The Hitting Zone
chapter-170

Kyle took the mound for the third inning, and continued to show great control. Groundout to short. Single. A groundout right to Julian at first base. And then another groundout to Noah at shortstop.

The bottom of the third inning brought up the top of our lineup once again. I stared at Noah pointedly as I put my helmet on. "'I'll be batting in front of you once the game gets going.'" I mocked his earlier words while raising an eyebrow.

Noah waved me off. "My bad. Won't happen again."

I tilted my head.

"Okay, okay. I'll make sure to get on base next time."

I nodded, satisfied. Grabbing my wooden bat, I headed for home plate. After a peek at Zeke, who tapped his nose, I worked on getting my second walk of the day.

Previously it was Julian who popped out and then Mahki got a single. This time around, Julian was the one to get a single, moving me up to second. And Mahki was the one to fly out to right field. Zeke came up with one out, and two. Steady as always, he smacked another double to the outfield. I made it home, 3-0. Julian was held up at third and Zeke stood proudly at second as the crowd cheered like crazy. The hit streak continues.

Sean followed up with a walk. However, Kyle hit into a 6-4-3 double play, effectively ending the inning. *Reminder: 643 DP is a groundout to shortstop, who throws to the second baseman to get the runner at second base. Then the second baseman throws to first to get the hitter out.

To start off the fourth inning, Kyle came out hot, striking out the first guy with just three pitches. The next batter up was the cleanup hitter and he didn't disappoint his team. He hit a clean one between me and Julian, safely reaching first.

Kyle didn't let it get to him. He strictly focused on the next batter. He jammed him with a fast inside pitch, making the batter hit a weak grounder to the mound. Before I could respond, Kyle charged the ball, grabbed it bare-handed, turned 180 degrees and threw a fast one to Noah at second. Noah didn't miss a beat, had the ball and tagged the base, then threw his own fastball to Julian at first. A 1-6-3 double play.

I blinked in surprise. That was a well executed play starting with Kyle, the pitcher. I wasn't able to react at all. I didn't move to the ball or the base, nor did I backup any part of that play. My shoulders drooped with dissatisfaction. I could have done something. Anything. I should have.

I thought it over as we started the bottom of the fourth inning. I watched on as Kelvin grounded out to second and Chris sent a high fly to center. Noah went to the batter box, and I went to the on deck circle. Even though my mind was still back on that last defensive play, my eyes watched every movement of Noah's.

His back leg dug in and was the anchor for his body. His left leg was shoulders length apart, up front. Elbow and bat back, ready to swing at anything. From behind it was hard to see his grip, but just looking at his stance, I could tell he was confident. He didn't let my premonition be wrong, and was able to send the first pitch over the third baseman's head, then he took off. I watched as the ball started to roll down the line and the left fielder came in to get it. Noah rounded first, yet didn't stop. Instead he sprinted to second as the left fielder grabbed the ball and threw it to the infield. Noah started to slide and was able to dodge the tag of the second baseman. Safe.

Noah jumped up and held his hands high to accept the cheers of the parents and students. He smiled my way and gave me a thumbs up. My heart thumped harder than normal, creating a feeling of anticipation. I want to do that too. My feet started to carry me to the batters box.

"Jake." A firm voice called out to me, stopping me in my tracks. I turned and found the owner of the voice. Zeke. He tapped his nose. I sighed, but gave a nod to confirm. Stay more low profile and just get a walk. Which I did. Too bad it didn't matter with Julian's fly out to right field. The score was still 3-0. What a waste. I'm sure I could have driven Noah home even with my sore arms. Maybe. Maybe not. I let out another sigh.

Unlike my depressive state of mind, Kyle continued to show that he was 100% focused. He shut down Santa Fe in the top of the fifth inning, getting the to: groundout to third, and then back-to-back strikeouts. That makes six in five innings. I remember the twins saying that if you could average just one an inning, you would be deemed talented. Wow.

Bottom of the fifth. Mahki led off with a stand-up double. Zeke advanced him to third with a bloop single to left field. Sean did a sacrifice bunt like the one I saw the first time he did it with Zeke. Mahki slid into home making the score 4-0, but the pitcher recovered and was able to throw the ball to his first baseman, getting Sean out. Zeke safely stood on second. Kyle, who was already 0-2 on the day, came out swinging. He was able to hit a grounder up the middle, safely reached first, and moved Zeke up to third. Unexpectedly, Kelvin ruined it by hit a hard grounder right to second. The second baseman snatched it up, tagged second base, and then threw to first. A 4-3 double play. Our players jogged back to the dugout to grab their gloves.

I glanced at Noah as we left the dugout. "Do you think I can be as smooth as that someday?"

Noah grinned. "Even smoother."

I relaxed. "You think so?"

"I know so. Just look at yourself. You're very talented for someone who never had any formal training." Noah patted my shoulder and split away to his position. "It's like baseball is in your blood."

I frowned, not totally understanding the phrase. But I shook it off and turned my attention to the batters coming up.