The Hitting Zone

Chapter 480 CIF Semifinal: Anderson HS 6

Down by three, it wasn’t hard to imagine why the dugout was as quiet as a mouse. Top of the fifth, starting with the top of our lineup. If we didn’t get something going now, it’ll be a questionable ending for us.

"Make something happen, Jake." Noah whispered to me.

I gave him a tight smile, trying to be upbeat. "Sure. I’ll get on."

"That’s not enough!" He blurted out. "We need runs this inning or this might actually be your last at-bat."

"Hey, hey." Mahki overheard us on his way out of the dugout. "Just relax guys. We can do anything the other team can do. We both made it to the semifinals." He gave Noah a reassuring grin, looking more confident than I felt. "Rely on your seniors a little. We’ll carry you to victory." He left us and the dugout.

"I rather rely on you, Jake." Noah rested his chin in his hands, elbows on the knees. Him being hunched over like that, made him look smaller than he really was. He must be feeling insecure.

"Hey, if Mahki said he’ll get on, then I could get a run." I grabbed my bat and pushed on my helmet.

"We’ll need more than one." He sighed.

I couldn’t think of anything else to say to cheer him up, plus, I didn’t have the time. I moved to the dugout entrance and waited near Coach.

Zeke showed up beside me, tugging on his batting gloves. He didn’t say a word, but the atmosphere seemed a little colder near him. He must be upset too. He couldn’t do much on defense, and he was completely taken out of the action on offense.

’Ding.’

I whipped my head back to the field. Mahki has snuck a ground ball between the first and second basemen for a single.

"Good hit!"

"Nice, Mahki!"

"Let’s go Jules!"

The dugout livened up with that leadoff hit. I moved to the on deck circle as Julian went up to bat. Julian had it easy thanks to Mahki’s hit. It must have shaken up the pitcher a little because he started to miss the strike zone. He was all over the place and ended up walking Julian, pushing Mahki to second base.

I stepped up with two on, no outs. I could hear my teams dugout getting rowdy. Even the crowd seemed to get a little amped up like they knew something would happen. I glanced back to the dugout to see Noah standing up against the fence, telling me to get a hit. Just outside the gated dugout was Zeke, standing calmly in the on deck circle.

Zeke. It dawned on me then. Zeke would have to bat if I got on base. In fact, Anderson would have to pitch to him if the bases were loaded. There was no way they could just intentionally walk him and purposely give up a run with no outs. Garret was still behind him too.

I bit my lip, contemplating. Do I go for it? Or should I rely on Zeke? Zeke wouldn’t let us down. Me or the team. He needed this too. With that in mind, I aimed for a walk, which wasn’t too hard with a shaken pitcher. There was a pitch or two that I could have put in play, but those would be short gains. Zeke could do this.

The pitcher officially walked me, loading up the bases. He groaned loud enough for me to hear on my way to first. When I got to the base, I turned to see the Anderson coach coming out. They were replacing the pitcher.

My heart started to pound. Please don’t have a super pitcher waiting to come close us out.

The new pitcher came from the bullpen and took some practice pitches on the mound. He was...was nothing special. I sighed with relief. I looked to Zeke with hope.

Zeke caught me looking, then flashed me a grin. I blinked in surprise. Was he...confident? Did he know what I was aiming for?

"Zeke! Zeke! Zeke!" A chant started as Zeke stepped up to bat. I couldn’t tell who started it first, our dugout or the fans in the stands, but soon it was all I could hear.

The pitcher checked us runners before staring down Zeke. He took a deep breath and nodded at the catcher’s sign. Then he started his motion. The pitch was fast, high—then it took a dive. What good movement! It was a breaking ball, but before I could even try and think what type of pitch it was, Zeke had swung and connected, sending the ball high into the sky.

My jaw dropped. I watched as the ball seemed to fly with the wind, clearing the outfield fence like it didn’t belong here. Just like that, Zeke pushed us to take the lead. With one swing!

I couldn’t help but to smile as I ran the bases, happy that I made the right bet. Mahki and Julian were waiting by home plate, with matching grins. We high-fived then waited for Zeke. As soon as Zeke touched home, the two other seniors pounced on him, practically carrying him back to the dugout.

I couldn’t hear anything with everyone yelling from both dugouts, the crowd, and the players on the field. I just followed my seniors back to the dugout where everyone was waiting to celebrate with Zeke.

"Listen up!" Zeke commanded in the middle of the dugout, surrounded by the majority of the team. "We’re not done yet. We play to the end!"

"Yeah!" The team agreed.

I put my helmet away and sat down just as Noah was putting on his batting gloves.

"You didn’t get any RBIs." Noah said.

Unsure what he meant by that, I stayed silent.

"I would have. If I were you, I would have totally shown off my batting skill." Noah went on.

"Zeke was the better choice." I smiled at him. "You would have chosen Zeke too." I looked out to watch Garret’s at-bat. "Maybe if Julian didn’t get walked, I would have tried for something different. It all worked out in the end."

Noah grinned. "It always does."

I would like to think so. But I know that isn’t always the case. After today, someone will be going to the finals while the other won’t have another game to play. It’s not going to work out for one of us.

There was the sound of the bat connecting with the baseball and the crowd was rowdy again. I watched as Garret legged it out to second base as the ball rolled in the outfield to the fence. He reached second without needing to slide, earning himself a double and a round of cheers.

Noah hopped up and left with his bat and helmet. He was on deck when Dave struck out. Noah followed that with a pop up to second, not even able to advance the runner. Kelvin ended it with a groundout to third.

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