The Hitting Zone
chapter-716

With two on, two outs, Korrey came up to bat. Garret had to shake off Ethan's signs twice before nodding at the one he wanted. He got set and started his motion. As soon as the pitch left his fingertips, Korrey started his swing. The ball cut inside, jamming him. He fouled the ball back. 0-1.

Garret was given a new ball and got set again. He threw the same pitch, slightly faster. Korrey had swung again, fouling the ball down the third baseline this time. 0-2. Garret had to shake his head a few more times at Ethan before getting set for the third pitch. This time he threw a fastball outside. A pitch that Korrey read very well. He swung and made contact with the barrel of his bat, blasting the ball to right-center field.

The runners took off and I moved to the grass to be the cutoff man. Ollie and Connor both sprinted to the fence to get the ball, which was now rolling in the grass. Ollie called Connor off, fielded the ball, and threw his hardest to me. A little too hard. I had to backup a few steps and jump to get the ball. As soon as I came down, I checked the bases. Mitchell and Sean had scored, while Korrey stood proudly on second base. Dang.

I relaxed and threw the ball back to Garret on the mound. His teeth were clenched as he toed the rubber on the mound.

"Don't mind!" Noah clapped with his glove. "Focus on the batter."

Garret gave a nod, showing that he heard him. Then he shook out his arms and got set once more. His next opponent was Michael Tye. He came out swinging on Garret's first pitch, like the others. He hit an inside fastball towards Andre at third. Andre stayed leveled, fielding the ball and threw him out at first.

Our lead fell to 3-2.

At least those weren't earned runs for Garret. But he did lose the shutout. Unlucky.

"Sorry." I overheard Davin muttered to Garret as I got ready for my at-bat.

"Don't worry about it." Garret brushed him off, putting his helmet on.

"Put it behind you." Noah told him as he put his batting gloves. The three of us would lead off the third inning. "Don't dwell on it too much. Just practice and do better next time. That's all you can do. Unless you have a time machine." He joked.

The rest of the dugout shared the same sentiments, giving Davin sympathetic looks. Davin looked embarrassed, but he did get a little more color in his face, not looking as pale as before. I don't know if he thought Garret was going to bite his head off or what. Garret's not that uptight. Now if it was the twins...it'd be a different story.

Noah left the dugout first and started to take practice swings during Joey's warmup.

"Did you notice something weird about their offense during that last half inning?" Garret asked me in a low voice as we stood by the dugout entrance.

Hmm. "I thought it was strange that they all came out swinging. Normally players would have their own preferences, right? But..."

Garret nodded. "Yea, I felt it was strange too. The coach over there probably asked them too. It's not a big deal, but it's slightly annoying with Ethan behind the plate."

"Yea, I get that feeling too. Like a constant disruption." I said. "I also think it helps the other team narrow down what to expect from you."

Garret sighed. "The struggles of having an inexperienced catcher."

"Is there nothing you can do to help him?" I asked, worried for Garret.

"The only thing I can do is throw better pitches." He answered. "You aren't very experienced, but when there's a catcher that doesn't know how to call games, it becomes a one versus one situation instead of two versus one."

I thought back to my time with the minor leaguers. How I was completely crushed even though I thought I could hit off those pitchers. "No, no, I understand. Catchers are vital in the battery. Especially if they can read a batter and know what pitches to call for."

Garret snapped his fingers. "Exactly. This is why I want to pair up with Mitchell to go against you. He has experience catching for me and the twins. Although he's not like Jordan or Alex, I think he has a pretty good feel for the game."

I nodded. "Like Noah said. He has been working with the twins when he can."

Garret gripped his bat a little tighter. "I want a turn too." He left the dugout to go to the on deck circle after Noah stepped up to the batter's box.

I casually looked around for Mr. Miller and saw that he was speaking with a couple of freshmen. Probably coaching them on what they should be focusing on during a scrimmage like this.

A nice little 'ding' grabbed my attention. I looked back at the field in time to see Noah running for first as the baseball dropped right before the right fielder. He got a single off Joey. I held back the urge to clap as I moved to the on deck circle.

Garret hit his cleats with his bat before getting into the lefty's box. He came out swinging, taking out his frustration on Joey's pitches. They were fouled left, right, back, and just all over the place. We got to the point where the umpire had to stop the game so we could collect the balls.

"Okay, Jake junior, knock it off." Mr. Miller jokingly said to Garret. "Either put the ball in play or strikeout, okay?"

"Wowww. Some coach you are." Garret laughed. "I'm just working on my swing. Can't you be a little more supportive?"

"I can only keep you boys until 4pm, so no. Get it done." Mr. Miller went back inside the dugout.

Everyone got back into place and Joey got set to throw his next pitch. Almost right down the middle, just a little high. Garret swung, and pulled it down the first baseline.

The guy I didn't know, covering first, snatched the line drive out of the air and made the tag on Noah who was diving back at the bag.

"Out! Out!" The umpire declared.

Noah got up and slapped the first baseman on the back. "Nice play! Really fast reflexes!" He jogged back to the dugout, hurrying to catch up with Garret. I could hear him say: "You couldn't hit anywhere else?"

"I'm not really Jake!"

I smiled as I got ready in the batter's box. Noah could always make me laugh. Intentionally or not. The way he could compliment the opposing team and then scold his own teammate...it's pretty funny.

I chose to bat from the left side this time, but still going to try for a homerun. Have to aim for the four-seamer and not the one with movement.

Joey's first two pitches missed outside. I thought about fouling a few pitches off to make him more tired but decided against it after thinking of what Mr. Miller said. We had limited time. The third pitch was the normal fastball, slightly high. Could possibly be a ball, but I chose to swing and make contact.