The Hitting Zone

Because of the late game, we had a late dinner, followed by getting into bed late. It just got later and later. By the time Noah and I got into bed after showering, it was past midnight. I barely said 'goodnight' before passing out.

I woke up to Noah bouncing on our shared bed. "Jake! C'mon. Wake up! Time for breakfast."

I pulled the blanket higher above my head and rolled away from him.

Rhys laughed. "Wow. Two different types of players."

Noah and I were sharing a room with Zeke and Rhys, while the twins got Mom and Dad again.

"Jake, it's really time to get up." Zeke said firmly. "Wash your face and get your uniform on. Rhys, you can go take Noah downstairs for breakfast. He eats more than Jake."

"What about the twins?" Noah asked, calming the bouncing down.

"Mom and Dad will have them covered. Hopefully they're already eating too." Zeke said.

I heard some movement in the room. The door opening and closing. Then silence.

"You have ten more minutes to fully wake up." Zeke stated, going back on what he said earlier.

My body relaxed, happy to hear that Zeke wasn't going to rush me. I couldn't tell the difference from resting my eyes and falling back asleep. It merely felt like a blink before Zeke pulled the covers away from me.

I groaned and got up a little unwilling.

"Wash your face, you'll feel more awake." Zeke repeated what he told me before.

I dragged myself to the small bathroom and did my usual morning routine before wiping my face with a freshly wet washrag. With my uniform on, I didn't feel 'more awake' but at least I could keep my eyes open. Outside the bathroom, Zeke had my baseball bag over his shoulder and my team sweatshirt in hand.

"Here. It's going to be extra cold this morning. A little bit of a breeze too." He gave me the sweatshirt.

I tugged it on over my head and got my running shoes on.

"Thanks." I yawned and we left the room together.

The elevator ride down was silent. On ground level, I glanced up at him, confused as to why he didn't have anything to say. Before games, I kind of expected him to say something motivational.

"What is it?" Zeke caught me looking.

I shrugged and looked down at my feet. "I just thought you would have some advice for me before the doubleheader today."

He let out a small chuckle. Then I felt his hand on my head, pushing down my hat. "I'm no longer your captain, Jake. Just your brother. I'll be in the stands, cheering for you like Mom and Dad. It's not my responsibility to put any more pressure on you."

I looked up at him and fixed my hat. What he said made me think back to yesterday. Zeke really didn't say much to us before the game yesterday. Just asked us if we were ready.

"Jake! There you are!" Noah hollered and waved near the breakfast bar. "Hurry up and eat. Dad said we need to leave soon."

I hurried over, leaving Zeke behind. I grabbed a plate and started to load it up with eggs, bacon, and a bagel. I sat down and started to eat when Zeke suddenly put a cup of milk in front of me before going to Mom's table and sitting with her and Dad.

"I can't believe you got Zeke to carry your bag." Kyle laughed.

"Right?!" Dave joined in. "That's not the Zeke I remember."

I blinked, not seeing the big deal.

"Ignore them." Noah waved his fork at me. "They're just jealous." He looked at the twins. "Jake is obviously different."

Kyle nodded. "Yea, but it's still a rare sight. This is the same brother that made me carry Dave's bag when he got hurt on the playground. Where's the justice?"

"That's because he had to carry Dave." Noah squinted at him.

"Pshh. He was fine." Kyle scoffed.

"I sprained my ankle." Dave defended himself. "Really badly."

"You're ridiculous. Always getting hurt and shit." Kyle mocked.

"Language!" Mom raised her voice to scold Kyle from the next table over.

"Busted." Noah laughed.

By the time we got to the fields, I was much more awake. It helped that Noah and the twins never stopped talking. Our group split into two smaller ones, as us players headed for the dugout. Dave stopped the nonessential talking and found Mitchell almost immediately.

Kyle shook his head. "It's not like he has much to do today. Gotta stay under fifty pitches."

"Are you going to stay under 50?" Noah asked.

Kyle twisted his lips. "Depends on how the game goes, right? I don't want to cut myself off at 50 and then we don't even make the finals. I'd feel pretty dumb."

"I believe in us." Garret joined us with a grin, putting his bag down. "Today's first game is no biggie. They should be worse than the team from yesterday."

"Good for Dave, but the second game today is a bit different." Kyle said. "We looked them up too. I'll have the bigger challenge of today."

Garret slapped him on the shoulder. "Bigger challenge of the two, but not a challenge to you."

Kyle grinned.

"Honestly hate the pitching rules." Garret sighed. "I feel like I could pitch every day."

Kyle gave him a small shove. "Ball hog. You already get to play every day, every game."

"Work on your hitting and you could too." Garret stuck his tongue out.

The dugout filled up with our teammates and got a little crowded as everyone started to open up their bags and put their cleats on. Warmups were led by Garret until Coach called us in. He sent Dave and Mitchell to the bullpen with a pitching coach before focusing on us.

He gave out the lineup:

1 1B Sean

2 SS Noah

3 2B Jake

4 CF Garret

5 3B Jason

6 RF Korrey

7 LF Jesse

8 C Mitchell

9 P Dave

"Bullpen be ready." He continued. "Ideally we would be able to pull Dave out before he hits 50 pitches. I know it's a bit presumptuous, but I think we'll need him for the finals on Monday." He looked around and smiled when he didn't see any objections. "Glad you boys believe it too."

Despite the early morning start, everyone was eager and ready to start the game against Lowell High School. We went through the rest of our game preparations before getting back in the dugout and getting organized.

I ditched the sweatshirt, a little unwillingly, but sucked it up. I still had a long sleeve under my jersey so it wasn't too bad as long as the wind didn't blow.

Our pitchers left for the bullpen while Dave and Mitchell came back. Coach went over to them and said a few words as we prepared to take the field.

"Is Jeremy and Rose here yet?" Noah asked me. I had told him last night about my small conversation with Jeremy before he had to leave.

I glanced to the stands and shrugged. "Hard to tell. I can't even see Mom and Dad." It was surprisingly crowded compared to last night's game.

"A lot of people have Saturday off." Noah hummed. "I bet they had to find a more private area to watch from." He looked around too; up until Coach called us over and sent us out to take the field for the first half of the inning.