The Hitting Zone

Dave cleared his throat. "If it makes you feel better, we both didn't make it on the top 500 in the nation. There's only Jake, Kyle, and Garret." He looked at Kyle. "You didn't break into the top 100, but you're close. 143." He looked to me and grinned. "Do you want to guess where you're at?"

I held back a sigh and tried to play along. "Statistically within the top 25."

Dave burst out laughing. "Damn. You were spot on." He showed me the phone. I was number 25, plain and clear to see.

Noah nudged me. "That's exactly where Zeke was this time last year! You're soaring. Those home runs in the tournaments must have really helped."

Noah and the twins were super excited about my ranking. It felt nice and dreadful all at the same time. I don't think they understood what my feelings were on my ranking. I felt sick and started to pick at my food.

The rest of lunch flew by as everyone ate and Dad took care of the bill. Ryan tried to pay for his share, but Dad wouldn't let him.

"You already made the drive to come meet us. I appreciate the thought, but let me." Dad explained. "The boys do have midterms this week so I'm not sure when we'll get in touch again. Either to hire you or to let you know of our future plans."

"Sure. You have my info. And if you guys have anymore follow-up questions, reach out." Ryan stood up as did the rest of us. "I do hope to take on other draft prospects. At least five, but if you do hire me, Kyle would be my highest priority." He looked at Kyle. "I honestly believe your rankings, talent, and skill will put you in the first five rounds easily."

"Do you think I can be a first round pick?" Kyle asked, completely serious.

"If everything went well for you this season, like staying healthy and keeping up the same stat line throughout, I believe there would be some interest in the first round." Ryan said. "But nothing too high. Don't take this personally, but your speed isn't top ten worthy. There'll be college guys and maybe even a few high schoolers that can throw well over 100mph."

"Thank you." Kyle reached out to shake his hand. "I'm glad you were honest with me. I'll talk it over with my parents and let you know soon, what my plans are."

"No problem. More importantly, commit to a college asap." He emphasized again.

We walked out and said our goodbyes before heading home.

"He was very informative." Mom commented on the drive home. "I wish we spoke to someone like him before Zeke graduated. Just to have this knowledge and perspective." She glanced at Kyle. "Are you going to ask Dave to call his coach when we get home? Or do you want to wait until after school tomorrow?"

"The sooner, the better." Kyle said. He looked at Dave. "If you don't want to call for me this afternoon, just pass me the number and I'll make the call myself."

Dave grinned. "It's fine. I'll call and introduce you, then you can take over. It would be a little weird if you just cold called him. He's chill. I don't think he would mind sending you the National Letter of Intent immediately since you would basically be free."

"I'm actually going to ask that if I do end up going to Vandy, then I want to make sure I would get a scholarship offer for my sophomore year." Kyle said. He twisted his lips. "I'm not playing for free. If things go south, I'll go to Vandy with you and ride it out. But I don't want to be stuck with a crazy amount of loans or make Mom and Dad drown in my tuition payments."

"Look at you being considerate." Noah poked the back of Kyle's head.

"Sure. I don't think he'll mind." Dave said. The twins talked more about the pitching coach and the school. Kyle had actually been there before on the visit with Dave, but he wasn't totally convinced on it before.

"I'm going to text Garret the links of the rankings list." Noah butt into their conversation. "Or maybe I should just post the links and tag you guys in it?"

"Post and tag!" Kyle voted. He turned around in his seat to look at Noah. "Please, please, please. If I do it myself, it'll look like I'm bragging."

"Don't you want to brag?" Dave rolled his eyes.

"I want to but I won't do it outright." Kyle said. He put his hands together. "Come on, Noah. Aren't you proud of us??"

"Okay, but I'm mostly proud of Jake." Noah focused on his phone and started to type away. He had taken screenshots of our state rankings, including Garret too. Then our national ranking. Garret was 172, with potential of breaking into the top 100 before the season ended.

"Garret's going to be so pissed that you're ahead of him." Dave chuckled. "At least I'm not completely alone."

"They probably made this before Garret's no-hitter." Kyle said thoughtfully. "Coach has been holding him back a little too, letting us and the juniors get more opportunities."

"Speak for yourself." Dave scoffed. "I was pulled out of a game for nothing. My opportunity went straight to Brian."

"You get another chance Monday against a good team." Kyle pointed out. "Garret and I probably won't pitch this upcoming weekend against ACA. They suck. Coach will let others go out. Then after OLU next Monday, it's weaker teams like Redwood and Porterville."

"Redwood wasn't bad." Dave pointed out. "You and Garret saw them last year and didn't necessarily have good games. Pretty sure you were pulled early or something."

pAn,Da n<0,>v,e1 "I gave up a pair of homers and lost my cool." Kyle corrected. "You know what, that's fine. I should ask Coach if I can have them. Leave Porterville for Garret."

"He could get a perfect game." Dave grinned proudly. "That's where I got mine."

"Didn't Jake pass out at Porterville?" Mom cut in, showing some worry.

"Jake's fine now." Dave shrugged.

"Best shape he's ever been in." Kyle added.

"I think it would be good if we did a check-up for all the boys, Wayne." Mom ignored the twins and spoke to Dad as we pulled into the driveway. "Kyle needs a thorough look over anyways, right? So let's just take all four of them at the same time."

"I agree." Dad put the car in parked and we all started to pile out.

"Done." Noah proclaimed. "You guys should share it to your stories too so we get more exposure. Even though I'm not in the lists, it won't be long once I pull off some more amazing stops. Get on a hit streak and pad my stats." He rambled on as he followed the twins into the house.

I hung back, staying outside a little longer.

Dad locked up the car and was the last one to the front porch. He raised his eyebrows at me. "Something on your mind, Jake?"

I nodded. "Yea." I looked around to make sure the other three weren't nearby, then looked up at Dad. "Would I get in trouble if I skipped a class to see Dr. Moore?"

Dad reached out to hold my shoulder. "No. Of course not. I can listen to you now if you just want to talk?"

I rubbed my stomach. "It's not a huge deal. I just...don't feel too good about my rankings. Aren't they too high?"

Dad gave me a squeeze. "No. You're very much deserving of the praise. Before going to see Dr. Moore, make sure to get a note from the teacher whose class you're missing." He looked at the door where the trio went through. "Do you have a class in mind that you want to skip?"

I nodded.

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