As I was saying, I smiled at Bart. Then I picked up my clipboard. "Okay," I said. "Here's the line-up: Buddy at second base, where Matt usually plays." (Buddy Barrett, a Krusher, was substituting for Matt Braddock, who has played second for the Krashers before. Mart's family was away for the weekend.) "David Michael will catch. Jackie, you'll be at shortstop." (Jackie Rodowsky, another Krusher, is known as the Walking Disaster. He's accident-prone, to put it kindly.) "Karen

will be in right field, and Nicky will be pitching." (Nicky Pike's a Krusher, and his older sister Mallory is in the BSC.)

I went on to tell the Bashers where they'd be playing. I don't know the kids from Bart's team the way I know the Krushers. I baby-sit all the time for most of the kids on my team, so I know them pretty well. But the Bashers seem like good kids. "Jerry," I said, "you'll be at third. Patty's in center field. Joey's at first, and Chris is in left field." I smiled at everyone. "Got that?" I asked.

They nodded, and just then Charlie called out, "Here we are!" He swung the van into a parking space, and soon we were busy unloading equipment. I led the way to the field, carrying one of our big duffel bags full of bats, balls, and bases.

"Hi, Kristy!" I heard someone calling to me from the sidelines. It was Mary Anne Spier, my best friend and the secretary of the BSC. She was sitting with the other club members, who had come to see the game. I'm lucky to have loyal friends. I waved and smiled, but I was too busy to talk to them just then.

"Kristy, I'm here if you need me!" someone else called. I looked around and saw Jake Kuhn, who had promised to be on hand if we needed a substitute. He was dressed in his Krushers T-shirt, and he looked ready to play.

So did Linny and Hannie Papadakis. I also saw a few Bashers in the stands: Dave and Robbie, I think their names were. It was good to know that we'd be covered in case one of our players needed a break.