Dec 04

Dad
wondered, will they even let him bat? But without hesitation,
one of the boys shouted, "Shaya, you're up!,"
and he was handed a bat. But as he stood at home plate,
it was obvious to all that Shaya didn't even know how
to hold the bat, let alone hit with it.

So
the pitcher moved in a couple of feet and lobbed the
ball very softly so Shaya could at least make contact.

Shaya
swung and missed by a wide margin. Before the second
pitch, one of Shaya's teammates called out, "Hold
on, let me help him. Let me show him how to bat."
This boy came and stood behind Shaya, and put his arms
around him so the two boys were now holding the bat
together.

The
pitcher moved in a couple more feet and again lobbed
the ball as softly as he could.

The
two boys swung the bat together and managed to tap a
soft grounder right back toward the pitcher. Shaya's
teammates yelled, "Run, Shaya! Run to first!"
And he took off for first base.

But
the pitcher pounced on the ball in an instant and could
easily have thrown Shaya out at first, ending the game.
Instead, the pitcher took the ball and, with obvious
intention, threw it on a high arc way over the first
baseman's head, all the way into the outfield.

Shaya
was safe at first. The first baseman turned him toward
second and said, "Run, Shaya, run to second!"

But
by then, the right fielder had chased down the ball
and he, too, could have easily thrown Shaya out, at
second. But he understood what the pitcher had done.
So he threw the ball not just over second base, but
way over the third baseman's head, so far that nobody
was going to retrieve that ball.