The Hitting Zone

Brian gave up a single right after that, but there was no worry. The next guy hit a grounder right to Jason. Jason threw to Noah at second, Noah stepped on second base, and threw to Sean at first. Double play to end the inning. The guys came running back to the dugout.

Top of the third, bottom of our lineup. Mitchell was slow to get his catcher's gear off. Brian even beat him outside the dugout, already taking practice swings. Mitchell came out second, yet was first up to bat. His at bat was a short grounder to second for the first out. Brian came up next, Dalton moved to the on deck circle, while Noah stood near me and Alisha.

Noah didn't say much, keeping his eyes on the field, watching the pitcher. Brian hit a solid single to center field and stood on first as Dalton stepped up to bat.

I wasn't paying attention to Mr. Miller signs so I was surprised when Brian took off as the pitcher started his motion. The pitch made it to the catcher, who jumped up and threw to second base. A tag came down as Brian slid into the base.

"Safe!" The ump said.

Our dugout started to cheer for Brian's run.

"Maybe you should be taking some advice from the pitcher on how to run the bases, Jake." Tanner joked as he came over to sit near me. He had seen my ugly baserunning in last year's midseason tryout and hasn't let me forget it. Even though I've had some improvements.

"I don't remember you ever stealing second." Garret said as he stood by the dugout entrance with his bat in hand and helmet on. He was hoping to get a chance to bat this inning.

"Ouch!" Tanner held his chest. "A shot straight to the heart." He raised his eyebrows. "Remind me how many bases you stole last year?"

Garret pretended not to hear him. He spoke to Sean about the pitcher during the rest of Dalton's at bat. Dalton nearly made perfect contact with a fastball, hitting it in right-center field. Brian was already on the run from second, having a good jump as it was. The ball was relayed back in as he tagged third and headed home.

Brian slid into home, feet first. The catcher caught a well placed ball and made a tag attempt.

"Safe!" The home plate umpire extended his arms. 1-0. First run of the game.

Brian was welcomed back into the dugout with high fives, claps, cheers, and compliments.

"Not rusty at all." Coach nodded at Brian, showing some satisfaction with his offense. "Do just as well at the plate as you do on the mound, and you'll eventually have more reason to start over the twins."

I held back a laugh, but Alisha didn't.

"Too bad the twins weren't here to hear that." She said to me. "I'll have to tell Noah later."

I smiled and shook my head. She was handing over material to Noah to give the twins a hard time. I can already hear the bickering now. "Maybe they'll want to go to the cages more then." I thought of the positives. This could be beneficial for me.

Noah made contact early in his at bat, hitting a hard grounder just barely within reach of the shortstop. The shortstop threw to second and got Dalton out, but they couldn't complete the double play against Noah's speed. Sean went up next and hit a short single, making Noah unable to score on it. Garret followed up with a long fly ball to the center fielder just at the warning track.

Bottom of the third. Brian started off unstable. A single, walk, and another single to load up the bases. All to the bottom of their lineup. He got out of the jam though. The number one batter popped up foul to Mitchell. The second batter struck out swinging. Then the third batter popped up to Sean at first to end the inning.

"Don't say it, Coach." Brian sighed when he came back. "I was too eager. Don't worry, I'm settled now." He looked at him. "Am I on a pitch count?"

"No." Coach answered. "But if you continue to load bases like that, it won't be long before I pull you from the mound."

"I won't!"

I peeked at Alisha paper to see where his pitch count was after that scary inning. Nearing 50. Not too good considering pitchers are only allowed 110 in a game. If he wants to do a complete game, he'll have to waste less.

Top of the fourth. Korrey led off with a single to left field. Jesse popped a pitch up high into the air. The catcher threw his mask off and tracked it down near the dugout, making a good catch for the first out. Jason struck out looking at a breaking ball that landed in the zone. Mitchell ended the offensive with a pop out to the shortstop.

Bottom of the fourth. With Mitchell being the last out, Brian took some practice pitches with Jason pretending to catch. Then it was back to business. Brian kept his pitches low, yet still in the strike zone. It was effective. Three up, three down. Groundout to Noah. Groundout to Jason. Groundout to Noah.

Top of the fifth. Brian hit a fly ball to left field that was easily caught. Dalton snuck a grounder between first and second for a single. During Noah's at bat, Mr. Miller gave Dalton the sign to steal. I watched him closely, trying to study his setup. He went out for a normal lead, eyes on the pitcher. The pitcher did a check throw to first and Dalton went back safely. The first baseman gave the ball back to the pitcher and Dalton took his lead again. As soon as the pitcher kicked his leg to start his motion, Dalton took off for second base.

Noah swung and missed on the pitch intentionally, slowing the catcher down by a millisecond. The catcher transitioned to his throw and the ball went to the shortstop, covering second base. A slide and a tag. It was up to the umpire.

"Safe!"

"Yes!"

"Nice run!"

"Woo-hoo!"

Our dugout got loud and it stayed that way when Noah hit the very next pitch down the left field line. Both sophomores took off. Dalton had a good lead and was waved on home by Mr. Miller. The ball was thrown back to the infield. The shortstop threw home. The catcher caught the ball but gave up on the tag since Dalton was already in. The catcher threw his hardest to second base. The second baseman made the catch and tagged Noah.

"Safe!"

"This is why we run!" Coach clapped his hands together. "This is the kind of aggressive baserunning I want to see."

The inning went on with Sean hitting a long fly ball to left field; Noah tagged up and made it to third, making Coach even happier. Garret followed up with a standup double; Noah scored easily. Korrey struck out, leaving Garret stranded.

Bottom of the fifth, up 3-0. Brian gave up a single to the seventh batter for the second time. The next guy up hit a hard line drive, but Noah was there to steal it out of the air. The runner retreated to first. Batter nine, their pitcher, struck out swing. Top of the lineup hit a fly out to left and ended the inning.