Chapter 1 NICE CATCH! "READY?" Henry Heckelbeck called. He threw a baseball into the air. Whap! Dudley Day caught it in his glove and took two steps back, away from Henry. Dudley threw the ball to Max Maplethorpe, who sandwiched the ball in her glove. Then she took two steps back. The three best friends were playing catch at the park. Each time one of them caught the ball, they took two steps back. Max threw to Henry.

Henry slid across the grass with his glove wide open. Plop! The ball fell right in, and his friends cheered. "What a catch!" shouted Max. "We're getting good at this!" Dudley agreed. Henry got up and took two steps back. Now they were really far apart. Henry gave the next ball a little too much power. The ball soared right over Dudley and rolled across the ground.

Sam Sterling caught the ball and walked over. Sam was one of their classmates, and he was wearing a baseball uniform. "Are you joining the Brewster Batters?" Sam asked. He pointed to the baseball field on the other side of the park. "Our first practice starts in fifteen minutes." "Not me," said Max. "I promised my mom I'd be home soon." Henry and Dudley looked at each other.

"Well, we can!" said Henry. The boys waved goodbye to Max and followed Sam to the baseball field. Sam's baseball jersey had a big 8 and STERLING printed on the back. Henry wanted a jersey with HECKELBECK printed on it. Joining the baseball team was going to be a total blast!.