The Hitting Zone

Top of the fifth. Kyle's first opponent was the cleanup hitter. He made it look easy, getting him to strikeout looking. The next two were routine grounders, both fielded by Noah at short. That made Noah a happy player. He was the type to want every ball to go to him so he can make every play. And Kyle was making it happen today.

I was the complete opposite, asking for no balls to go my way. Not even easy ones. If a ball doesn't come my way, it means less chance for an error.

Bottom of the fifth, Garret started us off right: a single to right field. Sean spoiled it by hitting a grounder right to the shortstop. Shortstop flipped it to the second baseman at the base, who then threw it to first base to complete the double play. Jason barely got a piece of the ball, popping up to the first baseman to end the inning.

Top of the sixth, I saw my first action of the game: a pop up, not even to the outfield grass. It was routine, no harder than practice. The next batter made solid contact with Kyle's high fastball, blasting it to the outfield. I whipped my head back to watch Garret chase it to the center field fence. And like how I was robbed, Garret returned the favor. His jump wasn't as high, but it was still a great play.

"Nice!" Kyle pumped his fist and pointed to Garret in center field.

Garret threw the ball back in to Noah and pointed back at Kyle. The perfect game continues on. Kyle got the ball back in his hands and made it count. He got the last batter in the lineup to swing and miss, earning his sixth strikeout of the game.

Bottom of the sixth, our bottom half of the lineup couldn't stir up any action. Jesse hit a fly out to right field, Mitchell got caught looking at strike three, and Kyle just struck out swinging.

Noah who was left in the on deck circle looked like he wanted to say something to Kyle, but held back. He made eye contact with me as he switched out his gear and let out a sigh. "It's so hard to be a responsible vice-captain. I really wanted to tell Kyle that his no effort at the plate cost me another at bat, but it's fine. We're winning and he's doing hot. Hard to complain with that combo."

No kidding. "Yea, cut him some slack." I said as we left the dugout. It's not like the game was close.

Noah laughed. "Yea, I know. I thought it through before opening my big mouth. I'm just so greedy." He glanced at me. "You're the one usually hopping for extra chances at the plate."

I shrugged. "We have game two this afternoon." I'll get at least three more then. "And then there's also tomorrow."

"Yea." He grinned. "I'll save my snippy comments for the more desperate times. I won't hold back on you either. No brother is safe from my lecturing."

"I'm used to it." I grimaced at the thought of Zeke constantly pulling me aside to talk about my mistakes and less than stellar effort.

Noah laughed some more. We parted ways and went to our respective positions. Kyle was ready to go on the mound. Top of the lineup one more time. I shook out my clenched fist, trying to stay loose.

First batter became a pinch hitter, but he could only watch Kyle pitch past him. He struck out looking. The second batter came up next. He wasn't going down without a fight, swinging at anything close. His count stayed at 1-2 for a couple of foul balls, then Kyle threw a high fastball for ball two. Then another for ball three. The batter just wouldn't take the bait. Kyle threw the ball down the middle, but on the far side of the strike zone.

"Ball! Ball four. Take your base." The ump was saying words but it was being drown by groans and a chorus of 'boos'. The batter dropped his bat and started his jog to first.

Noah walked to the mound as Kyle got the ball back from Mitchell. Seeing no indication that I should join, I hung back, watching the two brothers. Kyle took his hat off and used the sleeve of his jersey to wipe the sweat off his forehead. It was only sixty degrees (Fahrenheit) yet he was doing the most work out on this field. I don't know what Noah said, but Kyle simply nodded, put his hat back on, and looked to home plate. Noah gave him a slap on the backside and jogged back to his position.

Batter three stepped into the batter's box. I inched more to my left to try to cover some more of the gap since Sean had to stay on first with the runner.

Kyle threw the first pitch for a called strike right down the middle. He stood tall on the mound as if to say that he wasn't done yet. Second pitch was outside and fast. The batter barely got a piece of it, hitting a grounder to my left. Thankfully I was already inching over. I was able to approach it with my body facing a little more to second. I fielded the ball and threw to Noah on second base. We got the lead runner just as he started his slide. Noah threw the ball to Sean at first for the second out. Perfect.

Well. Almost.

We cheered and hurried to the mound to celebrate Kyle's no hitter. Mitchell was the first to him, lifting him off his feet and swinging him around. There were cheers, clapping, and high-fives all around. Coach let us celebrate for a few minutes before reminding us that another game had to take place on this field.

We packed up our bags and cleared out the dugout, holding a postgame meeting just outside the field.

"Great start, boys." Coach clapped twice. "This is the kind of start I was thinking of. Solid start on the mound from Kyle puts us in good shape. I won't pick a starter for this afternoon until we know our opponent."

"Are we going to watch the game that decides who plays us?" Sean asked.

Coach nodded. "As long as you aren't leaving the fields with your parents, stay and watch. I have snackbar vouchers so lunch is on me."

"You were given those for free, Coach." Alisha said with a laugh. Her ratting him out had us laughing too.

"Okay, okay. You're all in good spirits. Keep it up, but don't wear yourselves out." Coach said with a grin. "Take it easy. Eat lunch, watch some baseball, maybe do some stretching. Stay flexible." He locked into Kyle. "You make sure to do a proper cool down and ice that shoulder. This is just the beginning."

And a good beginning it is. Winning game one with a no hitter gave me flashbacks of last year. Last year, just the thought of messing up made me stressed. This year, I knew where I wanted to go. As long as I did my best, no one would get mad. This team may not have guys like Zeke, Mahki, and Julian, but it definitely felt like it was more cohesive.