The Hitting Zone

Mitchell took his time taking his gear off and switching to the offensive. He seemed steady for his plate appearance, working the count until hitting a grounder to to the right. The second baseman easily dealt with it and earned the first out. Mitchell came back to the dugout, Jason moved to the batter's box, and Dalton went out to the on deck circle.

Coach followed Mitchell to his spot on the bench and spoke to him as he switched out his gear.

"Probably prepping him for the seventh inning." Kyle squeezed between me and Dave. "Underclassman to close out a championship game?" He gave a shake of his head. "That's some bad news."

"It's only bad news if Matt and Tyler can't close it out after him." Dave pointed out.

My heart started to pound in my chest a little louder. I didn't like hearing the twins talk about the future downfall of Marshel. It put me on edge.

A loud 'ding' rang and a lot of gasps and yells followed. The twins both jumped up and took three strides to the dugout fence. I hurried to follow.

"GO! GO! GO!"

"YESSSSS!"

"WOO-HOO!"

"Run, Jason, run!"

The ball went over the right field fence and the umpire waved his finger around.

"You're not the only one hitting bombs on this team!" Dave said excitedly while shaking my head with his hands.

I rolled my eyes. I knew that. Jason had just hit a homer a couple weeks ago in a regular season game. He's done it before, done it now, and I'm sure he'll do it again.

Jason came back to the dugout, high-fiving everyone. I was near the end, holding out my hand too. Jason grabbed my hand instead of slapping it and gave it a good shake. We spun in a circle.

"We aren't going to make you carry us all the time, Bambi." He laughed.

I grinned as we separated. I had to grab my bat and move through the dugout to get to the entrance.

"Take it easy and don't force it, if you get a chance up." Coach instructed me during Dalton's at bat.

Dalton struck out swinging and came back with his head lowered. I hesitated to come up with something to say to comfort him but I had nothing. We passed each other: him going in and me going out.

Noah got in the batter's box. He connected on the first pitch fastball, dropping the ball in the outfield grass for a base hit. He rounded first base fast, but didn't push for two when he saw that the center fielder got the ball back in already.

I went up next, choosing to bat as a righty this time. I slowly got set, eyeing the catcher to see if he was going to tell the umpire I was intentionally walked again. But no, he got into a squat.

I happily got set, pulling my bat back. The pitcher got set, checked over his shoulder at Noah, then started his motion. Noah took off, the ball left the pitcher's hand awkwardly. As I was processing what was happening, I reacted to the pitch too late, not realizing it was coming at me. I hurried to turn away, taking a hit to my lower back. I grunted and took a few steps away from the box.

A lot of jeers rained down from the stands.

Garret approached me first. "You okay?"

Coach was barely a step behind. "How are you, Jake?"

I rubbed the spot on my lower back. "I'm fine, I think."

Coach frowned. He looked back to the dugout. "Logan. Get your helmet on."

I looked to Coach, confused, but also had a feeling I knew what was coming.

"Let's get some ice on it." Coach put his hand on my shoulder and guided me to the dugout, not allowing any room for an argument. "You've had a good game. A great weekend. Let the other boys wrap it up."

I pursed my lips and went back with him.

Logan paused as we ran into each other at the entrance. He looked at me. "You good?"

I gave a short nod.

"There's two outs. Run on contact." Coach reminded him.

Logan left. The rest of the team started to come by to check on me. I tried to assure them that I was fine and not really injured. Just took a fast one to the back. I was going to bruise at most.

pAn,Da n<0,>v,e1 Dave got me a bag of ice and held it to the spot as Kyle saran wrapped it to my body. In the process, we heard the sound of Garret's hit and the crowd's gasp. We watched on as the ball made it over the right fielder and fence. Homerun. The second this inning!

I grinned and celebrated with the guys as we watched our score increased to 9-3. Thanks to Garret, we have a whole lot more cushion room.

I relaxed on the bench and started to untie my cleats. I couldn't go back in so might as well get comfy.

Noah sat beside me and started to taking his batting gloves off. "Man, you can't catch a break. Not one day goes by without you getting hurt."

I scratched the back of my head. "I was slow on that one." I gave him the side eye. "Somebody didn't warn me that they wanted to steal second."

Noah laughed. "Don't you know? I said I wanted to extend all walks and singles to second base. Try to contribute more."

Everyone on this team wanted to do more. It was like we were all competing with our former selves. I think having so many returning varsity members helped. We knew what it was like for Zeke to have to make all his plate appearances count. He was a true pillar of the team. I may bat like his mini-me, but I have more help than he did. Our average runs per game is definitely higher than last year. And it was only just beginning.

Korrey hit a double, but it was followed by a groundout from Jesse. Not much they could do. They both had good games, getting two hits each. They came back and the team started to transition to defense. Three more outs and we would be champions.

My legs started to shake as eight players and a coach left the dugout.

"You nervous?" Dave asked, sitting beside me. Kyle sat on the other.

I shook my head. "Not about the game, but what comes after."

"Seeing Carson?" Dave tried again.

I paused, looking up at him. "Uh...no. I actually kind of put him in the back of my mind now. He's...fine." I gave a small shrug. "I'm actually more worried about the postgame stuff. Like reporters, scouts, coaches. Any questions I might have to answer about my future."

Kyle laughed. "Just wave them off and say you're keeping your options open. If they ask again, repeat it again. They'll eventually get the hint."

"They'll probably keep asking until there is an answer." Dave pointed out. "Just something you'll have to deal with until you do make a decision. Get used to it and treat it as background noise."

The pair gave me advice as we waited for the game to resume. Coach had went to the mound to meet with Marshel from the bullpen and he was finally back, allowing Marshel to take practice pitches off the mound.

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