The Hitting Zone

Brian started with the fifth batter in the lineup. A guy who has gotten the ball to the outfield twice this game. A fly out to right in the first and a sac fly to center in the fourth. He made contact once more, off of Brian, hitting a single to right field. It didn't seem to get to Brian as he proceeded to get the next two batters to strikeout swinging, but then he hit a bump. Or, to be more precise, a player. It was a wild pitcher that got the eighth batter on his thigh.

He limped a little bit as one of his coaches came to talk to him. He walked it off and jogged to first. Their was an announcement of a pinch hitter for the pitcher spot in their lineup. Two on, two outs, new guy up to bat.

Brian and Mitchell agreed on the pitch type and placement, then got to work. The batter swung and missed pitch one. 0-1. Fouled off pitch two. 0-2. Let a ball pass. 1-2. Fouled one back. 1-2. Fouled one down the left field line. Jesse couldn't catch it before it dropped. 1-2. He straightened out the next connection a little more, sending the ball over the left field fence. A three run homer.

I stared in disbelief.

The crowd was going wild for Wheatland's team and their dugout was shaking the fence, cheering for the guy who just took the lead away from us. 4-5.

"Bring it in!" Noah hollered, motioning for the infielders to meet at the mound.

I wasn't the only one who was caught by surprise by the homerun. Jason and Sean. Mitchell and Brian. No one saw it coming. From a pinch hitter too. Unbelievable.

"Snap out of it guys." Noah clapped with his glove. "We still have one more out to go. Then we'll get our chance to steal it back. This game isn't over yet."

"Yea." Brian took off his hat and wiped the sweat coming off. "Just give me a second." He rubbed his eyes with the sleeve of his jersey.

Mitchell laid a hand on his shoulder and lowered his voice. "That was a good pitch. The hitter had a read on it. I probably should have called for another ball out of the zone. Try to get him to chase. This one is on me."

"Team sport, Mitch." Noah didn't let him claim the blame. He didn't deal it out either. "It's just one run. The top of our order will come up in the bottom half of the inning. Everyone will be responsible if we don't win." He grinned. "But no worries, I don't plan on losing."

Our small meeting on the mound was broken up by the umpire. We went back to our positions leaving Brian up there by himself. He had to start at the top of the lineup now. Two outs, one to go. The first batter was the lefty; he had groundouts to me and Sean. Plus a failed bunt right to Garret.

He pulled another grounder on my side of second base. I had to dive and stretch my glove across my body. Got the ball check. Transferred it to my throwing hand. Check. Then threw it to Sean at first-

The ball went wide. Sean had to step off of first to make sure the ball didn't leave the field of play. The batter was safe at first.

I stuck my face in my glove, embarrassed.

An error. We have two outs and I just screwed up the third.

"Deep breaths." Noah was beside me in seconds, arm around my shoulders. "You're fine. You're fine. Don't panic. Deep breath in, then slowly exhale."

I focused on his commands.

"We gotta finish this inning, Jake." He said. "Stay calm. You're fine."

I put my gloved hand down and slowly nodded. "I'm fine." I repeated after him.

Noah backed up slowly at first, heading to his position. "Two outs! One to go!" He yelled over the endless background noise coming from the dugout and stands.

I couldn't beat to look out there. My eyes were solely on the next batter. Brian shared the same focus. He took on the next guy like my screw-up didn't matter. Batter two made contact, hitting a grounder up the middle. Noah cut it off by sprinting in, and throwing the guy out at first to end the inning. He immediately made a beeline to me and stayed with me every step of the way back to the dugout.

"Shake it off boys." Coach greeted us. "It was an unlucky break. You can't expect a pinch hitter to come in clutch at a time like that. Unless it's Jake." He cracked a smile and a few guys laughed. Coach looked at me, but I averted my gaze. "Jake. I'm not mad about the error. It was a tough play to make. Honestly the scorekeeper might call it an infield hit."

He caught my attention. I looked at him.

"I need you to stay strong, pull through, and get ready for your next plate appearance. Can you do that?"

I nodded slowly.

No one spoke to me as I went back to my bag and changed out my gear. Noah hovered nearby silently, getting ready too.

Bottom of the seventh started with our number nine spot in the lineup. Currently held by Brian. I avoided looking at him (and everyone else for that matter) but I could hear Coach giving him the opportunity to bat. He was first up. Sean on deck. Noah and I just in the hole.

Brian sparked hope early, busting out a single to right-center field. Sean moved to the batter's box. Noah hesitated to leave me behind. I looked at him finally and gave a small nod. His shoulders relaxed and he gave a small smile before going out to the on deck circle.

Sean got jammed on a pitch, hitting a grounder to the second baseman. He flipped it to their shortstop, who tagged second base for the first out. He then threw to first to complete the double play. Two outs. Bottom of the seventh. Down by one.

I swallowed down a lump in my throat, feeling sorry for Noah who was up next. Noah didn't look like he had even 1% of my anxiety. In fact, he looked like he craved to hit a homerun to tie it up. Thankfully, he could control his urges and let some wild pitches pass for balls. He got walked.

I started to feel numb as I approached the plate. The catcher stayed standing. He turned to the umpire and said something. The umpire looked at me.

"Intentional walk. Take your base."

I was unsurprised. No redemption for me. I tossed my bat back and headed for first.

Wheatland's coach came out and headed for the mound. The catcher hurried to join. The pitcher handed over the ball and headed for his dugout. A pitcher change. Right before Garret's at bat. They must be thinking about facing him head on. I felt the spark of hope reignited.

The new pitcher came jogging in from the bullpen. He shared a short conversation with his coach and catcher. The two left him on the mound with the ball. The catcher got behind home plate to catch the practice pitches while the coach went to the umpire to talk about the change.