The Hitting Zone
chapter-1012

Garret hit a single of his own, triggering the Redwood coach to come out and head to the mound. The catcher and other infielders joined them. They had a discussion and the pitcher stayed in.

Jason had a long, drawn out at bat, making the pitcher work. I could tell Jason really wanted to swing his bat on ball four, yet he held back and accepted the walk, pushing Garret to second base.

Two on, only one out. Back to Jesse again. Noah gave me a look and I returned it with a sigh. Unsurprisingly Jesse got out. A swinging strikeout. The pitcher and his teammates looked happy about it.

Noah got up. "I'm going to talk to Coach."

I raised an eyebrow, watching him go over just as Jesse came back in the dugout. They both stayed over by Coach, having a small discussion during Sean's at bat. Sean had a single just last inning, but couldn't repeat it. He did make contact though. It just happened to go straight to the third baseman. He didn't even have to throw to first. He just ran to third base with the ball in his glove, beating Garret for the third out of the inning.

Top of the fourth we go. Mitchell was on deck when Sean ended the inning, so it took him some time to get his catching gear back on. Kyle did some light throws to Logan, who had came out to squat behind home plate with a catcher's mask and glove. Mitchell came out and Logan went back. The lead off hitter was soon called to the plate.

I don't know what happened to Kyle, but he suddenly went wild, missing the strike zone blatantly. He got lucky that the batter swung and missed twice, getting to a full count. But then he threw a pitch in the dirt. Walking the lead off.

"Booo!" A familiar voice yelled from the stands. "Learn to throw a strike!"

My lips twitched and Noah outright laughed. Kaylee had no mercy. Even on her sister's boyfriend.

Kyle turned to glare at Noah.

Noah shrugged. "What? It's not like I'm the one that said it."

Kyle's lips moved, but I couldn't hear what he said.

Noah clapped with his glove. "C'mon. Settle down. Let them hit! I've got your back."

And he really did. Kyle's first fastball to the second batter was returned the way it came. Noah caught it on the second hop, sprinted to step on second base, then threw a fastball of his own to Sean at first base. A double play by himself.

I clapped with the rest of the crowd and teammates.

"If only your bat could keep up with your fielding!"

Noah waved at the crowd, still smiling despite Kaylee's remark. He already had a hit for the day so he couldn't be feeling down. Heck, his second at bat was a strong lineout. He was also coming up in the fourth so he must not mind at all.

Kyle seemed to throw even harder against the third batter. Foul. Foul. Then a swing and a miss for his fifth strikeout of the game. We jogged back to the dugout.

"Kaylee is almost a professional at jeering like someone else I know." Kyle remarked, specifically eyeing Bryce as he said it.

Bryce grinned. "I think I could give her some pointers."

Some of the guys who knew, laughed. Including me. Some of the best jeers I've heard came from Bryce during the end of summer scrimmage we did with the old team.

"Why don't you try some out now while the other team is pitching?" Kyle suggested as he switched his gear.

Bryce rolled his eyes. "You just want to see me get ejected."

"You can get ejected?" I was surprised.

"Only if the umpires find it offensive. Then I can get thrown out for unsportsmanlike conduct." Bryce shrugged. "It just depends. But I'm not taking chances. Leave it to the fans to give the other team trouble."

"Write some down and we can pass it to Kaylee." Noah laughed while getting ready to bat too.

"I think she's jeering the wrong team." Kyle muttered as he headed out.

Mitchell hurried up. He was going to lead us off. He only got a couple of practice swings in before stepping up. He was facing a new pitcher put in by Redwood. On a 1-1 count he popped the ball high up in the air and it drifted back. The catcher jumped up and threw his mask off and out of the way. He tracked it down near his own dugout and made the catch for the first out.

Kyle went up next. He came back just as quick as last time. A swinging strikeout. Didn't even foul tip a pitch. And Kaylee let him hear it.

"Stick to pitching!"

A lot of the softball girls laughed and joined in.

"Marie can do both; why can't you?"

"We know who the better twin is!"

"Try learning a little from your little brothers!"

Noah didn't make things better when he followed up with his second single of the game. A lot of girls were yelling for Kyle to take notes.

"I'm a god damn pitcher!" I heard Kyle roar as I moved to the on deck circle.

Bryce ripped a stand up double down the left field line, driving in Noah for the fourth run of the game.

"Bryce is a pitcher too!"

I laughed to myself as I heard Kyle get a whole lot more grief. Even though he was throwing a shutout, none of those girls were going to let him off.

Two outs and a fast runner on second. All it took was a single from me to score Bryce to make the score 5-0.

"You could have pushed that to be a double." Coach Luis gave me a pointed look.

I tried not to cringe. "We're winning?" And Garret hits after me.

Clach Luis didn't say anything more, but his look of disappointment said it all. I wasn't trying hard enough. I pursed my lips. When Garret made contact, I took off on a hard sprint, rounding second and headed for third. Mr. Miller gestured to slide. "Down!" I dove head first for the base and a tag came down.

"Safe!"

I sighed with relief and Mr. Miller called for a timeout. I got up and dusted myself off, feeling a little lighter.

"Good run." Mr. Miller told me. He squinted. "Why didn't you do that on your own hit? Could have had another run."

I dropped my shoulders in defeat.

Mr. Miller gave me a slap on the back. "I'm just joking. You're good, kid. Don't worry."

Jason struck out to end the inning, making me worry. Mr. Miller was right. I could have bumped the score if I wasn't so afraid of making errors when I ran the bases.

I was a little nervous heading back in the dugout, afraid to make eye contact with Coach. But I still did it. I had to know if he was upset.

"First to third, Jake." Coach nodded. "You have the speed. Don't be afraid to mess up when we have such a big lead. It's all about effort."

I nodded, relaxing again.