The Hitting Zone
chapter-1104

Mom wouldn't make any guarantees for next month. There were just too many things in the air.

Dad, Kyle, and Ryan joined us as Noah and Dave made their pleas.

Kyle was stunned when he realized he wouldn't be there if Zeke's team made it that far. I think having his agent around and talking to a few scouts, it really hit him how fast things were moving. He looked to Jeremy. "When did you start playing in the minors? Was it almost immediately after the draft? Or like a week after?"

"Every draftee will be different." Jeremy told him. He looked to Ryan. "Your agent should be able to give you a better idea of the time range."

Ryan took over. "It can be as soon as a couple days or as long as a month." He explained. "After getting drafted, besides the congratulatory calls and some celebrating, the organization will send us an initial contract. From there, you can either just say good, sign it, and be on your way. Or we can hit the negotiating table and try to get what we think you're worth. It also depends on what the organization's intentions are. Are they sincere? If not, and they try to lowball you, then maybe you do go to college with your brother and hope for a higher draft pick in a couple of years."

"Imagine all this buildup just to end up going to college with Dave." Noah laughed.

I let out a small laugh too.

"It's called leverage." Kyle glared at us for a second.

I stopped laughing, but Noah didn't. He was adamant. "That'll be a no for me. No matter the draft pick round or how much money there'll be, I'm going pro."

"You wouldn't consider playing college with Jake? Or even Zeke if he's still at Stanford?" Jeremy asked, interested.

"It's a no for me." Noah stated firmly.

A few of us laughed.

"I still want you using up your five school visits, young man." Mom told him. She looked to me next. "You too. If Zeke can change his mind, maybe Noah will too."

"Mom, I'll do the visits, but I guarantee you. I'm going pro." Noah said. "Even if I'm the very last pick. Or heck, even undrafted. I'll find my way there."

Noah was so determined that I had no question in my mind that he would go. I grinned. "I bet he doesn't even stick around for graduation."

Noah laughed.

"Don't even consider it." Mom pointed at Noah, threatening. "I will see every one of my boys cross that stage even if I have to get your father to drag you across."

Noah glanced at Dad. "I think I can take him."

We laughed and joked before settling down to pick a restaurant to eat at. As a friend of Rose, Ryan fit right in and it helped that all we talked about was baseball. It was the biggest part of the Atkins family.

After dinner and before going our own ways, Ryan asked Dave straightforwardly his opinion on going pro one more time. "I got some feelers out there and your potential pick isn't terribly low. Are you a hundred percent certain that you want to go to Vanderbilt?"

Dave hesitated for a second. But then shook his head. "No. I'm not ready."

"Do you simply 'think' you're not ready?" He pressed. "There's plenty of good coaches in the minors system."

Which I thought was a good idea. Dave was always a little more insecure than Kyle. I noticed it last year when he hit a rough patch and you could see his frustrations when he got hurt a couple of times this year. He could smack talk with his twin easily, but did he really mean it?

"No, it's not the path for me." Dave rubbed the back of his neck. "I already know the coaches at Vanderbilt and what to expect. There's no guarantee that the quality will be on par. I want to be able to throw 100mph before taking that next step." He laughed. "Who knows? Maybe I'll beat Kyle to it. Then we'll really know who made the better decision."

Kyle elbowed him. "In your dreams." He looked at Ryan. "If anyone tries to give me a bad deal, make sure they know I'm not afraid to going to college with my twin. We would absolutely dominate the collegiate level."

"Would it be crazy to ask you to transfer if they do end up going together?" Dad glanced at Zeke. "Who knows what kind of havoc they would wreck."

Zeke gave a small smile. "I think you'll be safe, Dad. Kyle will go higher than you or he anticipates."

We broke up for the night after saying goodbyes. Jeremy and Rose would take Zeke back to school and Ryan was going back on his own. Mom and Dad took us in one car while the twins took Grampa.

We beat them home and hurried to shower first. After our showers though, the twins weren't in a hurry. They were looking at a laptop together and had grim looks on their faces.

"What's up?" Noah came back just a second after me, having used the hallway bathroom.

"Feels like our birthday came early and someone is pranking us." Dave muttered, straightening up, stretching his back. "I'm going to shower. You can fill them in." He grabbed his pjs and went to the bathroom.

"Who pissed him off?" Noah asked and we both got closer to Kyle.

"The playoffs have been officially set. Game times, locations, and matchups are up." Kyle tapped his desk. "We got someone we faced before."

"Really?" Noah was taken aback. "Who could it possibly be?"

I made a face. "Don't tell me San Marino." That team made me feel sick to my stomach with their game-style.

"West Valley Preparatory." Noah read off the website. He looked at Kyle in disbelief. "Are they doing this on purpose? No way these guys are the lowest seed."

West Valley was not just someone we faced before. They were our last opponent of the season. Of the playoffs. We beat them to be champions. I could see why Dave was a little upset now. It wasn't like he was bad in the finals or anything. In fact, he came in for Garret and did his job of holding things down. Three innings, one run. The only problem was...we were losing at the time. His ball also got put into play a whole lot. Only one strikeout in those three innings. I think he knows that Coach will be going with Garret.

Garret gave up two runs in that game, but it was probably a fluke. The first three innings, he was perfect and racking up some seriously impressive strikeouts. Then he ran into trouble in the fourth.

"I wish I didn't hit my pitch count today after all." Kyle sighed. "Another missed opportunity for me." He glanced at us. "You guys worried?"

"Nah." Noah back up and headed for bed. "We beat them once, we can beat them again."

I made a face. "I wish it was somebody new."

"Not afraid of the unknown, all of the sudden?" Kyle joked.

My lips twitched. "These guys intentionally walked me twice last year. Not exactly looking forward to Thursday." I headed for bed too.

"Oh right." Kyle shook his head slowly. "And then they made the mistake to pitch to you in the seventh. They probably won't make the same mistake twice. Especially now that you're a home run machine."

"It'll be up to Garret then." Noah commented, glancing at the bathroom door. "Maybe Dave will get the start...?"