"CRACK!"


John swung the bat with a slight up swing on his follow through. The ball was literally screaming for the outfield. It was a good solid base hit, if not more. John took off running, letting the bat drop to the ground. The nurse was fast and he knew it. His head turned toward center field as he rounded first base. The ball was in its descent heading into the gap between left field and center.


Karen stood in the coach’s box watching the movement of the outfielders in reaction to the descending ball. Her arms frantically were waving the base runner on for additional bases. The nurses on the sideline were cheering for their coworker while watching the ball soar into the outfield. The first ball to the first batter and already they had the possibility of being on the scoreboard. They watched as John rounded second base and headed for third.


The left fielder was now calling for the ball as he stood waiting patiently for it to drop. The young physician had made a small miscalculation and trying to readjust attempted to catch the ball with his gloved hand extended over his head. The ball struck the tip of the glove and veered off towards center field.


The speedy nurse was now stepping on the bag at third base. Mom screamed, "GO HOME!" Her arms waved wildly as her face grew beet red from yelling. John put his head down in a determined run for the plate. The nursing staff was going crazy with excitement, jumping and shouting words of encouragement.


Garrett saw what was happening, her long legs moved swiftly to cover the ground between her and the deflected ball. She was no longer thinking, just letting her natural ability take the reins. Seeing that she would not be able to reach it before it struck the ground, she positioned herself to catch it off of the bounce. The glove took the abuse of the hard hit as the ball slammed into it. In a smooth motion, the surgeon had excised the orb and cocked back her arm to throw it into the infield. Her mind had quickly calculated the speed of the runner. He would be at the plate before the standard relay from the outfield to the second baseman could turnover to the catcher. With that in mind, Dr. Trivoli took aim and let her arm fire the ball into the catcher. It would be a long shot, but she had done it before. ‘Just like riding that bike.’ Garrett’s follow-through carried her into a forward momentum, her face strained with determination.


Dr. Porter threw off her facemask. Her peripheral vision allowed her to follow the base runner as he drove with abandon towards her at home plate.


Jamie’s focus was on the play being made from the outfield. She concentrated on the ball and realized it was coming directly into home. Her feet went into a readied stance as she braced herself for the impact of the runner. She held her glove in position to catch the ball as it got closer. Her eyes grew bigger as she sucked in a large gulp of air. It was going to be close.


"WHAM!"


The catcher felt the impact of the ball into her glove and swiftly brought the arm in a sweeping motion across the baseline in front of the plate. She caught John as he was sliding between her feet. The kinetic energy that was transferred from the forward charge of the nurse to the stationary doctor sent the young woman into the air and rolling backwards. Glasses flew and red hair was wild as it tumbled out of the cap that was thrown off in the collision. Both teams went suddenly silent, fearing injury to one or possibly both players.


The umpire stood waiting for the dust to clear. He quickly surveyed the scene seeing John an inch away form the plate and Jamie sprawled out with the ball still tightly held in her glove. "YOU’RE OUT!" His hand motion was strong and animated for all to see.


The team of nurses stood in shock. Karen just kept blinking and shaking her head in disbelief. Danni couldn’t believe her eyes and slowly turned to stare out at the tall woman in centerfield. Rosie suddenly was without words.


"She said she played a little in college," muttered Danni under her breath, "…as a utility player. I never expected this."


"Well, thanks a lot, Danni. It appears that you gave them a ringer." Rosie was finally able to vocalize.


"I wonder if she can bat?" Steve weakly voiced, not really wanting to know the answer.


Nan thought about the skill and strength that the throw had needed, "I don’t think I want to know. Figures that she’d be perfect."


The once over confident team was now lost in the beginnings of despair. Danni quickly took stock of the team’s shattered confidence and stepped in to put a stop to the defeatist attitude that was taking it over. "Ok, she just got lucky. That’s all! We still have two more outs before they get up to bat again. We can still score. It’s only the first inning, guys, we can do it."


Rosie began to help out, "Yeah, come on! We can beat them. We did it last year, didn’t we?"


The rest of the team chimed in with words of encouragement as John slowly came over to the sideline. "What happened?" he asked.


"You tried for one too many, that’s all." Marianne the E.R. aid answered.


"Who threw that ball?" John demanded.


Rosie and Danni looked at each other and spoke at the same time in an accusing tone.


"YOUR Dr. Trivoli!" "YOUR ‘Amazon’!"


Karen heard the exchange and busted out in laughter. It was contagious; soon the whole team was caught up in it. The two nurses looked at the rest of the team in amazement, then at each other, immediately exploding into a giant belly laugh themselves.


Dr. Porter was painstakingly taking stock of her body parts, making sure that no injury was apparent before trying to get up. Assured that she was neurologically intact and uninjured otherwise, the catcher slowly pulled herself to her feet searching for her glasses. Ian had rushed in, securing the glasses and started to walk towards his shaken colleague.


"Jamie, you okay?" He grabbed her hand and placed the glasses into it. "Here, put these on."


"Thanks, I’m fine. Honest, nothing is damaged." She looked over to the sound of hysterical laughter coming from the nurses’ sideline. "They laughing at me?" she asked puzzled.


"I don’t think so. Must be something they said." Ian offered as he dusted the catcher off. "That was some play. Great catch for a woman!" he teased. His head turned to the tall woman in centerfield; "Great throw from one, too!"


Seeing that no player had been hurt in the collision, the umpire pulled a small whiskbroom from his rear pants pocket and began to sweep off the plate. Satisfied in its cleanliness, he stood back and yelled, "BATTER UP!"


*********


The sun, now gravitating toward the western horizon, followed its path as the game waged on. The competitors each determined not to accept defeat, as they took turns to advance their side’s odds of winning, but to no avail. It was the top of the fourth inning with no score for either side. The nurses had taken up their positions and awaited the first batter.


John adjusted his facemask as the approaching figure made her way to the batter’s box. It was the center fielder, Dr. Garrett Trivoli. Standing outside of the box, she swung several bats together in a looping arc around her head as an attempt to loosen her shoulder muscles. After choosing one bat and discarding the rest, the surgeon squared her shoulders as she stepped into the lines of the batter’s box. John looked up at the tall figure saying, "Well, Trivoli, let’s see what you can do with a bat." His tone was one of scorn.


The surgeon let one eyebrow arch high as she cast a downward glare at him. She took in a large breath and cleared her throat. Her attention now turned to the woman on the mound. She settled into a comfortable stance and waited for the first pitch. The arc of the ball was high as she watched it go by.


"Ball one!" The umpire noted.


John threw the ball back to Nan. He turned toward Garrett and spit the tobacco juices from the chew placed in his mouth attempting to intimidate the physician. It didn’t work. The surgeon remained aloft to any attempts to unnerve her concentration. The catcher resumed his position. He waited until the pitcher released the next ball before asking, "So, what college did you play for, anyway?"


Garrett was undistracted, her eye steady on the approaching ball. The subtle cocking of the bat in anticipation of the impending swing was evident. The powerful arms tugging at the bat as it was whipped in a thrusting arc, colliding over the plate with the sphere. Her body twisted with the momentum of the swing. The bat was dropped one handed to the ground as her long legs began the forward driving motion toward first base. She watched as the ball sailed over the right field hedges. The base umpire signaled a home run and Garrett slowed to a trot, making sure to touch all the bases on her way back to home plate. The doctors were jumping, cheering, and several were waiting at the edge of the home plate area to shake the trauma surgeon’s hand in congratulations.


John positioned himself in the front of the line reaching for Garrett’s hand as she stepped onto the plate. His eyes searched hers, "Honestly, where did you play?"


The surgeon looked the nurse straight in the eye, "U.S.C. ’82 through ’85." A smirk remained on her face as she withdrew her hand and continued into the throng of well-wishing physicians.