bat against him. It was a great motivator. Either hit the ball or be crippled.

The pitcher pulled back his arm and released the ball.

I jumped back from home plate with both feet as the ball whistled past my knees.

Strike!

I shook my head and tried to concentrate. The pitcher was grinning. I was sweating.

Come on, Clay! The next one has your name on it. I know Scott meant to say that I was going to hit the ball and not be hit by it, but part of me worried my best friend had just jinxed me.

It would feel so good to connect with the ball and send it screaming out into left field so hard it would wipe the smirks right off the Bulldogs faces. We were down two to nothing and I was tired of our team being a joke in the league. A filler. You knowa team to practice on in between the important games. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see the Bulldogs all leaning on the fence in front of their dugout, snickering.

Bring me home, Clay. Stewy was on third, which was something of a miracle. He was a great hitter but not a great runner. He could really put his weight behind the bat and send the ball flying, which would usually buy him enough time to make it to first. But that was about it. And when he did go, he didnt exactly run; lumbering is more what youd call the way he moved. It was only because of some wild throws and the fact that no one could understand Coach Meyerss signals that he now stood on third, arms folded.

A big hit here and we could tie the game.

I planted my feet in the dirt and sucked in my breath as I waited for the next pitch. What I wouldnt give to end the Terriers losing streak, to know how it felt to win! It wasnt a feeling I was familiar withor something any other team expected from us, coming from the losing-est town in history.

The pitcher playfully tossed the ball up and down a few times. Then he looked at me with a glint in his eye and went into his wind-up.