The Hitting Zone

"SAFE!" The umpire extended his arms. "SAFE!"

I let out a sigh of relief. 3-0.

Noah jumped up, jeresy covered in dirt. He slapped hands with Dave and Bryce as the three of them headed back to the dugout.

Garret came up next with me on second and only one out. He pulled the first pitch down the right field line. The right fielder sprinted back to the fence, put his hand out to make sure he didn't hit the fence before making the catch. I tagged up and sprinted for third.

Mr. Miller motioned that I didn't have to slide. I stood safely on third as the ball was thrown back to the pitcher. "Good run." Mr. Miller gave my helmet a tap up top. "Two outs now. Go on contact."

I nodded.

Jason did make contact and I sprinted home. With the catcher out of the way, it was clear that I didn't have to slide. I grinned and tapped home. 4-0. Jason had an RBI single. I went back to our rowdy dugout, greeted with slaps and claps.

"No stolen base for me." Noah complained as I put my stuff away.

I laughed. "You still made it all the way home off my double. That should count for something."

"Yea, just a regular run scored." Noah grinned. "But you got an extra RBI from me so you're welcome."

Garret overheard and reached out to flick Noah on the ear. "You dummy. Couldn't you have stayed on third for me. I could have had an RBI but now I'm empty-handed."

"You'll just have to try harder at your next at bat." Noah laughed and gave him a shove.

Korrey struck out to end our half of the inning. Everyone grabbed their gloves and took the field with high energy, happy with the solid lead.

Bottom of the third, Dave was at the bottom of the order. Seven, eight, nine. Batter seven got jammed and sent a short pop up my way. I made the catch and Noah hollered, "One out! Two to go!" Batter eight pulled a grounder his way next. No problem for Noah as always. "Two outs! Play's at first!"

Batter nine was the originally the pitcher, but I guess he got pulled because they were now announcing a pinch hitter. Makes sense. The pitcher had a rough go in the top of the inning.

Dave started the guy with an inside fastball for a called strike. His second pitch was set to be an outside ball. The batter swung, trying to reach it, and just barely got a piece, hitting a grounder between me and Sean. Sean made a sliding stop and turned to toss the ball to Dave who was sprinting over to first base.

Dave caught the ball while still running to the bag. He was in a foot race with the batter. They met at the bag and soon after, Dave went tumbling.

"Out." The umpire declared.

Sean reached Dave first, helping him back up to his feet.

I was a close second. "Are you okay?"

"Yep." Dave grimaced. "Just got stepped on. No biggie." He tossed the ball back to the mound and limped back to the dugout with Sean's help.

The rest of the team trailed in after him.

Coach directed Dave to take a seat at the nearest bench. He then looked to the side. "Logan, get ready to bat. You'll pinch hit for Dave."

"What?!" Dave jumped up. "Coach, are you crazy?"

Coach narrowed his eyes and pointed at Dave. "I must be crazy to try to save you from being seriously hurt this season. You were stepped on by a cleat. You could be bleeding or worse, have a broken bone."

"Coach! I'm really not that weak!" Dave pleaded. "You can't pull me. I'm doing perfect so far."

Coach put his hands on Dave's shoulders and forcefully made him sit. Everyone was watching, unsure of what to do or say. I looked to Noah because he would know.

Noah walked up next to Coach and Dave. "We have a good lead, Dave. We don't need you."

My lips twitched. That's not what I expected at all.

Garret went over too. "Yea, Dave, take it easy. Kick you cleats off. I don't want to say you're accident prone, but your track record speaks for itself. You dislocated your finger not even three months ago. Before that, you had the blister. Before that, you-"

"Shut up." Dave cut Garret off. "This isn't like that. I was simply stepped on. This stuff happens all the time."

"How about...if there's no blood, we let him continue?" Noah suggested, looking at Coach.

Coach took his hands off Dave. "Okay. Take off the cleat and sock and prove that it's nothing."

Dave pulled his knee up to his chest and started to untie his shoe. After taking it off, he slipped the sock off. There was just the smallest of cuts and thin flap of skin hanging off the top of his foot. Not even a dimes worth of blood but Coach called it.

"That's it for you." Coach said. "Get it checked out by Drew tomorrow. Your pitch count is low enough; maybe you'll pitch an inning on Saturday."

Dave groaned, clearly not appeased. He looked at Noah. "Thanks a lot, idiot."

Noah shrugged. "I tried. Gave you a chance. It's not my fault your skin broke. Bad genetics. Blame your twin for stealing all the good stuff."

Dave threw his glove at Noah. "Go away. All of you. Stop hovering over me."

Everyone backed up to give Dave his space.

Top of the fourth went quick with a new pitcher in for Golden West. Sean hit a routine fly to center. Mitchell popped out to third. And Logan ended it with a groundout to short.

Bottom of the fourth, Coach spoke with the umpire as Brian came jogging in from the bullpen. He met us infielders and Coach at the mound and got the ball.

"Lot of room to work with." Coach told him. "Don't stress yourself out."

Brian nodded. "How's Dave doing?"

"He just got stepped on. He's fine." Noah waved his concern away. "Probably best if you stay away from him in the dugout. He's itching for a fight."

Sean, Jason, and I all nodded in agreement. It was hard getting benched when you're doing well and don't even think your hurt. Coach was just being really cautious.

Brian did his practice pitches with Mitchell and the game resumed. Back at the top of the lineup. The first two batters hit fly balls to center and right field respectively. The third batter earned a walk after a long drawn out battle with Brian. But he got the cleanup hitter to hit a grounder my way to end the inning. Not bad for someone coming in unexpectedly. Or so I thought.

​ As soon as we got back to the dugout, Dave started to complain. "There's goes the perfect game."

Noah ignored it easily, heading to his bag. I was also a little used to it and followed Noah. We were going to come up this inning after Bryce so it would be a good opportunity to tack on some more insurance runs.

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