The Hitting Zone-Novel



And I was right. Kyle had everything under control. Him and Mitchell worked seamlessly to get the sixth batter to strike out. The next guy hit a grounder to short, but Bryce was there to make the play, not looking out of place at all. The eighth batter hit a fly ball to center, where Garret only had to move a couple of steps. That was game!

Sean came over and slapped me on the back. "Great game, Jake."

I smiled up at him. "Yea, good game."

The infielders gathered to congratulate each other on the win. Mitchell went to Kyle first and then they met us. The three in the outfield jogged in together and the guys in the dugout also came out and started slapping hands. 

I went to go find Noah, spotting him holding the ice to his right hand still. But Drew was gone. I was about to ask when Noah told me. 

"Drew went to find Mom and Dad. You know him. A worrywart." Noah shrugged casually. He didn't look mad, upset, scared, or frustrated. None of the emotions I've seen when others have gotten injured. So I took it as a good sign. 

I sighed with relief. "Well, I'll help you pack up if you want." I glanced down at his feet and found that his cleats were already off. 

"Dave already took care of it." Noah said. "All my gear is in the bag. Just make sure to grab it for me. I'm pretty positive Mom will want me to go to the doctor as soon as she finds out."

I nodded in agreement. Mom and Dad were both like that. They took injuries and our health seriously. 

"Yo, Loser!" Someone yelled from the other side of the fencing. I found Kaylee real close and instinctively moved towards her. "You had us all scared for a minute there."

I let out a soft laugh. "That makes the two of us." 

Noah walked over too. "Hey, we're a pair of winners. Save that loser talk for the other guys."

Kaylee glanced down at Noah's hand. "What's up with that? Got your fingers smashed on the bad bunt?"

"It was a successful sacrifice bunt." Noah corrected her. "I advanced the runner."

Kaylee rolled her eyes. "How much of a success if you got hurt and miss the rest of the season?"

"Luckily it's not too bad. Don't think they broke." Noah lifted his right hand. "Want to see?"

Kaylee nodded. "Yea. Let's see the damage."

Noah's left hand took the bag of ice away and we saw his right hand for the first time. His index and middle finger were extra red on the palm side of his hand. But yea, they didn't look broken.

"What'd you do wrong?" Kaylee asked, while thinking about it herself. 

"Fingers too far out." Noah put the ice back on it. "The pitch caught the bottom part of the bat along with my fingers. Didn't hit directly so that's a win. Man, if I broke my finger this late in the season..." He let the sentence die as he shook his head. 

Kaylee calling us over to the fence became a cue for our classmates to come over and talk about the game. Noah fielded a lot of questions about him getting pulled in the last inning, but he didn't mind. He let everyone know that he would be fine and ready to go as we got closer to the playoffs. We only had a handful of games left, yet we pretty much sealed the league win with this win over Servite. 

A lot of the classmates that came over also asked me about the win and whether I was nervous being cornered 0-2 in that last inning.

"Jake's always nervous." Kaylee pointed out and everyone seemed to agree. I felt my face flush with embarrassment, but I didn't turn away. 

I wouldn't call all these teens my friends. However, they were friendly. We've shared some classes for a year now. They didn't know me well, but they knew of me. Noah played spokesperson a lot of the time for me and they didn't mind or make fun of me. They even came out on a Thursday night to cheer for the baseball team so I found them very supportive. 

"Hey, Jake, Noah." Coach called for us. We turned away from the fence and saw him standing near home plate with the Servite coach. And...the two pitchers. 

I glanced to Noah. 

Noah lifted an eyebrow, yet started to walk over. I gave a small wave to Kaylee and our classmates before going with Noah. I felt my mouth dry out a little bit. 

"Jake, Noah." Coach addressed. "This is Coach Wilson from Servite. His players, Cody and Danny, wanted to come over to introduce themselves."

Thankfully none of them wanted to shake hands. I wasn't comfortable with being touched by strangers that we just beat in a game. Especially the pitcher, Danny; he seemed very confrontational. Noah also couldn't shake hands with his ice pack. 

"You boys played very well." Coach Wilson said in a friendly manner. Not at all looking like the loser for tonight. "I always like playing against your school. Your coach really knows how to put a team together to get the best out of you." He looked at me directly. "And you, Jake. You've really soared in the last year. I can hardly remember what you were like in the first game. Now you've taken the league, and state, by storm."

I looked to Noah for help. What was I supposed to say to that?

"Thanks." Noah answered. "Jake has really put in the work to get where he is today." He glanced at the two pitchers. "Is there a reason you guys wanted to pull us aside? Or did you just want to compliment Jake?"

"Yeah." Danny stepped up, arms crossed. "I want to know what travel team you guys are playing for this summer. What tournaments have you entered?"

Noah was just as surprised as I was. "Oh. We actually don't have a team."

"What?!" He exclaimed, dropping his arms. "What are you guys doing all summer then? Skills camps? ID camps for colleges? The best exposure you can have is playing more games."

"Is it really any of your business what we do with our summer?" Noah asked nonchalantly. 

"Yea, it is! I want a rematch and don't want to wait until next year." He said loudly. 

I took a step back. 

"Okay, okay, settle down." Coach Wilson put a hand on Danny's shoulder. "I said you could ask about the summer. Not make demands of someone you just met." He gave a pointed look to Cody. 

Cody nodded before turning to me. "I don't need a rematch to know that you're better. I can wait until next year. I do want to ask a presumptuous request."

"From me?" My voice chose this moment to crack. I felt my face heat up as I cleared my throat. 

"Yea. You can just answer yes or no." He said directly. "Am I tipping my pitches?"

I tilted my head in confusion. "Uh. I don't know?"

"How did you know I would throw a fastball versus my curve?" He asked a followed up question. 

"That's not a yes or no question." Noah pointed out.