The Hitting Zone

Coach looked to Garret. "Get the trainer."

Garret nodded and left immediately.

"I'm okay." I told Coach straightforwardly.

Coach nodded. "Sure, I'll believe it when I hear the trainer say so."

"Don't worry." Noah patted my shoulder and pointed towards the mound. "We have some time. They're doing a pitcher change."

I sighed, but there was nothing I can do. Coach was in charge. Garret came back with the trainer. He examined my ankle with the shoe on and then with the shoe off.

"It's a low grade sprain." He concluded. "If you want, I can tape it up to stabilize the joint. Or if you're pulling him out now, we can ice it." He looked to Coach.

Coach lips twisted. He looked me in the eyes. "Can you play on it?"

I nodded. Absolutely.

Coach told the trainer. "Tape it, please."

The trainer opened up his bag and started to pull out the necessary supplies. He sprayed the ankle with sticky stuff, then used a soft wrap and then tape. My ankle did feel more stabilized, yet I couldn't move it at all.

"Just in time." Noah muttered.

I was awkwardly trying to put my sock on over the wrap when I saw the umpire called Korrey out for looking at a called strike three.

"Here." Garret picked up my cleat, got my foot inside, then tied my laces in record time. He gave it a slap. "Let's get out there."

The three of us were the last to take the field, earning an extra look from the umpires. Garret had a longer run out to center field and started to play catch with Korrey who was in right. Sean at first started to throw grounders at me and Noah, warming up before the bottom of the fourth. We still had half a game to go.

Bryce finished his warmup on the mound and all the spare baseballs were called back to the dugout. Bryce would have to start with the leadoff batter for Stuart Hall. He's the only one to have a hit for them so far.

Bryce cornered him quick to a 0-2 count. He responded by hitting a ball outside of the zone to right field. Korrey got underneath it and made the catch with ease. The second batter had more patience. He worked the count, getting to a 2-2, fouling off a couple until Bryce threw back to back balls. Walked him.

"Next one, next one!" Noah clapped with his glove, trying to get Bryce to settle down.

Bryce took a moment to use the rosin bag and kick at the rubber on the mound. He checked the runner on first before going after the third batter. With a runner on, his motion had to change a little and I think that helped throw the batter off. He struck out swinging for the second out.

"Nice!"

"Great work!"

"Keep it up!"

Bryce kept an eye on the runner as the cleanup hitter stepped up to the plate. Bryce was able to strike him out last time so if he did it again, it would be a great way to end this inning. Unfortunately, that's not how it worked out. The cleanup hitter got one through the gap between me and Sean. The runner advanced all the way to third, aggressively beating out Korrey's throw. The cleanup hitter stayed on first.

Runners at the corners.

Jason threw the ball back to Bryce.

As I got back into position, I glanced at Noah to see if he was going to make a move to talk to Bryce on the mound. He looked as if he was hesitating.

Bryce didn't waste any time to look at us. And he certainly didn't his time to reset his mental state of mind. It was apparent in the next batter. The fifth batter absolutely crushed the very first pitch that came down the pipe. I didn't even bother to turn my head to watch the ball go over the fence. The crowd's cheering and the opposing team's dugout celebration was enough for me.

As the runners trotted around the bases and scored three runs to tie the game, Noah approached the mound. Sean, Jason, and I were close to follow.

"Sorry, guys." Bryce took off his hat and ran his fingers through his hair, clearly stressed that we lost our lead.

Mitch joined us, mask off. "It's...okay..." He hesitated and looked at Noah. Saying that didn't sound right.

Noah reached out and placed a hand on Bryce. "Don't worry about it now. Can't go back and fix the past." He sighed. "I should have came to the mound after that single to give you a short break. You're not the only one at fault. Just settle down and end this inning."

I nodded along.

"It's not like we haven't been tied this whole time anyways." Jason chuckled. "Stop them here."

Bryce shook out his arms. "Right, right."

The umpire came up to the mound to break us up.

I don't know how much the small pep talk helped, but Bryce got the third out from batter six. He sent a high fly ball to center field and Garret made the catch before the warning track. That would be it for the fourth inning. Tied at three apiece.

Inside the dugout, the atmosphere was drastically different than from when we left.

Garret clapped his hands. "Hey! Don't get down on yourselves. Three more innings. Let's change things around."

The guys all around agreed and got their heads up.

I spotted Coach talking to Bryce and Mitch. Mitch was first up to bat this inning so he only stuck around until he got his gear off and his helmet on. He nodded at something Coach said then left the dugout. Coach still stuck with Bryce.

"He'll probably get another chance to go back to the mound." Noah whispered to me as he got his own batting gear on. He would definitely get to bat this inning. "It's a tough call, but you want him to get a chance to redeem himself."

I nodded and held back a sigh. Pitchers had it tough. I wouldn't have the mentality for it.

Mitch wasn't gone long. He struck out swinging and returned with a frown. Jesse was up next and unexpectedly smacked a line drive in left-center field, earning a double; his second hit of the tournament. The action got some of the dugout talking again as Noah stepped up to the plate.

Sean moved to the on deck circle. I wasn't far behind, getting my helmet on and holding my bat. Either of them get on base and I would have a chance to come up this inning too.

Noah didn't have a strategy planned out like last time given that this was the new pitcher brought in at the end of our last offensive inning. That didn't mean he was unhittable as Jesse just proved. Noah made contact with the end of his bat, sending a slow grounder down the first baseline.

The first baseman didn't hesitate to charge the ball and then flipped it to the pitcher who was running to cover first. He beat out Noah by a step. There was some consolation though: Jesse advanced to third. We have a runner in scoring position.