The Hitting Zone

"Okay, not bad." Coach complimented Dalton and I after a successful double play completion. We both moved to him. "I see no problem with your synergy. You two will work just fine tomorrow." I had a feeling he was saying that for my benefit more than Dalton's.

Dalton nodded. "I can play anywhere you need, Coach."

Coach gave a simple nod back. "Good. Get to the cages and get some swings in. We might do some batting practice today. Have the twins come see me."

Dalton jogged away.

Coach looked at me. "Any issues with Dalton?"

I shook my head. "No. We don't talk much." There was a time in the season that he questioned my willingness to touch an aluminum bat, but we got past it. Him and Logan were both the two other sophomores in the dugout and they weren't bad. We just didn't have much interaction besides saying 'good game'. They weren't anything like Chis from last season.

"Okay. You and him will start tomorrow. Noah's got the bench." He told me. "If we do get a good lead, I'm thinking of taking you out early."

"Oh." I tilted my head. "Who would play second?" Dalton was usually the utility guy.

"Porter, most likely." Coach said. "It'll depend on the situation. Anything close and you'll stay in. I would like to give some more guys, more at bats. See some live pitching. Try to improve their morale. We can't just rely on you in CIF play."

"We've got Garret. And Sean's been good too." I pointed out.

Coach grinned. "Yea, they've been good for us on the season. But I'm clutch situations, you lead the team." He looked around as everyone was practicing. "This team has it all. I don't want it to go to waste."

"Me too." I nodded in a hurry.

The twins showed up and Coach asked them to throw some batting practice to a selected few. I was left off the list, but I didn't mind. I didn't need live batting practice. I wouldn't mind it one way or the other, but I knew others on the team would appreciate it more. Plus, I had access to the twins at home so they would pitch to me whenever I wanted.

At the end of practice, we found out that Noah did get his blisters drained and covered in iodine to prevent infection. He spent the last two hours running laps and working up a sweat. I don't know how good that would be for his fingers, but Noah sounded positive that it would be fine. We went home to take showers and start to get ready for the night.

Noah and I were done first, waiting on Dave to finish so he could drive us over. Mom and Dad were somewhere for a work thing while Grampa was at the community center with other seniors for bingo night.

The only black in my closet were baseball related with either our last name on it or our school's initials in big lettering. I turned to Noah. "I don't have anything that's all black. Everything I own basically has an identifier."

Noah laughed. "Just find something dark and generic. Come on. It can't be thag hard."

"Show me what you came up with then." I crossed my arms over my chest.

Noah started to go through his clothes on the hangers. A lot of Watsonville Baseball shirts and sweatshirts. Besides what we've collected in the last two seasons, we also had hand-me-downs from Zeke and the twins. Noah frowned. "Okay. We'll just improvise."

"Improvise?" Dave asked, coming back into the room as he combed his hair. "What do you guys have to improvise?"

"Dont worry about it." Noah said casually. He grabbed his baseball sweatshirt and gave me a pointed look.

I grabbed mine too. Noah probably has an idea.

Dave let the matter drop easily as he finished getting ready. We left while Kyle was still getting ready, and Dave took us to Alisha's. He dropped us off, waving goodbye as he pulled away.

I stared down at our sweatshirts in our hands. "So what are we going to do?"

"First idea, find something like duct tape to cover it. Backup plan: wear it inside out." Noah said as we walked to the front door. He rang the doorbell.

Alisha answered within seconds. She waved us in. "Come in. Food's already here."

We walked into the dining room and saw Kaylee at the table with Alisha's parents. They had previously told us to call them by their first names: Dan and Jenny. But it felt wrong to call an adult by their first name when Alisha still had to call them 'Mom' and 'Dad'.

"Come in, come in!" Jenny waved us in. "Everything you may need or want should be at the table. We have pizza, salad, fruit, and all sorts of drinks."

Noah sat down, leaving me the seat between him and Alisha's dad. I nodded politely to him as we made eye contact.

"Salad is mandatory for you, Jake." He told me. "Your mother has made it clear that you're trying to increase your calorie count while eating healthy. Are you trying to bulk up?"

I nodded. "I can hit more home runs if I increase my size. Right now it's very difficult unless I aim for a corner. And breaking balls make things difficult too."

He wagged his finger at me. "Listen to your bragging. This can't be the same kid that was too shy to say a word last year."

"It wasn't just because I was shy..." I mumbled.

Noah laughed and leaned in. "You'll make him revert back the more you point it out. Heck, he's already on edge about tonight." Noah lifted his eyebrows up and down.

"No..?" I hesitated. "You guys said it was okay."

"It's okay as long as we don't get caught." Kaylee picked up her slice of pizza and started to eat.

Noah started to load his plate with pizza and watermelon slices. "Pshhh. Even if we get caught, what'll they do to us? Call the cops?"

"Meh. My mom might." Kaylee rolled her eyes.

"Jason would be cool about it, I think." Alisha pointed out the incidental victim of tonight's plan. He lived near Kaylee and Marie's house. Hopefully he stays late at Garret's tonight.

I swallowed a small lump in my throat. "What about..?" I gave them a knowing look. The third victim for the night. A very intentional one.

"What about Austin?" Kaylee finished for me. I nodded and she shrugged. "Nothing he can do to us."

"What if he told Mom?" I looked to Noah.

Noah thought about it. "Hmm. Maybe we get grounded?" He sounded unbothered. He laughed at my fallen face. "What's the big deal, Jake? Getting grounded is nothing for us. We don't go anywhere. They'll still let us practice and play baseball. This is like when we pull birthday pranks. Just some good-natured fun."

I don't think Austin would think it that way. I just didn't like the idea of pissing him off and starting a fight or anything.

Alisha's dad made a giant salad on a plate and put it in front of me, pushing some dressing choices closer too. "Don't worry, Jake. I'll be with you four the whole time."

I was still surprised by that.

And he could tell. He gave a friendly smile as he handed me a fork. "I know what it's like to be a teenager. It was a lot of fun times, but sometimes we did something we shouldn't have. I rather be there to supervise in case you guys run into trouble so you don't have to make bad decisions."

"And I'm here to remind him what's legal and what's not." Alisha's mom smiled at her husband.

Alisha's dad laughed a little self consciously. "Hey, I didn't know egging could be vandalism. I'm glad we talked it over."

The conversation shifted to pranks he had pulled during high school. At one point he did get serious, talking about some mistakes he had made. "Never, and I mean this with all my heart, never get in a car with a drunk driver. Don't be a drunk driver. I would rather wake up at 2am to come get you kids than to wake up at 2am to a cop knocking on my door."

It got a little somber.

Until I spoke up. "I wouldn't drink."

He smiled and patted me on the shoulder. "Good job, son. I know how I was and I just like to assume the worst. I would prefer if none of you drank, but it's better to be honest above all else."

"Yes, Dad." Alisha rolled her eyes in exasperation. "I know the drill. Don't worry, when I start getting lit every weekend, I'll be calling you to be my DD."

Her mom didn't get upset, she simply smiled until her eyes turned into half crescents. "Alisha, if you think I won't send you to rehab and then military school, then let me remind you that your college fund can be applied to those options."

"Kidding, I was kidding." Alisha said. "I've tried beer, remember? It smelt bad and tasted worse. No desire here."

I ate my share of food, eating two slices of pizza after the big salad. It was interesting seeing other family dynamics and seeing the pros and cons. Alisha's parents were the second best pair I knew after my own. The only downside with her family is that she was basically like a third wheel the whole time. She constantly complained how lonely it can be without siblings. Things only got better when she got older and had more friends to invite over. Now she had a good balance with friends and family, plus she got to control her alone time to how she liked it.