Baseball and Aliens

Gary ran out to the mound, and gave a ball to Ray, "Look out for Ray guns." And he ran back. 

The leadoff batter for the alien team was lean, had long blonde hair that stuck out from underneath his cap. He blew a pink bubble and it popped. 

"They even have bubble gum!" Gasped Robbie at first. 

Ray threw the first pitch. The batter swung and fouled it back behind the backstop. "Hey batter! Hey batter!" Yelled the outfield. The Strikers just sat and watched. They didn't say a word. Ray leaned back and let the next one fly right down the middle. The batter swung and a loud crack echoed throughout the field. Ray looked up, the infield looked up, and the outfield looked up. The ball left the field deep over the left field fence.  

Gary came to the mound and handed Ray another ball. "Luckily we brought more than one this time." Gary blew a huge bubble and let it pop. "I think he's a fastball hitter." 

Ray glared at him. "Just give me the ball." 

Gary pounded his mitt and ran back behind the plate. "Hey! Batter! Batter! Batter! Go on, this guy has got no stick!" 

The batter looked at Gary, confused, waved his bat and turned to look at Ray. Ray let threw the ball, it started at the batter's head, but then it broke away. The batter swung. The ball landed in Gary's mitt. 

Strike one. 

The infield chanted. "Hey batter! Hey batter!" 

Ray took the ball and stared down the batter. He threw. The batter swung, and the ball went straight up into the air above the catcher's head. Gary flung off his mask and caught the ball. Sam, the shortstop, turned to the outfield and put one finger in the air. "One away!"  

The next batter had blonde hair, blue eyes, and looked very athletic. Ray threw two curveballs that the batter fouled away. With his fingers Gary indicated he wanted a fastball inside. Ray nodded and threw as hard as he could. The ball was inside, very inside. The batter fell backwards and hit the ground. The Strikers stood up in unison from their bench, looked at the batter on the ground, and then looked at Gary. The entire field was suddenly silent. The Bombers didn't know what to do. They looked at the aliens and then at each other.  

"Are they going to shoot us with ray guns?" Sam whispered to Greg at third. Greg was frozen, his eyes popping out of his head.  

At second base, Rachel shifted from her left foot to her right foot. "Get ready to run!" She whispered to the infield. 

Then the batter stood up, brushed himself off, and yelled, "Let me see the next pitch!" 

The aliens silently sat back down in unison. 

Ray took the ball, went into his windup, and threw a curve to the outside part of the plate. The batter swung hard. He missed. Strike three. 

"Whew!" said Gary, he threw the ball back to Ray. 

The next batter strode to the batter's box. Ray stood tall and stared into Gary's mitt. Gary gave a signal for the next pitch-a fastball, low. 

Ray threw. The crack of the bat echoed for miles. Ray felt a breeze go past his face. He turned around to see where the ball went. "Where's the ball?" shouted Ray. 

At second base, Rachel held her glove up. "I have it!" The batter stopped and kicked the dirt. The rest of the Bombers cheered and patted Rachel on the back as they ran back to the bench. 

The Strikers took the field. "Let's go Rachel!" Shouted the team. Still excited about her catch, she grabbed a bat and ran to the plate.  

Darvin stood tall and stared into the catcher's mitt. No sound came from the Solar System Strikers. They were focused.