"Guys, now is not the time to fall apart," Jake said to himself as he hit a fly ball that dropped ten feet in front of Vince Lorrensi.

"Jake, calm down," Nick said in a low voice, warning him jokingly as he tossed Jake a  ball.

"Thank you," Jake said quickly.

Warmups continued and an hour later, everything seemed to be okay. The only thing that Jake might have wanted to complain about was the weather. It was pretty windy and as he found himself running to check on everything, he pulled on his Brennan baseball sweatshirt.

"Hey, Jake. What's up?" A voice said from in front of him.

"Nothing much. Just working our butts off, Mr. Zami," Jake chuckled as he approached Nick's dad working his grill next to the tables.

"Seems like it. Nick wanted me to tell you that if he doesn't get a chance or you don't believe it, you're doing a great job. Nick is absolutely loving doing this with you"

He smiled.

"Thank you, Mr. Zami. I appreciate it. How is everything? Are you doing okay?"

"Yep"

"Good," Jake smiled. "Let me know if you need anything"

Jake spent the next few minutes dashing around making sure everything was going smoothly. And everything seemed to be. Jake checked his watch. He had a half-hour before game time.

"You got time for your girlfriend in your busy life?" a voice rang out from behind Jake.

"Of course I do," Jake smiled, hugging Riley. "Ugh, so happy to see you. I'm glad you're here."

"Me too," Riley said, smiling, putting her hand against his face.

"Jake!" Nick's voice rang out from the dugout.

Jake closed his eyes, shaking his head. "Sorry, Ry. Guess I'm needed again"

He gave her a kiss and hugged her, pulling away again.

"As long as I get to take you to a nice dinner tonight, I'm good"

"I'd love that," Jake said.

"Jake!" Nick called again.

"Coming!" Jake said, jogging back to the dugout. "What's up?"

Nick took his shoulders and positioned him towards the gate.

And what Jake saw made him want to grab that SJU bucket and his team and hide.

Nick took another look at the team on the field and then gave Jake the water bottle to swish his mouth out. Jake spit into the bucket and sighed. He really had to get over this stomach issue of his.

"You alright?" Nick asked finally.

"Yeah," he breathed out. "He just... Ugh," Jake left his sentence hanging, rubbing his forehead.

"I can't believe they would have let him back in this building ever," Nick said, sipping his own water.

"Well, the name Rick Lane still has pull," Jake whispered, his mind still racing with questions.

Would Rick Lane know who he was?

Would he try to hurt the team again?

And what if... He succeeded?

That last thought made the nausea come back again. Nick just put a hand on Jake's back, a silent motion that let him know he was there.

"Alright, enough of this," Jake said, coughing. "I have to be out there with my team and we're gonna kill this thing. Take this," Jake said, handing him the bucket.

"You sure you're alright?" Nick asked, hesitantly.

"Absolutely not," Jake said, standing up. "But there is no way when my kids see that man, that I'm not gonna be by their side.

As last-minute preparations were made and Jake had shaken hands with the umpire, they were ready to go. As far as Jake and Nick knew, the team hadn't noticed Rick Lane was there and they intended to keep it that way for as long as they could. Jake gathered the team around him for one last moment before they went out.

"Work hard, work together, and have some fun. This is for us," he said, smiling and nodding at them.

"For our new beginning?" Parker questioned with a returning grin.

"Yes," Jake said, firmly. "For our new beginning"

If Jake could count how many times he had to run out of the dugout to check on things, he would have had to use Nick's hand to help. Half of the time during the game, he was either with Nick's dad or at the front gate solving admission problems. He had put Riley and Mac there after a while because he just couldn't keep running out to check on it. He knew Riley and Mac would keep it under control. He jogged back down the dugout stairs, slipping off his sweatshirt and throwing it on the bench.

"You wear your Apple watch today?" Nick asked him, chuckling. Jake slid his bucket underneath him and sat down.

"No, but I wish I did. Getting those steps in," he said, laughing. "What's the score?"

"1-0, Central"

"Dang it. Thought for sure we'd be up"

"Offense just needs to start producing. Maybe we should be hitting more at practice," Nick said.

"No, they're doing it enough. We are just gonna light a spark and something will start. I know it," Jake said.

He was doubting a little but he knew they had to do this.

And he believed in these kids with his whole heart.

"Okay, we got to take a minute," Jake said, calling a mound meeting. Brennan was now up 2-1 and Jake felt they were about to blow it. He walked out to the mound, catching the eye of Rick Lane. Jake turned away immediately.

"Come here, guys"

The team crowded around Jake again as he smiled at them. "You know the situation. Let's do it"

They all exchanged looks as Pete Rolfo spoke up. "Coach Jake... do you mean... ?"

"Yep. Let's do it"

Jake broke up the meeting as the team stood there, watching him. "Guys! Let's go!"

Jake walked back to the dugout, getting stares from Nick.

"What did you tell them to do?"

"We're gonna pull the Fox," Jake said, grinning. Nick didn't. Nick looked at the team then back at Jake.

"Jake, they can't do that. And we're finally winning. You want to risk a one-run lead on this impossible play?"

"Watch this," Jake answered back shortly. 

Nick and Jake had a move they used to do at SJU. It was a double play and it worked perfectly for this moment. Jake knew the kid coming up would hit a dropper into the gap between first and second. They played Central all the time and Jake knew these kids like his own. The move would be pulled when Hunter acted like he dropped the ball at second, throwing to first, and Pete would throw to second from first to get the runner hung up.

It was a difficult play but Jake knew with the perfect timing they could do it. They had been working on it at practice and he understood Nick's concerns.
They had never gotten it right yet.

He gave the team one final nod before Kevin threw the pitch.

Jake held his breath as... It happened.

It worked. Jake threw his hands up and hugged Nick.

They did it.

They won their first game. The team all ran together and hugged each other, throwing water and cheering.

After they all had celebrated with each other, they all lept on Jake, pushing him down as they all threw water on him.

The stands of Brennan fans were going crazy. And Jake hadn't felt happier. He honestly couldn't believe the play had worked but it did. In their celebration, Jake didn't even notice Riley running to him at first. He picked her up and kissed her. The team went crazy as they all crowded around the two lovebirds.

"You did it, babe!" Riley said. "I'm so proud of you. I love you!"

Jake stopped and didn't say anything for a minute. He was sort of shocked she said it. Jake could see Nick's face out of the corner of his eye and he wanted to snicker. Nick looked more surprised than him. But it was a happy surprise. Jake didn't have to think about his answer for long.

"I love you too," Jake said. Riley smiled so big as Jake picked her up again.

Today was the day he had been waiting for his entire life.

It was perfect.

After the team meeting and a lot more cheers and shouts, Jake sat the kids down in the dugout for one final thing.

"Okay, calm down now! I got something to tell you guys"

Jake paused for dramatic effect.

"We raised $515! Well enough over our budget! Coach Nick and I are here to stay"

The team cheered and made their way over for the second hug attack of the day. Jake laughed as Nick grabbed his phone.

"Team picture?"

"Whaddya say, team?" Jake asked them.

"Yeah!" They all cheered.

Nick snapped the picture, their smiles bigger than ever. Jake looked at Nick and nodded.

They had done it.

Jake walked out of the dugout, Riley's hand in his and Nick and Mackenzie walking beside them.

"That was amazing guys," Mac said, leaning her head around Nick to smile.

"It really was," a voice said from behind them. They all turned around to see Rick Lane, his balding head being covered by his red baseball cap. He looked grimly at them all.

"You did a great job with them, Jake," he said, nodding his head, turning away to go.

"Hey, give me a minute guys," Jake said, turning to Nick, Mac, and Riley and jogging after Lane.

"Rick!" Jake called walking beside him.

"What do you want to say to me?" he asked. "What a complete jerk I was to those kids? Save it. I already know it. No use to tell me now when I can't do anything about it," he said, walking away leaving Jake in the dust.

Riley walked up to him, grabbing his arm.

"You okay?" she asked.

"I think so," Jake said. "But I don't think that's the last we've seen of Rick Lane"

Jake and Riley walked back to where Nick and Mac were and Jake was greeted with his team smiling at him.

"Hey, guys! What a win!"

And suddenly, everything was alright again.

"We wanted to give you something, Coach Jake," Parker said, stepping forward and handing him a baseball.

"Uh," Jake looked at Nick who was smiling. "I love this guys but you do know I have a ton of these, right?"

"Hm. I don't think you have one quite like this one, Jake," Nick said, knowingly. Jake looked at it and what he saw made his heart break with happiness.  In black Sharpie, all the kids had signed their names and in the middle, along the seams, were the words "Thank You"

"Guys,... This is... Thank YOU. Alright, come here," Jake opened his arms, giving the ball to Riley to hold as he hugged the team. "Oh, I love you guys so much," Jake said.

"Awh," the team said as everyone around them laughed.

Jake had been so wrapped up in the moment that he didn't even realize Jim Krank was standing there the whole time. Jake broke yet another celebration apart as he went to shake Jim's hand. Jim hugged him instead.

"Jake, that was incredible. What... move was that?" Jim asked, laughing heartily.

Jake looked at Nick beside him and smiled. "Nick and I made it up in college. It's called the Fox. I think after today... It'll be one of our signature moves"

Jake smiled again as his eyes glossed over the team as he frowned suddenly.

"Hey! Guys, where's Parker and Collin?"

Jake swiveled his head trying to look for them as Collin came running around the corner of the building, his cleats skidding slightly as he ran into Jake's arms.

"Coach Jake! Come quick. Somethings wrong with Parker"

Jake took one look at Nick and ran after Collin.