The Hitting Zone

"Garret." Noah interrupted him and Ethan's talk. "Have you decided between college or draft yet?"

Garret nodded. "I'm going to name my commitment on National Signing Day. November 11th. But if my draft number is good, I'm going pro."

"No matter what team picks you?" Noah asked.

Garret shrugged. "Just because a team drafts me, doesn't mean I'll get a chance to play for them. I could just be a chess piece in one of their trades."

"Have you been in contact with any scouts?"

"A few have shown interest but nothing definitive. I need to have another great season." He then asked. "What about the twins? They went to see a bunch of schools this summer, right? Did they decide on any particular one?"

Noah shook his head. "Nope. They might not even pick before signing day. Zeke waited for the last minute to decide. They might do the same."

Garret shook his head back at us. "Zeke could afford to make a last minute decision. Any school would be willing to have him and might save a scholarship just for players like him. The twins aren't nearly as good. If they want to earn an athletic scholarship, the schools might be asking them to make a decision a little sooner."

We talked a little more about colleges and making commitments until our half of offense ended. After my three-run homer, there wasn't any other hits. Ollie, a junior from JV and our current center fielder, grounded out to Michael at short. Andre grounded out to Sean at second. Then Luke struck out swinging.

"Looks like Joey had settled down." Noah commented as we started to take the field.

"You scared?" Garret grinned.

Noah scoffed. "No way. I'm not one to be scared. That's Jake's."

They looked to me.

"Scared of him as a pitcher? No." I told them. "Scared of him as a person? Yes."

"Typical Jake." Garret laughed as he got on the mound and started to throw some warmup pitches with Ethan.

Garret must have gotten through to Ethan, because there was a lot less head shaking and a lot more fluidity. Garret shut down their clean up hitter, Michael Tye. The former captain of the JV team and winner of the Best Sportmanship for that team, struck out swinging, unabled to keep up with the cutter.

Joey came up next. He got jammed on a fastball, popping it up in my vicinity. I got under the ball and made the catch without any difficulties. Garret ended the inning by striking out Tanner. He was coasting! Really showing off why he was and is our number one pitcher.

"Looking good!" Noah complimented Garret when we got back in the dugout. "Four strikeouts over two innings! I can already hear the twins groaning and grinding their teeth."

Garret laughed. "I don't know about that. You can almost make a case that the best hitters are on these two teams here."

Noah looked around our dugout, skeptical.

"Jake is number one. I would dare to claim second." Garret pointed at the other dugout. "They've got Sean, Jason, Tanner, and Mitchell from varsity. Plus the best batters from last year's JV team. Who could the twins possibly be facing? They're probably picking on the freshmen and sophomores."

Noah grinned at the thought. "They better not give up any hits then."

I nodded in agreement. Garret has a point. "I feel bad for the freshmen then."

"Eh, I'm sure Andy will be fine." Noah shrugged.

I sincerely doubt that. Andy couldn't do much against them all summer. Even during Saturday's showdown, he went 0-3 against Kyle.

"Their heads are going to swell. I can already guess." Garret said.

Noah slapped me on the shoulder. "No worries! Jake will keep them leveled."

Garret looked at me. "You know...we haven't had a showdown in awhile. Want to stay after this ends?"

I scratched my cheek. "Are you sure..?" I didn't want to be cocky, but I really don't think Garret stands a chance against me. I could even get a hit off Rhys.

"I'm sure." He said confidently. "We could ask Mr. Miller to stick around to be an umpire." He glanced at Ethan who was moving to the on deck circle after Davin grounded out to short. "I won't have that kid being the catcher though. I need someone better. More...professional. I'll have to ask Mitchell."

"He would love that!" Noah nodded. "Mitchell's been working hard all summer."

"I've heard." Garret said. He looked at me. "Will you wait around so we could talk about signs to make sure we're on the same page?"

I shrugged. "I guess. I don't think the twins would mind." I thought for a second. "Haven't you paired up with Mitchell a few times already?"

Garret nodded. "Yea, but this time we're facing you."

Oh. Okay.

After Davin's groundout, both Connor, a freshman, and Ethan struck out swinging.

Joey won't be the same pitcher we faced in the first inning. He had settled and gained more control of his pitches. That's good. I would like for more of a challenge. Noah shared my same sentiments. He was working on his swing after all.

Garret started off strong in the third inning, cornering the seventh batter on an 0-2 count before getting him to ground out to Noah. The eighth batter copied the same sequence, grounding out to Noah. I knew neither of them so it meant nothing to me. However, the next batter was Mitchell.

We were just talking about him working hard on his catching this past summer, but it wasn't the only thing he practiced. He sent Garret's first pitch to left field for a single, taking away Garret's perfect game and no-hitter with one swing.

The left fielder, Davin, threw the ball back in to Noah. Noah gave the ball back to Garret. "Don't mind. Two outs. One on." He looked around. "Play's at first or second."

The top of the lineup started with Sean again. He looked a little more serious, strictly focused on Garret. He also took advantage of the first pitch fastball, hitting a fly out to left field.

It looked catchable to me, but for some reason the ball fell out of Davin's glove, rolling in the grass.

I felt my chest tightened as Mitchell and Sean started running like crazy. Unsure of what I should be doing, I automatically moved to cover second base.

Noah went to the grass to act as the cutoff man, urging Davin to get the ball back to the infield. It was almost like he had frozen after dropping the ball. He bent over to pick the ball up and threw it back to Noah. With the ball in his glove, Noah immediately turned around to check second and third, but there was no play to make. Mitchell was clearly safe at third, while Sean had just slid into second.

Noah walked the ball to Garret on the mound, speaking to him in a low voice that I couldn't even hear.

"Woo. That was lucky." Sean laughed as he dust himself off.

I stayed nearby just in case. Plus, Sean was easy to get along with. "Lucky for you. And an error for Davin."

"Freshman?" Sean asked.

I nodded. "Yep."

He sighed. "Unfortunate. I hope he doesn't dwell on it too much." He looked at me. "Make sure you comfort him."

I scratched under my hat. "I think I'll leave that to Noah."

Sean chuckled. "Yea, he's good at that kind of stuff."