The Hitting Zone
chapter-736

I went back to the plate; this time, getting into the righty's box. I could feel Ethan looking up to me, but I kept my focus on Bryce, trying not to give anything away. After the pitch was decided, Bryce got set, checked on Noah, then started his motion. Just before the ball left his hand, I showed bunt.

Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Noah taking off. I could also tell that Ethan was moving. Moving too early. I pulled my bat back as the ball crossed the plate.

"Oof." I heard Ethan gasped shortly after a thud. I looked and saw that the baseball bounced off of him, then into the dirt.

Noah slid into second before Ethan even had a chance. Noah got up on his feet and faked going to third. Ethan rushed his throw to Bryce. Bryce stood on the mound, looking back at Noah. Noah went back to second base obediently.

I glanced back to the umpire.

"That was a strike." He said.

Tsk. What a liar.

"Don't make that face." He told me.

Embarrassed, I looked back to Bryce to see if he was ready for the next pitch. Bryce was waving for Ethan to join him on the mound. Ethan got up and jogged up to the mound. The infielders went too

I took a step out of the batter's box and took some practice swings to kill time. It was weird to be waiting on a meeting at the mound. Well, more awkward I guess, because I don't know what to do. I didn't know the guy batting behind me very well so it wasn't like I could go over and talk to him.

I glanced at Noah on second base. He was coincidentally looking at me. He touched the brim of his helmet. He was going to go on the next pitch. I could tell. I nervously hit my bat against my cleats, knocking the dirt off.

The umpire went out to the mound to tell them to play ball. Even though this was a scrimmage and there was a lot of leeway, you still had to treat this like a real game.

Everyone went back to their positions and the game resumed. I stepped back into the batter's box, while Noah started to lead off second base. In less than a second, Bryce had whipped around and threw the ball to the second baseman, who was covering second. Noah had dived back at the base as the tag was brought down.

"Safe." The umpire behind me had called out.

"He was out!" Ethan stood up and confronted the ump.

I took a step back.

The umpire shook his head. "Tie goes to runner."

Before Ethan could come up with a rebuttal, a coach from his dugout yelled out. "Play on!"

Ethan gritted his teeth and got back into position, crouching behind home plate. Bryce had the ball back in his hands, looking at Ethan. He nodded at the sign. They must have discussed a more thorough plan out on the mound. Bryce checked on Noah at second base. Noah was hanging closer to the bag than before, looking stationary. It was all for show.

As soon as Bryce started his motion, Noah took off. I showed bunt again. First and third stayed where they were at, obviously not believing I'll bunt. And they were right. I wasn't going to bunt this time. I took my bunt back, letting Ethan catch the ball. This time he made a proper catch, stood up and attempted a throw to third.

"Strike." I heard the ump say.

The throw was high. The third baseman had to jump to snatch it out of the air. By the time he came down, Noah was safe after his slide. The third baseman threw the ball back to Bryce.

Bryce was really calm for someone who just gave up two free bases on the last two pitches. He looked at me and called out. "Two strikes."

I bit the inside of my cheek. Normally, I never worry when I have two strikes on me. It means nothing. But...this was an exception. You can't bunt foul when you have two strikes or you'll be out. I learned that in my first tournament.

Just has to be fair.

I showed bunt early as Bryce just started his motion. I thought it would throw him off, and maybe make him throw a ball outside or something, but nope. He threw a fastball right down the middle. Almost daring me to swing. But I had promised Mr. Miller a bunt.

I positioned my bat and bunted the ball down into the dirt. Noah had long ago taken off while my focus was on the pitch. I dropped my bat and headed to first, unable to watch what was going on.

All I could hear was "Out!"

In disbelief, I turned around and saw a mess. Noah was laying on home plate with Ethan on top of him. Bryce was also laying on the ground, probably from fielding my bunt. But...what went wrong?

There was no one to answer my question. Noah went back to the dugout while the pitcher-catcher duo got back to their positions. Bryce finished off the next batter with a strikeout, ending the inning.

I hurried to my bag to not only change my gear, but to find out what had happened.

"Bryce had it read." Noah told me as we put our gloves on. "It was all him. The first and third baseman never even moved so he either told them to play normally or they chose to do that on their own. I just can't believe he beat me. Ugh!"

I couldn't believe it either. I glanced at Mr. Miller on our way out of the dugout.

"Don't mind." He told me when he caught me looking. "You boys did your best. I'm happy with what I saw from not only you two, but also from Bryce." He winked. "Next at-bat is all yours."

I smiled, relieved.

The game went on. Marshel didn't look half bad, getting a lot of routine ground balls and fly outs. Only Bryce was able to get a double off of him.

Bryce also had calmed down, completely shutting down my team until I came up again in the fifth inning. Just me versus him. Noah had hit into a ground out right before so there was one out, nobody on. Bryce brought his best pitches, surprising me with his speed and control. He didn't just put on muscle this summer. He became a better pitcher.

I had to foul off a few of the more difficult pitches, until he threw a low fastball. I adjusted my swing and made perfect contact with the sweet spot on my bat. There was a loud snapping sound as the ball flew down the left field line and finally soared over the fence.

A solo homerun!

I ran around the bases, pleased with myself. I even waved to the stands as Jeremy and Zeke clapped.

I picked up my bat and it suddenly broke into a few pieces. Oh. The snapping sound. I broke another bat.

"Oh my god!" Bryce rushed off the mound. "Jake! I'm so sorry!" He started to apologize like crazy. It took me a moment to realize that he didn't know I had extra bats so he thought I was going to panic.

"It's okay." I started to pick up the pieces. "This is just a spare."

Bryce helped me pick up the pieces. "That was crazy. Your swing is so freakin' powerful. I really thought I could get you to fly out instead." He laughed, sounding a little sad. "Guess I have more work to do."

I nodded. "Yea, but you're better than last year. Isn't that nice?"

He paused. "Really? You think so?"

I nodded again and collected the broken pieces of wood from him. "Yea." I glanced at Ethan standing nearby and chose to say nothing more. "Well, thanks." I headed back to the dugout.

Both Mr. Miller and Noah were waiting for me.

"You okay, kid?" Mr. Miller looked at me.

"Yea, I'm okay." I glanced at the broken bat in my hands. "The bat is done for, but I have an extra this time."

"Why don't you just call it a game?" Mr. Miller sounded like he was asking, but I knew it was rhetorical. He was benching me.

"Okay." I sighed.

"You too, Noah." Mr. Miller said to him before going around, naming our replacements.

Noah rolled his eyes. "How annoying. You break your bat, and now I'm benched?"

I shrugged. "Have to let others get more time on the field too." Especially going up against Bryce.