The Hitting Zone

During lunch, four of us received the same text from Coach.

"Wheatland High School?" Kyle mumbled under his breath. He had read out loud who our next opponent will be.

"That sounds familiar." Dave frowned. He looked to Zeke. "You remember the name Wheatland at all?"

"They lost in the first round of CIF last year." Zeke stated. "More of a hitting team. Can't remember any significant pitchers from their team. Especially since they lost before we could face them." He looked at me. "They'll probably avoid you if they want to challenge you guys to an offensive contest."

"Yea, but we've got Garret on the mound so they're already behind." Noah pointed out.

"Garret's going to be on a limited pitch count since he did the last inning in the last game." Kyle made a clicking sound in his mouth.

"Garret doesn't have a limit to worry about." Noah rebuked.

"Maybe not a specific number." Kyle conceded. "But a lot of factors will be in play. Fitness and mental strength. He already played a game today, getting some work in. And now you're asking him to do the hard stuff in the second game? I guess Coach is telling the bullpen to stay loose and expect to see an inning or two."

"That's fine. We still have Bryce and Brian. They're pretty solid." Noah said, still relaxed.

I nodded in agreement. "I also think Tyler and Matt are reliable seniors."

Dave laughed. "They would be happy to hear you say that. Especially since they don't get a lot of real game time action. Coming from the number one player in the county, it'll probably be a core memory for them."

I felt my face heat up. I may be listed as number one in the county, but it never felt real. I hold the same spot as Zeke did last year, yet I'm not much like him.

"I wonder if I'll move up after yesterday's performance." Kyle grinned, then looked to Jeremy. "Were you the top player in your county, Jeremy?"

Jeremy let out a small laugh. "I was a top player, but not the top player."

"You weren't number one?" Noah's jaw dropped. I also found it unbelievable.

Jeremy gave a small shrug. "What can I say? I lived in a very competitive county down south. Division one. I think I made it to the number one spot a time or two, but never kept a grip on it like Zeke did."

"Different circumstances." Zeke said. He looked at Jeremy. "Not everyone can have the same success as you when you went pro."

"Right?!" Noah got excited. "Rookie of the Year and already have one MVP award under your belt. All before most guys even make their MLB debut."

Jeremy chuckled. "Yep. We all take different paths trying to get to the same destination. Champions." He looked to Kyle. "Rankings are good to get your name out there though. Attracts more attention from scouts and teams. It'll also help to attract some agents your way."

"It'll definitely help when I tell them that you're a top prospect." Rose agreed. She had her phone out and apparently looked something up, because she turned to Dave and said. "I suggest you wait to make your commitment until after meeting with the agents and advisers. Things get messy and I don't want you to lose your NCAA eligibility. They're very stingy when it comes to the rules."

"Sure. I can wait." Dave said. He looked to Mom and Dad. "I think I just came up with an idea. If you're interested?"

Mom smiled wryly. "I'll hear you out."

"Why don't we go to Vanderbilt and hold the signing there?" Dave got excited. "You could come see the school and get a look at where I'll be. Meet my coaches and whatnot. We can go for spring break! It's in Nashville so there'll be lots to do the rest of the time."

"It's not a bad idea." Dad sounded interested and tap the table.

"Uh, yea it is." Kyle spoke up. He looked at Dave. "Did you forget that we still have games during spring break? Some of which should be league games."

Dave deflated. "Oh. Right." He ran his fingers through his hair. "I guess I got a little confused since Zeke got to run off during midterms week last year."

"We can take a look at the schedules and save the idea for later." Dad didn't completely shutdown Dave's idea. "Maybe find a weekend you boys don't have any games. Potentially, make it a long weekend by skipping school on a Friday and Monday."

Quite a few jaws dropped. Mainly the twins.

"No way!"

"Really?!"

The pair spoke at the same time, making it hard to decipher who said what.

"We'll see." Mom agreed. "Grades will have to be A's across the board for anyone to be missing school."

"But Mom-" Kyle started to argue. "I don't even need A's. I'm not going to college so my gpa won't mean anything."

"I would like all my boys to be scholar-athletes again at the team banquet at the end of the season." Mom looked at him. "Going pro doesn't give you an excuse to slack off in your studies."

"Allow us at least one B." Kyle tried to bargain.

"Let's revisit this later." Dad got in between. "We don't even know if we're going anywhere yet."

That didn't stop the twins from talking about the potential trip after lunch when we rejoined the team. The pair couldn't be on the mound at all in the finals so it was probably good for them to have something to grab their attention.

Coach gave out the lineup early as we got our cleats on in the dugout. As top seed and returning tournament champs, we got the third base dugout and got to bat in the second half of the innings.

1 1B Sean Isner

2 SS Noah Atkins

3 2B Jake Atkins

4 P Garret Knudsen

5 3B Jason Morris

6 C Mitchell Torres

7 CF Jesse Shipman

8 RF Tanner Erickson

9 LF Korrey Alvarrez

"This is it boys." Coach looked around. "One more win and you can be champions. We can start this season off right. Just as good as last year."

"Yeah!" A lot of the guys cheered in agreement.

"Wheatland is known for making contact so be ready out there. If they catch you dozing out there, I won't hesitate to sub you out." He looked at Garret. "How are you feeling?"

"Not bad." Garret smiled and nodded.

Coach nodded back. "Do your best. You've already used up 17 of your allotted 110 pitches."

"17?" Garret stopped Coach from saying anything more. "What do you mean 17? The intentional walk shouldn't have counted against me, right?"

Coach gave a small shake of his head. "If it was before, it wouldn't have. But I was told by the staff that we could have simply told the umpire to send the batter to first for an intentional walk instead of using up your pitches."

"Like in the MLB now?" Noah asked.

Coach nodded. Then sighed as everyone started saying how unfair it was and how it shouldn't have counted since we didn't know. "Alright, alright. I'm not happy about it either. But as you can tell, we weren't the only ones to know. Jake uses up four pitches for his intentional walks too. It's something to keep in mind this season. For now, nothing can be done. Garret, you have 93 pitches. Sounds decent but these guys won't be easy."

Garret nodded in understanding.

"That means the bullpen will definitely be used this game." Coach continued on. "I expect everyone to be ready to go. I'll have Alisha keep an eye on pitch count and once Garret gets too close, we'll start having you guys warm up depending on the situation."

"Who's at the top of your list to be used, Coach?" Marshel asked. He was probably antsy from not being used at all this weekend. And from only doing one inning in the Christmas tournament. I don't know how much he got to pitch last year as a freshman for the lowest-leveled team, but he certainly won't get the same kind of pitch counts as Garret and the twins.

"I simply don't know at this time." Coach stated. "What I do know is that I'm keeping my options open. One of those options is keeping Bryce on the bench." He looked at Bryce. "You did well in game two, but you don't have enough rest days to reset your pitch count. It's better for you to stay in the dugout and be a potential utility player or pinch-hitter."

"Yes!" Bryce acknowledged.

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