The Hitting Zone

"Great job." Coach Luis came in close to tell me as I stood on first base. "It was a good spot to hit to, allowing no close play at third."

I nodded.

Garret came up to bat amidst some of the loudest cheers I've heard today. Two on, no outs. Noah in scoring position.

The infielders went to the mound, including the catcher. They had a short meeting with their pitcher before getting back into position. I don't know what they talked about, but the pitcher did a couple of check throws to third before throwing a pitch to Garret.

Coach Luis kept telling me to lead. Lead off the base. I did my best, trying to get out as far as the first baseman, but every time the pitcher threw to third, I still went back to base too.

Garret made contact on a 2-2 count, hitting the ball down the third baseline. I took off, eyes on second. I could hear a lot of yelling, but it only made sense when I got a look. I stood safely on second with the second baseman nearby. Meanwhile between third base and home plate, Noah was caught in a rundown. The third baseman must have fielded the ball straight to the catcher, then Noah must have turned back. Now he was stuck. Back and forth, as the nearby players threw the ball to one another, keeping him trapped.

University Preparatory really showed their skill, almost treating this like a drill. Not one of them faltered. Noah was the first of them to slip up, his knee falling to the dirt. A tag landed on his shoulder.

"Out!"

"Let's go!" The catcher hit his chest protector and showed a lot of energy.

I glanced back to first where Garret and Coach Luis was. Neither of them looked happy. It was hard to be when missing out on a good scoring opportunity. The score remained tied.

Noah jogged back to our dugout as the cheers rained down for University Prep.

My heart was pounding as I realized I was the lead runner now. Sean came up to bat with one out. I was technically in scoring position. If he could get the ball to the outfield, there was a good chance that Mr. Miller would send me home.

Mr. Miller gave the sign for Sean to swing. Garret and I need to take decent leads and look to advancing. Avoid a double play if possible. It wasn't. Sean hit a grounder right to the shortstop making me dodge. The shortstop flipped it to the second baseman, who threw to first. 6-4-3 double play. The most common in the game.

I slowed to a jog, turning to go back to our dugout. I took off my helmet and met up with the rest of the team.

"Don't get down on yourselves." Coach said for everyone to hear. "We're doing just fine. It's still 1-1. There'll be a couple more opportunities for us to get the lead back." He looked to Kyle. "Stay steady."

"No problem, Coach." Kyle answered. "I can go another five innings if I have to." He walked out of the dugout with Mitchell right behind him.

Coach looked out at the pair, contemplating.

I went to my bag and switched out my gear, hurrying to catch up to Noah. I met him out on the field near second base. "Are you okay?" I asked as he fielded a ball back to Sean.

Noah shrugged. "Physically, yes. My pride took a hard beating though. I can't believe I fell. I almost had it. Safe one way or the other."

"I don't know." I said, unconvinced. "They looked like pros."

Noah was quiet for a second.

Sean bounced the ball my way and I took the time to field it back to him.

"Next time." Noah said. "Next time, I won't be caught."

I watched him during his turn to field the ball from Sean. He looked serious. And that's the way he was. Always running to the challenge and not from it like me. Noah was already up to do it again. I didn't even want to try it once.

Kyle continued to do well, but was using up more pitches. The last hitter in the lineup pushed him to a full count before striking out on a foul tip. Back at the top of the lineup, the batter fouled a lot before making solid contact, smacking a line drive, thankfully in Noah's reach. Noah practically snatched it out of the air like a magic trick. Kyle tipped his cap to him after getting the ball back.

"Two outs, one to go!" Noah hollered, holding up a finger.

Kyle used up ten more pitches before getting the third out. Another strikeout though. His ninth in six innings. He came off the mound amidst applause from the stands.

Kyle frowned before I heard him mutter. "They're clapping like I'm done." He his swiveled to the bullpen beyond the outfield. "Fuck." He entered the dugout and approached Coach. "Are you going to pull me? Who's warming up already?"

"Pitch count." Coach looked to Alisha.

Kyle stared her down too.

Alisha held her clipboard, looking a little apologetic. "You're at 96 pitches."

Kyle turned to Coach. "I have 14 more available. One more inning. I can do it."

Coach reached out to put a hand on his shoulder. "Kyle." He looked him in the eyes. "You did well, son. Take a break. Do your cool down, rest your shoulder. Leave the rest of the game to your teammates."

Kyle's lips thinned and stretched. He looked upset. He gave a short nod and headed for the end of the dugout.

Coach looked to Jesse. "If we get to Kyle's spot in the lineup, you'll pinch hit."

Jesse nodded. Everyone was making some moves in the dugout.

I sat down near my bag with Noah right behind. He glanced down Kyle's way a time or two, but didn't say anything and didn't make a move to go speaks to him. Which I understood. Kyle needed some space to cool down. Not just physically, but mentally too. He's had a long game and put in some great work.

"Who do you think will go in for him?" I asked Noah.

Noah shrugged. "Not Garret and probably not Dave."

"I think Dave would be a good option." I offered.

"Too good. He's a starter." Noah replied. "We need a reliever to come in and can shut them down. Garret would be best, but he can't warm up in the bullpen when he's on the field with us." He took off his hat and wiped some sweat off his head. "I'm more concerned with our offense. We need to score to win. Top of the seventh now and honestly I see us going into extra innings."

Jason hit a line drive right to the third baseman causing for some groans to be let out.

"Don't you usually like going into extras?" I asked.

Noah grinned. "I do. But against such a good team...it adds a different kind of pressure. Fine for me, but the pitchers that we have..." He trailed off.