The Hitting Zone

1 2B Dalton Nelson

2 SS Noah Atkins

3 1B Sean Isner

4 CF Garret Knudsen

5 RF Korrey Alvarrez

6 LF Jesse Shipman

7 3B Jason Morris

8 C Mitchell Torres

9 P Brian Swoope

A lot of eyes were on me after Coach had announced the lineup. I shifted uncomfortably. Noah had pursed his lips together, looking like he was holding himself back from saying something he shouldn't.

"I'll address the elephant in the room: yes, I didn't put Jake in the lineup today." Coach said, looking around. "Not to punish him or this team. I think Jake is great. Heck, it's acknowledged by those guys that decide player rankings. But I feel like this team's mindset has changed a little after the Christmas tournament and the Tulare Invitational. You guys think you need him to win." He waved his hand at some of the guys who wanted to speak up. "No, no. It's clear in the dugout. I've started to hear sighs and groans when Jake gets intentionally walk instead of cheers of a free base."

"That's just because we know Jake can do more." Noah pointed out.

"Today is a good time to show me that you aren't leaning on him." Coach said. He looked at me. "There's still plenty you can learn from watching. There's also an opportunity to become a pinch hitter. Make sure to warmup properly. Regardless if you're in the lineup."

I nodded. I trusted Coach. It would suck not getting to hit regularly, but there's still a chance.

Coach gestured to Garret. "Alright. Take them out and warm up."

Garret led us through the normal pregame warmup.

We had to travel to Lincoln High School for todays game. We played them last year at home so it kind of makes sense that it would be our turn to travel. The drive was less than an hour and we traveled with the other two levels of the baseball program.

On the way here, Noah sat beside me like usual and we used his phone to look up last year's results. We could only really winning. I at least remembered being nervous since it was our first home game last season.

The twins had actually split that game, both pitching a few innings. Both had given up a homerun to the same guy. Noah had gone 1-4 at the plate, whereas I went 1-1 with three walks. Zeke didn't let me hit much early on. He went 3-3 and we won the game 5-2.

Another good thing about knowing I wasn't in the starting lineup was that I could spend extra time in the batting cage as the starters used the field to get some work in at their position. Come game time though, I was on the bench.

At first it wasn't lonely since our team was up to bat to start off the game. Dalton grounded out to the pitcher. Noah struck out swinging. Sean reached on a single. Then Garret flew out to center to end the offense. Most of the dugout moved around and left to take the positions on the field, leaving me behind with only a few other teammates: Tanner and Logan.

Everyone else was in the bullpen. Dave and Kyle didn't even have a chance to pitch today, but both wanted to stay in the bullpen so they could get some work in with the backup catcher, Oscar.

Seeing limited options, I sat down next to Alisha, who also came to the game on the bus. She had to sit with the coaches though, going through some papers with one of them. Even now she was holding a notebook for scorekeeping.

"It's more for keeping track of stats." She had told us before. "There's an official scorekeeper who also keeps track of pitch count and reports all that to the league for their records. I'll occasionally check with them to make sure I'm getting it right. But also, Coach Wilcox will have me write down notes if he wants to remember something for later."

So far the paper was still relatively clean. It stayed that way for awhile. Brian had a great start in the first: strikeout looking, fly out to Jesse in left field, strikeout swinging.

Noah noticed me moved from our usual spot. He stopped and sat on the other side of me. "Watching Alisha scorekeep?"

I shrugged. "Might as well. She said Coach will sometimes give insights to the game so this spot is probably the best for me." I gave him a small smile. "I'd probably learn more if you were on the bench too so you could do a breakdown of the game for me."

Noah laughed and slapped me on the shoulder. "You know, I would like to. And I don't mind doing it for other games. But I rather be on the field. We can do breakdowns of the A's games when the season starts."

"The announcers do that on TV." I pointed out.

Noah rolled his eyes. "What happened to you liking my insights? Now I'm not good enough for you?"

We joked for a short bit as our team's offensive fell flat. Korrey grounded out to third, Jesse had a sharp lineout to left field, and Jason went down swinging. Noah had to get up and leave.

"It's crazy how different you two are sometimes." Alisha said to me with a smile. "I just know that if it was Noah sitting here on the bench, he would be going stir crazy."

I shrugged lightly. "Noah lives to play baseball. I'd be okay with just going to the cages." I felt a pair of eyes on me and somehow just knew it was Coach. "But I also like winning with my team. That's the most important. Yep."

Coach chuckled, just a few feet from us. "You don't have to force yourself to lie, Jake."

I straightened up. "It's not a lie. I like winning. Losing doesn't feel too good." Noah and the twins would be upset if we lost. We only had a few experiences last year and I rather not see them down like that again.

"Losing is a part of the game." Coach stated. "The best teams in the MLB will lose 60+ games in a season. If they're lucky, they'll win 60% of their games so they can make it to playoffs."

"Right..." I trailed off. I don't think winning and losing will matter much to Noah then when he makes it to the majors. As for the twins, they take things more personally. It'll depend on their performance on the mound.

A sound of a bat hitting the ball drew all our attention to the field in time to see Noah diving for his right. He stopped the ball, jumped to his feet, and threw a bullet to Sean at first.

"Out!" The umpire declared.

"His reflexes have to be the fastest I've seen." Coach muttered so only we could hear. He looked at me.

I felt embarrassed.

"You have fast reflexes at the plate." Coach said pointedly.

I rubbed the back of my neck. "Yea..."

"We can train you to be just as good as Noah." Coach nodded slowly. "You have a weak base, but you're improving by leaps and bounds. With the exception of your baserunning."

I wish I could go hide out in the bullpen.