The Hitting Zone
chapter-253

The trainer kept the mask on me while watching his watch. After, what I presume was 60 seconds, he took it off and looked at me. "How do you feel? Light headed? Dizzy?"

"No." I took a deep breath, now calmed down. "I just feel like I can't sprint. I'm also a little tired."

Noah squeezed between the trainer and our coach. "Jake! Are you sure you're okay? I told Mom and Dad, but they said the trainer should be able to care for you."

"Oh, your parents made the drive here?" The trainer asked.

I was about to say no, but Noah nodded and beat me to replying. "They're in the stands. Should I go get them? Do you need them?"

The trainer shook his head. "No, no. It's all okay for now. I'll stay in the dugout to monitor him in case he has trouble again. I just want to speak with them afterwards."

"What? Why?" Noah asked the same two questions on my mind.

"I would like to suggest they take Jake to the doctors afterwards."

"Like after the game? I thought you said he's fine?"

"No, just in general. At least before his next visit to an elevation above 4000 feet. It would be good if a family practitioner could clear him for these kind of strenuous events. Maybe he can prescribe medication and a training program of some sort." The trainer explained.

I sighed. I don't like to hear the word 'training' anymore.

"Okay, I'll tell them to wait after the game." Noah turned tail and ran to the fence where his dad was waiting on the other side.

Jason connected on a fastball and sent a grounder between second and first. Zeke didn't hesitate, and just bolted off from his good size lead. He tagged third and sprinted on to home plate. The throw came in from the right fielder, but it was over the cutoff man, yet too short for the catcher. The catcher had to go meet the ball but by that time, Zeke tagged home, making the score 4-0.

I clapped and the team cheered, welcoming Zeke back in the dugout. He took off his helmet and walked straight to me. "You good?"

I gave a nod. "I'm good."

He stared at me for an extra second before walking off to his bag to switch out his gear. Julian stepped up to bat with Jason on first, only one out. Noah came back and sat next to me, on the opposite side of the athletic trainer. Noah looked as stressed as I normally felt, probably scared silly by Sean's earlier remarks.

Julian ended the inning with another double play. The typical 6-4-3. The grounder went to the shortstop's right, but he was able to backhand it, transition it to his throwing hand, and get it to second base, where that player tagged the base, quickly maneuvered around Jason's slide and threw Julian out at first.

We hurried out to take the field and to start the bottom of the third, where Dave continued to dominate. This time he relied more on Julian's playmaking than anyone else's. The first batter up hit a hard line drive right to Julian at first base for the first out. Julian didn't even seem fazed by it. Just a simple flick of his glove to catch the ball, then he threw it back to Dave on the mound. The second guy up was slightly worse, hitting a high fly in the infield. Julian rushed to get under it and held up his glove. The ball plopped right in for out number two.

The third out of the inning, was more impressive since Dave caught him looking. He struck out their number nine batter with only three pitches. I know they say that the one who bats last is usually the worst, but still...he's on the varsity team. Even in a powerhouse school like University Prep, they still had a number nine batter.

We happily went back to the dugout, still giving Dave his space so he could keep up the same intensity. Dave mindlessly grabbed his bat and helmet and went outside of the dugout to take practice swings. Or so I thought. Instead, he just stood there, watching the Porterville pitcher warm up. Tony stood nearby in the on deck circle, and was swinging in rhythm of the practice pitches. Kelvin just finished taking off his catchers gear, and replaced it with his own bat and helmet, and then stood at the edge of the dugout, ready to go.

In our seats, Noah and I were ready as well, hoping for the opportunity to expand our lead and give ourselves a real chance at scoring enough runs for a mercy rule.

Dave was still in a daze when he stepped into the batter's box. He didn't swing with much effort, yet was able to connect on a slow curve. The ball dribbled to the second baseman, who easily threw Dave out at first. As Dave came back inside the dugout, no one said anything. Good or bad.

As Tony stepped in, Kelvin moved out, and Noah and I headed to the entrance of the dugout, near coach and Zeke. Tony and Kelvin were able to hit back to back singles, yet they weren't fast enough to advance any further. Noah followed up with a walk, loading up the bases for me. This could be big.

I took a deep breath, in and out.