The Hitting Zone

I nodded. I could help him embarrass the pitchers he knew. But...

"I don't know if Coach would even let me face them..?" I shrugged, helpless. "They can't compare to the twins and Garret..."

Noah replied. "There will be a few opportunities. We do something like scrimmages too. At least, we did so last year. Especially in the fall semester. We had a baseball class. Counts toward your P.E. credit. Last class of the day so we just play until the scrimmage is over then go home. Coach might have some changes in mind though, so we'll see."

"Scrimmages every day?" My jaw dropped. "How do the pitchers handle that?"

Noah rolled his eyes. "Not everyone plays in the scrimmage. We only have three fields; plus Mr. Miller won't let us use the varsity field when we aren't in season. He likes to keep it fresh and well taken care of."

Sounds like him.

"So...do we watch when we aren't playing?" I asked.

He nodded. "Yea, sometimes. Or just do some conditioning and then watch. It varies." He lifted his eyebrows. "We might have a real weight room if Jeremy follows through on contacting Coach."

"I can't tell if that's a good thing or not." I sighed.

Noah laughed and patted my back. "What are you scared of? We survived a summer of Zeke's training."

That's true. As long as I don't have to run anymore long distances, I'll be satisfied.

We went in the cafeteria for dinner and sat with the same group of guys. Everyone talked about their games from the afternoon with Noah taking the lead.

"I bet Jake still performed better than you." Landon claimed. He must be getting tired of Noah's bragging.

Noah wasn't bothered. "Yea? I'm okay with that. Jake is the best."

Landon looked to me. "Well? How'd you do?"

"2-3." I answered in between bites. "I hit a homerun."

"What was the out?" Ansar asked.

"Fly ball to right field." I told them.

"This is my first time meeting a batting prodigy." Travis sighed. "Have you ever gone a game without a hit?"

I nodded. One particular game came to mind. The loss to University Prep in the Foothill Classic Tournament. I've been thinking back to it lately. That pitcher, Seth something...was ranked fifth in state.

"It's nice to know that you're human." Adam joked, making the guys laugh. He looked around. "Anyone playing at the stadium tonight?"

Everyone shook their head.

"Guess none of our teams have to play Jake. Thank goodness. Wouldn't that be embarrassing?" Cody chuckled.

"There's still tomorrow morning. We aren't doing drills. Just one last scrimmage. Then lunch before we end the camp." Adam pointed out. He looked at me. "What field?"

I shrugged. "Didn't look."

"That would be a rough game to end camp with. Getting beaten up by Jake."

"It's not like he's a one-man team." Someone pointed out.

"Then I hope you get to face him."

"Ugh. Too much pressure."

"Yea, I want to shine in my last scrimmage. Not be overshadowed."

"Imagine if you were a pitcher that struck him out in the last scrimmage though."

"You would have the attention of all the coaches."

Ansar laughed. "Be real. Pitchers that face Jake tomorrow are probably going to look like little leaguers."

"True."

"I can see it already."

"It would be a sad car ride home."

"I can't believe the camp is ending already." Landon sighed, interrupting them. "One more night. I feel like the week has flown by."

"We should exchange social media information so we can follow everyone's progress in the future. Who knows, maybe we'll become teammates at the college level?"

"Yea!"

"Let's do it!"

The whole table pulled out their phones and started the exchange. They would go from one person to another, following each other on all social media platforms.

"Jake! Hurry up!" Someone called out.

I turned red. "I...don't have...one."

"What?!"

"Why not?"

"That's a bit strange."

"Nah, I know a few kids like him that aren't into it."

"I...never needed one." I mumbled.

"I'll help you set one up!" Noah grabbed my phone from my clenched hands, ignoring my discomfort. "I can even tag you in the pictures I've posted from before so you won't be a blank slate." He typed away, downloading an app and inputting the information. Once the account was created, he added himself first. Then his brothers. He slowly explained to me how to add others.

It wasn't long before I had a following from those around me. Even the twins followed me back. Zeke too. As I was following others, I got notifications from familiar names and faces. The guys from the team: Julian, Mahki, Jason, Garret. A few classmates followed me as well, including Alisha.

"Wow. They're so fast." I mumbled.

"Of course!" Noah answered. "It's dinner time. Summer break. A lot of people will casually browse during this time and find you under suggested follows." He lifted his phone and shook it. "It also helps that I announced your new profile on my page. Can't let you be a loner. Cuz, you're not." He grinned.

With Noah's help and with the following frenzy of the guys at our table, my followers and following numbers grew. I stared at it in amazement. I had...friends. People I could follow and interact with. They couldn't compare to Noah, but still, I've never felt so...popular.

"You should follow Jeremy!" Landon suggested to me. "I don't know if he manages his own account though."

"Follow. Then send him a text." Noah added.

I searched up Jeremy and followed his page. I carefully scrolled through his posts and pictures, noticing that most of it was just him playing baseball. An occasional ad. A charity event. Nothing too personal. Recently, anyways.

"Text him." Noah reminded me. "Tell him to follow me too!"

I switched the app to my texts and pulled up Jeremy. I sent him a brief message, telling him that I followed him on the social media site, adding that Noah was hoping to be followed back. A simple thumbs up emoji was sent back.

Barely ten seconds later, Noah jumped up and ran around with his phone, showing it to everyone who was within ten yards. "Look! Look! I'm being followed by Jeremy Patterson! Is that amazing!"

My lips twitched. This was the same kid that would give Jeremy a hard time whenever I looked just a little bit upset. Now he's bragging about him.

This went on well into the free time. It felt like a party. No one wanted to get up and leave to rest in their dorm. We didn't have much time left together before the end of camp after all.

That night, Coach Nate returned me back to my regular position at second base. I couldn't understand what was going on, but I felt a sense of comfort being back in the one position I knew. Right field wasn't so bad, but that's because I didn't have to do much.

My position in the batting lineup stayed at the number two spot, right behind Kenny. I performed within my expectations, going 2-3 at the plate for this game as well. With a slight difference: I hit two homeruns. My only out was a fly ball to right field again, but that's okay. I'm still working on it.

Surprisingly, Kenny had his worst night, not getting a hit at all.

I didn't know what to tell him after the game, however after a glance at my phone, I had an idea. I opened the social media app and checked my new notifications, following everyone back. I showed Kenny. "I just made an account at dinner. Do you have one? Can I follow you?"

Kenny snapped out of his daze, focusing on my phone. "Oh. Yea. Sure." He pulled his phone out and we followed each other. He reverted back to his quiet self, not intending to speak anymore.

I glanced at Rhys for help.

Rhys just gave his head the smallest of shakes, not saying anything.

Once we reached the dormitory, Kenny went ahead of me. I hung back with Rhys. "Why didn't you say anything to cheer him up or something?" I asked once Kenny was out of earshot.

Rhys gave me a small smile. "Not everyone is the same. Kenny wasn't upset like you think he was. Instead, he's just processing his playing tonight and working through how he could have done better. He's an internalizer."

I frowned. "So he'll be fine by tomorrow's game?"

Rhys nodded. "Kenny is very capable. I don't know if you recall your first scrimmage, but Coach Nate stated that Kenny was one of the highly rated batters on our team. He's not just good at the plate, but he also has the mentality of a great batter. I noticed him making slight adjustments for every pitch he saw. It didn't work out, but that doesn't mean he's down and out."

I sighed with relief. Good. I didn't want Kenny to flop in his last scrimmage tomorrow. Especially when he wants to get a few looks from the college coaches.