The Hitting Zone

The ball carried over the infield and then continued to soar on over the left field fence. I had already dropped my bat and started my run around the bases.

"Booo." Sean said playfully when I passed him.

"Jake becoming the next Zeke!" Jason hollered as I rounded third.

I felt my face warm up. I tagged home plate, making the score 4-2 and headed for the dugout.

Ollie, who bats after me, met me halfway, holding my bat out to myself. "Great hit!"

"Thanks." I accepted my bat and went inside the dugout.

"Looking good." Mr. Miller complimented me. "You keep that up and the scouts will be hanging out in your living room soon enough."

I nodded and went back to my bag. On the way back, a few of the guys clapped me on the back even though we hardly knew one another. Noah rescued me by pulling me through and pushing me to sit down.

"Jake doesn't like the attention guys!" He told everyone. "He's super shy. Don't ruin his game mentality, yea?"

Some of them laughed and others nodded. Whether they thought Noah was joking or not, I didn't care. I was getting better at not caring about what others thought of my problems.

"I think he needs a specialty pitch." Garret mused as we watched Joey pitch to Ollie. "At least, if he wants to get to the next level."

"The twins don't have a specialty pitch." Noah pointed out.

Garret shrugged. "Not everyone needs one. But," He glanced at us. "Don't you see them trying to change?"

I nodded.

Noah shrugged. "Doesn't Kyle just want to throw faster?"

"That's a part of it. He's completely changed his whole motion." Garret commented. "Risky, but Kyle has that determination. Even Dave has changed. He's trying to just tweak his motion and delivery. They also have really good control. Or, at least, they did. Probably will take some time to get that back after making adjustments."

"I think Joey could be better if he listened to his catcher." I thought about the few times he shook Mitchell off. Even when Mitchell had something to say to him on the mound, Joey didn't let him go up there. "I think Mitchell has valuable input that Joey isn't willing to listen to."

"Agreed." Garret looked back just in time to see Joey strike out Ollie to end the inning. "He's good. I'm just saying, he could be better. His mentality really holds him back. That's why I think a specialty pitch could do him wonders. Something he can fall back on." He stood up and grabbed his glove. He was one of the first to leave the dugout with Ethan.

"I don't know why Garret cares so much." Noah commented in a low voice as we grabbed our gloves too. "With him and the twins, it's not like we need anymore starters."

I shrugged. "I think he's just casually commenting. It's good to have insights on other players. A way to improve. If you see someone else making a mistake, you can apply it to yourself."

Noah smirked. "You have experience?"

I blushed.

Noah laughed. "Kidding. I understand. When you put it that way, I guess I do the same when I watch the pros. I just don't think about learning and analyzing those on the same level as us. Well, besides Zeke."

We headed for the field, getting into position to do a few warmup throws with Luke at first.

As Garret started the fourth inning with the fourth batter, I thought a little more about what he had said. It made sense. You can't just improve physically at the game, your mentality has to grow with you. I was always good at batting, the only reason I got better at the game though was my ability to learn. An error would make me want to have a complete breakdown; now it just makes me cringe.

The fourth batter for the other team was Michael. Garret got him to strike out the last time he was up, but this time he made contact. Nothing great. Just a routine grounder to Noah. Noah handled it with ease to get the first out.

I kind of expected more out of the former JV captain. Something closer to Zeke I guess. So far, Garret has shut him out and it didn't seem like he was particularly good. I guess you don't necessarily need to be the best player on the team to be the captain. It's just...wouldn't that be more reassuring?

I glanced at Noah. I can see why he wanted to improve his hitting so much. To be a better player, yes, but also to be more reliable. Thinking back to how much he helped me practice my fielding, I think I should return the favor. Help him with hitting drills. I didn't know any, but I recently participated in one today. That would help Noah a little bit. I just don't know if we have that kind of equipment.

The fifth batter, Joey, hit a long fly ball to center field. Ollie got underneath and made the catch for the second out. Tanner came up next and was shut down by three straight fastballs. He struck out swinging for the second time this game.

We jogged back to our dugout.

"You're starting to get the hang of it." I overheard Garret tell Ethan.

It was only then that I realized Garret didn't have to shake him off so much this half inning.

"Just kind of keep the flow we have going." Garret instructed. "They want to swing on the first pitch? Fine. We let them. We just have to choose good spots to throw to like the corners. It's okay if I miss the zone, because they've been swinging anyways."

Ethan obediently nodded, taking in everything Garret had to say. Garret continued to teach him a little about what he wanted out of him as our five, six, and seven batters went up. All three came back the way they came. Strikeout, groundout to first, strikeout. Joey still had some talent even if he wasn't very effective against me.

With one-third of our team being freshmen, Joey held an advantage. Against us in the top three, his only out was Garret's line drive to first base for that double play.

Garret switched things up in the top of the fifth, using his cutter a little more, working it around the plate. Batters seven and eight both struck out, looking. Only Mitchell was able to get a piece of it. He hit a soft grounder my way. I ran to the ball and bare-handed it, making the throw to Luke at first. Third out to end their offense.

Bottom of the fifth, Joey continued to pitch. He struck out the freshman, Connor, and then the sophomore, Ethan. If he hadn't given up hits to Garret, Noah, and myself, I really might consider him to be varsity material. I guess it depends on what Coach thinks he can get out of him.

Noah moved to the batter's box and Garret went out to the on deck circle. I stood in the hole, watching Noah to see if there was something I could note down for him.