The Hitting Zone

Chapter 278 Game: @ Lassen Union HS 4

Coach came out with us and walked straight up to the umpire, with Kelvin close behind. They shared a conversation and then Coach waved at the bullpen. Theo sprinted out like he was partaking in a track meet, even though this wasn’t a race. At all. Not even a little bit. It’s not like the other guys would take his turn at pitching...coach would surely send them back. He arrived at the mound, receiving a ball from Kelvin. Coach looked at him on the mound, took a step forward, then he must have changed his mind as he chose to go back to the dugout instead. I tried to watch Theo warmup, but Sean was keeping me occupied with our own warmups. Usually Julian goes at a more relaxed pace, yet Sean was the complete opposite. He made me feel like I was practicing fielding hard hit grounders. I’ve never been happier when the ump requested for the baseballs to return. Bottom of the second inning. Theo would have to take on the best part of the lineup: batters four, five, and six. Maybe it’s not right to call it the best part of the lineup, but in my mind, I always think of power hitters. I’ve never seen Theo in action, not even in practice. He did most of his work in the bullpen. Theo’s first opponent was the cleanup hitter. As a sophomore, this must be his first varsity appearance as well. The only sophomores that have played so far were Bryce and Sean. And Brian starting today. "Jake." Noah’s voice made me look his way. He waved me back, wanting me to stand on the edge of the dirt and outfield grass. I backed up, resting my heels on the grass. Theo was bent forward, looking at Kelvin’s signs. He nodded, then straightened up. Theo kicked up his front leg, then stretched it out front, planting his leg, then the rest of his body seem to follow his wrist as he threw his first official pitch. The pitch went right down the middle and then dropped as the batter swung, completely missing for strike one. A sinker? Theo repeated the same pitch two more times, getting the cleanup hitter to strike out swinging. Noah clapped his glove a few times. "Keep it up!"Theo faced the next batter with the same energy, but switched up the pitch. After three straight sinkers to the cleanup batter, he started the fifth batter off with a fastball. The batter appeared to be looking for that sinker, swinging low. He fouled the fastball back for strike one. The next pitch came, he still swung low, and caught the underside of the ball, sending a high but short fly ball to center field for out number two.Theo switched back and forth between the sinker and a fastball for the sixth batter, ultimately getting him to ground out to Noah at shortstop. Three up, three down. Noah was the first to run up to Theo, threw an arm around his shoulders, and started to talk his ear off. I laughed to myself as everyone headed to the dugout. It was only one inning, but Noah was complimenting him as if he had closed the game. He really knows how to build others up and make them feel good about themselves. Top of the third, Ricky continued to close us out, getting Sean to fly out to right and Kelvin to fly out to left. Coach put Tony in to pinch hit for the pitcher spot, removing Theo from the lineup. Tony could only produce a pop up to their second baseman. We’re sure hitting the bottom part of the ball more than normal. At least next inning I’ll get another chance. A chance to redeem myself. Bottom of the third, Coach came out and brought in Ryan, a senior that I’ve seen in action a time or two. Ryan faced the bottom of the lineup with ease. The seventh batter in the lineup hit a weak roller right back to him, in which he easily fielded it to Sean at first base for the first out. The eighth batter hit a grounder to Noah, who had no problem fielding the ball and throwing him out at first for the second out. The ninth batter was their pitcher, Ricky. His batting really couldn’t be compared to his pitching. On an 0-2 count, he hit a short fly to Brian in right field to end the inning.We jogged back to the dugout as a team, filled with energy thanks to our defense. Even though we haven’t scored yet, they haven’t either. Top of the fourth would start with the top of our lineup: Noah, me, and Mahki.I hurried to take my hat off and put my helmet on. I dropped the glove in my bag and rushed to the on deck circle.

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