The Hitting Zone

Mahki followed up with another single, allowing Noah to score and for me to advanced to second. Unlike Noah, I wasn't daring enough to take a big lead off first base, and I wasn't confident enough to leg it out to third. I'm not a gambler...but if I was, I definitely wouldn't bet on myself. The one serious sliding practice I had just isn't enough. Base running in general is still a little foreign.

Zeke came up big with a double to the outfield fence, giving me enough time to round third and make it home safely to make the score 2-0. Good start. As the claps and cheers came for Zeke, a few of the guys patted my helmet and shoulder as I walked into the dugout.

I took off my helmet and set it down next to my bat. I slapped on my baseball cap and rested my glove in my lap, still trying to catch my breath.

Noah smiled. "Good run! With you scoring a run, that counts as two versus the girls. So as long as we win with ten runs scored too then we beat them in that category."

I gave him a thumbs up.

His smile started to dissipate. "You okay? You're breathing really hard."

I sucked in air. "It's a little." Another breath of air. "Hard to breathe." Another gasp. "Here."

"It's because we're in the mountains." Sean explained. He wasn't in the starting lineup so he was one of our few bench players for the game. "Higher altitude. Thinner air."

"But we're not having issues? Is Jake getting sick?" Noah stood up, getting worried.

"It's because we're use to it." Sean shrugged. "We live by the mountains. Most of us visit the mountains during breaks. We play teams in the area. Jake just isn't use to it yet. He's from Southern California, right? Probably at sea level. So of course he's struggling." Sean looked down the dugout. "Hey, Coach, Jake is having trouble breathing."

Coach stopped watching Jason's at bat and came over to take a look. I was slowly regaining a normal breathing pattern. "Do you feel dizzy or lightheaded?"

I shook my head. "No." I took a few more deeper breaths and felt my heart rate return to normal.

"Then you should be okay. But don't push it too much. If you feel sick, woozy, or anything out of the normal, then come to me. We'll pull you and get you looked at." Coach declared. His words made Noah fidget around. "At high altitudes, the air pressure is lower, making it harder for you to pull in the air and pump oxygen throughout your body. Any trouble breathing, chest pain, or vomiting is a really bad sign, alright?"

I nodded. "I'm okay. It was just a little troublesome from the run."

He patted my shoulder and went back to his spot just in time to see Jason get walked, loading up the bases for Julian.

"Jake. Don't run so hard." Noah stressed. "Even if Zeke hits another double when you're on second and someone else is on first. Just stop at third."

"It's fine. I'm okay. That wasn't so bad." I told him.

"Listen to Coach." Sean advised. "As soon as you feel sick, it can be life threatening. Don't take that chance okay."

His words spooked Noah immediately. Noah moved closer to Sean. "Can it really?"

Sean looked surprised at his distress. "It's called acute mountain sickness. Not getting enough oxygen is, of course, very dangerous. As soon as you feel those severe symptoms like coach mentioned, then they will want to rush you down to a lower altitude as fast as possible."

"Jakeee." Noah looked me up and down as if he could see I wasn't getting enough oxygen. "Maybe you should just sit out now."

I tilted my head. "What about the bet?"

"Is the bet worth your life?!" He exclaimed, gathering some attention.

I laughed at his dramatics. "I feel okay though. I just ran too much, too fast. It's not like I'll do that the whole game. Mostly we just stand around. Or sit in the dugout."

Noah squinted at me, trying to tell if I was lying.

Which I wasn't. It really wasn't so bad. Almost like a panic attack but no panic. Plus, I didn't want to let him and Kyle down. They put their trust in me to beat the girls statistics so I couldn't just bail.

Noah settled down and took a seat between me and Sean, but he didn't give up his worries. He continued to ask Sean for descriptions of the serious symptoms and what to look out for.

"If he pales or starts to turn blue, yell out for coach or a trainer." Sean commanded, taking Noah seriously.

"I should probably tell my parents too." Noah added. "Just in case."

"Seriously? I'm already fine." I nudged him. I didn't want to make his parents worry too, even when I'm not afraid.

Noah frowned, but didn't say anything.

Julian's bat made a 'ping' and diverted his attention. Julian had hit a hard grounder right to the second baseman. The second baseman charged the grounder, and just as I was wondering how he would flip the ball to the shortstop on second base, he barehanded the ball and threw to the catcher at home. The catcher tagged home plate before Mahki could reach, and threw right to first base, beating out Julian too. A 4-2-3 double play. My jaw dropped. I didn't expect that at all.

Mahki and Julian came back with downcast faces, one more so than the other. Zeke and Jason has both advanced to third and second respectively as Dave got in the batters box.

"Don't mind it boys." Coach told them when they got in the dugout. "That was good decision making on his part. I've said it before, and I'll say it again, play the way you face. He was running towards the ball so it's only reasonable that he would throw home to prevent a run being scored." He glanced my way. "Jake, I hope you were paying attention."

I nodded and gave a thumbs up.

Dave was the third and final out of our first inning offense. He hit a high fly to left field that didn't even near the fence. Hopefully his pitching would be better than that quick out.