Dougie Walsh called his coach and pleaded with him to give him another shot on the mound. His last performance did not go so well and Dougie was dropped from the rotation. He invited his coach over to his accuracy obstacle course to show him his new and improved pitches. Convinced that Dougie could make a go of it, his coach granted him another shot at redeeming himself. Monday’s game against the Bellman Boppers could determine seeding in the upcoming state tournament. Dougie was appreciative of his coach and promised a solid performance.

I would say a 1 hit, no walk, 7 inning dominating performance would qualify as a redemption game, wouldn’t you? Dougie Walsh literally mowed hitters down like a teenager pushing a mower in his backyard. His fastball was crisp. His slerve ball was moving in and out of the hitting zone. His “hang loose” curveball was floating and then dropping out of the strike zone. His changeup was on, his accuracy was on, Dougie Walsh was on fire. TV and local media covered the game and reported on it online and on the 6pm news. Dougie watched the game recap with his mom, who was so proud of her pitching phenom son.

The next morning, the coaches from Bellman, led by HC Danny Diekman, met in the video room and watched the game. “How did he throw that” and “what the heck kind of pitch is that” and “is he using something illegal to get that spin rate” were echoed by the three coaches over and over again. The Bellman HC contacted the state baseball governing body and demanded an investigation. The state agreed to hear the complaint and Dougie was notified of the inquiry. Dougie was asked to report to the baseball field after school to be questioned.

When Dougie arrived on the mound, he was met by Diekman and two other independent coaches. The first thing the investigation team did was check his hands. They checked for sticky substances, pine tar, anything that would stand out. “Nothing,” said the lead investigator as two other coaches, including Diekman, chimed in “what” and “how.” Dougie responded with a smirk, “yep nothin'” and then proceeded to go onto the mound. His game day catcher went behind the plate and looked at the team of reporters and cameras behind the backstop. Dougie was asked to throw his pitches to a live investigation team and the media. He complied. After about 20 pitches, the lead investigator looked at his glove, his hat, and his hands again. “Nothin” said the investigator and the session came to an end. Dougie yelled a few choice words over to HC Diekman and the other Bellman coaches and walked off the mound yelling “Told ya.”

Later that evening, the Bellman coaching group got a call from Ernie Day, a local media rep, who had attended the pitching investigation. He had videotaped the session and was using high resolution replay to check Dougie’s hands, motion, etc. for anything he could report on. “I got it, I got something,” said Ernie Day. “We will be right over,” stated Bellman HC Danny Diekman. When they arrived at Day’s magazine office, Day handed them a tablet with a photo superimposed with Dougie Walsh’s hand. “Look at that,” said Day. “Check out his hand.” The Bellman coaches gasped and gagged and began making comments. “Is that tiny fingers?” and “Bingo” and “Ewwww” and stuff like that. The Bellman coaches felt that they had caught Dougie Walsh cheating and could not wait to report him to the investigation team.

“Nice catch, Ernie” said Head Baseball Coach Danny Diekman of the Bellman Boppers. “There is no room for cheating in the game of baseball.”