The Hitting Zone

Garret handed me my bat before I went back to the dugout. His grin may have been even bigger than mine. "Bambi, you really know how to deliver!"

I took my bat to the dugout and started to receive claps on the back. Jason was on deck and Bryce in the hole. Looking like he's going to pitch again. I grinned and nodded as they showered me with praise.

Once officially inside, Noah tackled me and started to jump around. "You're practically a mini-Zeke!"

My lips twitched and I denied it. "No, no." My batting could be comparable but I still lacked the skills in fielding and in the knowledge of the game. If anything, I would say Noah was close to being a mini-Zeke. He had the same quality in leadership and definitely had the baseball knowledge. His fielding was also number one otherwise he wouldn't be the starting shortstop for our team.

Just as Noah wanted to say more, we heard the echo of the bat making contact with the ball. We turned to the field and some of the guys started to yell and cheer.

"Let's goooo!"

"Get out of here!"

"Garret! Garret!"

"Back-to-back!"

Garret had hit a bomb over the right-center field fence, putting my homerun to shame. He jogged around the bases with a faster pace and without any added theatrics. But the smile on his face said it all as he touched home plate. 5-3. We've got ourselves some breathing room.

The dugout was electric as everyone talked over one another and moved around. Jason moved to the batter's box and Bryce stepped out to get on the on deck circle. The two congratulated Garret on his way back in.

"Game is not over yet." Coach raised his voice over everyone else. "The momentum is back with us. Don't give it up again."

"Yea!" The guys said together.

I got back to my bag and put my helmet away and got my hat on. I used the time I had to look over my bat.

"Something up?" Noah trailed after me.

I handed him the bat with a sigh. "It's done for."

Noah examined the bat and found the spot I was talking about. I didn't hit the ball with the most solid part of the bat and caused some uneven splitting. "Bummer. You'll have to retire this one. You remembered to bring a spare, right?"

I nodded and took the bat back. I put it in my bag and showed the other so he knew for sure. I took a seat and let out another huff of air.

"Hey, no need to feel bad." Noah sat beside me.

"I'm not feeling...bad." I shrugged. "Just a little...nostalgic? I think. It's not like I hate breaking these bats, but...the feeling is just...I can't explain it." I dropped my head.

Noah laughed freely and gave me a nudge. "Stop. Stop. A bat is meant to be used. Cleats also can wear out and get torn up. We have bats to spare now. How about you turn your focus on whether you want to ask that pitcher to sign your bat after the game?"

I shook my head almost immediately. Absolutely not. It's one thing to ask someone I know...it's near impossible for me to approach a stranger.

"Okay, okay, don't make yourself dizzy." Noah placed a hand on top of my head to get me to stop shaking. "We can just mark the date and maybe write a couple sentences on what happened like you hitting a homerun to take the lead in a championship game."

I nodded, happy with that.

He laughed. "Our closet will soon be a shrine to your broken bats. Almost like a museum I guess."

We talked about my bats and how to organize the closet in the future as the rest of our offense flunked out. Jason grounded out to short, Bryce flew out to left field, and Korrey got jammed, hitting a grounder right to the first baseman. Despite the three going down in order, our spirits were still high.

Bryce picked up right where he left off. The first batter hit a high fly ball to right field, but Korrey had plenty of time to get underneath it for the first out. Then Bryce earned another pair of strikeouts to end the sixth inning.

Our offense stayed slow though. Mitch fought hard to get himself walked, only for Jesse to follow up with a grounder to short. It was a 6-4-3 double play. Noah, up next, made solid contact, smacking a line drive right to the shortstop for the third out. Another three up, three down thought it looked different on paper.

The decline in the batting didn't affect us as a team. Bryce took the mound once more as the cheers rained down. Three outs away from being a tournament champion. Bryce had to take on the core of their lineup for the third time this game. Batters four, five, and six.

The cleanup hitter got a hold of the very first pitch, sending it right back towards Bryce. He ducked to get out of the way. Noah was right there behind him, making a diving catch to stop that line drive from reaching the grass. I could clearly hear the groans from the opposing dugout.

Noah jumped up and threw the ball back. "One out! Two to go!"

We echoed him as a team.

Bryce tipped his hat in Noah's direction and grinned, unbothered that the cleanup hitter made such good contact.

The fifth batter didn't attack the first pitch early on like his teammate. He stretched the at-bat out, trying to get Bryce to slip up and throw something he wanted. He was the only player on Stuart Hall that had the RBI's from the homerun so there was no way Bryce was going to give him anything close to the hot zone. That didn't stop the guy from sending a fly ball to center field.

Garret tracked it down to the center field fence and without having to jump, made the catch for the second out. The crowd started to get louder; our fans had completely taken over. Just chants of 'W-H-S' rang out as the sixth batter got in the box.

I almost wanted to join in as Bryce quickly cornered the batter to a 0-2 count, but I stayed focus. The previous two had put the ball in play so this guy might not be any different. Sure enough, the bat rung as he sent a line drive down the first baseline. Sean was there to snatch it and raised his gloved hand high.

"Out!" The ump called the third out for the game.

The guys started to swarm the mound. Noah found me first and we started to jump around. The next fifteen minutes were us going crazy on the field until the coaches reminded us that we had to go collect our medals and the championship trophy.

Tournament organizers got us set and started a small ceremony congratulating us on winning this year's Christmas tournament. We each got medals personally handed to us, but they didn't stop there.

"For tournament MVP, it's only fitting that the player came from the championship team, Watsonville High's sophomore Jake Atkins! He hit an unbelievable five homeruns this weekend. And only recorded two outs at the plate." The announcer could be heard throughout the broadcasting speakers talking about my statistics.

Noah pushed me forward to accept an additional medal from one of the organizers. I looked down at my chest in disbelief. I was MVP? Of this whole tournament?