CLOSE UP of a young boy standing on the pitcher's mound. Sweat beads on forming on his forehead.
With the ball in his hand, he wipes the sweat out of his eyes.
He breathes deeply and sizes up his opponent.
The boy at the plate is a large one, Vertically and horizontally. He is
about 5'6" and 150lbs, which makes him much larger than most of the boys playing.
The pitcher looks over to his teams dugout.
INT. DUGOUT
In the dugout, there are two older men in their 30's and a few of the smallest children. The kind of kids who eat their boogers in class. In fact, one is presently eating a booger as he twirls his foot in the sand.
One coach is obviously very intense, perhaps trying to win as a coach because he could not in his own youth.
The other is a rather robust man, eating a hot dog with "everything" on it.
The intense coach looks at the young pitcher and gives him a series of hand signals.
Then the coach mouths the word "fastball"
EXT. PITCHER'S MOUND
The pitcher inhales and then exhales deeply as he turns his attention back to the batter.
The pitcher takes a long stride and slings the balls as fast as he can.
SMACK
CUT TO:
CLOSE UP as the ball hits the glove of the catcher.
UMPIRE
Strike!
Conservative applause comes from the stands.
The pitcher sighs and looks back to the dugout.
The coach mouths, once again, "fastball"
Pitcher winds up and throws as hard as he can
The large batter swings with all his might.
SWOOSH
UMPIRE
Strike!
The crowd cheers a bit louder this time
The pitcher holds his elbow. It is clearly hurting him.
He looks to the dugout again.
The bigger coach is still unwrapping the aluminum foil off another hotdog.
The other coach tells him again to throw the fastball
The pitcher rubs his elbow with his glove.
He wiggles his arm to try to shake the pain out of it.
He readies himself at the mound for the next pitch.
FIRST BASEMAN (off screen O.S.)
Time out! Time out!
The bigger coach stops eating and looks at the first baseman.
BIGGER COACH
What's wrong son?
FIRST BASEMAN
Dad, can I have a bite of that hotdog?
BIGGER COACH
Are you kidding me? Get back out there!
FIRST BASEMAN
But, I'm hungry!
The coach just gives him a stern glare.
The baseman walks back to him position dejectedly.
UMPIRE
Play ball!
The pitcher readies himself again.
The large batter digs his cleats into the sand.
The ball is thrown down the hill.
SLOW MOTION as the ball turns and rotates through the air.
The bat makes contact with a CRACK.
Back, the ball goes
Instead of watching the ball, the first baseman drools watching his dad chomp down on his hot dog
Back, the ball goes further
People in the stands stand on their feet
Back, the ball goes even further
The coach looks to see who is in position to catch the ball
A boy is sitting in the grass in the outfield, picking flowers with his glove sitting in his lap when the ball lands next to him
COACH
Get the ball!
The large batter rounds third and makes it back to the home plate
UMPIRE
That's the ball game!
All the kids throw their hats into the air, including the losing team, and run to the concession stand
INT. DUGOUT
The big coach balls up his his aluminum foil as he takes the last bite of his hotdog and walks his way to the concession stand
The other coach tosses his cap into the dirt out of frustration and yells at no one in particular
COACH
How can you be happy? We lost by the mercy rule!
CUT TO:
CU of the scoreboard that reads
HOME 12 VISITORS 2
INNING 4
One kid with glasses is still in the dugout, looking at the coach. He breathes heavily as he crams his finger into his nose.
The sighs and walks away.
EXT. CONCESSION STAND
The kids from each team laugh and talk as they wait in line to get free dogs that are being handed out, followed in the line by the big coach and the coaches from the other team.
The kid who was picking flowers, hands his bouquet to a girl from the opposing team.
SLOW PULL OUT to see kids chasing each other and playing together as they hold their hotdogs like trophies.
THE END
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