The Hitting Zone

Coach tapped the podium and the room quieted down. "As some of you already know from past banquets or just from gossip. I like to start off by recognizing the seniors. Not just those on my varsity team, but all of those within the program." He nodded at someone in the back of the room, who dimmed the lights. A projection screen came down from the ceiling, turning on. A list of names appeared first. "I personally contacted every senior's parents and asked for three pictures. A baby picture, them as a child playing baseball, and then one picture of them playing high school baseball. Of course, none of the parents listened and sent me about ten pictures each." The room filled with laughter. "Nonetheless I had someone put it all together as a tribute for the young men that spent the majority of their high school experience on baseball."

With that, music started to play as the projection started to go through the pictures. Zeke's full name popped up first, followed by his baby picture. I knew it because it was one from the hallway that I see every day. His parents were definitely the kind of parents that Coach just made fun of. There were five pictures of Zeke's childhood with guest appearances from his brothers. Freshman year on the JV team. Then first year on varsity as a sophomore. Junior year. Senior year. A picture of all five us from a tournament win earlier in the season. Then a final one of him, smiling clearly at the camera, wearing his Stanford baseball shirt. That must have been the day he signed the letter of intent.

I peeked at Zeke, only to find him watching the slideshow with attention. He didn't even flinch with embarrassment. Soon the song changed and another senior popped up: Kelvin Bender. They must be going by alphabetical order of the last name.

I watched on as the show continued, going through every senior I knew and two I didn't. Seeing John's pictures, another wave of guilt washed over me, just knowing that I ruined his senior year by coming here. He could have been a senior on varsity, celebrating with his classmates, but instead, it was given to me.

After the show, the lights came on and the projection screen went back up. I looked around and saw some parents with tears in their eyes.

"Now," Coach spoke from the podium. "I would like to introduce your league champions, your CIF northern section champions, your sons." Coach started with the seniors and worked his way down to me and Noah, putting me at the end of the line. Not so much in the center of the room. It gave me a sense of relief. "These boys have turned into young men over the course of the season. They persevered through long hours of practice and didn't get complacent for a second. They tackled every new challenge that came their way and faced it head on. I couldn't be more proud."

The room was filled with applause and cheers.

After giving the room a few seconds to express their happiness for us, Coach continued. "Different from the JV and Freshmen teams, we don't have a sportsmanship award. We don't need it. I demand that every player on my team treats everyone with respect from the coaches to the umpires to the other teams. I wouldn't expect anything less." He looked at the other players sitting at their respective tables. "Think about the kind of player you want to become. This would be your first step. We all know my tolerance for disrespect is low. I don't care if your a senior or if you're one of the best players we have. If you're not respecting your teammates, you're not respecting me."

From the corner of my eye, I could see Noah staring down the freshmen tables without fear. It was almost like Coach's words were for them.

"For defensive mvp, I like to call the award the golden glove. Just like in the pros, our golden glove represents superior individual fielding performances. Unlike the MLB, I won't be giving out one per position. I will be giving it to the player who had done more than what was asked of them at their position. Noah Atkins."

I clapped wildly at the name of my best friend and watched as he approached Coach. Our whole team was louder than any other part of the room.

Coach handed Noah a plaque and held him in place. "Noah Atkins, as a freshman, has shown me some of the best defensive plays I've ever seen as a coach. He's a future pillar of our program and I'm glad that I'll have another three years to coach this young man."

Noah beamed at the clapping crowd, looking like he was born for this. He raised the plaque with one hand and slapped all our teammates hands on his way back to the end of the line.

Some of the parents laughed. Coach cleared his throat as he spoke into the mic. "As you can see, Noah is also one of our liveliest boys on the team."

Noah looked back at Coach and raised his voice. "How dare you demote me from young man back to boy!" He faked astonishment.

Coach rolled his eyes. "Maybe I should start another award, for team clown."

The parents laughed.

Noah pouted playfully, but settled down when he got back to his spot between me and Sean. Noah showed us his award. "Look! The start of my high school career accolades."

"Congratulations!" Sean smiled at him.

I repeated after him. "Congratulations."

"Like our defensive mvp award, our offensive mvp is named after the silver slugger in the mlb. The best offensive player at his position. I wish I could give this to every player at every position, but to make it special, I will only give it out once." Coach announced. "And just like our golden glove, our silver slugger is another freshman: Jake Hollander."

I froze as the parents clapped and all eyes went to me.

"Jake was a surprise addition to the team right before the season started." Coach spoke, disregarding the fact that I wasn't moving. "I don't like giving anyone special treatment, so for his tryout, I made him bat against my three best pitchers." He chuckled. "Imagine my shock when he crushed them like it was nothing. I thought I found a star. A future hall of famer. Of course, that thought left as swiftly as it came when I was informed that Jake had never played on a team before. He hardly knew where to stand, let alone how to field. And for that, Jake is also our most improved."

Noah nudged me. "Go. If you keep standing here, Coach will keep talking about you."

My face was on fire as I moved in front of my teammates, trying to reach Coach without tripping or embarrassing myself anymore. Coach smiled down at me as he handed me two heavy plaques.

"Like Noah, Jake will be a pillar of our program's future and I'm happy to have him here." Coach spoke for everyone to hear as I shuffled my feet back to my spot, keeping my head down. "To be on this team, Jake had to partake in extra practices and training just to improve his fielding and stamina to the minimum level required. I can't express how much this young man has done for our team this year."

Another round of applause started again with Noah leading the way, whistling long and loud.