Benny Rodriguez

Benny watched the boy attempt to throw the ball but when it only landed a few feet in front of him, he looked down slightly. As the team laughed, Benny was left disappointed in his friends though he knew what they were like. "Hey!" A girl's voice gained his attention, he looked up to see a blonde girl his age standing there in a blue dress and the ball in her hand. She was the same girl who had stood up to Phillips, she was also seated in front of him in Mathematics at school. "Give us our ball!" Kenny called out to her to which she clearly rolled her eyes.

"Bullies!" She said and Benny instantly felt worse than before. She raised her arm in perfect pitching form before throwing the ball straight to Ham who stumbled slightly. "What the?" Ham muttered as he looked from Benny to Kenny then back to the mystery girl. The boys all looked to the girl who simply shrugged till she and Benny locked eyes, he was impressed by her pitch. She smiled slightly before turning on her heel and walking away with so much confidence leaving Benny stunned. "Yeah-yeah, did she just...?" Yeah-Yeah trailed off as Benny stepped forward.

"Not only is she hot, but she can throw a ball?!" Squints exclaimed as he turned to the others. Benny was still looking in the direction she had disappeared, he had never found so much interest in a girl before and yet, here he was, wanting to know her name. "Yo Benny, she throws better than Kenny!" Bertram said which caused an argument between them. Benny didn't care about what they were saying, not only did the boy interest him but the mystery girl had him questioning whether or not baseball is the only thing important in the world.

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Scotty Smalls

Now everyone knew that Benny was different. Nobody ever voted or anything, but he was the leader. If it wasn't for Benny, I never would've made a single friend that summer, 'cause all the rest of those guys thought I was a lost cause. Even before we became friends, Benny and me were connected, connected for the one moment later that summer. . . When I'd get us all into the biggest pickle. . . Any of us had ever seen.

Whereas, Riley had made quite the impression on Benny Rodriguez. . . He was all about baseball, that was his only focus in the world but my sister, she turned his world upside down. He knew there were attractive girls at school. . . But something about Riley was different for him, perhaps her common love for baseball. . . or maybe a new kind of connection that neither of them were expecting.

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Riley Smalls

The next day, Scotty told Riley that he was gonna ask Bill to teach him to play. She was proud of him and decided not to get involved to allow the two some time to bond with each other. She had a shower, brushed her teeth and tied her back in a ponytail. She threw on her ripped jeans, her baggy New York Yankies T-shirt and put on her slightly worn PF Flyers. Happy with her outfit, she pulled on her cap, pulling her ponytail through the back of it and picked up her baseball glove, placing it in her waistband.

She was slightly startled when she heard Scotty yelp, rushing to the kitchen she found her brother holding a piece of meat to his eye as Bill left to do some work. Riley smiled at her brother as she knelt down in front of him, "Remember when I came home with a black eye. You weren't supposed to copy me." Scotty smiled at his sister's teasing comment before sighing, "I caught the ball but..." Riley chuckled before ruffling Scotty's hair, "Don't stress, kid. You just gotta practice. Trust me." Scotty smiled at his older sister as the two began talking about random things.

After a little while, the two were sitting on the porch step looking at Scotty's broken glove. "Hey," A voice caught their attention, they looked up to see the batter from the sandlot. Riley smiled at him as she took a moment to essentially admire the baseball boy. He had dark hair hidden under his blue LA cap, tanned skin and dark hazel eyes. Riley smirked when he looked at her with a brow raised, she wasn't always one to shy away when caught staring. Well, most of the time.

The cute batter cleared his throat, "I'm gonna go play some ball. We need extra guys, you two wanna go?" Riley looked to her brother letting him decide. "No. Thanks," Scotty responded, Riley shrugged up at the boy as if to say the choice is his. "Why not? Don't you like baseball?" The batter asks Scotty while Riley let them talk. "Oh, yeah, but-" Scotty started but was cut off by the batter, "-But what?" Scotty was silent for a moment, "But my glove... it's busted. Uh, see? Now I can't go. Thanks, though."

The batter smiled slightly, "It's okay." He reached behind him pulling a glove from his waistband, "I got an extra one. Come on, let's go." Scotty looked at Riley who nodded. Scotty jumped up and ran inside to tell their mom they were going out. "My name is Riley Smalls, by the way. That's my younger brother, Scott," Riley introduced to the cute batter as Scotty ran up to them. "I'm Benjamin Rodriguez, but you can call me Benny," Benny responded as they began walking. Scotty and Benny got into a conversation fairly quickly and Riley jumped in occasionally.

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Riley, Benny and Scotty approached the boys outside Vincent's Drugstore. "Check this out," The catcher from yesterday spoke before placing a candy cigar in his mouth, "I'm the grmm bammmino." Riley smiled as they all tried to guess what he was saying. "I'm the Great Bambino is what he's saying," Riley tells them as she crossed her arms against her chest. The boys all turned to her at the sound of her voice, but it wasn't her presence that shocked them.

"Who's that?" Scotty said making Riley's eyes widen as she turned to her clearly oblivious brother. She shared a look with Benny before focusing on her little brother as the boys stepped forwards. "What, were you born in a barn, man?" One of them says. "Yeah, yeah, what planet are you from?" Another added. "You never heard of the Sultan of Swat?" Another asked. "The Titan of Terror?" Another exclaimed. "The Colossus of Clout?" One started with another mimicking him. "The King of Krash, man," Benny finished. Scotty looked over to his sister and she prepared herself for whatever lie he'd use to cover himself.

Scotty turned back to the others, "Oh, yeah, the Great Bambino. Of course! I thought you said the Great Bambi." Riley had to bite the inside of her cheek to prevent herself from laughing. "That wimpy deer?" The catcher from yesterday responded. "Anyway..." Benny started, changing the subject. "Riley, Scott, that's Timmy and Tommy Timmons," Benny pointed to the two brothers who spit on the ground. "Mike "Squints" Palledorous." The shorter kid with glasses then spit on the ground.

Benny continued, "Alan McClellan, we call him Yeah-Yeah." Spit. "Bertram Grover Weeks." Spit. "Kenny DeNunez." Spit. "And Hamilton Porter. We call him Ham." Spit. "This is Scott and Riley Smalls," Benny introduced. "You don't expect me to spit, do you?" Riley said with a smirk, the boys chuckled lightly. "Hi," Scotty squeaked out making Squints spit again. "Yeah, um, well, their gonna play with us 'cause he makes nine and she's an extra with skill," Benny tells them, Riley blushed lightly at the compliment as she looked down with the cap covering her face.

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Benny Rodriguez

Benny noticed the light blush on Riley's face before she looked down and it caused a strange warmth to fill his chest, almost the same thing he felt everytime he hit a homer. He shook it off and turned back to the boys, "Now we've got a whole team. We're wasting time, let's go to the sandlot." Benny walked with the others as Riley and Scotty followed behind them a short distance away. They reached the sandlot and the Smalls siblings stood a distance away as the team surrounded Benny. "Why'd you bring him, Benny?" Bertram asks.

Benny turned to him, "'Cause there's eight of us, and he makes nine." Benny glanced over to Riley as she lightly punched Scotty's shoulder resulting in him laughing. "Yeah-Yeah, so would my sister, but I didn't bring her!" Yeah-Yeah said before glancing at Riley who raised a brow at him having heard his comment, he looked away with flushed cheeks. "With nine guys, we got a whole team," Benny tells them, "And she can clearly pitch." DeNunez nodded in slight agreement, "We got no problem with her, she can pitch but him?" Benny sighed.

Ham ignored DeNunez's comment, "No, with Elswenger we had a whole team, and Elswenger could throw!" DeNunez nodded, "He ain't game, Benny. He can't throw for nothin'." Benny noticed that Scotty was looking down at the ground while Riley was glaring at the boys. "Benny, you already play all the empty positions since Elswenger moved to Arizona!" Timmy exclaims. "And now I get to rotate eight positions instead of seven. I need the practice," Benny responds making them all compliment his skills.

Squints shook his head as he adjusted his glasses, "No you don't. It's stupid, Benny. The kid's an L-7 weenie!" Benny looked to the siblings as Scotty slumped more and Riley curled her hands into fists by her sides. "Yeah-yeah, Oscar Mayer even. Foot-long! Dodger dog! A weenie!" Yeah-Yeah added loudly. Benny turned to him, "What are you laughing at, Yeah-Yeah? You run like a duck!" Riley laughed at that comment which bought back that warmth in Benny's chest. "Kay-Kay, but I'm- I'm-" Yeah-Yeah started but Benny cut him off, "Part of the game, right? How come he don't get to be?"

The boys were silent for a moment till Squints spoke, "'Cause he's a geek, man." Benny sighed, "Man, base up, you blockheads." They hit the field before Benny jogged over to the siblings. "Riley, you wanna bat?" Benny asks, she nodded with a smile. "Smalls, you take left center, okay?" Benny tells Scotty before he and Riley turned to walk away. "Where exactly is that?" Scotty asked, Benny turned to him slightly stunned. "It's over there, Scotty," Riley pointed off to left center.

Scotty walked in that direction, "Here?" Benny looked at him, "That's left. I said left center." Scotty nodded, "Okay. Right. Here?" Benny nodded at him before looking at Riley who was smiling happily at her brother. She turned to look up at Benny and he swore in that moment, he finally understood why the boys were always talking about girls. "Come on, Benny, man! He's never gonna catch the ball anyway," Yeah-Yeah shouted, Benny shook from the trance he was in and made his way over to home base. He looked over to Riley who stood with her arms crossed over her chest and her focus on the game.

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Riley Smalls

Riley was ready to punch all of the boys in the face except for Benny due to their mean comments. She was grateful to Benny sticking up for Scotty as she felt bad that they were willing to let her play but not her brother. Riley was used to this behaviour from boys, the mean or sexist comments, the teasing laughter and most of all, when they judged her until she proved herself. That was how she managed to get onto her own team back in their old hometown, she had also convinced her old coach to put her on the school team.

She knew her brother needed to learn to fight his own battles, he needed to strengthen his own mind against their words but she was ready to teach the team not to mess with her brother. All she had to do now was hit a homer, steal a base and pitch the perfect ball and she'll be one of the guys. But helping her brother out was gonna be a different story, but as Riley looked over to Benny then to her brother, she knew she wouldn't be doing it alone. Benny had clearly seen something in Scotty, there was a clear connection between them and perhaps that meant their summer would be amazing.

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Author Note
Just a disclaimer:
This story may not match up with the movie and some lines, actions, scenes and characters will be different to the original show. I am using two different scripts to write this, one is from the original draft of the movie and the other is the final draft of the movie. Plus, I am writing it from my head so it may not be accurate. But I hope you do enjoy it!

-Rose <3
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