The Hitting Zone

Chapter 463 CIF Quarterfinal: Northwood HS 4

Dave was on the mound, Kelvin behind home plate, and everyone else was in position. It was time for Dave to face the power hitters of the lineup, starting with the cleanup hitter. He completed his windup and started his motion. It was a fastball outside, but in milliseconds it became a ball in play. The batter had swung, connected, and pulled it to the gap between third and short.

Amazingly, Noah dove at it, almost going completely horizontal, and snatched it before it reached the outfield. He landed in the dirt on his ribs, but that didn’t slow him down from jumping up to his feet and showing off the ball in his glove. The crowd responded nicely, clapping and cheering for such a great play.

Noah threw the ball back to Dave on the mound, showing off a smirk. Dave rolled his eyes and turned to face the next batter.

I was still stunned over Noah’s reflexes. I definitely would have missed that. I backed up a bit, putting my heels on the grass, giving myself more room to cut off any ball that gets hit my way.

’Ding!’

Suprised again, I could only blink and watch the ball soar to left field. The fifth batter connected on the first pitch as well, and even pulled it like the cleanup hitter. I watched as Garret sprinted back and made the catch before bouncing off the outfield fence. Garret was tough though, he just threw the ball back in to Noah and got back into position.

Dave didn’t look as tough as Garret and Noah, who both made some good plays. Instead, he looked shaken. Both batters swung on the first pitch. He toed the rubber on the mound, kicking at some dirt before calming down. He looked up and saw that the sixth batter was waiting.

Dave got set. Nodded at Kelvin’s sign, then started his motion once more. And once again, the batter swung on the first pitch. But this time, it was a swing and miss. Dave had thrown the pitch high, out of the zone. Dave, feeling more assured, aimed for the second pitch to go into the zone, inside corner. The batter still swung, not at all thrown off by the first pitch. He pulled it to left, hitting a line drive over Jason’s glove. The ball bounced in play and rolled to the left field corner and the batter took off running.

I moved to cover second base as Garret chase the ball down. He grabbed it, spun around, and launched the ball to Noah. Noah caught and turn in one smooth motion, but sadly the batter had already slid into second base. The first hit Dave gives up, turns out to be a double.

Noah gave the ball back to Dave on the mound as the crowd clapped and cheered for the hit. Dave didn’t bounce back right away, and struggled against the seventh batter, walking him.

"Hey!" Noah yelled out, making me and Dave flinch. "Two outs! One to go! Focus on the batter." He clapped his hand with his glove and the other guys on the field and in our dugout started to get loud as well.

"Come on Dave!"

"Do your best!"

"It’s only the second inning!"

Kyle’s disguised insult was easy to pick out. He was in our dugout instead of the bullpen thanks to his pitching on Monday. He needed the full three day rest before playing in another game so he had been oddly quiet through warmups.

Dave glared in the direction of our dugout before focusing on the next batter. This time, he really calmed down and aimed for good locations in the strike zone, pitching to the corners. The eighth batter got a piece of one, hitting a grounder right to Noah.

Everyone went into motion. The runners took off and I raced to second base, just in time for Noah to flip the ball underhanded to me. I caught it with a foot on the base and quickly moved as the runner slid into the base.

"Out!" The nearby umpire declared, ending the second inning. We jogged off the field and went to our dugout.

Dave immediately headed for the pitching coach, but was turned away. "Go bat. Focus on offense for now."

Dave frowned. He didn’t fight the command though and went for his bag to grab a bat and helmet.

I wanted to ask Noah what was going on, but he was supposed to bat before Dave. He hurried with his gear and rushed out of the dugout before I could even get a word in.

"You look like a lost puppy." Garret laughed as he walked past me to get to his bag. He sat down and took his glove off. "Come on, ask away. I have all the answers."

"Yea, all the wrong answers." Kyle scoffed.

"Remind me again, who is the ace on this team?"

"That’s only because you’re left-handed."

"I can’t help that I’m dominant."

Not willing to get involved with their bickering, I put my helmet on and focused on our offense. I didn’t really care what Dave had to say to the pitching coach anyways. As long as he wasn’t hurt, that is.

Noah was eager to get a hit so he came out swinging against this pitcher. It wasn’t a bad plan, he just lacked the placement. He fouled off three in a row before hitting a fly ball to right field. The right fielder jogged in and made the catch with ease, sending Noah back to the dugout. With his depressed face, I couldn’t find the words to cheer him up.

I also didn’t get enough time. Dave struck out looking, completely unfocused on batting despite the pitching coach’s words. He came back, still distracted, and was welcomed back by a scolding from his pitching coach.

"What did I just tell you?" He followed Dave to his seat. "You didn’t transition to offense at all. You don’t get a free pass just because you have more work to do as a pitcher. If anything, you should be batting better than the rest of the team since you can analyze the pitcher better than them."

I wanted to listen a little longer, but had to go out to the on deck circle as Julian stepped up to bat. With two outs, this inning was going by too quick.

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