The Hitting Zone

Garret was set to throw the first pitch of the game and started off with a swinging strike. He continued to throw fast and his pitches did have location like Dave said. He was able to send the first three batters down in order: groundout to short, strikeout, and another groundout to short.

"That should have been me." Noah pouted as we watch Daniel get the third and final out by throwing to Julian.

"You didn't have to skip practice." I replied, looking at my fingertips. "Zeke said so. I would have been okay with just your parents and Dr. Moore."

Noah patted my back. "I'm not blaming you, Jake. I'm just a little sad. Give me a hundred repeats and I would still stay home with you. We're friends. Wouldn't you stay with me if I was upset?"

I nodded and looked up. "Yea, but that's because you're never upset."

"I'm always upset. You've seen it. My inferiority complex to my brothers. It's normal to have something to get mad or sad about. Just as long as you have a way to cheer yourself up with."

I nodded thoughtfully.

The team came back to the dugout and we started our offense. Or at least...we tried to. Julian struck out. So did Garret. Then Mahki sent a high, but short, fly to left field. Three up, three down. We switched.

"That was depressing." Sean mumbled. "I expected a hot start since this was the team that got mercy ruled."

Noah nodded, then looked at me. "Hey, wasn't the pitcher the guy that was staring at warmups?"

I faced him and gave a slow nod. "He was also the first batter. I was going to say something about it being weird that a pitcher would lead off, but Garret is batting second today."

"No, no. It's still weird. Garret is talented in everything. If we compare him to Garret then technically they're on par with one another right now." Noah turned to watch the game and I followed suit.

"Want me to look him up?" Jason suddenly spoke up.

Everyone but the coaches turned to him.

"Do you have your phone on you?" Kyle frowned. "If coach or Zeke catches you, you'll regret it."

Jason shrugged. "Technically I'm on the injury list so I'm allowed to have my phone in the dugout. Coach only said to use it if I need it."

Dave stood between him and the coaches, blocking them from seeing us. "Look him up in then. Preferably, check the stats from that game in the tournament."

"But he doesn't need to." I mumbled, unwilling to get in more trouble.

Noah elbowed me in the ribs. "Shut it. We need to see what we're going up against." He stressed the word need in order to get Jason to pull out his phone.

Jason whipped out his phone and started his search. Using the name, Brett McCauley, and the keywords, Katella High School, Jason was able to find what we were looking for. "Brett McCauley played in the first game of that tournament, but wasn't the pitcher. He was the cleanup hitter and first baseman. He's a sophomore. First year on varsity. In that game, he was the one to drive in their three runs, by hitting a home run. The kid is a monster."

"Hey! I'm a sophomore too." Sean said. "Why don't you call me a monster?"

Jason scoffed. "'Cuz you don't hit home runs." He looked at me and Noah. "The freshmen can also be considered monsters. For now. But if they don't hit home runs and pitch next year, then they'll be demoted."

Noah rolled his eyes. "Whatever. Did you see anything about his pitching? We only saw an inning and it was a quick one at that."

Jason looked back at his phone and started to type away. "Found his freshman year record. He was on JV. Hold on." He tapped on the screen a couple of times. "5 wins, 2 losses, 40 innings pitched, 55 strikeouts, 30 walks. Pretty decent for a JV freshman."

"Put the phone away." Kyle muttered. "They're coming back."

Even though Jason was supposedly allowed his phone, he took Kyle's suggestion and put his phone back in his pocket. I watched as our teammates jogged in.

"I wasn't paying attention." I frowned.

"Grounder to first. Strikeout looking. And another groundout to short." Noah sighed. "What a good day to be a shortstop." He leaned back. "Next time, you should at least watch from the corner of your eye. What if Zeke quizzes you or something?" I straightened up and Noah laughed at my rigid posture. "I'm kidding. Relax. Let's just watch this McCauley guy pitch against Zeke. Should be a good indicator of whether he's good or not."

I nodded and watched the game diligently. Noah's joke about Zeke quizzing us seemed like a real possibility even though nothing specifically was said. Zeke put his batting gear on and was already at the plate. Jordan and Chris following behind. The pitcher, Brett McCauley finished his warmup and signaled to the ump he was ready.

Zeke stepped in. Brett came at him with a high inside fastball, which Zeke took a swing at, sending it just foul down the right field line. Brett held out his glove for a ball and seemed to be really focused. Yet, his next two pitches, were low, almost bouncing in the dirt. With a 2-1 count, Zeke sent the next pitch just over the second basemen's head, to the right-center. He was unable to move to second after rounding first, due to the quick throw from right field.

"He's only so-so." Noah stated.

"What..?" Dave asked. "Were you expecting him to end Zeke's hitting streak? If he could do that, then Katella would be a higher caliber team."

They bickered a little more, but I watched the pitcher. He had an interesting style from going high, low, low, and then high again. Technically, if Zeke didn't swing at all, that would have been a walk.

Unfortunately it wouldn't matter. Jordan flew out to center. Chris flew out to right field. And Tony imitated them, sending a fly ball to center for our number three. 0-0, end of the second inning.