The story thus far: In Part 1, Carol Gibson, the daughter of Pat and Mike of "To Serve and Protect" fame, is enrolling in college when she meets a high school classmate who's playing on the college softball team. They're also organizing a late-summer intramural league to help the team's star pitcher, who's been bothered by a knee injury, rehabilitate. Carol agrees to come to tryouts, and actually meets the pitcher, a curt and abrasive woman trying to deal with pain on multiple levels. Later, the young woman who asked Carol to try out makes love with her older female lover, who enjoys the experience but wonders what the younger woman really gets out of it – and whether she is hot for Carol instead.
In Part 2, Carol goes to tryouts for the team and impresses the coaches with her fielding and baserunning abilities. While undressing after the workout, she again meets Beth Wilson, the star pitcher. Beth is horrified when she recognizes Carol from a fake porno site that her husband and brother-in-law, who's one of the coaches, had accessed. Beth immediately tries to become nice to Carol, leading Carol to wonder if Beth might be hot for her. Later that night, two other players on the team, longtime lovers, play a sexual game with toys and elaborate courtesy.
In Part 3, Carol's team is returning home from a game when two team members start to have sex on the bus. Carol and Beth both witness the lovemaking with embarrassed shyness. Suddenly, the bus driver stomps on the brakes in a deliberate attempt to humiliate the lovers, to whom he's been tipped off by another team member who hates Beth and lesbians. Beth gravely re-injures her knee, and the lovers, as well as other team members (including Carol) are also injured. Carol's parents, police officers following in their own car, arrive on the scene and prevent a major confrontation, and help the injured players get to a hospital. The troublemaking team member is booted, but threatens even more retaliation.
In Part 4, Carol visits Beth in the hospital. Beth's playing career is done because of the injury, and her marriage is a hopeless case because of fighting with her husband even though she still truly loves him. To boost Beth's spirits, the team arranges to have her come to the team's big game in Atlanta and be a bench coach. When they arrive, the coach and the team's biggest booster have bad news for Beth. It has become public that Beth was taking steroids, and now a scandal threatens to sink the softball program. The coach and booster, who have been lovers off and on for years, discuss the situation during a lovemaking session. At the same time, Beth confesses all to Carol, who forgives her and promises to try to help. The coach and booster also vow to work through the scandal and not leave Beth hung up to dry. After Carol goes to sleep (alone), Beth stays up and thinks about the lesbian lovers in the previous chapters. She finds she is attracted to all of them and hopes to make friends with them.
My sincerest thanks to patricia51 and all who have previewed this story.
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The next day's game was a barnburner. The other team, designated the home team by a coin flip, showed their defensive prowess in the very first inning when their left fielder raced down a line drive into the corner, spun while still moving, pulled the ball out her glove with her left hand and launched a bullet right to the shortstop, the relay doubling Sarah off first base by thirty feet. In the bottom of the inning, their best hitter launched a shot that could have brought rain, but it was foul by inches. However, the home team pushed across a run on a single, an outfield error on which the runner took third base, and a short fly that Carol caught, but was blinded by the sun and didn't throw home until way too late.
Carol made up for it in the top of the next inning, showing some daring baserunning on a grounder to center field that she stretched into a double. Tracy beat out a slow roller and Ariel followed with a two-run double.
The teams traded another pair of runs and went to the bottom of the final inning with Butler College clinging to a one-run lead. Beth had become steadily more vocal in her encouragement of the players. She also had some words with Coach T about the lineup due for the home team. She had observed them carefully and was concerned that Camille was getting tired on the mound.
The apprehensions were very well-grounded. Camille hit the first batter of the inning when a pitch sailed on her. That young lady stole second base on a strikeout, and the next batter was intentionally walked. An infield out advanced the runners into scoring position, and the fifth batter was intentionally walked. A forceout or a strikeout would end the game, but so would anything hit beyond the infield, and the next batter up had already hit three hard line drives.
Beth spoke to Coach T while the next batter was getting settled in. Coach T immediately called time and came out of the dugout. She went straight to the pitcher's mound and waved Mary up as well. Most of the infielders gathered.
"Look," Coach T said, "I hate to take you out at a time like this, but Melissa's been working on her sidearm curve and these other kids don't know her at all. You two go to the outfield for this one batter because I want you back in case she walks that young lady. I don't think she will. Left side of the infield, do an overshift because that's where the ball will be headed. Camille, you've earned a W and now it's time for Melissa to earn an S."
The umpire came out to ask for the game to move along. When he was a few steps away from the mound, Coach T raised her left hand up high in the unmistakable call to the bullpen. Camille trotted to the outfield and Mary went to change out of her catcher's gear.
"This game really counts to you?" the umpire asked.
"More than you'll know, Blue," Coach T said amiably.
The umpire shrugged. "Just don't let anybody get hurt. I can't see the bullpen and I don't know how long your pitcher's been warming up."
"A long time," Coach T said and left it at that.
The coach of the other team complained, mainly trying to protect her somewhat fidgety hitter. The umpire had a few words with the coach, who abruptly quieted and went back to the dugout. Melissa ignored the complaining and set up with Ariel. The warm-up pitches seemed to go well. On Beth's urging, Coach T drew in part of her infield, but put Carol and Tracy at double-play depth in case something got hit hard and they needed extra reaction time.
Melissa's first pitch broke sharply and caught the outside corner for a called strike. The second pitch, pretty much in the same location, was swung on and fouled off. At the top of her delivery for the third pitch, Melissa seemed to hesitate and let go of the ball anyway. Wild pitch? As the Butler fielders gasped, Ariel leaped to her feet, lunged way outside and somehow hung on to the ball. She staggered, but the runner on third base smelled a hidden-ball trick – which in fact it was – and didn't try to score despite yelling from the batter.
The battle continued. The batter kept fouling off pitches, one of them down the third-base line which kicked foul before Sarah could get to it. Melissa missed with one pitch by an inch or so, another by less than that. Ten pitches into the at-bat and the count was full.
Coach Wilson called time and went out to the mound. He said something Beth had noticed, and pointed to Carol. Carol, who had been playing almost on top of second base, moved about twenty feet toward third. There was now a big gap between second and short, with only Melissa covering it. The batter took notice and shifted in the batter's box.
The curveball zoomed in. The batter saw very late that it would drop for a called strike. She took a desperation swing and got under the ball, sending a soft liner into no-man's land beyond the rim of the infield, between third and short.
Carol ran desperately in a diagonal. If the ball fell safely, the two lead runners could outrun any throw home. She made a desperation lunge and left her feet ...
The ball smacked into Carol's glove. That was the good news. The bad news was that she came down onto her right arm. She had no time to brace herself, so focused was she on holding onto the ball. Everything landed on the right arm, with her elbow slamming into her stomach.
Carol held the ball high. Then she rolled over and puked.
Then entire team was out to her in a matter of seconds. Even the opposing team's baserunners came over to check on the young woman who had just made a spectacular play to rob them of a victory. Beth was doing a Long John Silver imitation on her crutches – but Long John Silver, if you've read the book, could move just pretty darn fast when he had to. Beth pushed her way through the crowd, got down on her good knee, slid her arms around Carol and lifted her from the ground so Coach Wilson and Coach T could check for a fracture.
