The Hitting Zone

Dave walked me to field two where our parents were supposedly watching Noah. Instead we found them with Jeremy and those two guys that control the team. The regional team.

I halted mid step. "Maybe I should go back to my field. My bat and helmet are probably still lying on the ground somewhere. It'd be bad if I lost it." I started to retreat.

"Nope." Dave stopped with his arm around my shoulders. "First we go by. You thank the director for the opportunity to play this summer. You tell the coach that you'll work hard. You'll tell our parents that you're excited and looking forward to it. Then you can go back for your stuff." I dragged my feet, but Dave was adamant.

We reached the small group and a lot of eyes were on me. Dave gave me a small pinch. I cleared my throat. "Sorry for running off like that."

"Hey, when you gotta go, you've gotta go." Coach Rob gave a friendly smile. He seemed to be a very laidback kind of guy. Like the Stanford coach...Leroy. Except a younger version. It felt a little odd, but not uncomfortable.

I tried to smile back.

"We were just talking to your parents about your summer plans." The team director said. "No travel ball to interfere is preferred, but what we really need to block off is the month of August. We do a week of intensive training for the newly formed team, then we fly out to North Carolina to play the other regions."

"We'll be there every step of the way." Mom told me.

I frowned. "Isn't the summer the busy season for you guys?"

"This is a big deal." Dad smiled at me. "We've got to be there to celebrate your important milestones like this one."

"I want to go too!" Dave added, slapping my back. "I've never known someone to have a chance to represent our country. It's a first for me!"

Mom looked like she wanted to say something to Dave, but held back. She probably didn't want to say it in front of some strangers.

Jeremy walked over to pat me on the shoulder. "I'll try to make it to a game if I have an off day. Send me the schedule as soon as you get it." I nodded and he smiled. "Well, I'm glad I was here to hear the good news. You're going to do great." He checked his watch. "Your camp is running a little late so I think I'm going to head out now. I'll see you guys at the game tonight, right?"

I nodded.

He slapped hands with Dave casually, then went to shake Dad's hand. He said his goodbyes to them and then even to the team director and Coach Rob.

I saw that the players at field two were starting to pack up and were surrounding the coaches on the field.

"Looks like they're wrapping up." Dave looked to me. "You want me to go back with you to pack up your stuff?"

"What about Noah?" I started to search the field for him.

"He's going to take a minute." The team director surprised me by answering. He saw my look of confusion. "Field one and two have the best players we've seen today. A majority of them will be invited to round two. Right now, the other assistants are going around, naming players selected and gathering them up to talk to a coach. We'll confirm numbers with names and contact information."

I felt instant relief knowing that Noah was moving on. He accomplished his goal today and would definitely be excited. He also would be happy for me getting picked already too. "That's good." I said before looking to Dave.

"Let's go get your stuff." Dave waved at me to join him and we walked back to field one, leaving Mom and Dad with the two other men. I was more comfortable leaving it up to them to do all the talking. I can show up and hit where they tell me to.

Dave and I moved casually, with him doing most of the talking. "This is crazy. You'll definitely be representing Team USA soon enough. You're practically going to be a pro before I am. Dang. I wish I looked into this stuff before. It would be cool to do." He expressed some regret, but quickly bounced back. "But I guess we all did something a little different. Kyle and I focused more on camps and becoming better pitchers. Definitely helped me become who I am today so it's too hard to wish it away. Hey, Kyle's going to be bummed that he's going to miss this."

"Miss it?" I asked. We stopped to pick up my bat and helmet, taking it to the nearly empty dugout.

"Well, yea. The draft is in June." Dave said. "As soon as he gets picked, he's probably heading out to who knows where."

"Oh yea." I sighed for him. "It'll be weird with all of you gone." The house would be much quieter. But it's also a little sad.

Dave laughed. "Then come follow me to Vandy. We could be taking on the College World Series together. I'll dominate on defense and you on offense."

My lips twitched as he advertised his future school. He really sounded like a recruiter as he talked about all the benefits. I loaded up my bag and changed out of my cleats as Dave went on and on. College with Dave didn't sound so bad. Someone would be there in a new place to help me out and watch my back. It sounded less scary than entering the draft and just going.

Dave took it upon himself to carry my bag and gave me a break from his college talk. "I bet Noah is going to go into hyperdrive mode with the tainining."

"We can go to the batting cages more." I shrugged. "It would help Noah with hitting and I would like to go more often." We went significantly less when baseball was in season. I miss last summer where we went almost every other day.

"It's better if I train him myself." Dave said excitedly.

"You?" I asked. "How?" Not to give Dave a hard time, but I was honestly curious. Noah did a lot of training on his own like the runs and home workouts. He was also the one to decide what to practice and when and where.

"Me versus him, of course." Dave got in front of me and walked backwards. "You might not feel it, but I'm a great pitcher. One of the top in the county. There can't be that many 16-year-olds better than me. If Noah can start hitting off of me more consistently, than he can make the team with you." Dave clapped his hands together. "Kyle and Garret will have to help out too. Just add a few extra showdowns at the end of every practice. Noah sees better pitchers more, the better he'll do."

I grinned. "You're not justifying this just so you can strike him out a time or two, are you? Why does your training sound more like it's for you?"

Dave showed off his right bicep and started flexing. "You think I'll only get him a time or two? Let me remind you that Noah can only get a hit off me like one-fourth of the time."

I wanted to light a candle for Noah and all his future suffering. Because I know that he wouldn't turn down the training idea at all. He would go in with confidence and face the twins and Garret with the same amount of eagerness as he does with games. Baseball is baseball to him. The twins will be bragging about their small wins over him until he starts getting the hang of it. I sighed yet smiled.