The Hitting Zone

After Coach wrapped up his 'pep' talk, he divided us up and sent us away to different assistant coaches. The pitchers and catchers went to the bullpen. Infielders went to practice grounders and turning double plays. The outfielders got to start off with the batting cage off to the side of the field.

"I think we should join the other infielders." Noah said outright.

I nodded in agreement. Instead, we were facing Drew. Andrew. Andrew Vishnevsky. Vishnevsky. Vish. So many names, but still the same personality.

Even though he was only average height, he still had a few inches on Noah and more than enough on me to make me feel short. He grinned down at us. "I heard you two won't be playing tomorrow so we can obviously have more fun than the others."

"Drew...Don't take this the wrong way, but I don't find training fun." Noah looked my way. "Right, Jake? It's just a way to get better and improve on the actual game. What I find fun is playing in games, making spectacular stops, and hitting in runs."

I nodded. "Hitting is fun."

Drew's smile didn't waver. "That's okay. I'll teach you some fun training techniques today. Why don't you boys change into running shoes and meet me in the parking lot?" He turned away before we could voice anymore opinions.

Noah and I sighed in unison, but did what we were told. We ditched our gloves and cleats in the dugout and jogged out to the parking lot in our running shoes.

Drew pointed to either side of him. "One here, and the other here. You both are going to race up the hill, then jog back down."

I pouted and Noah frowned. As always, he spoke up for the both us. "Race? That's not very exciting. Plus, Jake isn't an opponent for me." He caught my glare. "Jake, you know running isn't your expertise. I wouldn't want to face you in a hitting competition."

I shrugged. Fair enough.

"Don't worry about the race itself. Just run your fastest up the hill. It's about working your muscles differently than your normal training." Drew instructed. "Now line up."

We got on either side of him, facing the 50-yard uphill obstacle. That would almost take us to the JV and freshman fields. Awkward.

"On your marks. Get set. Go!" Drew commanded and we took off.

Noah took an early lead, and his stride lengthened as he reached the top first. He put his hands on his hips as he triumphantly waited for me. Whereas Noah stood up proudly, I reached him, gasping for air. Running uphill? It felt like I ran up a mountain. With me beside him, we slowly jogged back down, two sharp contrasts of a baseball player. One in excellent shape and had no limits. The other, me, already thinking of begging for mercy, wishing I could go back to sliding practice.

We arrived in front of Drew, who had a mini notepad in hand and was writing down some numbers.

Noah peaked over. "What's this supposed to be?"

"A rough estimate of your times. It's a good start. From now on, you'll have to beat your previous sprint times."

I was still struggling getting air into my lungs, however, Noah was quick to grasp what was being said. "Our times? We have to beat them even though now we won't be in perfect condition? Isn't that unrealistic? Plus how could you just go off a rough estimate?"

Drew thought about it. "Okay. Let's do this then. Take off your hats and set them down." We did so. "This will be where you guys start. I'll go to the top and be the finish line. That way, the times will be as accurate as possible. Remember that you have to really push yourselves to beat your best times." He started to jog up the hill himself.

"I can't believe you had to deal with him every day." Noah gave my shoulder a pat. "I can't believe he thinks this kind of training is fun and exciting. So dull."

I nodded in agreement.

"Ready?!" Drew hollered from the top of the hill, waving. The two of us got set like before. "Go!"

We pushed off at the same time, but once again Noah took the lead. He flew up the hill unfazed as I forced my legs to exert more effort. By the time I reached the top, Noah and Drew were discussing his second time.

"A millisecond too slow." Drew grinned. "Now for the fun part. Ten burpees." He turned to me as I tried to catch my breath. "Not bad, Jake. You barely beat your original time."

I nodded. My calves burned, but at least my face didn't have an ugly expression on it like Noah's.

"You didn't mention punishment." Noah crosses his arms over his chest.

Drew smiled, good natured. "I said you would have to beat your original time. That was warning enough. Anymore back-talk and I'll double it."

Noah rolled his eyes, yet didn't say anymore. He backed up. Then he squatted to the ground, putting his hands down on the ground, he kicked his legs back out so he was in a plank position with his arms extended, holding him up. Then he immediately returned his feet back to the squat position and jumped up, yelling "One!" Then he repeated the process until he got to ten.

For the first time, I saw Noah out of breath. We jogged back down the hill to our hats, but the roles had reversed. He used the jog down to recover his breathing and I was okay to go.

"Are burpees that difficult?" I asked.

Noah nodded. "Burpees improve your lungs and heart and requires your body to produce energy without help of oxygen. It's very tiring." We got to the starting line and looked back up at Drew. "It's going to be even harder for me to beat my best time if I have to keep doing burpees." He glanced at me. "Drew must be secretly related to Zeke in order to be this sadistic."

I gulped.

"Ready?" Drew asked. "Go!"

We moved up the hill. Noah took the lead, but definitely didn't look as fast as the last two times. I forced myself to dig in and try my hardest to catch up to no avail.

Noah started his burpees by the time I reached them. Drew looked at me with a sad expression, causing me to shiver. He held out his notepad showing my times. "Too slow. Ten burpees for you as well."

I squinted at the paper and reached out suddenly to point. "No, I still beat my first time."

Drew looked surprised at my outburst. "Yes but not your best time. So give me ten. Any argument and you can double yours as well."

I swallowed down my displeasure and followed Noah's pattern. Unlike him though, I wasn't able to do the ten consecutively without a break. I had to pause and then get back to it.

As we jogged down for the third time, we were both busy catching our breaths. This training was no joke. The end of practice couldn't come soon enough.