The Hitting Zone

The conversation died there. Mr. Atkins didn't ask anymore follow up questions, which put me and Noah at ease. As soon as we got back to the house, Noah dragged me to the living room as his dad went to the office area.

Dave and Kyle were both on the couch watching the TV, but Noah didn't bother them. Instead, he positioned me behind the couch, and faced me in the opposite direction of the TV. We were looking at a floor to ceiling trophy wall. No joke. It was a wall of shelves with trophies, medals, awards and framed pictures up on it. There was still plenty of space all around, but a lot of it had Zeke's name on it.

"Look here!" Noah pointed at one of the higher shelves. The section had five medals hanging off it, a picture of me and the Atkins boys, and an article was framed right beside it. "This is from yesterday. Mom already organized it all and was super excited about it. The reporter, Mr. Cameron had already sent her the pictures from Saturday so she printed the group shot so it could be with the medals."

I pointed up at the framed article. "Why is the newspaper framed too? Is it his article?"

Noah nodded. "It's the article he posted Sunday morning so it only talks about Kyle's perfect game and Zeke's perfect batting streak. I'm sure mom will frame today's article talking about our win. Mr. Cameron had interviewed Zeke and coach after the game, plus it talks about how we won these medals so it's definitely frame worthy."

"Yes, definitely frame worthy." She echoed as she walked into the room, two frames in her hands. "You boys did so well, it was a two-page article."

"Let me see!" The twins said simultaneously. They both jumped off the couch and each grabbed a frame.

Their mother laughed. "Okay, make sure you boys put it up afterwards. I'm going to go find your dad about some open houses coming up."

"He's in the office already." Noah told her as he moved to the twins. She nodded and left. Noah tried looking at each article, but the twins didn't allow it. "Come on, you guys. Let me see! I want to know what they said about me and Jake!"

Me? I'm going to be in it?

Dave put his hand on Noah's head and pushed him away. "Oh, don't worry. I'll read it to you, kiddos." He cleared his throat. "'In game three of the Tulare Invitational, David Atkins made an outstanding start, throwing five scoreless innings, with five strikeouts, and only conceded one hit.'" He read off the article.

Kyle chuckled. "Why don't I read what follows that?" He peaked over Dave's shoulder to read off that page. "'Almost as good as Kyle Atkins outing on Saturday, who had the county's first perfect game recorded in the last thirty plus years.'" Kyle laughed some more. "I didn't even pitch yesterday and I still made the paper! I'm going to be mention in all future articles as the guy who pitched a perfect game!" Kyle did a little dance and celebration.

Dave snorted. "I can only get better from here on out. You can't beat a perfect game once you get one. Now you have to live up to that standard. Better not slack off or they'll make fun of you for being a flash in the pan."

Kyle scoffed. "Forget you. You'd be the flash in the pan. I bet you give up multiple runs in your next outing."

"Definitely won't be more than what you'll give up."

Kyle squinted. "We'll compare end of the season records."

Dave nodded in agreement. "Loser admits he has less skill."

As they finally agreed on the bet, Noah pulled both frames out of their hands. He carried them to the couch and sat down to look it over. "Jake, come take a look."

I obediently went over and sat beside him. He held out both frames so we could look at them at the same time. The first thing I noticed were the pictures that were in the article. There was a group shot of the team holding out their medals and coach holding the trophy. Another picture was of Zeke getting a hit. Dave and Garret pitching. And a small one of Noah fielding. I, excitedly, pointed at it.

Noah smiled. "Looking good, right?" He looked over the article and found something related to him. "'Noah Atkins, a freshman starting at shortstop for Watsonville high school, is the youngest brother of Zeke, David, and Kyle.'" He frowned. "That can't be all I got!" His eyes looked all over both framed pages, looking for another mention. His face started to fall and lost the previous minutes happiness.

I understood what his expression meant. I lifted my hand and rested it on his shoulder. "Your picture made the paper, isn't that great? Everyone will know and recognize you!"

Noah gave me a sad smile. "Yea, recognize me as the youngest Atkins brother." He sighed. "So depressing. Oh well. Let's see what he said about you." His eyes scanned the paper and stopped at the end of page two. "Here we go: 'The top freshman of the tournament was given to Watsonville's Jake H. He had five hits for five at-bats, and had an impressive 100% on base percentage. Jake also had no errors playing at second base and even helped record the final out in Kyle Atkins perfect game.'"

Kyle started to laugh and leaned on the couch so he could see the article again. "Look! I'm mentioned again. Hahahah this is too great. Even a freshman with a perfect batting average can't steal my limelight."

Noah rolled his eyes and got up off the couch. He walked around back to the trophy shelf and set the frames in the same section. "How annoying. Thank god Zeke isn't as a braggart as you are, otherwise it'd be unbearable to live with you all."

"Where is Zeke?" I spoke up, curious that I haven't seen him all morning.

Kyle stopped laughing and looked at me, surprised. "You sure are talkative today."

I turned red from embarrassment.

"Zeke is out for a run. He doesn't like to stay still for long." Dave answered. He got back on the couch and turned the volume up on the TV. "He'll show up for lunch. Then we'll get ready for an earlier practice than normal."