The Hitting Zone

"You kids don't look as excited as you did after winning game one." Mom noticed as soon as we approached her, Dad, Grampa, and Jeremy. "Is something wrong?"

"Yea, we're playing an old foe tomorrow." Kyle put hand on Noah's head. "The brat is going to have to face the consequences of his actions tomorrow."

Noah didn't even fight Kyle like usual. He merely sighed. "Do you guys remember San Marino from last year? They were the aggressive team that hurt Jason's foot. And then I hurt their catcher. Then they pegged Zeke in his last at-bat."

"Oh, yes. We remember your and Jake's first fight." Mom gave a small smile and pulled Noah closer to her and away from Kyle. "It's okay though. We moved past that. We don't go around getting back at one another."

"Yea, WE don't." Dave emphasized. "But no promises from the other guys. Coach is concerned that tomorrow there might be some aggressive plays. Maybe even a fight."

Jeremy frowned. "Has your coach spoken with tournament officials? They can speak with the umpires and coaches for both teams."

Dave nodded. "Coach said he would. He did so last year too. Lot good it did us. One of our guys got hurt, Noah got in trouble for hurting someone else, and I got ejected for no reason."

"'No reason'?" Kyle scoffed.

"Hey, I had my teammate's back." Dave puffed up his chest. "Besides, it wasn't that fast or hard of a pitch." He nudged me. "Someone throws at your head, I'll get them in the ankles for you."

"Do not." I started to shake my head. "I don't want you to hurt anyone."

"It's kind of part of the game, kid." Kyle shrugged. He looked at Jeremy. "Tell him."

I looked at Jeremy and he looked at me. Jeremy cleared his throat. "Well, having your team's back is important. It's a good feeling to know you're covered if a fight breaks out. Just knowing that they also care about your well-being is special too. However." He glanced at Kyle and Dave. "It's also important to note to consider what your teammate would want you to do in this kind of situation. Jake is obviously very much against violence and I understand that is not how he would want to resolve any conflict."

"Very well put." Mom commented with a smile. "Thank you, Jeremy."

"I guess the best revenge will be to strike them out so they can't even get on base. Plus, winning." Dave said. "I'll be good tomorrow, promise."

"It's not you we're worried about." Kyle sighed.

We went out to dinner that night with Jeremy, going to a steakhouse we had been to before. Rose met us there, surprising all of us including Jeremy. She had been busy preparing for the A's season even though preseason wasn't going to start for another week. She got to meet Grampa and promised to be there tomorrow, hoping to see a doubleheader. That got the boys going talking about how we were going to beat San Marino again.

They had a lot of high hopes, but I just feel like Coach was very clear that we might forfeit if it was too much.

Sunday morning, we had another early start. Mom had washed our uniforms last night and made sure they were ready for us. We dressed up and I started to layer some warmer clothes on. We piled in the car and headed on out.

In the parking lot, we were surprised by Zeke, standing with Jeremy and Rose.

"Zeke! You came!" Noah was the first to reach him, practically jogging.

Zeke had a small smile. "You guys surprised me, so I made sure I can surprise you. San Marino today, huh?" His eyes narrowed at Noah. "Be good."

"I'm always good." Noah rolled his eyes. "Don't worry about me. I won't do anything risky."

"You mean dumb." Dave corrected. He grinned at Zeke. "Glad you can make it. I'm going to crush it today."

Zeke held out a fist for Dave to bump. "Give it your best. Keep them out early." He looked at me. "Score early."

I nodded and bumped his fist in similar fashion.

Kyle waved his hand in front of Zeke's face. "Hello? What about me?"

Zeke grinned and patted his shoulder. "You already did your part yesterday. Dad sent me some pictures and said it was a no-hitter. Another strong start for you. This will be your best season yet."

Kyle laughed, clearly appeased.

As a group we moved, heading to the field like we were supposed to. Mom and Dad kept a slower pace, staying with Grampa. Jeremy and Rose did the same. Zeke kept up with us and stopped by the team to say 'hi' to his former teammates. He had a small private conversation with Garret before going back to the bleachers where the adults were.

"What'd he say?" Noah poked Garret.

Garret laughed. "Wouldn't you like to know?"

"Yea, that's why I'm asking." Noah poked him again. This time a little harder in the rib cage. "What was it?"

"It didn't pertain to you." Garret told him, then his eyes shifted to me.

I raised an eyebrow. "Was it about me?"

Garret nodded. "He wanted me to tell you to be careful on base. With tags. You don't have to lead off so much for this one. Keep it close so they don't have a reason to lay any hard tags on you."

Noah laughed. "What tags? Jake will hit homers or bust."

"He got walked a lot in game two." Garret shrugged. "I'm sure we can expect some more of the same."

I made a face of disgust.

"Looks like everyone is here. A moment before we head to the dugout." Coach clapped to get everyone's attention. "I've spoken with the officials and the umpires for today's first game. They assured me that both teams will be warned at the first sign of any overt aggression." He locked on to Dave. "Keep those pitches over the plate."

"Yes, sir!" Dave gave a mock salute.

Coach ignored it and announced the lineup:

1 1B Sean Isner

2 CF Garret Knudsen

3 SS Noah Atkins

4 2B Jake Atkins

5 3B Jason Morris

6 LF Korrey Alvarrez

7 RF Jesse Shipman

8 C Mitchell Torres

9 P Dave Atkins

"I'm batting after Garret?" I blurted out when he was done.

Coach didn't seem to mind. He gave a short nod. "I'm trying to figure which way would be best. You've been given some chances to swing so far this tournament with a few exceptions."

"I only got to swing once in game two yesterday, Coach..." I pointed out.

Coach pursed his lips. "And I'm sure San Marino will give you one chance too. At the least. Make it count."

I swallowed a lump in my throat.

Coach moved on and spoke with the bullpen about being properly warmed up during the game in case Dave needs a relief. When he was done with the basic, he led us onto the field and to the third base dugout.

We all started to change into cleats and move our equipment and gear to where it needed to be. I took the heaviest sweatshirt off and started to slowly stretch a little before we went out as a team to do a proper warmup led by Garret.