The Hitting Zone

The weekend blew by with our visit to Jeremy's. Saturday night, he took us out to some fancy steakhouse before going home to use his home theater for the rest of the night. Zeke ended up staying with us until Sunday. Jeremy treated us to a big brunch at a restaurant near the university before dropping off Zeke. Then he took us all the way home.

The house was unsurprisingly empty when we got home. Mom and Dad had some open houses to show while Kyle had plans with Marie. Our small group started to go our own ways too. Gramps wanted a nap and Dave wanted Noah to catch a bullpen session for him. Noah shocked me by agreeing so readily and without charging Dave anything extra.

That left me alone with Jeremy. We grabbed some snacks and waters, and sat out on the back porch so we could watch the other two warmup and play.

"Are you coming again next weekend?" I asked casually.

He shook his head. "No, I probably won't be able to visit again until your next tournament. Rose and I will be gone next weekend for a small getaway. And then I'll go to Carson's tournament the following weekend." He paused and looked at me.

"What?" I asked, unsure of what he wanted.

"Just making sure that you were okay with that."

My lips twitched. "I won't tell you how to live your life. If you've got plans, you've got plans. Plus, you have to prepare for your season too, right?"

He nodded. "Yea, I get my workouts done on the weekdays. Trying to strike a balance. Somehow." He laughed. "Though I just feel like I'm doing the bare minimum most days. In work and life."

"I think you're doing better." I gave a small shrug. "Thanks. For this weekend. It was fun."

He smiled, looking relieved.

I knew what Jeremy meant by trying to strike a balance. He was talking about between me and his Uncle's family. I don't how it's working out for them on the other side, but for me, I think it's alright. Jeremy accepted all of the Atkins family and that was enough.

The rest of January got buried under hours of practice, workouts, and school work. Early February, the Monday before our tournament, there were newspapers waiting for us at the kitchen table instead of our usual breakfast.

"Is this what I think it is??" Noah was the first to make a move and snatch it up.

"Mr. Cameron gave us a heads up last week that we might want to secure a few copies." Mom said with a smile.

Kyle and Dave hurried to snatch up their respective papers and started to flip through.

I was still clueless to what they were looking for when Noah started to jump around and shout. "Number one! Number one!" He grabbed me by the shoulders and shook me. "You're number one!!"

"That's crazy!" Kyle started to shake me too.

Dave wasn't left out either. "Last year it was Zeke, this year it's you! My family is too awesome!"

I started to get dizzy from being knocked around but their excitement was contagious. I jumped with them, happy that they were happy. Even though I was still trying to register what they were happy about.

"Okay, okay, stop jumping around. You guys didn't even read the rest of it yet." Dad spoke above the three. "You can celebrate some more after."

"Let me see!" Kyle broke away first and picked up the newspaper again. He was quick to yank Dave away. "Look! We're in the top ten! You're number eight and I'm number seven!"

More jumping ensued.

Noah had calmed down, giving me a chance to look at this paper they keep talking about. It wasn't front page news or anything, but it did take up a whole page. A list of players were numbered from one to twenty-five. Some small pictures including one of me at the plate. And a write-up talking about the top twenty-five players in our county.

Oh. That's what they meant. I went into a daze staring at the paper. I was listed as the number one player in the county. Just like Zeke was last year. Wow. Me. I hurried to look for Garret, who we originally thought would be number one. He stood at number two, right under me.

I looked at Noah, slightly confused. "They think I'm better than Garret?"

Noah slapped me on the back. "Why not? You're the best batter we know. No one can get you out. Heck, not even Garret, who's the best pitcher around."

My heart started to pound, like it wanted out of my body. I held my forehead, trying not to get sick.

"I think you're too focused on who's number one, Noah." Mom came over and pointed at the bottom of the list. "You may be last on the list, but that's number twenty-five in the county."

"No way! No freakin way!" Noah got away from me and stood over the newspaper like it was a sheet of gold. "I made it! I made it?" His excitement died sooner for himself than for me. He looked up at Dad. "Is this real life?"

"I can assure you that this is reality." Dad smiled and nodded. He looked around at all of us. "It's also not a surprise that your school is ranked first in upcoming projections for league and CIF."

"Everyone expects us to repeat!?" Dave pumped his fists. "Yessss. Let's get it, boys!"

Noah looked at me, still processing his own ranking. "I'm on the list. Zeke didn't even start his sophomore season on the list."

I'm glad it wasn't just me feeling this way.

"What did you expect? You've already got a year of starting under your belt." Kyle hit Noah on the back; no doubt leaving an imprint of his hand. "You've even got some accolades already. Defensively, I don't think there's a better shortstop than you. A lot of others agree. Imagine where you'll be if your bat can be just half as good as Jake."

"Okay, that's enough. We're very proud of all of you." Mom clapped her hands together to get our attention. "Hurry up and grab a bagel and some fruit. You boys keep messing around, jumping all over the place, and you'll be late for school."

With Mom's reminder, we calmed down and got a move on. Food was grabbed, and the bags were loaded into the car. Dave drove us without any music playing. The twins were too busy talking about the rankings.

"This is a good start for me to get my name out before the tournament this weekend." Kyle said, happily. "I'll have some eyes on me when I shut down Katella in game one."

"Eyes will already be on our game thanks to Jake." Noah pointed out. "Plus, our whole team is projected to do well."

"Don't ruin this for me, brat." Kyle waved a fist at us in the backseat. Noah's remarks couldn't keep the joy off Kyle's face though.

We weren't the only ones that saw the paper this morning. Baseball player or not, word got around that rankings were out for the beginning of the season. Our school was projected number one in the league and overall. That was enough cause for celebration, but with five of our players on the top players list for the county, it seemed like everyone was talking about it.

All the stares and talk around my number one spot made me sick to my stomach. Lunch was impossible to eat and then it became impossible to focus during my time in the weight room. When Coach called me out, I thought I was going to be in a world of trouble. Laps for sure.

He caught me off guard though by bringing me to a small office near the trainer's room. He sat down behind the desk and gestured for me to do the same across from him. "Take a breather, Jake." He gave a small smile. "I'm sure you need it after hearing about the rankings."

I nodded and sat down, trying to relax. Whatever Coach has to say, it's better than running laps.

"Any thoughts you want to share with me?"

I shook my head.

He let out a small chuckle. "That's alright too. You're not the only one surprised by the list. We, me and the staff that is, were sure that Garret would be number one. You were in the talks of being up there." I nodded. Mr. Cameron said the same thing winter break. "But there's no hiding greatness. You're the best batter I've ever seen. Everyone sees it too." He tapped on his closed laptop. "I've been getting some emails of interest. In you."

"In me?" I frowned. Just me?

"Not just you." It was like he could read my mind. "As a high school coach, I have some contacts with those at the college level. Even some scouts. I wanted to get your thoughts on your future before I pass along your contact information."

"Thoughts on my future?" Without a second thought I got up and stepped outside his office and threw up just outside his door.