The Hitting Zone

Noah fouled off the first couple of pitches, working a 1-2 count. Joey was looking tired up on the mound. Sweat was visibly dripping down his face and gradually, his posture has gotten worse. This was definitely a good opportunity for Noah to add another hit to his stat sheet.

Joey's next pitch came right down the middle. Noah swung and made perfect contact with the barrel of his bat. A solid 'pang' echoed. The ball went right back the way it came. Joey somehow managed to catch the line drive, landing on his butt, and rolling off the mound.

"Out." The umpire declared the end of the inning.

Bummer.

"You alright?" Noah called out to Joey, as Sean helped the guy to his feet.

Joey brushed off Sean, and didn't say a word to Noah. He just stormed back to his own dugout. The rest of their team followed.

Mitchell said a few words to Noah, then Noah came back.

"What was that all about?" Garret frowned, glancing back to the other dugout.

Noah shrugged. "Mitchell said that Joey was probably frustrated with the way things were going."

"That was a nice swing." Garret complimented him as we went back to our bags and switched out our gear. "Would have definitely been a double up the middle with your speed."

"Meh." Noah muttered. "I'm just lucky it didn't hurt the guy. That would be bad. Come backers like that are super dangerous."

"True." Garret put his hat on. "But it worked out for him. No injury and it was an out. He got lucky." With his glove on he headed out.

"Not so fast." Mr. Miller put a stop to the little movement in our dugout. Everyone froze. This was the first time he addressed the team since the beginning of the game. "I'm making some changes. Garret, I know I said you could pitch the whole game if you wanted, but-"

Garret waved his hand. "It's fine. I feel pretty good about my performance. Has someone been warming up in the bullpen though? We didn't have any catcher there to work with them."

Mr. Miller nodded. "They pitched to each other. I'll go out and signal for one to come. Garret, you can play center. Ollie, move to left. Davin, take a rest." He left the dugout to signal to the bullpen.

The rest of us took the field, leaving the freshman, Davin behind. The way he slouched on the bench, you could tell it was eating at him. Is he being sat for making that error in the third inning?

"You don't have to worry about him." Noah told me as we stood by second base. Garret had jogged out to center field and started to play catch with the other outfielders. "Mr. Miller will talk to the freshman. An error or two isn't a big deal."

"I just feel bad for him." I shrugged. Because I could relate to what he was feeling.

Noah put his hand on my shoulder. "It's good to have empathy. But also, you're not him and you don't owe him anything. If he wants to make the program, he'll work hard and make a comeback."

I nodded, turning my attention to the new pitcher on the mound. "Do you know this guy?" It was someone I wasn't familiar with.

Noah took a look. "Nope. Must be a freshman."

A freshman to face the top of the lineup? I grimaced.

The guy warmed up with Ethan, then had a small talk at the mound before we started the inning. Sean was first up and came out swinging. He connected on the first pitch, sending the ball just over Luke's glove. The ball bounced to Connor and he threw it back in to me as Sean rounded first.

I faked a throw to Luke, forcing Sean to stay at first. Then I threw the ball back to the freshman on the mound. He didn't hold eye contact with me and quickly faced the next batter before I could come up with anything to say.

Korrey followed the same tactic as Sean, swinging on the first pitch. Even though it would have been a high ball. He hit up the center. Garret came sprinting in, fielding the ball and getting it back to Noah in record time.

Runners were safe on second and first.

"Time." Noah called out, ball in hand. He didn't throw it back to the pitcher, choosing to walk it there instead. He waved the rest of us infielders to join him.

The freshman on the mound was frowning as he looked away. He glanced at Ethan, dissatisfied. This led to Ethan frowning as well.

"Hey, I'm Noah." Noah greeted the pitcher, putting the baseball into the guy's glove.

"Max." He nodded. He looked around at the rest of us. "You guys trying to take me off the mound?"

"No, of course not." Noah answered lightly. "Just wanted to give you some advice for the next batter."

"Why? You don't trust the catcher either?" He asked, sounding very prickly.

Noah covered his mouth with his glove. "Dude. Just shut up and listen. You don't hear Ethan complaining about me giving advice." He had lost the nice guy act, and focused on baseball. "Jason was on varsity last year. I know him well. He hits a lot of grounders. Keep the ball low and hopefully the rest of us will turn a double play. If you want to keep giving up singles, then be my guest. It's not my ERA that's taking a dump."

With that, Noah turned away and headed back to his position.

I hurried after him and whispered. "Is that okay to say?" It doesn't sound like something a captain would tell a young, struggling pitcher.

Noah nodded. "It's fine. Sometimes pitchers need tough love. If he doesn't listen, then that's a reflection of him. And Ethan. I did my part. Now I've got to play defense." He glanced at Sean at second before lowering his voice. "You stay closer to the base and I'll back up for more area to cover. Jason has a tendency to hit it this side of second base."

I nodded in agreement.

Everyone was back into position and Max was getting set on the mound. His first pitch was low like Noah instructed, but too low. It bounced before home plate, forcing Ethan to make a stop so the runners don't advance on a wild pitch. His second pitch was much better, just a little below the strike zone.

Jason still swung, proving that the other team was still swinging on anything close early on. He pulled it to the left side of second base like Noah predicted. Noah was in perfect position to field the ball and throw to me at second base.

I transitioned the ball from glove to throwing hand as I was tagging the base and then threw to Luke at first, beating out Jason. 6-4-3 double play.

I gave a small fist bump in the direction of Noah. It was almost like he scripted the game.

Michael came up next with Sean standing at third.

Max and Ethan changed things up, going with a high outside pitch. Bad choice. I cringe before Michael even made contact, knowing that such a meat ball was too easy.

Michael crushed the ball, sending it straight to center field. Garret went back up against the fence, waited a beat before making his jump. He came down with the ball, surprising the rest of us. I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding.