The Hitting Zone

The twins actually got another chance to pitch against the JV team on Friday. They went up to the upper field with Robbie and Joey this time around. The four hadn't returned when Coach started to wrap up practice talking about tomorrow's game.

"Be here before 8am." Coach told us. "Bus leaves once my watch hits 8am on the dot."

I resisted the urge to groan.

"It'll just be us. No lower levels, no girls team. We'll have the bus to ourselves to spread out, so you're welcomed to bring a pillow to bring a pillow to get comfy." Coach told us. "We're going to meet at a neutral location near Sacramento. That's a three hour drive. We'll have lunch there at the park, then warmup for an hour, then it's game time."

"Are we supposed to bring our own lunch?" One of the guys asked. I couldn't tell who.

Coach shook his head. "You don't have to. Lunch will be provided. Sandwiches and chips. I already put in a catering order that will meet us at the park."

There were a few more questions before Coach cut us loose, sending us away for the day. Noah and I packed our stuff up.

"Make sure to tell the twins about the bus time." Garret said to us. "I'll text the other two."

"I'm sure they're still up there playing." Noah checked the time on his phone. "Coach ended things early for us. Want to just come up with us to watch the end? Then you can let them know?"

Garret checked his own phone. "Yea. Okay. Let's go see." He glanced at us. "You aren't just saying this to get a ride to the upper fields are you?"

Noah laughed. "Would I do that?"

I did my best not to give him away. Because he definitely would do that.

We finished packing our stuff up and followed Garret to his car. He gave us a quick ride up and followed us to the JV field. Sure enough, they were still going. Dave was on the mound facing a familiar face: Austin. We showed up just in time to see him strikeout.

"Nice pitching!" Noah yelled out for Dave to hear as he came off the mound and went to the visitor dugout with the other field players.

Dave looked over and gave a friendly wave.

"What inning are they in?" Garret asked a nearby coach. Someone I recognized from the banquet. Assistant coach Jace.

"Bottom of the seventh." He answered. He looked at the three of us. "Wilcox let you guys out early today?"

"Long travel day tomorrow." Garret shrugged.

He nodded in understanding. "Are you pitching?"

Garret shook his head. "Bryce is the starter." He looked out at Kyle who was taking the mound. "How are the twins doing?"

"Absolutely destroying us." The assistant coach sighed. "The gap between them and us is too much. I told Wilcox to find someone else to stimulate them." His eyes drifted to me. "Do you want to pinch hit Jake?"

Uhhh. I shifted my eyes to Garret, confused.

"Trying to end the game?" Garret asked. "Is it tied or something?"

"Tied at zero. Again." He nodded. "It might do the boys some good if they see that the twins aren't unbeatable."

"That's not very good though..." I said in a low voice. "Kyle might think I'm picking on him."

"Jake beats on the twins all the time." Noah put his bag down. "Let me get my cleats back on. I can-"

"I think we should let the game play out as is." Garret volunteered. "Dave just did his seven innings. Let Kyle do his." He turned to Jace. "They did a full game. Don't make their own brothers ruin the pitching duel. That would be a bit harsh."

Noah sighed. "Yea, we might actually get in trouble at home." He turned to me. "You're right too. It's not good to pick one to bully. We have to bully both at the same time."

I let out a small laugh. "When would we be able to do that?"

"The next time I catch for them at home." Noah said. "You can bat against both and crush them. Make them regret ever feeling good about beating down the JV guys."

The coach nearby laughed. "Someone else is always better." He looked to Garret. "Have you and the twins talked about college commitments or entering the draft yet?"

"Kyle and I are entering the draft for sure." Garret told him. "Dave is signing." He glanced at us. "To Vanderbilt, right?"

"He didn't want to pick Stanford? With Zeke?" The coach was surprised.

Noah shrugged. "Vanderbilt is a pitching school. Dave has always been more concerned about being a better pitcher. Maybe he wants to face Zeke instead." He nudged me. "Zeke can bully Dave in college if they ever meet."

"Freshmen don't usually get a lot of playing time unless they're very good. Vanderbilt already has a lot of good pitchers. Dave might not get his chance." Garret sighed. "Hopefully I don't run into Zeke in the minors in the future. Even if I become stronger and faster, psychologically he would have the edge on me."

"Would you still get to bat in the minors?" I asked.

"Depends on the team and league." Garret answered. "I've started talking to some people and I've made it known that I would like to keep batting in the future. But chances are, I might become a pitcher only. They're saying that the MLB will make the National League change and allow a DH like the American League."

"That's interesting. But definitely bad for you." Noah said. Then glanced at me. "It would put Jake in a better spot though. DH. Imagine if we could have a DH...Jake wouldn't have to learn fielding or baserunning. Wait. Maybe he would still have to work on that." He laughed and Garret joined him.

I stuck my tongue out at them. "I'm getting better."

"You are!" Garret slapped me on the shoulder. "Soon you'll be stealing bases like Noah."

My lips twitched. I didn't say I was good enough to steal a base. Just a little more confident that I won't look like a dummy, tripping over my own feet.

We chatted as Kyle blew through his three outs, ending the inning. Him and Kyle were kicked out of the dugouts and sent to Drew off to the side. The pair did their cooldown together as Joey got on the mound and half the team took their positions on the field.

They played for a couple more innings until Robbie gave up the game-ending run.

"He didn't throw any knuckleballs." I pointed out. At first I thought he didn't need them, but he didn't throw one and got the loss out of the four varsity pitchers.

"Probably has something to do with the catcher." Garret told me. "As far as I know, only Oscar has a decent catch rate with him. Even Mitchell struggles during practice."

"Is it because he practices it more with Oscar?" Noah asked.

Garret nodded. "Yea. Mitchell has a lot on his plate as it is. Learning to catch a specialty pitch like that is a bit difficult. It's also hard to predict already so it's better to just leave it to Oscar."

"So if Robbie came to relieve a starter, we would switch catchers too?" I asked. I remembered last year, Jordan would only catch for Garret so it wasn't something I was unaccustomed to.

"Probably."