The Hitting Zone

Bottom of the sixth.

Inside the dugout, the other freshmen were congratulating Max on getting out of the jam against the upperclassmen. It rubbed me the wrong way that he accepted their congratulations with a grin; not even bothering to give Noah a word of 'thanks'.

"Freshmen." Noah scoffed under his breath as I put on my helmet.

"Don't bother with someone like that." Garret said softly as he also got ready to bat.

Noah shook his head. "I definitely won't. His kind of attitude and lack of skill can only get him so far. I'm fine. I just feel bad for the others who look up to him or think he's good. I even feel bad for Ethan." He rolled his eyes. "I just need to forget about it. One more inning to go."

Garret slapped him on the shoulder. "Good to see you maturing. Once upon a time, you would have made your snide remarks heard."

Noah smirked. "I let my attitude out on the mound. That was enough."

Garret looked to me. "Ready?"

I nodded.

We took our bats and headed for the exit.  Joey was still up on the mound, warming up.

I glanced at Garret. "Are you jealous?"

Garret chuckled. "Of not pitching more than him? Nah. Not a big deal. It would have been fun, but it's also good to not over do it. I'm not like the twins, who have some work to do on their motions. Just getting along with the catchers is good enough for me."

Garret was very relaxed.

"I also like playing on the field too." He explained as he started to stretch. "Really, as long as I get to play, it's good. I'm grateful not to get benched." He lightly swung his bat around. "I already have to give it up when I get to the next level. Gotta appreciate every inning I get."

I stepped away to give him more room to work on his swing. Garret loves baseball as much as Noah does. Just being on the field excites them. Practice, scrimmage, or a game. They'll bring the same intensity and enthusiasm to it all.

I used to think they were crazy, but now I was slowly getting the feel of it. I'm still not excited about running or practicing, but I do like seeing myself improve.

Joey finished warming up and the umpire waved at Garret to step up. Garret went around and got in the lefty's box. Joey was getting tired and showing some fatigue, throwing a few pitches out of the zone. On a 3-0 count, he tried going with a fastball down the middle. Garret didn't waste it, swung and made contact.

The ball flew to left-center field, dropping in the grass and rolling to the fence. Garret sprinted out of the box, rounded first, and made it to second base without needing to slide.

The ball was thrown back to Joey on the mound and I stepped up to the plate, choosing to stick with being a righty. It wasn't until I was standing in the box that I realized the catcher was no longer Mitchell. Man...they were given three catchers?? How the heck did the coaches arrange these teams?

I sighed. Guess I should just be happy to be with Noah and Garret.

Joey was set. He started his motion after agreeing on a pitch. I watched it closely. Two-seamer. Inside. Real inside.

I realized a little too late that the ball was breaking towards me. I did my best to turn inside and took a hit to my left hamstring. I hissed in pain. Joey lost control, but he didn't lose much speed. That hurt.

"You alright, kid?" The umpire was the first one to reach out to me, helping me steady on my right leg as I grasped my left thigh.

"Jake, I've got you!" Noah had reached me next, putting my arm around his shoulders and supporting most of my weight.

I let go of the umpire. "It hurts. Not the worst I've ever had."

"You always say that." Noah started to guide me back to the dugout. "I think you're done for the game."

"Agreed." Mr. Miller had came out of the dugout. "Take your cleats off and I'll text Drew to come down and check you out."

I grimaced. "Drew's around?"

He chuckled. "He's always around. Have to keep you boys healthy. I'll remind him to bring you some ice." He glanced back at the dugout. "Alex, why don't you come out and pinch run for Jake? You'll also take over at second."

Noah started to help me back through the dugout, taking me to our spot. "How is it?"

I had propped my leg up on the bench and bent it so I could rub my hamstring. "Like I said, not the worst I've had. Not even top fifty. Just going to be a bruise." A nice solid, uncomfortable knot.

Noah looked at the field and huffed. "They better be taking him out."

I also glanced at the field and saw Mr. Miller speaking together with the opposing coach. They had both gone up to the mound to talk to Joey.

Out of nowhere, Joey raised his voice and could be heard all around. "Why should I get off the mound?! I'm not done yet! Two more innings. I can do it."

Surprisingly, it was the calm Mr. Miller who spoke up loud enough to be heard. "You're losing control. You've already hit a batter. That's enough. Go take a seat." He glanced at the other coach.

The other coach put his hand on Joey's shoulder and tried to guide him back to their dugout.

"You're targeting me because you favor him!" Joey swatted the hand off his shoulder and flared up at Mr. Miller. "It was an accident! If I had hit anyone else, would I still be benched?!"

"Yes." Mr. Miller answered coldly, arms across his chest. "You could hit the worst player in this program, and I would still choose to sit you. This is a camp. I won't sit back and watch you risk hitting another batter. You can injure anyone with your pitches. Heck, even if it was Garret that hit someone, I would choose to bench him." He looked at the other coach. "Take him away. He needs to go cool off."

The other coach spoke in a low tone to Joey and guided him away. Mr. Miller signaled to the other bullpen to send someone out.

"Mr. Miller is a little bit strict." Someone mumbled from our own dugout.

Noah heard him and stood up, looking at the guys. "Do you want to be hit with a fastball?"

"No one wants to get hit." One of the guys replied. "But it happens."

Noah shook his head. "You can only say that because it didn't happen to you. A pitch to any part of the body can break your bones. End your season. Even end your baseball career. Mr. Miller was right to request him to leave. If it happened once, it can happen again. What if he hits you next and break the bone in your hand?"

"That's unlikely though." The guy didn't back down.

"But it happens." Noah repeated his own words. "You're forgetting that this is just practice. Not a game that decides a champion. All of us will have time to show off to the coaches. All week. Even when school starts. If you can't see that Joey was putting us in danger, then you need to get your eyes checked."