The Hitting Zone

The fifth batter also made contact, making my heart skip a beat. Luckily, it was in Noah's range of play. He fielded the ball, then threw it to Julian at first, beating the runner for the third out of the inning. The nine of us jogged back to the dugout, listening to the majority of the crowd clapping for West Valley. It definitely made me feel worse, knowing that one run was my fault.

Top of the fifth. I had hoped to talk to Noah, but he was set to be batting second this inning. He quickly changed out his gear and hurried to the on deck circle without even a word.

I sat on the bench, wondering who I should speak to when someone said, "Hey Bambi, don't take it so hard. That was my fault." I looked up and saw Garret right in front of me.

I blinked. He thought I was upset about the passed ball. Which I am. But more importantly... "What's wrong?"

Garret was taken aback. "What? What do you mean?"

I glanced at his left arm. "You're being weird."

"It was just two good hits." Garret told me. He lifted his right arm and gripped his left. It was a familiar action that I've seen before. With Rhys! He always would hold his injured arm when he was thinking about it.

I took a deep breath. "Garret." I looked him in the eyes. "If you don't go tell Coach and Drew, I'll go do it."

Garret was surprised. "Are you...tattling on me?"

I swallowed. "I-I-I-"

"Alright, Jakey." Garret reached out to me with his right and patted my shoulder. "I get it. You don't want to, but you're obligated, huh?"

I looked away, feeling shy. "I just don't want to see you make it worse. Zeke's friend had elbow surgery and missed out on his senior year. I don't want that to happen to you."

"It won't." He answered promptly. "I know my limit. I was...going to push it a little more. But you're right. I shouldn't risk it all. I'll tell Coach I need a pitching replacement and then have Drew take a look. But it's not bad, I promise." He gave me a final pat and then made his move, walking to the other end of the dugout.

As he walked, he grabbed the attention of every player on the bench. Everyone watched as he spoke to Coach, lifting his left arm before shaking it. Coach called for Drew. From my seat, I couldn't see how he was examining Garret's arm, I just knew that he wasn't going back on the mound.

Jason struck out. Noah popped up a short fly to the first baseman. And Kelvin grounded out to short.

By the time we were through with our offense, Coach and Drew and finished talking with Garret. They spoke with Zeke and the pitching coach before addressing the team.

"Sean. I know this is hard for you, but take a seat." Coach told him just as he was heading out. "Mahki to right, Garret will stay in the game as the left fielder. Dave will be coming in to take over the mound."

Sean plopped back down on the bench, looking like someone had just punched him in the gut.

The rest of the team looked at Garret.

Garret waved his arm. "I'm fine. It's fine. Just some tightness. I'm still able to bat, but we don't think I should continue pitching."

"Alright, get out there and play some defense." Coach told the rather silent dugout. "Backup Dave the best you can." He looked to Kelvin. "He didn't get to warm up much so try to slow down the pace." He clapped his hands and we headed out.

I eyed Garret as he ran out to left field, feeling that he was playing down whatever was wrong with him.

"Don't waste your time on him." Noah told me as we headed for second base. Dave came sprinting in from the bullpen and started to do some practice pitches off the mound. "If Garret says he's fine, then he's fine."

But..."He only said something to Coach, because I threatened him that I would." I whispered.

Noah dropped the grin, and glanced to left field where Garret was playing catch with Zeke. "It's an important game; I can see why he doesn't want to go out. I just hope it's nothing serious." He shrugged. "Maybe it doesn't bother him when he's batting. He is one of the best batters we have after you and Zeke so it'd be a shame to bench him."

Noah saw that I wasn't convinced. "Okay, stop stressing. There's nothing we can do about it now. We aren't the coach, nor are we his parents. You saw how depressed Sean looked when he was benched right? Do you want Garret looking at you like that?"

I shook my head. No way.

Noah shrugged. "Let's just focus on what we can do for now."

The umpire called for the game to resume and the West Valley player was announced. The bottom of the fifth started with the sixth batter.

Kelvin called for a ball just outside the zone, and Dave complied. The batter swung on the first pitch, reaching all the way over, popping the ball over my head. I chased it to the outfield grass, picked the ball up and threw to Julian, however the batter was already safe. Dave starts off with a bloop single on a pitch that was obviously meant to be a ball. Dang it.

It got worse for the next batter, who smashed a line drive to the corner of right field. The runner on first made it home on his double, making it to the plate before a tag play could even be attempted. This field being big was not our advantage right now.

Down by three. Dave got serious, not willing to waste any more pitches. He shook off a few signs from Kelvin before agreeing on one. He threw it to the inside corner for strike one. Then strike two. And strike three. Got him swinging. The first out.

Dave wasn't done in just yet. The ninth batter got cornered into a 0-2 count, before Dave went outside, making him chase. He hit a slow roller right up the first base line. Julian picked it up and tagged first for the second out, as the runner from second made it to third. Julian had an urge to throw to third, but Dave demanded the ball back.

Julian threw it back to Dave on the mound, leaving the runner alone. Dave merely glanced at him before focusing on the new batter. Dave aimed for good spots, controlling his speed well. The leadoff batter hit a grounder my way. With two outs, I shouldn't worry about the runner on third. I did my best to field the grounder and then made a solid throw to Julian to end the inning.

We jogged back to our dugout.

"Down by three...I feel like we're sinking." Jason muttered.

"More like stinking." Noah replied, looking at Dave. "One inning, two hits, and one run. It's like you're not even trying."

Dave looked surprised at the sudden insult. "Dude, I just came in. On short notice. We're lucky it wasn't more than one. Why don't you go attack Garret for waiting until the last minute to get off the mound?"

"Quit the bickering." Zeke commanded as he got into the dugout. He slapped Noah and Dave on the head with his gloved hand. "We don't play the blame game. Not today." He looked at Garret who just came in as well. "If you don't get on base, I'll ask Coach to replace you next inning." He looked around. "That goes for everyone. Coach said he would start pulling those that keep hanging their head. This game isn't over yet so don't act like it is."