Dec 04

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.

As
Shaya chugged into second base, the opposing shortstop
ran towards him, turned him towards third base and shouted,
"Run, Shaya, run to third!"

Of
course, by now the three runners who had been on base
had scored. The game was tied, Shaya represented the
winning run, and his teammates were screaming with excitement.

As
Shaya rounded third base, every boy from his team...
and several from the opposing team on the field... were
all running behind him, cheering him home.

And
as he put his foot on home plate, both teams gathered
around him, lifted him on their shoulders and cheered
him as the hero of the game. He had just hit a home
run and won the game. These boys gave Shaya the thrill
of his life. Of course, they gave him something even
more precious--their acceptance.