The Hitting Zone

Eastside College Preparatory.

That's the school to avoid. It's where Jeremy went and where Carson is currently going to. Jeremy told Dad that Jack was there to watch Carson play, but couldn't say for certain if he saw me. He didn't personally talked to Jack. I can't imagine how stressed that relationship is with what has happened in the last year. He wasn't invited to Jeremy's MVP celebration, however Jeremy and Rose did visit them during Christmas.

"Ah, a good spot." Dad remarked as we watched a car pull out. It was in the second row so not much walking would be required. "I think I'm feeling pretty lucky. Maybe I should go buy a lotto ticket later."

"Okay, Noah." I called him by the wrong name intentionally.

Dad frowned. "God help that boy."

"We won today thanks to his risky play." I pointed out.

Dad parked the car. "That kid will be the death of me, I swear. Almost the complete opposite of Zeke."

"I think Noah is a lot like Zeke." I replied. "When Coach Leroy said Zeke wouldn't need help out of a slump, I thought about Noah. He knows where he wants to go. He won't get lost."

"A detour to college would be much appreciated." Dad mumbled.

I laughed and gave a small shake of my head. "No way. Noah won't."

"Why not?" Dad demanded. "Zeke went. Why do you think Noah won't go if they're so much alike?"

"Because Noah has more to prove?" I shrugged. He had to compare himself to Zeke and the twins. Zeke had no one close to follow after.

"What about you?" Dad asked.

"What about me?" I repeated back to him.

"How do you feel about going to college over entering the draft?"

I shrugged.

"Just look at Zeke at Stanford. Good school, good coach, good feelings."

I nodded. "Yea." Then I shrugged. "But Zeke would be gone by then." He won't stay the four full years. No way.

"By then, you'll have to do some things on your own." Dad said. "You won't be able to follow Noah through the minors and Majors. And even if you guys get to the Majors, it's very unlikely you'll be on the same team."

"You don't think we'll get to the Majors?" I frowned. That's all the boys thought about. Talked about.

Dad looked around. For what, I don't know. He looked at me. "Don't repeat this to your brothers, okay?" I nodded. "Making the pros feels close now, doesn't it? I mean, we have Jeremy around and he plays for their favorite team. Rhys's dad is a coach. Heck, Zeke was drafted. But the reality of all that can be broken down to small numbers. There's only a 6% chance of a high school baseball player making it to the NCAA. From there, only 10% get drafted by a MLB team. Only 66% of first round picks make it to the majors. An even smaller amount will actually get to have a career there. I think it drops to the single digits in the twentieth round. Minuscule chances after that." He sighed looking at my stunned expression. "I don't say this to doubt the future, but sometimes I really worry when you kids make baseball your whole life. What will happen if you kids don't make it?"

"Noah won't give up." I told him, confident in that. For sure. Noah would make it. Zeke too. Heck, the odds are already in his favor.

Dad chuckled. "Why can't you be this confident in yourself?"

I shrugged, embarrassed.

"Okay, okay. I get it. Noah's personality is hard to compete with. Like you said, he's set out on his path already. I could only hope a girl would attract him to college when he gets closer."

My lips twitched. "That didn't work with Kyle."

Dad grinned and shook his head. "You're just determined to go against me today, aren't you?" He put nodded towards the fields. "You ready to go find your team?"

I nodded.

We got out of the car together. He grabbed my bag out of the trunk and carried it for me. Before we reached the tournament center, two faces were headed our way. Noah and Mom.

Noah slapped me on the shoulder while looking at Dad. "Good work, Dad. He looks as good as new."

I cracked a smile.

Mom looked relieved. "Alright. Looks like the number one batter is available for game two."

My face turned red. "Has the opponent been decided? Did you guys watch them play in their first game? Or did they play at the same time as us?"

"Now you're asking the important stuff." Noah nodded. He put his arm over my shoulders and started to lead me a certain way. "Let's go back to the team. It's almost time to go to the new field soon anyways."

Mom and Dad followed close behind.

"We got to see some of the end of their game. Unfortunately it was cut short." Noah told me.

I grimaced. "Mercy-ruled?"

He snapped his fingers with his free hand and pointed it at me. "You guessed it. Pray for Dave. He'll need it. This is a powerful lineup. Probably on par with University if they had better pitching."

"How do you know about their pitching?" I asked, curious.

"Stat sheet. They used two guys in a five inning game. Gave up four runs between the two." Noah shook his head.

My jaw dropped. "They gave up four runs and we're still able to beat them by ten?"

Noah nodded. "Coach was thinking Garret should pitch, but you know how the twins get going. Kyle brags, Dave quips that he can do the same. Their energy is unmatched when it comes to competing on the mound."

I doubt it. "How did Garret take it?"

"Garret, of course, said that he would take over as soon as Dave gives up two runs." Noah laughed. "Two runs? That's generous of him. He's just trying to sound fair because of his captain status. Can't look as selfish as usual."

"I think it helps that he'll still be on the field." I pointed out. "And he'll see Dave in the dugout. He'll have a firm grasp on how Dave fares against these guys."

Noah talked some more about the upcoming game until we approached the team. Most of the guys were sitting around on a grassy patch, talking to one another or relaxing.

"Hey! Jake's back!" Dave jumped up and rushed me. He scared me by lifting me under the armpits and swung me around. "Boy, am I glad to see you?"

I let out a laugh. "I heard it might be a hitter's game."

"I said, Jake might not even get a chance to help out besides intentional walks." Garret joined us. "You should be relying on me more, Dave. I'm the one leading the team offensively this tournament so far."

"You think they'll walk Jake? No way." Dave argued. "We saw those guys. They don't care about walks, hits and runs unless it's their own." Dave put me down and patted the top of my head. "Jake will be padding his stats this game. It'll be a pure hitfest."

"I don't know." Kyle came over too. "That'll depend on the score. Maybe they won't care at first, but as long as you hold them like you claim you can do, they'll probably resort to intentional walks at the end. Look at University. Even they had to intentionally walk Jake in the end. It depends on the situation."

Dave moved my head so he could look me in the eyes. "Home runs. That's all you're allowed to do. No matter what Coach says." He moved to Noah. "I want to see some real speed this game. Stolen bases. You better stretch every single to a triple." He looked at Garret. "If you get out even once, I'll think you're sabotaging me."

Garret rolled his eyes.

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