The Hitting Zone

The new pitcher was finally ready to restart the first inning. He wasn't as wild as the last guy...but our batters were able to make contact. Garret was the best, hitting a hard line drive...right to their shortstop. We could only sigh. Jason and Korrey hit similar fly balls, both to left field. The pitcher wasn't dominant, but good enough to get the batters out and get his team out of the inning.

We went to the top of the second with a 3-0 lead. The cleanup hitter led them off right, hitting a single right up the middle. Noah and I had no chance at it. Dave didn't let it get to him. He put his attention on the next batter, only occasionally checking the runner on first.

With Sean holding the runner at first, I shifted more towards him, trying to cover the hole he was leaving.

The next batter got a piece of a pitch, hitting a fly ball to center field. Garret sprinted in and made the catch, stopping the runner from taking off. It was also too shallow for him to tag up on. Plus, who would run with Garret playing center? He's our best pitcher with the fastest pitch.

The sixth batter barely made contact, sending a dribbler my way. The runner on first took off with speed, making me anxious. I fielded the grounder and threw the ball to Noah covering second. Noah had to stretch upwards to get my bad throw, but still beat the runner. He then threw to first as the runner slid into him at second, knocking him down into the dirt.

"Out!"

"Out!"

We turned the double play, but at what cost?

I hurried over to Noah just as the opponent got up and jogged back to his dugout, not even checking on Noah. "Noah!"

Noah grinned up at me as I helped him to his feet. "I'm fine. No worries." He didn't wait for me to apologize and took off for our own dugout.

I chased after him.

"You good?" Dave asked Noah once we got inside the dugout.

Noah grinned and shrugged. "Yep."

I wasn't convinced and hovered over him as he took a seat on the bench.

Noah pulled on my sleeve and dragged me to sit down on the bench too. "I can't watch the game with you in front of me."

"Did it hurt?" I asked. "You came down really hard."

Noah laughed. "Yea, it hurt, but only for a second. It happens."

"Don't think too much, Jake." Garret laughed as he slid over on the bench to sit with us. "If Noah says he's fine, then he's fine. Seriously. If it bugs you, just do better next time." He grinned. "I hit the ground harder than he did when I made that game-ending catch yesterday. Why don't you worry about me?"

I started to worry about him. "Are you hurting?"

Noah laughed. "Don't get him started, Garret. We'll be here forever. Jake is a natural worrier. And overthinker." He nudged me. "The other guy cushioned my landing. You want to worry about him too?"

I felt the two of them starting to make fun of me. But I couldn't help it. I didn't want to be the reason Noah got hurt. And of course I care whether either of them are hurt or injured. Seeing them laugh and crack jokes though put me at ease.

Bottom of the second. Jesse popped out to the shortstop. Mitchell hit a line drive within reach of the shortstop. It was a quick two outs. Dave was up next. He fouled off the most pitches of anyone in the lineup and then finally got a good hit over the shortstop. He rounded first base, but didn't attempt to stretch it out to a double.

Sean came up to bat. Noah had already gone to the on deck circle. I sat in the hole, waiting to see if we could make something out of Dave's rare hit. Sean got jammed on an inside pitch, hitting a grounder to short. The shortstop fielded the ball easily, deciding to just toss the ball to his second baseman to get Dave out and end our inning.

Dave took off his helmet and shook out his hair. "Man, I've almost forgotten what it's like to be on base in a real game. I for sure thought the pitcher was going to pick me off at first."

Noah laughed as we put our batting gear away. "Yea, we could tell. You almost looked like Jake, practically hugging first base."

"Hey!" Dave defended himself. "My strides are longer than his. I was definitely further out."

Garret patted me on the head. "For being the batting leader for our team, you get picked on a lot. By your own brothers too."

I shoved his hand away. "Like you don't participate too."

Garret laughed and took a defensive stance. "Wow. Be careful boys. Bambi is growing some horns."

"You mean antlers." Mitchell corrected.

"Are you guys playing baseball or not?" Coach raised his voice.

All of us broke it up and took the field in a hurry with the exception of Dave. He casually walked to the mound, used the rosin bag, then threw a couple of warmup pitches to Mitchell. I don't know why he slowed his pace down, but it worked. The bottom of their lineup didn't stand a chance. The first guy hit a routine grounder to Noah at short. Batters eight and nine struck out, swinging.

"Pitch count, Coach?" Dave immediately asked when he got back to the dugout.

Okay so him slowing down may have something to do with him being conscientious about keeping his pitch count low. Low enough to do another inning? Garret only got to do three yesterday, so Dave might be trying for four?

Coach turned to Alisha. "Tell him."

"36." Alisha told Dave clearly. "Statistically, you could do another inning."

Dave looked to Coach with a grin.

Coach nodded. "I'll pull you at 49 just to be sure though. I don't care whether that's in the middle of an at-bat, if I have to."

"Three strikeouts, nine pitches. That's all I need." Dave went to sit down on the bench.

Noah snorted. "So ambitious."

Dave smirked. "Remind me again, which of us have a hit this game?"

Noah tugged his batting gloves on and tightened them. "Just wait. I'll get a hit in just a second." He grabbed his bat, and with his helmet on, headed out to the field.

I tugged my helmet on too.

Garret knocked his bat against his cleats. "Just so you know, you're not the only Atkins's brother with a hit. Jake's got you beat." He laughed and dodged a water bottle thrown at him by Dave.

"Jake doesn't-" Dave stopped himself at the sight of me. He coughed. "I mean, I wasn't comparing myself with Jake. Just Noah. I think we can all concede to Jake's dominance at the plate."

I glanced at him. "But if we have to compare?"

Dave took a righteous stand. "Then it's by how many hits you've gotten to how many I've given up. One to one."

I left the dugout with a laugh. I don't think I've ever had so much fun in the dugout. Today was something special. Everyone is in a good mood. We're winning and playing well.