The Hitting Zone

We worked out until Coach showed up and called us in. "Take a knee, boys."

We collectively lowered ourselves.

"First off," He started to address us. "Let me congratulate all of you. For making the varsity team. Even the returners. All of you should know how I am by now. No one is guaranteed a spot on my team."

"Even Jake?" Dave interrupted with a smile.

Coach glanced at him then at me. "Even Jake. I've only ever had one player that was a guarantee starter. Zeke Atkins. My best player to come through. Zeke wasn't just a good player, but a good leader. As captain, he didn't let me down once." He shifted his eyes around. "Speaking of captains, I haven't picked one yet for this upcoming season. There are quite a few reasons for this. One, this team isn't set in stone. Like I just said, you're all replaceable. Two, I want to see the chemistry among you all. Will someone step up and lead on their own? Or will this be a team where everyone carries their own weight? Will I need to appoint the captain or will the team unanimously agree on one player?"

Coach chuckled. "Don't worry, I won't let us go too long without a captain. We have less than three weeks until our first tournament. After the New Year, I'll have a decision."

"Wait, wait, go back." Noah jumped up. "A tournament?? In December!?"

Coach grinned. "The Christmas Classic." He started to pace back and forth. "As winners of the Division III CIF tournament, we'll be getting a lot of attention and a lot of invites to special tournaments like this. This will be opportunity to try out some lineups and give our pitching rotation some real game experience before season. What I like about these tournaments is that they don't count against us in league play."

Noah started to get restless. He wasn't the only one. I looked around and could see the excitement in my teammate's faces.

"Our first challenge is going to be getting game ready with less than two weeks of practice." Coach continued. "The last week of school is finals so we won't be allowed to have any practice. Friday, after school, we'll board the bus and head for the bay. Group play will be Friday night, plus two games on Saturday. Double elimination. You lose twice, you're out. Sunday will be the semifinals and Monday will be the finals. I have high expectations of us so plan accordingly."

"Do we know what teams we'll be playing against?" Noah asked. "The exact location of the games?"

Coach answered. "Location and time will be sent out to your parent's emails later this evening. Opponents will be listed too if you guys want to do a little research in your own time."

I don't, but I'm sure Noah does. He'll do enough for the both of us.

Coach started to clap his hands. "Alright. That's enough. For now, let's get to work. Pitchers and catchers, hit the bullpen. Outfielders to the cages with Coach Miller. Infielders with me and Coach Luis. We're going to start working on turning double plays."

Everyone split up accordingly.

After spending most of my free time at the cages, I wasn't mentally or physically prepared to practice double plays. And it showed. Dropped balls. Bad throws. Misses. I committed at least one kind of error there could be.

Coach was patient and none of the other infielders said anything to me. Bad or good. Noah spoke up when it came time for a water break. "Don't worry, Coach. We'll practice this more in our free time."

Coach gave a short nod. "I know Jake had a small procedure done last week. You can use that excuse for now, but when it comes game time, I'll be judging fairly."

I nodded obediently. I didn't look good today. There was no hiding it. Coach was generous enough to blame my treatment from thanksgiving break, but I knew that wasn't it. My body was already healed and nothing hurt. I just needed some more practice targeting my fielding. Double plays are bound to happen at least once or twice a game. I can't be the weakest link.

The nights were getting shorter and colder. On rainy afternoons, Coach had us run sprints and work out in the new weight room. Clear days were spent on fielding. Even when it was time for the infielders to work in the cages, I stayed with the outfielders and practiced catching fly balls. I didn't really want to, but gave in when Garret told me he would be with that group too. He had to keep his balance between pitching, hitting, and fielding.

He wasn't the only one. Brian, Bryce, and even Joey, all took turns in the cages and participated in a few outfielder drills. Of course, being in a group with Joey and Korrey made me uncomfortable, causing me to make a few more errors, which just led to a vicious cycle of being embarrassed and committing more errors.

That's where Garret came in. It was similar to my time during the midseason tryout. Garret laughed with me, made jokes, and worked his hardest to get me to loosen up. With him there, it was like a shield to block out the looks from Joey and Korrey.

Just when I started to get back to my normal self, we had to discontinue practice for finals week. A mere bump in the road. Noah bartered with the twins to get them to help us to practice double plays. Kyle was acting as a first baseman, while Dave was in charge of hitting grounders to either me or Noah. In exchange, Noah was used as a catcher in the backyard, using only the porch light to see. By Friday, he had one too many bruises.

Friday was going to be a crazy day. We were to take our final finals, then somehow get to the game location during rush hour traffic. Mom and Dad did decide on getting two hotel rooms in the vicinity of the tournament so we had to have our bags pack and ready to go in order to leave right after school.

Two familiar faces were waiting for us at the field: Zeke and Rhys. College had finals this past week too and ended perfectly. After this tournament, we were going to take Zeke home for winter break. It'll be nice to have him around full-time again.

"Cutting it close!" Rhys exclaimed, meeting us in the parking lot.

Dad sighed while helping us get the baseball bags out of the car. "Don't mention it. Traffic was horrible. I don't know how Coach could agree to a Friday night game that's nowhere near the school."

Noah shrugged. "I'm fine."

"I told you, I could drive." Kyle said. "I'm not pitching today, after all."

"Can you even compare your driving to Dad's?" Dave rolled his eyes.

Zeke looked down at me. "Are you ready?"

I nodded. "Noah looked up the team beforehand. Today will be easy."

"Shh. Don't jinx it." Noah whispered, covering my mouth with his hand. He dramatically looked around to make sure no one was eavesdropping. Then looked up at Zeke. "Tonight is our first game without you. Watch us dominate as you sit in the stands." He grinned, showing both rows of teeth.