The Hitting Zone

Athletic Director Barber cleared his throat as he studied each and everyone of us. "Good afternoon boys. I thought I should stop by to share some exciting news. First off, let's congratulate Zeke and Kyle Atkins for their positions in the National rankings." He started clapping and we followed suit.

Kyle jumped up. "Yes, everyone heard that correctly. Yours truly is now a nationally ranked player."

Coach shook his head with annoyance. Director Barber just stared at Kyle, surprised at his outburst.

Dave threw his glove, hitting Kyle on the back of the head. "Sit down. No one asked for you to cut in. Besides, it's not even an official top 100 rank. You can drop out by next week."

Kyle smirked at his twin. "Unlikely. I have a perfect game. How many other high school pitchers can say that? In the whole country?" He scoffed. "If I get taken off the list, we'll all know it's rigged."

Dave rolled his eyes. "Or maybe they'll find out you went up against a crappy team."

"Language." Coach warned. "Dave, zip it. Kyle, sit down. Athletic Director Barber didn't just come down to congratulate you two on your rankings."

Kyle looked surprised. "Really? Why else would he leave his office then?"

A.D. Barber let out a cough.

"No offense. I just meant, you have a lot of work to do, so it doesn't make sense that you would visit us." Kyle scratched his jaw. "But, I'm not implying that you're skipping out on your work. I just mean-"

"Just sit down." A.D. Barber sighed in exasperation. Kyle finally did what he was told. "As I said before, I'm here to share some exciting news. For the team." He looked around at us, then looked at the coaches. "I've gotten a call this afternoon from the organizers of a baseball tournament this weekend."

The team burst into murmurs and whispers, predicting what it could mean. I looked to Noah to see what he had to say, but he was strictly focused on the athletic director.

"Listen up!" Coach commanded, getting the team to simmer down. "Let the director finish."

The older man nodded his thanks to Coach. "As I was saying, you boys are invited to a tournament this weekend. I've already moved the originally scheduled game towards the end of the season. This weekend will be important for you, your season, and for the school." He took a deep breath. "As a division three school, it is a privilege to be able to participate in the Foothill Classic. I would like for you boys to represent the school by showing great sportsmanship and also by winning at least a game or two." He nodded. "Your coach will take over from here." With a wave, he left and headed back up the hill to the school buildings.

Unlike before, the team stayed completely silent, all eyes on coach. I peeked over at Noah. His eyes were on coach, unblinking, plus his fists were clenched as if he was struggling to withhold his emotions.

"Well, you boys heard him." Coach took over. "We'll be taking part in the Foothill Classic. Again. I know most of you participated in last year and were disappointed with the results, but new year means new teams." A few moans came from within the group but I couldn't pinpoint them. "We have three days of practice before Saturday. I've decided that we'll be doing circuit training. There'll be three groups: conditioning & training with Drew, batting practice with Miller, fielding practice with me. Coach Luis will oversee pitching. Pitchers and catchers won't work on their hitting. They'll use that time to work on pitching. Last year, our pitching was weak and couldn't really compare. This year will be different."

All eyes went to Kyle. Yet, he didn't take the bait this time to jump up and show off. Instead he was pulling the grass out...

"Don't be such a coward!" Dave jumped up.

Kyle frowned up at him. "I'm not a coward. I'm just realistic. Last year we got our butts kicked. You were the one to say that I only got the perfect game because it was a bad team. You should know best how I'll measure up against the teams in the Foothill Classic."

I poked Noah. "Do you understand what's happening? What's the Foothill Classic and what happened last year?"

Noah gave me a tight smile. "You heard the athletic director right? We're a division three school. The Foothill Classic is for specifically chosen schools that rank in division one and two. These are schools with more money, better facilities, and more players. Think Paradise Preparatory. But bigger and more ruthless."

Before he could say more, Dave was walking up to Coach. "I want to start game one."

Coach blinked in surprise, then squinted at him. "Are you asking or demanding? You know you're not the only starter here, right?"

Dave stood firm. "I'm the only choice. Why waste Garret on game one? As for Kyle, he's scared. Traumatized by last year apparently. He'll only get cold feet and drag us down."

"I will not!" Kyle stood up and declared. "Remind me again, who has the perfect game? I'm leading you in all pitching stats."

Dave sneered. "Yea. Remind me. The only pitcher with a perfect game so far this season is acting all solemn like losing is inevitable. What kind of example are you setting, huh?"

Kyle glared at him. "Coach should let me pitch first. No doubt we'll have to play the number one seed or something. Might as well let the superior pitcher go first."

"Hey, Hey. Are you both forgetting who's the ace on the team?!" Garret got up too.

The three started to bicker and the rest of the team started to chat to one another about the upcoming tournament. I was no different. I turned back to Noah, hoping for some more background on what was going on. I didn't like the feeling of being left out. Even the players who weren't on varsity last year seemed to know what happened. Noah included. No doubt he knew because his brothers were in the game.