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Chapter 4: Up To Varsity

 





     "Listen up back there!" booms Coach Martin in a baritone voice somehow emanating from his falsetto body. 

"Shhhh," hisses Jim Budnick elbowing the ever kidding Mike Gubitoso on the back bench of the yellow Romano's school bus.

"Gambino's going up to varsity so Malave will take Ray's position at third base."

"No!" sloe eyed Gooby moans as the coach wobbles his way back to the front of the bus. "JoAnn will take Debbie and April to Ray's games just when they're about to take off their winter sweaters."





     He wasn't just joking that the three girls would probably follow handsome and hefty-hitting Ray Gambino to the varsity games that were played simultaneously to our JV contests. He'd had three hits in four at-bats including a towering homerun through the Frezza's picture window in our season opening loss to Basking Ridge. JoAnn was a magnet for both boys and girls with her blond beauty, outgoing character, and fun-loving nature. With her chosen beau moving up, the rest of us would now have triple the reason to vie for varsity.

     We were on the way to our first away game at Hillsborough Township, and Vennie Malave moving to third base meant I had shortstop all to myself. That posed the problem that I'd have to help either the pitcher who tried to strangle me or the one who threw me under that particular bus.



     "Hey James, put her in there," I banter as Budnick winds up and whips a wicked slider to their cleanup hitter in the cooling twilight of the bottom of the seventh inning.

Thwack goes the bat as the ball takes off on a hard grounder up the middle that threatens to end the no-hitter.

I'm flying left with a bead on it's trajectory behind second base when Budnick flails with his glove and nicks the ball back to the right. I pull a quick pivot and lunge to get it back-handed, whipping a low throw to Jimmy Cozza who scoops it out of the dirt to notch our first win.





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