The Hitting Zone

Chapter 464 CIF Quarterfinal: Northwood HS 5

I was now feeling what Noah was feeling last inning. If Julian gets out here and now, I won’t be able to bat until the fourth inning. With being unable to take practice swings, I squatted in the on deck circle and watched Julian’s at-bat with all seriousness. Mr. Miller gave him the ’go-ahead’ sign to swing as he pleased. There wasn’t anyone on base to work with or anything.

Julian looked please with being on his own. Being in a good mood also helped with his at-bat, enabling him to focus just on the ball coming out of the pitcher’s hands. Zeke said this pitcher was able to persevere and had the endurance; he really needed it against Julian. Julian had a long at-bat, fouling off more than a few pitches. He let the balls out of the zone to pass, not chasing any, and not willing to strike out. On the eleventh pitch, he blasted one down the left field line, but pulled it too much, and could only watch it go foul of the outfield pole.

"C’mon Jules!"

"Keep fighting!"

"Straighten it out!"

"You’ve got this!"

Our team was getting rowdy, excited to see such a fight from Julian.

Julian was too focused to pay any attention to us. Which was good. I really wanted him to get on base so I could hopefully drive him home. But it turned out, that he didn’t need me. Julian swung on the twelfth pitch, connected, and took off sprinting as the ball flew to the outfield. It continued to fly even after it soared over the fence. The outfielders didn’t even have a chance at it.

Julian slowed to a jog and pumped his fist happily after rounding third base. He tagged home, scoring the first run of the game, then tapped me on the head on his way back to the dugout, where he was greeted with an excited team.

Garret grabbed his bat and put in the dugout before getting in the on deck circle as I moved for the batter’s box. I still had an aversion to aluminum bats and the team probably had an idea why now.

I got set in the lefty’s box. The pitcher was still looking down at the rubber by his feet. He took his time, probably getting his mind right. The catcher didn’t urge him and the umpire didn’t have anything to say as long as he didn’t delay the game for too long.

I wasn’t in a hurry either. I let the first pitch pass for a ball. It was too high. The same goes for the second pitch. And then the third. I gripped my bat, eager to swing, but the pitcher threw another pitch too high, walking me.

I tossed my bat towards the dugout and jogged to first. I was tempted to foul the ball, but-I glanced down at my right arm. No need to force myself. We’re up by one and there’s still a lot of game left to play. Besides, with Garret and Zeke following me, there was still hope.

The pitcher was still tensed up after the solo shot from Julian and even more so after giving up a walk to me on four straight balls. He didn’t show any perseverance like before. Instead, he remained wild and walked Garret on four pitches, pushing me to second.

Just as the stands started to clap and Mrs. Atkins yelled, "Go, Zeke!" The other side sent out their coach. He spoke with the ump for a second then went to the mound. A pitcher change.

I glanced towards their designated bullpen and saw someone already running in. He was tall, but not lanky like a lot of pitchers I’ve seen. He was well-built and carried a lot of muscle. When the coach handed him the baseball, it seemed to disappear in his hand. My eyes widened, watching this giant among his teammates make all of them look like freshmen. I’d probably look like a grade schooler.

The umpire let him throw some warmup pitches off the mound before calling the game to resume. Zeke stepped up to the plate. With Mr. Miller’s sign, I started to inch off the bag, keeping my eye on the shortstop behind me and glancing at the second baseman to my left.

The new pitcher barely spared me a glance before focusing on Zeke. He threw fast. Definitely faster than Garret. Zeke got jammed on the third pitch, connecting on the thinner part of the bat, but was still able to carry it to the outfield.

I ran, yet knew it’d be pointless. Unless the center fielder dropped it and made an error...I glanced back to watch him make the catch. With that, I took a detour back to the dugout.

"Not bad, not bad." Coach clapped as we all came back from running the bases. He told everyone, "We have the lead. It’s defense time. Three B’s: base, ball, backup. No errors."

"Let’s go!" Dave roared, taking the lead, running out of the dugout. Kelvin was right behind him. Whatever the pitching coach had said to him, must have helped.

I hurried to my bag and switched out my gear, then joined the rest of the starters out on the field.

Dave started with the number nine pitcher for Northwood, and unsurprisingly, it was the spot for their pitcher. Except, it was the new, giant, strong-looking guy. I gulped. Following Noah’s lead, I backed up to the grass. If it’s a grounder, we’ll be able to make a stab at it.

Dave did his best, not looking scared or intimidated, but that doesn’t matter against a good player. The batter made a solid connection and smacked a line drive right up the center, out of reach for Noah and I.

I turned in time to watch Zeke sprint forward and dive at the hard hit ball, making the catch before it touched the grass. He rolled with his momentum before popping up and throwing the ball back in.

"Yes!" Dave pumped his fist in the direction of center field. He wasn’t the only one clapping for the great fielding, the crowd was too regardless who they came to cheer for.

Dave wrapped up the inning by getting the lead off batter to ground out to Noah at short, and then the second batter hit a fly ball to Zeke in the outfield. Three up, three down, and the third inning was over. We kept the one run lead for at least an inning.

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