Perfect Game
First game of Piltover Games Tournament Saturday Doubleheader - Bilgewater (2-2) vs Piltover (4-0) Collins vs Amik 122 strikeouts until the record
“Welcome back to live coverage of Commodores softball. I’m your friendly neighborhood Huck and we’ve got a close one here at Shoola Stadium. Top of the 7th and Bilgewater is shocking the softball community right now with the fact they are only losing to Piltover 3-1. There’s 2 on and no outs. It appears Coach S is moving to the bullpen and calling in her ace to try and get out of the jam.”
Caitlyn jogs from the bullpen to the pitcher’s circle, entering the game in relief. It was odd for her being the one coming into the game so late. Normally, she was the one having a reliever come in for her. This moment was a first in her college career and the situation made her nervous. She could feel the pressure of the entire team and fanbase resting on her shoulders to get Piltover out of the jam they were in.
Amik hands Sevika the ball and then high fives Cait on her way to the dugout. “Just fuckin get the K’s, Kir.”
“Okay. Situation is 2 on and no one out. We gotta find a way to keep the damage to a minimum here. Nothing over the plate, got it?” Sevika is cool and calm, placing all of her faith in her ace.
“Of course.” Caitlyn replies. Her eyes meet those of Vi’s, who offers no words. She simply pats her shoulder and strides back to the plate. She knows exactly what her catcher is thinking. “You got this,” but did she? The last time she’d entered a game in relief was back during her final season of travel ball. It was an elimination bracket game that if they won, would send them to the championship. The starting pitcher had struggled mightily from the beginning of the game. The bases had been full when Cait had entered. They weren’t loaded when she left. They ended up losing the game. Needless to say, relief pitching wasn’t her strong suit.
The ump offers her eight warm up pitches from the mound and the game continues. Her pitching is methodical as always. She doesn’t want to make the same mistake she had made last time. Caitlyn easily handles the first two batters, striking them out easily. The third batter, however, causes issues.
“Piltover needs just one final out to seal the deal. Kiramman so far has easily dealt with the batters she’s faced in relief, but as Geurnsy strides to the plate I know she’s got to be a little nervous.”
Things start off smooth. She throws two strikes in a row to start the at bat and it looks like Caitlyn is about to shut down the rally. When her third pitch, a rise ball, leaves her hand, she knows she held on too long. She watches as the ball sails high and over the head of Vi who made a valiant effort to try and snag the ball out of the air.
“Oh no the pitch goes high and over the head of Lanes who is sprinting to the back stop to grab the errant pitch. Luckily, she got back to the plate in time to stop the advancing runners from stealing more than one base on the wild pitch.”
Vi calls time and walks hurriedly to the mound. She can tell from Caitlyn’s body language the pitcher is beyond frustrated with the events of the previous pitch. “Cait, chill. It was one pitch. Nobody is hurt. Now, you’ve got two strikes. Just pump it outside and we’ll call it a game.”
The ace stares off into the distance, focusing on the crowd that is watching her every move. Vi turns around and follows her gaze, locating a few regulars that she recognizes. When she returns, she can see the nerves all over Cait’s face. It’s something she’s never witnessed before. With the exception of the Sarah Fortune incident in their Ionia game, Cait had always remained calm, cool, and collected. Even when she gave up a big hit, it was like she could manage to just let it roll off her shoulders. She was the master of “next pitch” mentality.
She gently places her non-gloved hand on Cait’s shoulder, dragging the woman’s focus back to what was right in front of her. The catcher covers her mouth with her glove, not wanting anyone who may be watching a live stream of the game to catch what she’s about to say. “Listen, if it helps, picture me naked.” When she removes her glove, Cait sees the catcher is smirking and she can’t help but laugh.
“Gods, you’re such a flirt. I swear.”
“Only with you, babe. Now let’s get this shit over with.”
It works. The next pitch Sevika calls for a backdoor curve and it locks the batter up. Piltover avoids the upset and lives another day as the loan remaining undefeated team. Amik is the first to greet Cait when she comes off the field, thanking her for saving her ass. The players know they can’t get too relaxed because they have the second game of their double header. This time, Caitlyn will get the start and plans on showing the rest of the college softball world this first game was just a fluke.
Second game of Piltover Games Tournament Saturday Doubleheader – Shurima (1-5) vs Piltover (5-0) Junis vs Kiramman 119 strikeouts until the record
“If you’re just joining us on the broadcast, we are in the bottom of the 7th and are on the verge of witnessing history. Piltover leads Shurima 6-0, but more importantly, the Commodores ace is only 3 outs away from throwing the Commodores first ever perfect game. Shurima has sent 18 batters to the plate and all 18 have been retired, including an outstanding 17 strikeouts for the ace. This truly has been quite a showing compared to PIltover’s first game of the day where they struggled to take down Bilgewater. The Commodores started this game hot with a monster grand slam in the top of the first from Grever. The game remained 4-0 until the top of the 7th when Lanes rocketed a 2-run homer straight away center that I’m not sure if it’s even landed. Now, Caitlyn Kiramman is 3-outs away from her first ever perfect game in her career.”
“Okay, I need you to focus on the batters, not the outs. Trust the defense and don’t do too much. That’s why they’re here. You can do this.” Neither wants to acknowledge what is happening, afraid to jinx the moment. It’s every pitcher’s dream to at least throw a no-hitter, but to throw a perfect game is a whole other level. Caitlyn knows this will put her amongst the greats at Piltover which somehow means more than the stupid record.
“Vi, I really fucking want this.”
The catcher smiles and again covers her mouth with her glove. “Then let’s get these mother fuckers out.”
It’s the top of Shurima’s lineup – the 1, 2, and 3 hitters. Only one of the three have managed to make contact today and the one that did couldn’t hit the ball to green grass. The lead off hitter, Varney, hit a towering pop-up to third and then struck out. Hurt, the two-hole batter, struck out both times when Cait locked her up twice, the first with a 45 mile per hour change followed by a 68 mile per hour fastball in the outside river off the plate. The second was a screw ball that Vi still isn’t sure how it moved like it did. Finally, Suarez, the three-hole hitter and by far Shurima’s best hitter, simply struck out swinging both times.
Varney makes her way to the plate as Vi looks toward Sevika for instruction. The coach starts the inning off with a bang by calling a screwball. The goal isn’t necessarily to get the strikeout, the coach just wants the out. The pitch comes in and the batter offers a swing, clipping the ball just enough to send it ricocheting back into the backstop netting. When Vi picks the ball up, she can’t help but take in a deep breath and slowly release it. It’s then she realizes she wants this just as much as Cait does.
“Ball!”
Cait tries to lure Varney to swing at an extremely outside fastball that was designed to miss, but there’s no fooling the batter. Sevika calls for a drop which is responded to with a shit eating grin from Cait. Vi rolls her eyes and mumbles to herself, “Still not your best pitch, Cupcake, but whatevs.” Somehow it doesn’t drop enough, and Varney gets just enough of the bat on the top of the ball to drive in into the ground. The ball shoots straight up, warranting Vi to pop out of her stance and grab out of the air. The catcher launches it down to first base, retiring Varney. 1 out and 2 to go.
The Coach knows the likely hood they will get Hurt to strikeout looking a third time is extremely low, especially knowing Shurima would rather walk home than get no-hit in a game. Yet, Sevika doesn’t give a shit and she’s going to throw Kiramman’s best stuff at her. She starts out with a rise ball knowing Hurt couldn’t hit a high pitch if her life depended on it. It’s the right call and Hurt swings and misses. The gruff coach isn’t sure how she’s keeping her shit together let alone how her ace is keeping her shit together. She’s sure Lanes is about to throw up, but it’s what makes the game exciting. This is the stuff she loves and the reason she coaches.
When she calls the drop, Lanes shakes her off. “That’s a first,” she mumbles. Her head shakes back and forth, repeating the signal. Again, Lanes shakes her off, but this time responds with a serious of hand signals. “Fuck it, why not.” Sevika nods and calls another rise ball. The same pitch earns Kiramman the same result, a swing and a miss. After a deep breath, the coach looks at her player pitch call chart and determines her next move, a backdoor curve. As soon as the ace releases it, Sevika knows what’s coming.
“Stike three! You’re out.” A third backwards K strikeout looking for Hurt.
“Holy shit this might happen,” the coach says, chewing on her pencil.
Cait lifts her glove to her mouth to hide her face while she awaits Suarez. Her heart is pounding in her chest harder than it has in a long time. Glancing to the stands, she sees something she hadn’t noticed before, her mother. In her entire college career, her parents have only attended a handful of games. Seeing Cassandra there, witnessing this historic moment in her career, it floods her senses with warmth and appreciation. It locks her in and makes her even more determined than before.
Steadying her breathing, she sees Sevika has called for a fastball in on the edge of the plate. Suarez is as close as you can get without being outside of the box. She doesn’t want to hit her, but she knows if Suarez makes any contact with the ball, it’s going to hurt like hell. So, she throws the pitch and she’s right. The batter doesn’t offer, but the ump still calls “Strike 1!”.
Focusing on her breathing, she sees the next pitch call, an outside change-up. She throws it as far off the plate as she can get and to her surprise, Suarez offers and misses. One more strike to go. She expects Sevika to call the backdoor curve, but she doesn’t. Instead, she calls for the drop. She watches through her mask as Vi’s eyes blow wide open and she wryly smiles at the ace. Closing her eyes, she takes a deep breath, grasps the ball, and relies on muscle memory. As the pitch leaves her hand, her eyes shoot open. She swears time slows down, but it’s only a matter of a second really before she watches as the bottom falls out of the pitch and Suarez swings and misses as the pitch hits the dirt. Before the batter can do anything, Vi pops up from her blocking stance and tags the batter out. Strike three. Perfect-game.
The celebration that follows is surreal. Cait rips her face mask off and slams both it and her glove into the ground. Vi pops up and rips her helmet off, racing toward her ace, causing them to crash into each other in a hug. Other players follow suit. Derst is the next to arrive followed by Tutler. Before Cait knows it, the entire team is in a giant bear hug jumping up and down celebrating her achievement. 19 strikeouts in one game is insane, but not nearly as insane as throwing a perfect game.
When the players make their way to the dugout, Sevika waits at the top of the stairs. She pulls Kiramman in for a hug and whispers, “You’d never have gotten a reaction like this in Ionia.” Caitlyn knows she’s right. When her head turns to the crowd, she hopes to see her mother. However, much to her disappointment, the woman has snuck out of the crowd that still stands, chanting her name. It’s unbelievable. She feels Vi’s hand suddenly on her shoulder, her other hand pointing to the crowd. “You should go and wave to them. They’ll eat that shit up. Plus, you deserve it.”
Cait can’t help herself and she leans in for a kiss. The gesture sends shockwaves through Vi, who never expected the pitcher to break professionalism while on the field still. “Thank you. I couldn’t have done this without you.”
Lanes blushes and rubs the back of her neck uncomfortably. “Dude, can’t lie, bout shit my pants when Sev called that drop ball there at the end, but I’d have done whatever it took to get you that last out. Now go and enjoy your moment before we all come back to sing the alma mater with them.” As Cait starts to walk, she stops and turns back, grabbing Vi’s hand. “Tell me you’re suddenly shy?”
Cait smiles, “No. I just believe that behind every great pitcher is a great catcher and they should be celebrated as well.” Grinning, Vi just nods, her heart in her throat wondering how she’s gotten to be this lucky in her life.
“Gods I fucking love you.” With that, they walk hand in hand stopping in front of the crowd, which includes a group of young girls that obviously came to the game as a team, and celebrate the day.