1 0 : B V O V
by Melanie Hemry
The boy on the pitching mound spat in the dirt,
swung his arm in a wide circle and stared defi antly
at the batter.
Jerry didn't fl inch. Through all the pitcher's
gyrations, he watched the ball. The moment it came
fl ying toward him with a spin, Jerry tightened his
grip and, at just the right second, arched to meet it.
The crack of ball meeting the bat echoed across
the fi eld. In one fl uid movement, Jerry dropped the
bat and lunged toward fi rst base. Throwing his head
back in delight, he grinned into the wind and ran.
Lightly touching fi rst, he raced on toward second.
Once there, he took a chance at third, then on to
home plate. The ball whizzed past his head as he
dove, sliding into home in a cloud of dust.
"Safe!" the umpire shouted.
Jerry picked himself up out of the dirt with
a grin. He loved baseball. It wasn't just his
pleasure, it was his passion. It had been
ever since the fi rst time he'd seen his
dad put on a uniform and step onto the
fi eld to play on a company team. That
day, Jerry Savelle felt sure he'd met his
destiny. Since then he'd never doubted or wavered—
he would play professional baseball. He mapped out
his life like a coach maps out a game.
He fi gured that later in life, after his baseball
career had ended, he would fall back on his second
love—tinkering with and repairing old cars.
Someday, he imagined, he might even own his own
automotive repair shop.
Baseball and cars. Life didn't get much better
than that.
A few weeks later, Jerry arrived at his
grandmother's house in Oklahoma City for a
family reunion. Flipping through the channels on
her television, he paused at the sight of a man on
the screen. Oral Roberts was preaching a sermon
entitled "The Fourth Man." Like most 12-year-
olds, Jerry didn't spend much time listening
to television preachers. He liked sports.
But for some reason, what this man was
saying interested him.
The fourth man described in Brother
Roberts' fi ery sermon, Jerry discovered,
was Jesus. He'd heard about Jesus all
TWELVE-YEAR-OLD JERRY SAVELLE
WIPED SWEATY HANDS ON HIS LITTLE LEAGUE
BASEBALL UNIFORM BEFORE STEPPING UP TO THE
PLATE. GRIPPING THE BAT, HE SQUARED HIS SHOULDERS
AND PLANTED HIS FEET FIRMLY IN THE RICH LOUISIANA
SOIL. HE GLANCED ONCE AROUND THE BALLPARK
BEFORE LOCKING HIS EYES ON THE PITCHER.
