The Hitting Zone

The complex of baseball fields amazed me for the second time. I shuffled my feet, trailing behind the family. They seemed to have come to a consensus of leaving me alone this morning. Which I appreciated. I was under a couple layers of clothing, trying to stay warm...and awake.

We found our team gathering near the registration tent. This tournament was more official than the last. All players had to be accounted for before the tournament started. If you weren't, you couldn't play.

"Look! They even have scarf designs!" I could hear Mom exclaim from a few feet away. She was at a different tent that was selling tournament merchandise. Shirts, sweatshirts, just a lot of clothing and knickknacks with the tournament name on it.

"If you want one, just tell them." Noah nudged me. He could see that my eyes were on Mom. I didn't move, but Noah forced me to. He dragged me over to Mom and Dad. "Can we get some souvenirs before the tournament even starts?"

"What were you thinking?" Dad asked him.

"For me, I want the lanyard. I should start driving soon and when the twins leave, I can put the car keys on it." Noah justified his want. He tilted his head towards me. "I think Jake is interested in the scarf. As soon as he heard Mom, his eyes were glued to her."

I felt my face heat up.

"I think it's a good idea." Mom pitched in. "Jake is always cold, and this scarf does have a good design with the baseballs."

"But it's practically March already." Dad pointed out.

"He can wear it for another month." Mom said. "And it's not like he can grow out of a scarf." She decisively turned to Noah. "Go check with the twins to see if they want something from here too."

Noah nodded and took off, back towards our team. He returned within a minute. "Dave said sweatshirt, extra large. Kyle said he'll just take a hat."

Mom took charge and went to tell a worker what she would like while pulling out her wallet. We stepped away to give more players and families space to see what was there. Mom came back and handed three items to Noah to take back for him and the twins. She wrapped the scarf around me twice and let the ends hang down.

"It's probably good that Grampa didn't come." Noah said. "He'd probably be worse off than Jake."

"Your grandfather has seen harsher winters and wetter springs." Mom replied. "Jake will get used to it in a couple of years."

Years. I had years here. I felt warmed up on the inside as we waited for registration to get over with. Before we could go to our field for warmups, we had to do a pre-ceremony introduction.

As the captain, Garret took the lead while the rest of us lined up by our jersey number.

I looked back at Noah. "Shouldn't you be in front of me as vice captain?"

Noah waved his hand freely. "Nah. It's just one more position in line so why bother?" He put his hands on my shoulders and gave me a quick massage. "Besides, having you up front with Garret shows off our talent right away."

I rolled my shoulders to get Noah to let go.

The ceremony introduced each time in the ranked order. Last year we were dead last, this year was different. Out of sixteen teams, we were number nine. Noah said it was due to a mixture of reasons; From our performance in last year's tournament, our CIF division win, and thanks to our team ranking to start out this season.

Number one was clear: University Preparatory High School. There were some vaguely familiar faces I could see in their line, but I knew they lost some of the biggest seniors. They weren't the same team from last year. And neither were we.

The ceremony ended and the teams started to separate. We got our bags and headed to the field as a group, leaving our families behind.

"Coach Wilcox!" Some man called out while jogging over. He held a big camera in his hands. "Excuse me. I was wondering if you and some of the team could answer my questions regarding your game against University Prep."

"You can ask after the game." Coach stared him down. "Right now, my team needs to get properly warmed up." He continued walking.

"Is Jake Hollander here for the game this morning?" The guy asked.

I nearly tripped over my own feet.

A lot of looks were directed my way.

"Formerly known as Jake Hollander; his name is Jake Atkins." Mr. Miller corrected. "And you won't be asking him any questions without his parents present so maybe you should go find them in the stands first."

I shifted closer to Noah and kept my head down.

Noah shifted closer to me and we sped up in the same pace. No one stopped to talk to the man while Mr. Miller diverted the man towards the bleachers where fans go.

"That was weird." Dave mumbled under his breath.

"Not really." Garret slowed down a step to be with us. "Hollander was his last name last year and he was good. It's rare for someone to change their last name in high school so I'm sure it raises some questions." He looked at me. "Don't get spooked over this. It's normal for them to ask about you as the number one player in the county."

"What do I tell them?" I asked. "About the name change?"

Garret shrugged. "Whatever you want? That you were adopted. It's not a terribly big secret. There's been some talk about your family history last year with Jeremy in the news. Almost everyone in school knows, so why hesitate telling a stranger?"

"I don't really want to talk about my past." I tugged on the ends of my scarf to tighten it a little.

"Then don't." Noah told me. "Like Coach said, Mom and Dad have to be present. They can take on all the hard questions. Heck, you don't have to talk to them at all."

"I don't know. You can't just not talk to them." Dave scratched his cheek. "That might give you some negative attention. There's always Mr. Cameron. He's a good reporter guy. You can trust him."

"Honestly, most reporters probably want to ask you about your batting." Garret said. "It's not negative. They just want to ask about your skill and maybe about your future intentions."

"Future intentions?" I repeated.

Garret nodded. "Sure. Like don't you want to win league? CIF?"

I nodded. I do.

"They'll ask about tough opponents and some opportunities you plan to take like colleges already reaching out to you. If there's a front runner you already have. That kind of stuff."

"You don't have to give them a straight answer." Dave hurried to add. "You can tell them that your first focus is winning league."

I nodded aggressively. Yes. That. My first focus is winning league.

"Your first focus is winning the game in front of you." Coach spoke up, clearly overhearing our conversation. He glanced back. "The only thing that should have your attention right now, is how to score against one of the best teams in the state."

I gulped and gave another nod.

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