"Brown, Dale - Patrick 2 - Day of the Cheetah" - читать интересную книгу автора (Brown Dale)

stopped his swing, clutched the other end of his bat with one
hand. He held the bat horizontally, tracked the ball as it UU1110
in and tapped it. It hit the hard ground in front of home plate,
bounced once, then rolled out between home plate and the
pitcher's mound and died. James took off for first base. Bell
stood up from his crouch, stared at the ball, then at James,
back to the ball, then at Scorcelli-who was looking on in
confusion. James had reached first base and was headed for
second before someone finally yelled to throw the ball.
Bell and Scorcelli ran to the ball, nearly collided as they
reached for it at the same time. Scorcelli picked it up, turned
and threw toward the second baseman. But it was a lob, not
overhand, and instead of an easy out at second, the softball hit
the ragged mud-choked grass several feet in front of the second
baseman, did not bounce and skipped off into shallow right
field as Ken James headed for third. The right fielder charged
the rolling ball, scooped it on the run, hesitated a second over
whether he could make the throw all the way, then threw to

"Johnston" at third base. Johnston corralled it with a careful
two-handed catch. A perfect throw. James wasn't even halfway
to third.
Johnston stepped triumphantly on third base, tossed the ball
-around the horn" to second base, held up two fingers. James,
though, was still running. Johnston tapped James' shoulder as
he ran. "Makin' it look good for Mr. Roberts, aren't-?"
"You idiot," Bell was yelling to Johnston. "You're sup-
posed to tag him out. "
The second baseman understood and threw the ball to Bell
at home plate.
By now James was getting winded. The throw was right on
target, and Bell caught the ball with James still fifteen feet from
home plate. Bell extended his glove, crouched down, antici-
pating a slide into home. James liked to do that even if it wasn't
necessary-he once did it after hitting a home run.
But James wasn't sliding. As Bell made the tag, James
plowed into him running at full bore, arms held up in front of
him, elbows extended. The ball, Bell's mitt, his hat and most
of his consciousness went flying.
Scorcelli threw his glove down on the mound, ran over to
James, grabbed him by the neck, and pinned him up against
the chain-link backsto . "Are you crazy?" The others, includ-
ing a dazed Tom Bell, began to cluster around them. Scorcelli
spun James around, wrestled him to the dirt. "Vi balshoy svey-
nenah."
The others who had surrounded Scorcelli and James tensed-
even Scorcelli seemed to forget that he had his hands around
James' neck.
"Enough." Mr. Roberts walked through the quickly parting
crowd and stood over the two on the ground. Scorcelli got to