The Hitting Zone

In the dugout, Troy was talking to coach and Zeke, while Mahki stepped up to bat. With Dave out and Troy as his replacement, he should have been grabbing a helmet and bat to go to the on deck circle. Yet, after a few seconds he went to sit down.

"Bryce!" Coach looked down the dugout and spoke out to a sophomore next to some of the pitchers that weren't sent to the bullpen. "Grab a bat. You'll pinch hit."

Bryce, at six feet towered over me, jumped up. "Will I get to pitch too?"

"You haven't even warmed up." Coach frowned.

"I'll warm up properly after my at-bat." Bryce replied as he put on his helmet and grabbed his bat.

Coach's frown remained. "We'll see what you can do at the plate first. Get out there and take some practice swings. Stretch."

Bryce hurried out with a giant smile in place.

"This will be his varsity debut." Noah whispered to me.

I nodded. That sounded about right. He was a sophomore this year so he couldn't have played last year as a freshman. I know this because I remember Noah making a big deal about being the first freshman on the team for Watsonville in more than a few years. Even Zeke didn't make the team as a freshman. And I know Bryce hasn't played this year yet.

"He can hit even though he pitches?" I asked quietly.

Noah gave me a look, making me feel embarrassed. "Of course. Not everyone is like the twins. Just look at Garret. He can pitch well and get hits. Bryce is a bit like him. Bryce also plays outfield, but with our lineup now, it's kind of hard to put him in."

"I see." I peeked down to where Troy was sitting with a few other seniors. "What about Troy?"

Noah scrunched up his nose. "What about him?"

"Why is he getting replaced so soon? He came out hot and throws some nice curves."

Noah sighed. "He's strictly a relief pitcher. He doesn't like hitting. He doesn't throw more than 30 or so serious pitches so he would never be able to be a starter."

"Oh. Why?"

"Because he's the type that doesn't want to get hurt. He's already taking risks by throwing nothing but curveballs. Apparently he was throwing them back in little league so he has a higher chance to have elbow problems in the future." Noah rolled his eyes. "What a dummy. If it's such a problem, he should stick to fastballs. No college coach is going to want a picky pitcher."

Mahki's 'ding' of the bat grabbed our attention, but it was nothing to be excited over. He hit a high fly ball straight to the right fielder for the first out. Bryce moved up to the batters box and Sean to the on deck circle.

Bryce was a righty like the majority of the team. His stance looked solid, and he held his bat back without doing any unnecessary movements. He fouled the first pitch back, but wasn't fazed by the sudden speed. He seemed comfortable just jumping in without warming up. On the second pitch he was able to get a solid connection and sent it to the outfield. As he sprinted around the bases, the center outfielder caught the ball on the hop and made a quick throw to his cutoff man. The cutoff man tossed to the shortstop, who was covering second, just as Bryce was sliding in. We waited for the call.

"Safe!" The umpire extended his arms.

Our bench let out cheers and a few claps for the sophomore. Our offense started to feel a little more active again. Sean stepped up to bat on the lefty side and already started to show for a bunt. Kelvin was on deck. And Julian in the hole. Even Noah got out his helmet, anxious for our offense to get some hits and to score some runs.

Sean was only faking a bunt, and instead had pulled his bat back to try and get a hit. He ended up grounding out to the second baseman. Kelvin was more patient and worked the count since everyone could see him getting tired up on the mound. He earned a walk and Julian followed suit.

With the bases loaded, Noah stepped up to the plate, and I moved to the on deck circle with Zeke right behind me. What a good opportunity. Granted, there were already two outs so there's a force play at any base the infield wants, which puts us at a slight disadvantage. Noah choked up on the bat and took his stance. A hit to the outfield could easily tie up the game.

The pitcher got set, and started his motion. The pitch went wide, but the catcher was able to stop it by getting his body in front of it. Ball one. The pitcher was sweating even in the cool evening air. His next pitch made it over the plate and Noah fouled it back for strike one. On the third pitch, Noah got a better piece of it, sending the ball to left field. It looked good!

The baserunners all ran. I studiously watched as the ball came down and the left fielder came in. Drop. Drop. Please drop. The left fielder dove forward, full body extension. I squinted as he dove at the ball and slid forward. After a brief second he jumped up, ball in glove, and the cheers roared from the Durham dugout. Third out to end the sixth inning. Crap.

Our runners all came to the dugout, none looking happy about what had happened.

"We still have another inning." The familiar stern voice of Zeke spoke up as we all grabbed our gloves. "One inning can change everything around so keep your heads up. Don't give up until the game is fully over."

"YES!" The team yelled out together.

The atmosphere lightened up and we took the field.

Bryce had convinced coach that he could pitch for a little until one of the bullpen pitchers were ready to go. Seeing that he had no game experience, Coach said he would give him three batters to show what he could do. That was enough to send Bryce sprinting to the mound even though Kelvin didn't put on all his catchers gear just yet.