Jitterbugs in Stromsburg (for a little while)

Riding the crest of our first victory, the Jitterbugs zoomed into Osceola, NE, this getting into town twenty minutes before game time, instead of twenty minutes after. But to our surprise, there was no team waiting for us. Inquiries were made at the nearby public swimming pool, and the lifeguard called a friend of hers who was going to the game, and she told the lifeguard who told us that the game was actually going to be played in nearby Osceola, since the team was culled from kids from Stromsburg, Osceola, and Shelby (SOS), and they rotated fields every game. With a few sighs and curses, we hopped back in our cars. So, it was tally-ho to Osceola, where we arrived - approximately - when the game was supposed to start. However, we were fully uniformed, which was an improvement over last game. Even better, our pants had been upgraded at the hands of Mrs. Minarick and her crack team of seamstress daughters: the maker of our vintage pants hadn't yet added fly buttons when we picked them up, so after our first game, the Minaricks added them to each pair. Many thanks. After a brief warm-up, the game began. But as the Kansas City Royals know all too well, pitching is hard, and the sluggers from SOS put up a quick eight runs on us before the end of the first inning. So the Jitterbugs put out an SOS call of our own, and Luke Francis stepped up to the mound from first base and quelled the SOS run. The rest of the game, the Jitterbugs battled hard, putting up runs and playing tight with SOS, including a 2 for 3 batting performance by Mitch Minarick, the hero of our first game at North Bend, showing he can hit the strikes as well as he can throw them. But despite his bat and Francis' arm, the Jitterbugs couldn't quite overcome the first inning deficit, finally losing 18-9. On the bright side, the game highlighted our offensive firepower and showed that as long as we can pitch, our bats will do the rest. As we left that night under the lights, sipping the Gatorade bottles that the SOS coach gave us for free, we were confident about our chances against Weeping Water.