The Hitting Zone

Top of the second. Jason flew out to center. Bryce hit a single to left field followed by Mitchell's walk. Shasta's coach came out and did a pitcher change early on. Clearly this wasn't the same guy from last year. With two on, one out, and a new pitcher on the mound, Dalton got jammed and popped up a ball to the left of third base in foul territory. The third baseman ran over and made the catch for the second out.

I came up to the plate, two on, two out. I was wondering if they were going to walk me to load the bases, but after seeing the first pitch for a called strike, I had confirmed that they were facing me head on. Which makes sense I guess. Garret behind me had already hit a homerun. They wouldn't want to load the bases for him. I smiled. This is what Coach was hoping for.

Mr. Miller gave out a few fake signs from the coach's box near third base. I was given the green light to swing whenever. First step: size up the pitcher. Mediocre speed, decent placement near strike zone. I fouled off anything close to avoid being a victim of a called strike out. When I found the pitch I was looking for, I pulled it to right field, down the line. Over the right fielder's reach. Then finally over the fence. Home run!

I did my trot around the bases, greeted by Bryce and Mitchell at home, where I was handed my bat back. In the dugout the team celebrated happily.

"You crushed it, man." Noah slapped me on my back as I put my gear away.

I gave a small laugh and shook my head. "That was not the definition of 'crush'. Just barely scrapped by. A better right fielder would have gotten it. A higher fence would have stopped it."

"I'm glad you're aware." Coach was right behind us, making me flinch a little. "Sorry."

I shook my head again, a little lighter.

"You're smart at the plate and know what to aim for." Coach told me. "Especially against pitchers that don't have much skill. I'm happy to have a smart kid like you in the lineup. You know where to take advantage and that's not something most could do."

"When it comes to hitting, Jake doesn't need much help." Noah agreed.

Garret made contact with the ball, drawing everyone's attention. It was caught at the warning track by the center fielder to end the inning. He came back to the dugout with a helpless shrug. "I really thought I could power that one out of here. I need to do some more weightlifting." He grinned my way. "Want to join Jake?"

I put my glove and hat on, then hurried out of there. I knew there was no right answer with Coach around. I either say 'yes' and regret because Garret is clearly stronger than me. Or I say 'no' and Coach doesn't think I'm trying hard enough.

Bottom of the second, Garret did the most work. Even more than Bryce the pitcher. All three outs were thanks to him chasing the balls all over the place, catching them before they could touch the grass.

"If you don't make it in the majors as a pitcher, you can always fall back on being an outfielder." Kyle laughed while slapping him on the back.

"At least I have a backup option." Garret brushed him away. "I can hit and field. Baseball will be my future no matter what."

"You don't think it'll be in mine?" Kyle squinted at him.

Garret grinned. "Of course it will." He lifted an eyebrow. "You're related to Zeke after all. Baseball will be in your periphery."

Kyle chucked a water bottle at him. "Just wait. I bet I'll beat you to the majors."

Garret laughed some more. "I see how you didn't say you would be a higher draft pick. At least you have some self-awareness."

The two started to mess around and talk some more smack during the inning. We had another good show on offense. Sean did hit into a groundout at third for the first out. Korrey smacked an even harder grounder at third, causing the fielder to fumble with the ball and allowing Korrey to reach first on an error. Logan hit a line drive to left-center for a double, driving in Korrey for our sixth run of the game. If that wasn't enough, Jason hit a home run of his own to drive in two more runs. Up 8-0. We were on pace to win by the mercy rule, leading by ten after five innings, but we didn't pull it off. Bryce hit a fly out to right and Mitchell struck out swinging.

Bottom of the third, Bryce continued to do well on the mound. Three up, three down. Strikeout swinging. Fly out to right. Groundout to Jason at third.

Top of the fourth. Dalton popped out to short. I hit a single. Garret hit a line drive that was snagged out of the air by the shortstop. I dove back to first base as soon as I could and remained safe. Sean hit a single too, pushing me to second base. Korrey flew out to left field to end it.

Bottom of the fourth. Bryce gave up a leadoff single. Bounced back with a strikeout. Then gave up another single. The cleanup batter came up with their their first scoring opportunity with runners on first and second. He hit a hard grounder right down the third baseline. Jason dug the ball out of the dirt and sprinted to third, tagged the base, then threw to Sean at first. A double play all by himself! We went back to the dugout in high spirits.

Top of the fifth. Logan flew out to left field. Jason remained in good form, hitting a line drive to the right corner for a standup double. Then he was able to make it home on Bryce's single. 9-0. We really thought we were going to get the mercy rule, but Mitchell flew out and Dalton went down swinging to end it.

Bottom of the fifth. Bryce got back-to-back strikeouts. Walked the seventh batter. Eighth batter hit a grounder to Dalton at short, who fielded it cleanly.

Top of the sixth, I led off. With no outs and no one on, they pitched to me again. It felt good. This is how it should be. Noah might like tournaments because of how much he gets to play, but I like having a chance to bat seriously. I pulled another long one to right field for a solo shot. My second home run of the game. The guys in the dugout went crazy. There weren't any spectators so I could hear every one of them specifically.

Especially Kyle. "See that, Garrrt?! Bet you can't get two in a game!"

Garret came close. His hit went off the fence and bounced back to the left fielder. However he still made it to second earning a double. That was pretty much it for our offense for the rest of the game though. Pop out to the pitcher. Fly out to left, fly out to right.

Bottom of the sixth. Shasta couldn't get anything going. A strikeout and two fly outs. Top of the seventh we went three up, three down for the first time today but it bothered no one.

"Do I get to finish it?" Bryce asked Coach.

Coach gave a short nod. "Pitch count is all good."

Bryce took the mound for the seventh time. It wasn't a strong finish by any means. He gave up two hits, a walk, and a run. But he made it out. We won 10-1 and Bryce got his first complete game.

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