An Excerpt from a Writing Project

From Rockybado 2: A Run in the Game

This summer, the Watsons baseball team, the team that Andrew and Brody were hoping to get into, was going to start their season off by playing against the Pratts, a baseball team in a small town in Northwest Indiana. The Watsons had many hopes of getting through the first game strong. Last year, the team was not as successful. After having that experience, the team saw no reason why they couldn’t try harder this year.

Today, Brody Ingram and Andrew McCalsky went to baseball practice, while David Ingram and Adam Levistad went to tennis practice. Coach Withrow’s baseball team didn’t actually practice or play today. They just had a meeting about a game that was not too far away from now. The coach was passing out letters to the players who would take part in that game. He ordered everyone to line up in alphabetical order. If the coach told the player, “great job,” or something very positive, and he gave them a sheet of paper with the schedule for the entire summer, they had the opportunity to play in the game. Otherwise, if the coach had a critical comment for the player, and he didn’t hand out a schedule, they didn’t make it this far. Not necessarily that they were bad. They just needed to improve for next season.

Now, time for the baseball coach to determine the participants of the upcoming baseball game.

Brody and Andrew stood stiff while waiting for Coach Withrow to hand out letters to them. Their hearts were pounding so hard against their chests that they could burst at any given time. After a few minutes, both boys just waited to see if they made it on the team for this season.

“Matthew Adams, great job.”
“Scott Ardovich, you need to improve your pitches.”
“Patrick Artley, you’re great.”
“Nicholas Baker, you made it in.”
“John Bierborner, good effort, but you have a better chance of getting in next year since you will most likely improve.”
“Bryan Brackley, if only you didn’t show off as much, you’d be a great player.”
“Sam Elczek, you should practice a little more. The more you practice, the better you get.”
“Nathaniel Gondek, congratulations. You made it in.”
“Caleb Hartney, you should practice catching the ball with your left hand.”
“Brody Ingram.”

Oh dear. Now was the time to find out about making it on the team. Brody’s stomach turned upside down. His heart was pounding much harder than before. And he closed his eyes.

What did Coach Withrow think about Brody being on this season’s team?

“You’re on the team, Brody.”

After these words, Brody let out a sigh of relief. Now, he really started hoping that his best friend also made it on the team.

“Mark Irdron, you need to spend more time improving your pitches.”
“David Jackson, excellent.”
“Isaiah Kaittholis, you need to spend more time practicing your pitches and catching the ball.”
“David Kilt, you made it in.”
“Cameron Lazynski, better luck next year.”
“Josiah Lindt, you’re amazing.”
“Mark Lovestoski, you need to try to practice focusing on the ball when up to bat.”
“Andrew McCalsky.”

Now was the time for Andrew to find out about making it on the team. His stomach turned upside down. His heart was pounding much harder than before. And he also closed his eyes.

What did Coach Withrow think about Andrew being on this season’s team?

“Andrew, you are also on the team.”

Andrew let out a sigh of relief.

“Ben Morquist, you should practice batting with your left hand.”
“Kyle Nancy, you should gain a little more experience for next year.”
“Paul Nesmond, same thing to you.”
“Tony Polansky, same as Sam. You need to practice more.”
“Andrew Radigan, excellent.”
“Sean Yadovich, good.”
“The two Yerbaschek boys, you may both be pretty annoying at times, but you both made it on the team.”

After Coach Withrow finished determining the team for this season….

“Even if you did not get a letter, please do not take this personally. However, you should still be there for the game. If something happens all of a sudden, for example, if Brody or Andrew end up having an asthma attack, one of you will have to take his place.”


​​Check out Rockybado, Rockybado 2: A Run in the Game,Rockybado 3: The Invasion of the Naughty Blue Aliens, and Rockybado 4: Running Up a Hill

For some double awesome stuff, check out The Crazy Chicken Escapade and The Somewhat Perilous Plot of the Patriotic Mosquitoes!