Derek had been thinking about it all afternoon, even though he’d mostly put his anxiety aside so that he and Vijay could practice. But six o’clock was less than an hour away now—Derek knew he wouldn’t be able to think about anything else till he knew his fate.

“I’m kind of played out. Let’s pick it up again on Monday, when we have Gary here.”

“Cool,” said Vijay. “I am no longer worried about our success, now that we have rehearsed a bit. But you know what they say—”

“Practice makes perfect!” both boys said together.

“Hey!” Derek spotted Dave and Chase in the parking lot and trotted over to them while his dad locked the car.

“I guess you couldn’t wait to see, any more than I could,” Dave said as the two boys high-fived.

“No, man—the suspense is driving me crazy! Let’s get in there!”

Chase shook hands with Mr. Jeter and clapped the two boys on the back.

“Good luck, men,” he said. “And remember, you’re already winners just by getting to the second round.”

Chase and Mr. Jeter had been co-coaches of the boys’ championship-winning Little League team last spring, and Derek really respected Chase. So they paid attention to what he said. Still, Derek knew that if his name wasn’t up there with the rest, he’d feel totally crushed.

He was sure Dave had made the team, based on what he’d seen him do at tryouts. But Derek had had to prove himself on a much more difficult stage. And he’d missed all those easy shots, too!

They got to the lobby and stared at the list.

There was Dave’s name, right at the top!

“Yeah! Congrats, man!” Derek told his friend, clapping him on the back.

At first, Derek didn’t see his own name, and his heart began to sink. But then Dave pointed to it—right below Sam’s. “Hey! You’re in, Derek!”

“YESSS!! Whoo-hoo!!” Derek shouted, his arms raised in triumph.

He and Dave high-fived and hugged each other. Derek was out of his mind with relief and happiness. “This is amazing! We made it, Dave!”

“We’re gonna rock it this season!”

Just then, Sam entered the building, accompanied by his mother.

“You made it, Sam!” Derek shouted, arms raised. “We all did!”

He showed Sam where his name was posted, under POINT GUARD—with Derek’s right below it. Derek understood that this meant Sam would be the starter at the position and that he himself would be the backup. But, hey—so what if he started games on the bench? He’d been on the bench for his final tryout, too—and that hadn’t stopped him from impacting the game, had it?