The Hitting Zone

The whole day followed a similar pattern of compliments, questions, and well-wishes. I was impressed with myself for not shying away like normal. It's not like I started speaking and socializing, but I stayed with Noah as he talked to everyone.

When it was time for lunch, Noah had an odd request. "Let's go by the inner courtyard." He told me as we went the long way to our usual table.

Knowing Noah, I knew he was up to something so I kept my eyes open as I followed him obediently. The inner courtyard was another place to have lunch, but it was only benches and trees with no tables. Very shady, but I rather be out in the sun. I was learning that even in May, Northern California was way cooler than the South.

"It's nice to be still playing baseball." Noah said suddenly, speaking slightly louder than normal. I furrowed my brows, not understanding why he would speak like that. "Just one more game and if we win, we'll be CIF champions. We'll get a trophy for the school and receive rings. Wouldn't that be cool."

I guess..?

He glanced at me, raising an eyebrow.

I cleared my throat. "I'm just happy to be still playing with everyone."

Noah grinned. He opened his mouth to speak but was suddenly jostled from behind as someone brushed up against him. He narrowed his eyes and glared at the familiar face. Austin. "Watch where you're going."

"Or what?" Austin mocked. He was a little taller than Noah now and slimmed down a little. He must have had a growth spurt in the last month.

"Or Coach might be wondering who hurt his starting shortstop before the big game." Noah shot back, crossing his arms in front of his chest.

Austin glared down at Noah, clenching his fists by his side. "Do you really think you're that important to the team? You're just filling the gaps. Your brothers practically carried you to the CIF championship. You're easily replaceable. Just like on the travel team."

Noah blinked in surprise.

Austin noticed. "Oh?" He sneered. "Guess you didn't hear. Tryouts for summer ball happened last weekend. You missed out. I'm not surprised no one told you or even let you know. That just shows how little you mean to the club." He turned on his heel and left us, dumbfounded.

For two different reasons. I didn't know what was going on while Noah just looked stunned over what he was just told.

He glanced at me, looking less surprised and more upset. "Come on! We have to go find Zeke!" He hurried through the courtyard and headed to the area where the varsity team usually hung out at.

I tried my best to keep up, just trailing a few feet behind. I had never seen Noah looked so panicked before. Which was saying something since we've been in multiple troubling situations.

Noah found Zeke near some of the seniors, who he ignored. He approached Zeke directly. "Zeke. There's a problem!"

Zeke looked down at him, then at me. After seeing that I wasn't the one freaking out, he looked back at Noah. "What is it?"

"The travel team had their tryouts already! I missed them!" He moaned. "What am I going to do? Do they allow late additions? When do they start practices?"

Zeke frowned. "They already did the summer tryouts? How do you know?"

Noah looked a little guilty. "We ran into Austin in the courtyard and he told me. Do you think I won't be allowed to play??"

"I bet you went looking for trouble." Dave came over, joining us. Zeke's eyes narrowed. "But it's strange. Usually summer tryouts would be held at the end of May. It's only the 14th."

"Are you talking about Watsonville Baseball Club team for ages 14 and under?" Julian asked from nearby. He was originally a part of the group Zeke was talking with before Noah's interruption.

"Yes!" Noah looked to him. "I played last year after 8th grade. I should still have another year left." He looked my way. "Jake should be able to play too."

Julian nodded slowly. "My brother is in 8th grade now; he just tried out this past weekend. They told him they'll have the results posted in a week. So Saturday or Sunday at the latest."

"Is your brother coming here in the fall?" Dave asked.

Julian nodded. "Of course."

"Hey, who cares about that!" Noah groaned. "Do you know why they had tryouts so early?"

Julian shook his head and gave a small shrug. "I didn't even know he went for tryouts. I was training this past weekend for yesterday's game. We aren't super close. I just found out Sunday night when he asked our parents at dinner if they could afford to let him play travel ball if he makes the team."

"And will they?" Dave asked, curious.

Julian made a face of displeasure. "Doubt it. They couldn't afford for me to play travel ball. Who knows? They were a little more attentive when I received some calls these last few weeks from schools with scholarship offers." He shrugged.

"Wow! Congrats!" Dave nodded at him. I nodded in agreement.

"Yea, I'm interested in what Fresno State has to offer so I'm going to visit them this weekend."

"Excuse me!" Noah cut back in. "That's great for you and all, Julian, but I want to know more about the tryouts for WBC." He shifted from foot to foot, looking an even mix of impatient and nervous.

Julian could only shrug again, helpless. "I really don't know much. I'll ask my brother when I get home after practice if he knows anything about it being moved up. But, wouldn't it be easier to ask one of the other freshman that go here? Don't some of them play travel ball?"

Noah fell silent, as did the group. His lips thinned and his brows furrowed. "No one said anything to me. Austin did, just to rub it in that I missed the tryouts. I think...they don't want me on the team anymore."

Julian didn't know what to say and looked at Zeke. Zeke patted Noah on the head. "Don't worry. We can just tell Mom and Dad at dinner. I'm sure they have a way of getting in touch with the club and maybe arrange a late tryout. For you and Jake."

Noah hummed in agreement, but didn't lift his head just yet. He just looked down at his feet with Zeke's hand on his head. He never looked so small to me before, but under Zeke's hand, he looked like a lost child.

"Don't be so depressed!" Dave slapped Noah's back, making him jump. "You're a CIF finalist and future champion. The club will be begging for you to return."

That cheered him up a little.

But if you ask me, it still weighed on his mind. We chose to stay with the team and eat our lunches with them. It was like he needed this sense of comfort, being surrounded by the team. Noah had lost his morning spark and it was like the team was the only thing that could keep him lit up. The early excitement of going to the finals was lost as his attention was focused on this summer ball club.

"I don't know what the big deal is." Dave told me after lunch on our way to Math.

I glanced up at him. "You don't play summer ball?"

Dave laughed. "No way. It's a lot of money. Our parents are pretty fair so they let us, me and Kyle, use that same amount of money for pitching clinics instead. Summer ball is a waste of time in my opinion. Since we decided to focus on pitching, it's just a better deal for us to go to camps."

"What this about camps?" Kyle showed up out of nowhere as we walked into the classroom.

Dave gave him a rundown of what had happened, how Noah had missed summer ball tryouts.

"That's strange." Kyle frowned. "They're usually held at the end of May."

"That's what I said!" Dave laughed.

Kyle didn't laugh, instead his frown deepened. "We should tell Dad."

"Yea, yea, I'm sure Noah's already sending a text or two to him." Dave relaxed in his seat. "I'm sure it isn't a big deal."

Kyle looked worried. "It's kind of a big deal. They don't do makeup tryouts." He lowered his voice. "And I know that two freshmen have dads on the board for WBC. They own part of the baseball club."

"So what?" Dave shrugged.

"So Noah's in trouble." Kyle hissed. "None of the freshmen on the baseball team like him right now."

That got Dave's attention. He sat straight up. "But Noah is good! Good enough to make varsity!"

"That has no bearing on club ball." Kyle sighed.

The conversation died as the class started. I couldn't stop thinking about it though. What if this was a big conspiracy to not let Noah on the team? Isn't that a bit too petty? I recalled Austin's smug face. He did seem the type.

I wrote Kyle a note on some scratch paper.

'What are the names of the freshmen?'

Kyle glanced down, frowned, then wrote something back.

'Don't know their names. Just heard about them in passing. Jason played travel ball. He would know them.'