The Hitting Zone

The last hour of practice went by quickly as we ran these situationals. Chris came back from his run, but coach didn't put him back in. He did mini drills off to the side with some others.

Eventually coach called everyone into a huddle, including the pitchers, catchers, and spares. He took a good look around the group, making eye contact with everyone. "The tournament this weekend has released the bracket. Our first game on Saturday will be against Villa Park High School."

That meant nothing to me, but the team seemed to tense up at the name.

"Aren't we the third seed? Why are we playing a powerhouse school right off the bat?" Garret spoke up.

Coach sighed. "The seeds were based off last seasons records. Last year, Villa Park had their worst record in thirty years. They only won three games last year so they were given poor ranking."

"I'm sure they recruited some guys to transfer." Dave said. "A big school like them wouldn't want to suck two years in a row at any cost." The rest of the team started to add on and talk to one another.

Coach blew his whistle and team got quiet. "I have made my concerns known to the tournament adviser already, but no matter what we still have to play. They will make sure that all players have their paperwork turned in and are eligible to play for their school. If they do have transfers, then they have legally moved into their district lines."

The whole team seemed full of sighs and downcast looks. I caught Zeke tilting his head at Noah.

Noah jumped up and down and grabbed everyone's attention. "Why are you guys acting like you lost already? We're the best team Watsonville has had in decades. In fact, we would have won league last year if y'all had me on the team. Now that you do, the sky's the limit!"

Half of the guys laughed and the other half threw their gloves at him. As Noah got pelted with gloves, I noticed that the team's atmosphere didn't seem so gloomy anymore. Did Zeke and Noah plan this? I studied Zeke's face for clues, but it was expressionless as always.

"Settle down!" Coach demanded everyone's attention once more. "This week, we'll start running more game scenarios to prepare. It'll be warmups, some light tosses, bp, then these situationals. Hopefully by the end of the week, we can get some background on Villa Park's new team." He clapped his hands a few times. "Good hustle today. Get home, eat, do your homework, go to bed. Dismissed!" He walked over to his assistant coaches and started their own discussion.

The team started to head back to the clubhouse in little groups. I wandered over to Noah first. I cleared my throat, preparing to ask him a question.

"Hey, Why was Chris running laps?" Dave put his arm on my head, leaning on me. "We could see him running from the bullpen and wondered what was up."

Noah's face scrunched up. "That asswipe tried to give Jake a hard time because Jake made an error. Coach saw right through him."

I looked around to make sure no one else heard his words. But we were the only ones left lying about. Kyle must have gone inside with the team and Zeke was with the coaches.

Dave applied more pressure to my head, resting more of his weight on me. "Worried that Noah might get in trouble?"

I tried my best to nod but it was a little too hard.

"He's probably not going to forget this." Dave said. "Be careful not to piss him off without us present. I'm not saying he's a bad guy, but he can be hotheaded."

And this is coming from Dave? I started to shiver. Great.

Dave pushed the bill of my hat down over my eyes. "Stop being such a scaredy cat. Chris wouldn't dare to do anything that could get him kicked off the team. Just be wary." He pushed off me and headed to the clubhouse. "Hurry on up. I'm hungry."

I fixed my hat. "Bp?"

Noah swung his head back to me. "What was that? Bp? Are you asking what that is?"

I nodded. I didn't understand when coach mentioned it in the practice plan.

"It's batting practice!" Noah smiled at me. "The pitchers will take turns throwing pitches for us to practice our swing. Kind of like the batting cages. Except the pitches will come from our teammates and you get to see where the ball will go."

I cheered up at the thought of getting to bat with live pitchers.

"But you probably won't get to participate." Noah killed my one second of joy. "You have to train remember?"

I pouted at the thought. Ugh. What happened to, 'hitting wins games'?