The Hitting Zone
chapter-209

At lunch, Noah started to tell me how the game ended. Top of the fifth inning, we couldn't come up with much. Daniel flew out to center field. Kelvin was able to hit a single. Bryce attempted a bunt, but the pitcher was able to throw Kelvin out at second. Luckily, Bryce was fast enough to make it to first safely, giving Noah a chance to come up. Noah only got a walk though. My replacement, John Roberts, couldn't come up with anything and struck out.

The bottom of the fifth inning is when things really started to fall apart. Bryce started strong, striking out the fifth batter. Then, against the sixth batter, he threw a fastball over the plate, practically right down the middle. The ball was well hit and went the distance for a solo shot home run, making the score 6-0. That was followed by back-to-back doubles, driving in another run, 7-0. He was able to get the ninth batter to strikeout looking. The leadoff hit a single, pushing the eighth batter to third base. Then it was the second batter, Mr. third-in-state.

Noah shook his head sadly. "That guy blasted another home run, driving in three runs, making the score 10-0, effectively ending the game." He let out a heavy sigh. "It was a heartbreaker. I'm kind of glad you weren't there to experience it. Bryce was in tears as coach spoke to us afterwards."

"He cried? Why?" I asked. Yea, it sucks that we can't play another game, but I didn't really see the reason to cry.

"Maybe cuz he's the reason we lost? Duh." Kyle said as he stuffed bread in his mouth.

"Rude." Noah stuck his tongue out at Kyle.

"He has a point." Dave pointed at Kyle. "Bryce was on the mound and we were mercy ruled. It says a lot about the pitcher."

"Or it just says we went up against a good hitting team." Noah rebuked.

"That too." Dave shrugged. "It's hard to shake off a loss like that. He's gonna be a mess for the next couple of weeks."

"Don't speak like you guys didn't lose too." Noah pouted. "We lost as a team."

"I didn't pitch." Kyle replied. "How can you blame me for not even playing?"

"Heck, I wasn't even in the dugout." Dave added. "I had no hand in this loss."

Mr. Atkins cleared his throat at the head of the table. "That's enough. I'm disappointed that both of you are distancing yourselves from your team. You win as a team, and lose as a team. Regardless of how much playing time you may or may not of had." Sometimes I got the feeling that their dad used to be a coach or at least played a lot himself. "Look at Zeke. He actually puts the whole loss on his shoulders. Take a little after him, will you?"

"What and hide my injury?" Dave snorted.

"Better yet, be conceited enough to think he could change the game all on his own?" Kyle said.

"I don't think, I know." Zeke replied, nonchalant about the whole discussion. He was only focused on eating.

"Braggart." Dave huffed.

"Some example you're setting as a captain." Kyle add.

"That's how a captain should be." Noah spoke up, drawing the twins attention to himself. "A captain can make or break a team. They should be able to carry the whole team." He grinned, turning to Zeke. "And that means if we lose in the future with you on the field, then you're a crappy captain."

"Language." Mrs. Atkins warned. "You boys can never just be supportive of one another. You're constantly fighting."

That didn't seem like fighting to me.

"Boys will be boys." Mr. Atkins told her. He looked at Zeke. "With the week off, why don't you go over your college brochures? We can even visit a school this weekend as a family if it's nearby."

Zeke clenched his jaw. "It's the beginning of the season. We can't just go on a vacation."

"It's not going to be a vacation." Mrs. Atkins replied. "As a senior, you get five official visits to universities. I really want you to take advantage of that even if they aren't your first option. Just get a feel for the atmosphere. And if you pick a local school, we can make it an unofficial visit and just go as a family. You boys only have a game Thursday and then Monday. We can at least go Saturday to Sunday."

Zeke let out a sigh. "Sure. I'll pick a school out when we get back home."

"For us to go too, it has to be a close university!" Dave got excited. "The best options would be Stanford University or University of San Francisco."

"I want to go to Stanford too!" Noah joined in.

"You're too dumb to even try." Kyle smirked.

"You're not any better." Noah huffed.

"Do you have to be smart to play college baseball?" I asked.

The bickering ceased. Noah shook his head. "Not if your skilled in a sport. They lower standards for athletes. Especially scholarship athletes. If they really want Zeke, he would just have to get the minimum scores required. He is nationally ranked so there won't be too many hoops for him to jump through."

I nodded, kind of understanding.

"University of San Francisco would be cool." Kyle jumped back in, talking about the colleges. "The Giants fans would be annoying though. However, you'd be even closer to Oakland than we are now."

I looked to Noah for help. Why does that matter?

"We're A fans. Oakland Athletics is our team." Noah explained. "Yours too, now. By default. But San Francisco and Oakland are near one another so they're practically rivals even though they're not even in the same division." Noah started rambling again, chatting about the major league and its teams. I let him go even though I hardly understood.

The whole table had a lighter atmosphere listening to Noah, than when we were talking about our loss. As long as everyone else is happy, I'm happy.