The Hitting Zone

After we gathered our gear from the dugout, we left the field for the next game to start, San Marino versus Trabuco Canyon. The winner of this evening game will be who we play in the morning.

"Boys, go home. Eat dinner. Rest up." Coach instructed as we stood off to the side of the field, near the spectator stands. "Us coaches will watch the game. We'll create a stat and info sheet and send it to your emails before the night ends. You'll be able to read it before you go to bed."

The team nodded their heads obediently. The whole point of turning game two into a called game was in order to get rest. If we stayed to watch this game, it would defeat that purpose.

Everyone said their goodbyes and started to head off with their parents. There were even some seniors who were able to drive themselves and went off alone.

I stuck close to Noah as we waited for his brothers.

"Do you think Mom and Dad will treat us to dinner? Or make us wait until we get home to eat?" He pondered.

Since we were over an hour away from their home, and it was almost six in the evening already, I held up one finger to go with option one.

He nodded. "That would be best. I'm so hungry right now. We better go somewhere that serves you a basket full of bread right as you sit down."

"Well you did work hard today, kiddo." A stranger said from behind us.

I jumped, startled that someone got so close without me noticing. I quickly maneuvered to step slightly behind Noah, using him as a buffer against this random stranger.

The man had a polo shirt on over his potbelly. He wore some old looking glasses and a slightly torn baseball hat. He held out his meaty hand, holding a small, thin, white card. "I'm Luke Thompkins. A reporter with Bay Area Times. I was hoping to ask you kids some questions."

Noah accepted the card and looked it over. Then he looked back at the man. "Oh? What do you want to ask? And why do you want us to answer? Don't reporters usually interview coaches or captains?" Noah surprisingly started the questioning instead of the other way around.

The man gave a jolly laugh. The kind a fake Santa would use in a holiday movie. It put me on edge. "You're a smart kid. I just wanted to get to know the only two freshmen participating in this tournament. And even got starting positions in the first game for a seeded team. That's an unusual sight."

"You can't question us without our coach or parents." Noah crosses his arms, defiantly.

The man dropped his smiled and turned serious. "As expected of an Atkins. You know the rules well. I was hoping you would answer some questions without them present. Like, is nepotism the reason you got the starting job at shortstop? Your oldest brother is the captain."

Noah sneered, ready to go off on the man. But Zeke suddenly appeared, stepped up and got in front of us, shielding is from the reported. "Mr. Thompkins, what a surprise. Still breaking the rules, I see. Hopefully you won't get in too much trouble when I report you to the association like last time."

I couldn't see the man's face anymore which made me feel more comfortable. But I could hear his disgust when he spoke to Zeke. "And hopefully you won't be in a bad spot when I do a story about you giving a starting position to your youngest brother. Such nepotism would be frowned upon throughout the county. You may be the best player within county lines, but you're also the most despicable." Despicable? What did that mean?

Zeke turned his back to the man and faced us. "Let's go. The twins already went to Mom and Dad. We should do the same." He waited for us to pick up our bags and then we walked away from the man. After we were fifteen yards away, Zeke spoke up. "It's best to avoid that reporter."

"I know." Noah huffed, still heated over the nepotism comment. "I recognized him right away. Did he think I wouldn't? I remembered what he said about you last year. Freakin' douche. I was on guard as soon as any so-called reporter would approach kids without adults present."

Zeke nodded, and patted Noah's shoulder. "You did well."

Noah became a little shy with the praise. "Well, I mean...I almost lost it with the nepotism comment. I hate that everyone thinks I only made the team because of you and the twins." He deflated a little.

"Let the scorecard be your voice. Two hits for five plate appearances. Two runs scored. Two runs batted in. No errors." Zeke kept his arm around Noah's shoulder. "That's a .400 batting average at the moment."

Noah cheered up and stood up a little taller. "That's right. As a freshman, I especially kicked butt today. And I saved Kyle's perfect game with an outstanding diving stop."

Zeke let go of him and gave him a slight nudge. "Simmer down. If we go by the numbers, another freshman did better than you." The both looked at me. I flushed red at the attention.

"Jake's last at-bat was good, right Zeke?" Noah gave me a smile. "I really thought you were bunting. Especially when you first attempt at a bunt went foul. I was scared you would bunt foul again and be called out."

I tilted my head in confusion. "You can't bunt foul when you have two strikes?"

Noah and Zeke jaws dropped.