The Hitting Zone

"So you basically proposed to her." Dave said to Kyle in the middle row of the family car. We were all headed to Zeke's school for his game on Saturday. Kyle had just told us that he gave Marie some special ring last night while at the beach and Dave was already interrupting.

"No, it's different." Kyle denied. "Like I said, it's a promise ring."

"Sounds like a pre-engagement ring to me." Noah shrugged from beside me.

"Mommm." Kyle complained. "Can you explain to these simpletons that it just means I'm taking the relationship seriously."

Mom fought back a laugh. "You're right, but...they're also right." She reached back to rub Kyle's knee. "Don't worry, honey. It's not something to be embarrassed about."

"I'm not embarrassed." Kyle huffed. "I just don't like them calling it an engagement ring."

"I didn't. I said 'pre'. 'PRE.'" Noah emphasized. "Honestly sounds like you're trying to prevent her from dating in college."

"Obviously." Kyle said, exasperated. "Why would I want her to date in college? We're dating while she's in college."

"Territorial." Dave noted.

"It would be strange if I wasn't." Kyle shot back.

"You could always follow her to college." Mom suggested with a happy smile.

"Mom." Kyle rolled his eyes. "I'm not going. Work on your other sons."

"I'm going." Dave shrugged. "I already told the coach there. He wants me to sign the paperwork soon." He looked forward at his parents. "So I don't think there's enough time to do anything special like a trip there."

"We could still do a trip." Dad thought it over. "Sign the paperwork when we got home tomorrow night. Then do a celebratory weekend as we get to check out your campus and the surrounding area."

"Yea, we've never been to Nashville before so it'll be fun." Noah said. "See the school, see the field, and see the city."

I cracked a smile. I liked how Noah listed the field separate from the school. If he was to pick college, it would surely be based on the look of the baseball field. I'm sure whether the team is championship-worthy might play a roll into it too. Maybe.

We talked about the tentative trip and what sights we would want to see. This lasted the whole hour and a half drive to Zeke's school.

"Did Zeke remember to buy the tickets to get the student discount?" Dave asked Mom as we unloaded ourselves from the car. "Or are we just going to sit in the bleachers, wherever we find?"

"Dont worry, we're meeting up with the Johnsons." Dad said. "Zeke said he gave the tickets to them since he knew they would be here today."

"Does that mean Rhys is going to be pitching today?" Noah asked, excited to see his friend in action.

"I would guess there's a pretty good chance." Dave commented.

We started to merge with a small crowd that was gathering just outside the baseball stadium. Mom had to call Mrs. Johnson to find a place to meet and then led the way. We found Rhys's parents, but they weren't alone. His uncle, aunt, and little cousins had all come.

"His first official start in college." Mrs. Johnson explained the presence of her family. "We all had to show up. Especially with it being a weekend. How many times will we have this opportunity?"

"Right!" Mom agreed with her. They started to talk about the more memorable games they've seen of Zeke's and Rhys'. It didn't take long before all adults started joining in and talking about them.

"This is his first game since his surgery, right?" Dad asked Mr. Johnson.

"Officially." Mr. Johnson said. "He was able to do a few innings here and there for scrimmages, but from what I understand, the coach will let him do as much as he can today. Just to see where he's at. He does well in practices, but we know it'll be different in a game setting."

"I'm sure he'll do great." Noah butted in. "Rhys is the best pitcher I know. If he can get Zeke out, he can do it to everyone else."

Mr. Johnson chuckled and patted Noah on the back. "He'll have to face a lot of people like Zeke in a row today. He'll be lucky to get five innings in to qualify for a win."

"I bet he does more than five." Noah said, confident. He grinned up at Mr. Johnson. "What do you want to wager?"

"I'm not going to bet against my own son." Mr. Johnson grinned. "He already has a history of proving me wrong; no need to add to the list."

"How about we watch the game and cheer for our team like normal families." Dad suggested to Noah, giving him a look.

Noah slowly backed away as he laughed. "Yea, yea, of course. I was just joking. About the bet. I still think Rhys will perform well. And Zeke too."

Noah ended up only being half right. Rhys had a great game. Seven innings, only gave up four hits and two walks. Zero runs and eight strikeouts. Zeke...didn't do as well. He went 0-2 at the plate with two walks. In his defense, the other pitcher was good, only conceding two runs in the six innings that he pitched. Stanford ended up winning 2-1.

The Johnsons invited all of us back to their house for dinner to celebrate Rhys's first collegiate win. It was going to be a party of sorts with all of us gathered, but they didn't mind at all. Mom promised them we would head over after checking into the hotel.

"No rush." Mrs. Johnson said. "The boys have their postgame stuff and we still have to clean up a little and get the food ready."

"Let us know if we need to bring anything." Mom told her. "We're quite a few extra mouths to feed. Why don't I put in a catering order in for pasta and bread? Keep things easy on you."

The two moms talked it over as we headed for the parking lot.

I looked at Noah, who had been rather quiet since the end of the game, but he was on his phone. I leaned over to get a peek.

Noah didn't hide it. He showed me what he was looking at: stats for the Stanford baseball team. "I wanted to know how Zeke's doing so far."

"They don't include scrimmage stats." Dave said, getting a closer look. "Yesterday was their first game of the season. What'd he do?"

"2-3. And a walk." Noah said. "So with today's stats, it's 2-5. And a couple of walks. Responsible for two runs scored and one RBI overall."

"That's not a bad start." Kyle commented. "I wouldn't be surprised if he kept that average all season."

".400?" Dave laughed. "That'd be insane."

"But not impossible." Noah grinned.

"Has he not hit any homeruns yet?" I asked, squinting at the phone. I couldn't see if they kept track.

"Not yet." Noah moved the stat sheet on the phone. "Both hits yesterday were singles. Don't worry. He's probably adjusting slowly. You know how Zeke likes to take his time."

"He just has more patience." Dave corrected.