Read Challenge at Second Base for Free Online Page B

eager eyes. “Can we go back with Phil, Dad? Can we see him play?”
    “That’s a good idea!” said Phil. Smiling, he tapped his left hip pocket where his wallet was. “I signed for a nice bonus.
     The trip will be on me. Better yet, how about Mom and Dottie going, too?”
    “Nothing doing!” cried Mom. “No airplane trips for me! I’m keeping my feet on the ground!”
    “Mom,” said Dottie, “don’t be so oldfashioned. We’ll make the trip. Phil will buy us all round-trip tickets, and we’ll go.
     Right, big brother?”
    “Right!” said Phil.
    Mom insisted she wasn’t going by air, and that was that. She kept her word, too, at least until the next afternoon.
    Once again Dad got disgusted with her.
    “All right,” he said. “If you’re not going, neither am I.”
    “Oh, no,” Mom said. “You’re going.
I’m
staying home.”
    When the plane departed the next afternoon, Phil, Stan, Dottie, Dad
and
Mom were on it.
    Stan laughed when the plane taxied down the long runway, and then took off. Mom had her eyes closed. It wasn’t until the plane
     was quite high that she opened them again and dared a glance out of the window.
    “Oh, my,” she said.
    She was quiet for a while, fascinated by the view passing slowly underneath them. The earth below stretched out like a giant
     patchwork quilt. Hills loomed in the distance. Rivers wound crookedly, finally emptying into small lakes that flashed the
     sunlight like tiny mirrors.
    “This is beautiful,” Mom finally said. “Really beautiful.”
    At her side, Dad grinned with satisfaction,winked at Stan, and then leaned his head back to rest.
    The game, played under lights, drew a large crowd. Stan and his family sat in reserved seats, directly behind the Harport
     dugout. Phil, dressed in his white uniform, winked at them as he walked past. Broad-shouldered and head held high, he looked
     even taller than he did in regular clothes.
    The game got under way. Phil played short, and Stan watched him eagerly. It had been a long time since he had seen Phil play.
     Phil moved lightly on his feet, and he threw the ball like a bullet.
    Each time a ball galloped down to short, Stan bit his lip. But Phil played the ball like the professional he was, catching
     the hop and whipping it to first for the put-out. Once he worked a double play without an assist. The ball was hit to his
     side of second base. Runninghard, he nabbed the ball in his gloved hand, stepped on the bag, then pegged to first.
    Then, in the fifth inning, he fumbled a hard-hit grounder. He finally picked up the ball and fired it to first, but the runner
     was already there.
    “Oh-oh,” muttered Dad.
    Stan got nervous. How would Phil act now? Would that error bother him so that he might miss another? Or would he not play
     as well as he had been playing the earlier part of the game?
    In the seventh inning a hard-driven ball headed between third and short. There were two outs, and a man was on third. Harport
     trailed by one run. This extra run would be an “insurance” run for the other team.
    Phil’s too far from it! thought Stan. He just can’t possibly get that ball!
    Then Phil stretched out his
bare right hand,
caught the ball, and pegged it to first!The throw was long, swift, and accurate. It beat the runner by a step!
    “Wow!” gasped Dad. “Did you see that?”
    “Man, what a catch!” cried Stan.
    The fans gave Phil a big hand.
    So far, at the plate, Phil had grounded out and drawn a walk. Now, with a man on, he stepped into the batter’s box again.
     He was a right-hand hitter. He stood tall and loose.
    The pitches came in, and he looked them over carefully. At last he had a full count on him — three and two.
    “This is the one that counts,” whispered Stan excitedly.
    The pitch came in, and Phil smacked it. It sailed far out to left, over the fielder’s head! The ball struck the fence and
     bounced back. A run scored and Phil stopped on third base with a triple.
    The next hitter