The Hitting Zone
chapter-686

Adam spent some more time with us, until his ride home had arrived. He gathered up all his stuff, waved, then left.

I felt a little sad seeing all of them go, one after another. It felt like our team banquet, where all the seniors were saying goodbye. We probably weren't going to play with one another again.

With players leaving and clearing out the cafeteria, Zeke and Rhys were finally freed from their obligations and joined us at the table.

Rhys brought two Stanford bags over and placed one before each of us. "Hey, I grabbed these for you guys. Your evaluation papers are inside."

"Cool, thanks." Noah opened his bag first and started to pull out his papers. He then set them aside and looked at the other stuff in his bag. "What did we all get?" He pulled out a shirt, a hydro flask, a lanyard, some granola bars, fruit snacks, wrist sweatbands, and batting gloves. "Wow! They really went all out. These are Nike batting gloves."

I opened my bag and pulled out the batting gloves. I handed them over to Noah. "Here. You can have mine."

Noah was surprised for a second, then let out a short laugh. "No thanks. You should keep them. Protect those hands of yours."

I frowned. "I'm not really a fan. I like to hold my bat."

"Batting gloves help with grip though." Rhys said. "Just give it a try. How will you know if you don't like it if you don't try it out?"

I shrugged and put it back in my bag.

"You guys aren't interested in talking with any of the coaches?" Rhys asked.

Noah continued to check out the free stuff he was given. "Nah. I think it's cool, but in such a big camp like this, it's not like they would remember me. Maybe Jake." He looked up at me. "Hey, why didn't anyone come talk to you to advertise their school?"

I shrugged again. "I don't know."

"I spoke with Coach Leroy." Zeke said, surprising all of us. He gave me a small smile. "I figured Jake wouldn't be comfortable with strangers surrounding him so he let the college coaches and scouts know that Jake is only going to be a sophomore." He looked directly at me. "Don't be surprised if they start sending some mail to you."

"Do I...have to do anything..?" I asked, unsure.

"Not if you don't want to." Zeke told me. "Maybe next year you can visit a few of the colleges."

I looked at Noah.

Noah shrugged. "I rather go to camps. This week was fun. Meeting other players, practicing, and playing games all week."

"You'll do the same next week at your school." Rhys pointed out.

Noah pouted. "That's not the same. I know everyone at school."

Rhys laughed and reached over to flip Noah's hat off his head.

"Hey!" Noah had to bend over to pick his hat up. When he sat back up, he made eye contact with someone to his left.

We looked over and saw Coach Leroy. He waved and made his way over to our table. "Hey boys, what did you think of the camp? Had fun?"

Noah nodded immediately. "I was just saying how fun it was. I would like to go to more camps like this in the future."

He laughed. "Well, you're welcomed to come every year." He looked at Rhys and Zeke. "I wanted to thank you guys for helping out. There's no pay, and it's really only showing me face, but I appreciate it. Maybe next year will be even bigger if we win that championship."

"We'll do it." Rhys declared.

Coach Leroy grinned and slapped him on the shoulder. "That's what I like to hear." He looked at Noah. "Work hard this upcoming year. I hope to hear your name a little more often." He looked at me. "And you keep aiming for those fences."

"Yes, sir." Noah saluted.

I also nodded.

"Drive safe on your way home." He told all of us. Then focused on the older two again. "I'll see you two in a couple of weeks. Make sure to be in shape. I don't want you to embarrass yourselves." He laughed as he left our table.

"You hear that, Zeke?" Rhys grinned and nudged him. "Don't embarrass yourself as a first-round pick."

Zeke squinted at him. "You're the one that would most likely embarrass us. You haven't pitched a game in a year. Coach Leroy wouldn't even be looking at you if it wasn't for me."

"You mean if it wasn't for me." Noah spoke up. "I'm the one to introduce him."

"I would have figured it out on my own, okay?" Rhys rolled his eyes.

"Says the guy that was looking at community colleges." Noah scoffed.

"There's nothing wrong with going to a community college." Rhys frowned at him. "It's affordable and still competitive. Helps you get your life together for a year or two."

Noah continued to give Rhys a hard time while Rhys continued to refute him. They bickered and joked, but I understood that Rhys was thankful for the Atkins. He said so in that interview to Mr. Cameron the first time I met him. They were there for him. Just like they're there for me.

A cellphone went off and Rhys pulled it out of his pocket. He motioned for Noah to be quiet as he answered. "Hello? You're here? Okay, just look for Zeke's car and we'll meet you there! Thanks!" He hung up and grinned at me, kind of creeping me out. "Jake! I have a surprise for you!"

"What is it??" Noah was more interested than I was.

Rhys stood up. "Come on. Let's go to your car. I promise you're going to love it, Jake!"

A possibility dawned on me. "Is it...bats??"

Rhys faked a pout. "Booo. You already guessed?" He smiled. "That was my dad on the phone. Come, let's go."

I hurried to get up. Noah and Zeke also came along.

In the parking lot, right next to Zeke's car, was Mr. Johnson. I had only seen him once up close and a few times at the games, but he seemed nice. Rhys and him seemed close.

He nodded at us. "Hello." He popped open his trunk and looked down at me. "I heard from Zeke that you use wood bats? And have a tendency to break them?"

I turned red, embarrassed that he knows.

"It's not Jake's fault." Noah defended me. "Jake takes really good care of his bats, but he's been unlucky a couple of times." He gave Rhys a push. "Did you tell your dad that he broke a bat on your pitching?"

Rhys laughed and gave Noah a pat on the head. "Of course I did."

Mr. Johnson spoke up. "I'm not angry or upset. It's actually not uncommon for bats to break. There are a lot of possibilities ranging from age, misuse, or just the way the pitcher throws." He stepped aside to reveal more than a few bats in his trunk. "These bats aren't in great shape, but they're still usable. I asked the team if they had any bats they wanted to throw away, and told them I was going to give this trash to an aspiring batter still in high school. Naturally, a lot of them were surprised that a high schooler was using wood bats already."

I gulped. Trash? Not in great shape? I took a step closer. These bats still looked good to me! I looked up at Mr. Johnson and swallowed a lump in my throat. "Can I really keep these..?"

He nodded and showed a hint of a smile. "What else would I do with this trash?"

Happiness exploded within me.