The Hitting Zone

"What about me?" Kyle asked.

"Yea, what about the rest of us?" Dave shoved Kyle away from the group.

Mr. Cameron laughed. "The list should be out after the New Year. I don't know everyone's ranking, but I've heard Jake's name thrown around a lot. With his batting average leading your league, and a few others, it's hard not to put him in the top player prospects. Especially with the CIF win and rookie of the year award."

"Your fielding is probably holding you back from the number one spot." Noah told me honestly.

I nodded in agreement.

"And your ugly baserunning." Kyle joked.

"Don't forget your small size." Dave added. "They'll hold that against you. For now. Once they see the homers you're dealing out, I'm sure it'll change."

"I bet Garret is number one now that Zeke is graduated." Noah said thoughtfully. "If Jake is in the top three, then I'm sure a double threat like Garret has to be above him. He can hit and pitch."

"His name is popular too." Mr. Cameron nodded. "I'm going to watch your game tomorrow because I want to interview him. He should be on the mound, correct?" We nodded. "Yea, I thought so with the way your Coach was holding down his pitch count despite the no-hitter he had going in game one. Tomorrow's going to be a good game."

"You know the other team?" Noah asked.

"Sure do." He nodded. "They won their league last spring, but lost in the first round of CIF. They have good teams year in, year out."

Mr. Cameron hung out with us for a little longer, talking about player rankings for the twins. They both had outstanding seasons last year and were trending upwards on the list for county, state, and nation.

We stayed to the point where the ice had melted against my ankle. Same with Kyle. Noah helped me take the wrapping off and handed the bag of water to Kyle since he was taking his to a nearby trash can. We said our goodbyes to Mr. Cameron and headed back to the hotel. Jeremy had called Dad mid-conversation and made plans for dinner. He and Rose were just going to bring a bunch of takeout to our hotel.

It wasn't obvious at first, but during dinner, I noticed Noah being quiet. It's not like he went totally silent, but more like a loss of enthusiasm. This was the same teen who wanted me to wake up super early this morning. It wasn't hard for me to guess what was on his mind. Baseball. Always. But after meeting with Mr. Cameron and talking about player rankings, I'm guessing it was specifically about that.

I didn't know what to say or how to cheer him up, but luckily I wasn't the only one to notice. After dinner, we went back to our respective rooms to shower and get ready for bed. When I exited the bathroom with pajamas on, I overheard Zeke and Rhys talking to Noah.

"The rankings aren't that important." Zeke was saying.

"Says the guy that was number one." Noah scoffed. He glanced at me. "Jake. How does it feel to know that you top the list of the best players around?"

I slowly dried my hair with a towel. "Kind of...embarrassing..?"

Rhys laughed and Zeke cracked a smile.

Noah rolled his eyes. "I shouldn't have asked you. What I meant was, don't you feel validated? That you're doing well enough to be considered one of the best?"

I shrugged. "Not really. If anything, I feel more pressure to do better. I'm only up top because I can hit the baseball better than others. When it comes to fielding..." I shook my head, helpless. "I feel like a poser. A fake. A fraud."

Rhys laughed. "Don't worry about it. You're a great hitter and that can take you to more places than being great at fielding." He looked at Noah. "You shouldn't worry either. You're only a sophomore. Even Zeke wasn't on any list his sophomore year. There's time for you to improve and show them what you can do. Just be steady and resilient. You're 3-7 at the plate so far this tourney. That's a great start."

Noah frowned. "Being on the list will get my name out there though. I want to attract scouts and go pro after high school."

Zeke turned out one of the lights. "Like Rhys said, there's time. Nothing you can do about it right now. Continue to play well during games and everything else will follow."

Noah and I got under the covers of our shared bed.

"For the record, I wasn't even number one in my county ranking either." Rhys got in his bed.

Noah rolled his eyes again. "You didn't even play your senior year."

"And you haven't yet either." Rhys told him. "Now get some rest. I want to watch a good game tomorrow."

Zeke turned off the other light, leaving us in complete darkness.

Between waking up early and playing two games today, I fell asleep rather quickly. Waking up to movement around the room, I squinted and saw Noah was missing.

"They already went down for breakfast." I heard Zeke before I could see him.

I glanced around the room and didn't see him until he popped up from the floor. He had been doing ab exercises. I checked the time, 8:45am.

"Breakfast ends at 9am so I told Noah to come back with breakfast for you." Zeke got back on the floor and started to stretch. "Game at 2pm, be at the field by 1pm. Not a whole lot of time for lunch so I told Noah to grab a lot of food that you guys can eat throughout the morning."

I let out a yawn and stretched too. Feeling a 'zing' in my ankle, I pulled the blanket away to check.

"How's the ankle?" Zeke stopped what he was doing and got close to check it out.

No bruising, but there was swelling.

"Let's ice it again." Zeke decided. "I'll go get some ice from the machine in the hallway. You stay here and prop your foot up on some pillows."

I did what I was told as he went out in the hall. He must have ran into Rhys and Noah on his way back to the room because the three of them walked in together.

Zeke placed the bag of ice on my swollen ankle.

"That's gotta be super uncomfortable." Noah placed two plates of food next to me on the bed.

"Are you going to be able to play, Jake?" Rhys asked. "Did it hurt when you tried to walk on it?"

"I didn't try walking yet, but I'm fine." I told him. I picked a banana out of the food given to me. "Nothing I can't handle."

"Don't push yourself." Rhys sat on his bed. "It's just a Christmas tournament that doesn't mean much. Don't be risking your season for this."

I shrugged. "It's fine. Really." I looked at Noah for help.

"Jake's tough, but he's not dumb." Noah spoke up for me. "If he says it's fine, then believe him. My god, he must be annoyed with everyone treating him like a baby."

Zeke picked up his phone. "Jake is too tough and doesn't know when to give up. We should have Coach look at it. Maybe get it taped up if he feels unstable."

"Kettle meet pot." Noah snickered.

Zeke glanced at him.

Noah pretended to zip his mouth shut and tossed the key.