The Hitting Zone

Unexpectedly, we didn't get anything else done in the first inning. Garret got under a pitch and popped the ball high into the air. The catcher jumped up and tossed his mask out of the way and tracked the ball to make the catch. Mitchell did almost the exact same thing from the right side of the plate, leaving me stranded at second.

I hurried back to the dugout and switched out my gear.

Noah motioned for me to slow down. "No rush. Mitchell was last out and will take a few extra seconds to take the field." We walked out of the dugout together.

"Did you see who else is here?" Noah covered his mouth with his glove as he spoke.

I started to turn back to look, but he threw his arm around my shoulders to stop me. "Don't be so obvious."

"How am I supposed to know what you're referring to then?" I asked, slightly confused.

"I saw Kyle's agent, Ryan." Noah moved his eyebrows up and down suggestively. "He was speaking to a couple of men. One that I recognized as Willie Ramsey, the cubs scout."

"Okay?" I wasn't getting it.

"So all those other men must be scouts too." His eyes started to shine. "Kyle's really going to enter the draft."

I let out a small laugh. "Yea? But we knew that already."

"But it's becoming real now." Noah said with excitement. "Last year with Zeke, it felt surreal. Like fake. He wasn't going. He wasn't going to change his mind either. Like even though he went in the first round and Kyle isn't predicted to...I don't know...it feels crazy. Like after graduation, Kyle will be heading off to a mysterious destination to play baseball all the time."

Ah. I see where he was going with this now. Noah's dream was the majors. Full time baseball player is his goal. Technically Kyle was closer to that goal than Zeke right now despite the difference in skill level.

Noah clenched his fists. "I want all the balls to come my way. Let me make some outstanding plays and get noticed by scouts too."

"I hope all the hits go your way too." I grinned and we separated to go to our own positions.

Kyle and Mitch finally took the field and did a set of practice pitches. The rest of us threw the ball around and prepped for the inning.

Kyle started the second inning against their cleanup hitter. The guy hit it right to Jason, who fielded it to Sean for the first out. I'm sure it made Noah upset that Jason had two chances now, yet he still had none.

Kyle faced the fifth batter, a lefty that I slightly recalled being decent. I tensed up, ready for anything, especially since lefties were more likely to hit it my way. Unfortunately, he reached first due to a walk. Ball four was a borderline call that went his way and pissed Kyle off. Kyle did two check throws before pitching to the sixth batter. The guy smacked it back the way it came. I didn't have a play at it, but Noah did. He scooped it up, sprinted to second base while making the transition to get the ball out of his glove, stepped on the base and threw to Sean at first.

"Out!"

"Out!"

Double play. I bumped fists with Noah as we jogged back to the dugout.

"That ump was a little picky." Kyle huffed as we all got inside the dugout.

"Keep it in the nine box and it wouldn't have been a problem." Noah told him.

"It was definitely in the zone." Mitchell defended Kyle. "I have the best view. I can understand borderline calls, but that one most certainly have been a called strike three."

"So he got lucky." Noah commented. He shrugged. "It happens. Nothing came of it so let it go." He gave Kyle a knowing look. "Don't mess around."

Kyle knocked him on the head. "I don't want to hear that from you." He walked away to get ready for his at bat. He was second up after Jason.

Jason led us off with a sharp lineout to center causing the whole dugout to sigh. It was that good, but the catch was better. Kyle did surprise us by connecting with a pitch on a full count, but the unsurprising part was that it went to the shortstop for a groundout.

"Still can't hit to save his life." Noah joked as he got up with his gear on. It was his turn to stand in the hole.

Logan was back in the starting lineup for the first time in almost two weeks. Last time he started, he went 0-3 against Porterville with three ugly strikeouts. I don't know what changed, but against OLU, he hit a flare to right field, dropping the ball in the grass for a base hit. He stood on first base, clapping his hands together with excitement. Korrey grounded out to end the inning though so that was a bit of a downer for everyone.

Top of the third, Kyle dealt with the bottoms of OLU's lineup. Batter seven hit a fly out to Logan in left. Then he got the next two guys to both strike out swinging.

I was excited for the bottom of the third as we were back to the top of our lineup. That excitement really waned as both Noah and Sean struck out. I did my best to give a spark to the offense, hitting a single to right. Garret, on a full count, hit a single of his own and I got all the way to third. Runners at the corners for Mitchell. Garret stole second easily as the catcher kept an eye on me at third. Just as I thought that we had something going, Mitchell got jammed and popped out to third.

"Chin up. It's still early." Mr. Miller told me as we went back to the dugout together. "Besides, don't you like it when it's close? That means you won't be benched so easily."

I nodded in agreement. "Yea. That's a good point." I smiled. "But an extra run or two wouldn't hurt. One run just feels a little tight."

Mr. Miller slapped my back before separating. "The team has it in the bag. You guys are the best team we've had at this school."

It felt like that sometimes and maybe looked liked it on paper, but...I wouldn't have minded Zeke batting after me again. The reassurance that he could drive me home.

"You know, if you stole second before Garret's single, you could have scored." Noah pointed out as I took off my helmet and put it away.

I put my team hat back on and rolled my eyes.

Noah laughed. "Hey. I'm just saying."

"Maybe you could've stolen a base if you got on." Kyle poked him in a sore spot before leaving the dugout.

"He's not wrong." I smirked, grabbed my glove and hurried out.

"You've changed, Jake!" Noah called out accusatory as we headed towards second.

I grinned. "Don't tell me to steal bases then."

"Yea, yea, I know." Noah smiled back.