The Hitting Zone

"Is that all for you?" Alisha's jaw dropped as I pulled out and laid out my lunch at the table. She and Kaylee decided to join us today since we would have to head for the bus after lunch.

"He's bulking, Alisha." Noah told her. "Of course it's all for him."

I looked at the spread that Mom had packed me. I had a baked potato wrapped in foil, toppings on the side. A side salad. A container of watermelon. An apple. A banana. A bag of three cookies. A peanut butter sandwich. A small bag of almonds. And a cucumber with a side of ranch.

"Can I trade you for the watermelon?" Kaylee held out her bag of chips.

I didn't see why not so I handed it over.

"You're not bulking with chips." Alisha told me.

"I'm just increasing calorie count to gain weight." I replied. "Mom thinks most of it should be healthy stuff, but she's not terribly strict on it." I opened the baked potato and started to top it off with butter, sour cream, and shredded cheese.

"That's a whole dang setup." Kaylee stated in amazement. "Was the baked potato cooked this morning?"

I shrugged. "I don't really know. I guess so? Or at least reheated. Because it's still warm."

"Our mom goes above and beyond." Noah told them. "Jake's been eating like this for weeks now. Really puts my lunch to shame." He held up his bag of two cookies. "Look. I only got two to his three. Mom is officially playing favorites."

"You ate one between classes." I shook my head.

Noah thought about it. "Okay. Maybe I did."

"You definitely did." Kaylee said confidently. "You have no self-control."

"I do!" He proclaimed.

"Really?" Kaylee smirked. "How do you explain your fingers then? Where was your self-control then?"

Noah showed off his red fingers. "They're not bad. Just a little sensitive. If I kept the skin, who knows how long it would take to drain. It was reoccurring."

"So impatient." She muttered.

Noah looked to Alisha. "Has Coach said anything about the lineup? Like whether it'll be more or Dalton?"

Alisha pursed her lips and gave a small shake of her head. "No. I usually find out when you guys do. I don't have any input or like status or anything."

"It'd be weird if she did know." Kaylee said. "She's basically like a secretary for the team."

We talked as we ate, only cleaning up when the bell rang. We walked down to the lot near the locker room. Noah and I found the twins to make a stop by the car to change out our backpacks for our baseball bags. Back at the bus, we slid the bags into storage under the bus and started to board.

Noah stopped near Coach. "What do you say, Coach? Can I play today?" He showed off his fingers.

"You can warmup with the team." Coach granted, a small improvement from yesterday. "We'll see about actually playing."

"I'll take it!" Noah clapped his hands together once.

We loaded up, taking our usual row. I was pretty much used to sitting here now that it's been a full season. It was the kind of progress that I could see. That I could feel.

On the ride to the school, the girl's coach informed the softball team that they would play after us. Usually that never happens. We either play at the same time or we play after them. Never the other way around.

"Guess we'll be the headliner this evening." Kaylee grinned and said to Alisha in the row in front of us.

Noah leaned forward. "We'll be in the front row cheering. Is your sister pitching? Or KJ?"

"Marie." Kaylee answered. "Coach has seen this school play before and they're pretty good."

"Know anything about their baseball team?" He asked.

"I know they're known for their softball team." She grinned. "I think you guys will have it easy today."

Noah made a face. "Less chance of me starting today then." He glanced at me. "Feeling tired, Jake? Maybe want to have a rest day?"

I grinned, yet shook my head. "Sorry, Noah. But lately only non-league opponents throw to me." I thought about. "But if they do intentionally walk me, then we can switch."

Noah was right to guess that he would be benched if this game wasn't going to be tough. Coach gave us the lineup just before warmups.

1 SS Dalton Nelson

2 1B Sean Isner

3 CF Garret Knudsen

4 2B Jake Atkins

5 LF Korrey Alvarrez

6 3B Jason Morris

7 C Mitchell Torres

8 RF Jesse Shipman

9 P Brian Swoope

Noah gave Coach a sad look, but he was merciless. "Unless we absolutely need you, we'll let your fingers heal for two more days. You're the last resort. Even after the bullpen hitters."

"Damn." Noah picked up his glove. "I'm still warming up!" He bolted out first, leaving the rest of us to follow.

Noah took warmups seriously, throwing harder and farther like he had something to prove. I was happy to have him back as partner, but my shoulder was a little bothered. Like I was trying to throw it out as I tried to keep up with him.

During the game, he settled into a cheering roll. Especially as we got on the board early in the first. Dalton singled. Sean doubled. Garret hit a sac fly to left that Dalton could make it home on. And I singled to drive in Sean. We were up 2-0 after one.

Brian held things down on the mound, giving up two hits early but nothing they could score off of. We tacked on another two runs in the third thanks to me hitting a homer after Garret's single. My third at bat came in the fifth as a lineout to right and after that, it was the bench for me. Which didn't have any effect on the game. Brian hit a two-run homer of his own in the sixth to make it 6-0 and then finished up the last two innings on the mound to finish a complete game shutout.

Everyone was in a good mood as we cleaned up and packed the gear. Garret suggested we take our bags to the bus and put them away so we wouldn't have to worry about it during the girl's game. We did so and when we found the softball field, we realized we made a mistake. No one grabbed seats and they were packed. Almost like our home and league games.

I frowned as I looked around, not spotting anyone familiar. One bleacher was completely dedicated for a student section like Servite had.

Noah let out a low whistle. "Damn. They take their softball much more seriously here."

"Both teams are undefeated." An older adult let us know. He pointed at a wooden bleacher further down the visitor's side. "There's some seats there."

"Thanks." Garret answered. He waved for us to follow him. He took us to the rickety looking bleacher and started to climb up.

I felt unsure and looked at Noah.

Noah grinned and slapped my back. "Come on. It won't break under your weight."

The bleacher started to shake and make some sketchy noises as the guys started to climb up and spread out.

"Okay so if it breaks, we can sue their school." Noah laughed and sat in the first row.

I sighed with relief and sat down beside him. "I rather it not break."

"Just think of it as being flexible." Noah handed me a bag of sunflower seeds he had been holding. "Here, I brought the snacks."

I helped myself. "You think Marie can keep this team at bay?"

"She'll have to if she wants to stay undefeated." Noah said casually. "I wish I brought a water from the bus to keep my throat moist while we cheer for them." He nudged me. "Don't be afraid to join me."

"Alisha will help you." I said confidently.