Bottom of the second.
Noah and I took a seat on the bench while Jason hurried to change out his gear. He was first up to bat to start our offense. Jesse and Mitchell would follow.
“He’d have to get a walk and score a run to tie me offensively.” Noah grinned.
“Would a hit beat you or tie you?” I asked, curious as to what he consider what was better.
Noah thought it over quietly then slowly started to nod. “Beat me. For sure. I can’t necessarily claim the run scored by myself since it’s thanks to you I got the chance. If Jason got on base and had you hitting behind him, I’m sure he would score a lot too.”
As we were talking, Jason was working the count. He made good contact, hitting a line drive towards center. The center fielder came sprinting in and made a diving catch to steal away Jason’s would-be hit.
“Tch. Unlucky.” Noah shook his head.
The whole dugout seem to share the same sentiment. All the guys consoled Jason when he got back in the dugout.
“Plain unlucky.”
“You’ll get him next time.”
“Great swing.”
Jesse was up next. He also made contact, but it was just a routine fly fielded by the left fielder. Mitchell struck out swinging to end the inning. Still 1-0, but with Kyle on the mound, it felt like more.
He shut them down again in the third. Lineout to Garret in center. Then back to back strikeouts. Both swinging. Granted, it was the bottom of their lineup, but still, a good feeling.
Bottom of the third. Kyle led it off. He swung, made contact, but it was just a simple pop up to the shortstop. Noah moved to the batter’s box and Korrey to the on deck circle.
I happily put on my helmet. Brett isn’t as wild as when we started, but a lot of our guys were making contact. It’s only a matter of time before one sneaks through for a hit.
Ding.
Sure enough! Noah slapped a grounder right up the middle. He rounded first as the center fielder threw the ball back to the infield, keeping him at a single.
I hurried out of the dugout to get in the on deck circle. I was hoping for a repeat of the first inning, but Korrey killed the inning with a 4-6-3 double play. Even with Noah’s good lead and a slide that potentially obstructed the shortstop, Katella High School executed it perfectly. The inning was over and I wouldn’t get to bat with someone on base next inning.
I did my best to resist groaning but the look on my face must have said it all
Garret grinned at me as we both put our helmets and bats away. “Next inning is ours. We’ll run up the score to give Kyle some insurance.”
I smiled and nodded back. “Yea.” Definitely.
We took the field for the top of the fourth. Kyle was back to facing the top of the lineup. The first batter hit a grounder to the right of Noah. Noah made a sliding grab, completed a whole turn and threw a bullet to Sean at first.
“Out!” The umpire declared. The the ball beat the runner.
Kyle gave a small fist pump in Noah’s direction. Noah returned the gesture. “Get ’em!”
The second batter also made contact. But it was a more routine grounder. To Noah again. He easily fielded it for the second out. Then hollered. “Two outs! One to go!”
Batter three put up the biggest challenge to Kyle so far. He steadily got to a full count before fouling off a couple of pitches in a row. Kyle was hitting some good spots in the zone, but the batter wouldn’t give up anything close. He finally got one ball in the air. Left field. A short fly ball.
Noah was chasing it back while Korrey came sprinting in.
“I got it! I got it!” Noah was yelling, eyes solely glue to the ball. Korrey held up just as Noah started a slide and caught the ball over his shoulder. The third out!
Spectators couldn’t help but clap and cheer for the amazing grab. Even better than the lineout that Katella got from Jason.
Noah flipped the ball to Korrey as they started to jog it in. Korrey threw it to me and I passed it along to Sean, who left it at the mound.
“I believe it’s now four to two.” Noah hurried to tell Jason inside the dugout.
“Bro, that catch was just too hard to replicate.” Jason held up his hands in surrender. “I concede defeat. That first one you dug out of the dirt was already too smooth. You just cover way more ground than I do.”
I nodded. “Yea. There’s no way I can do that kind of catch on my side.” I swapped my hat for my helmet and grabbed my bat.
“Start us off strong!” Noah gave my back a slap.
I stumbled away from him and the bench. A few of the other guys said similar lines of encouragement. It felt good to be counted on.
I took a few simple practice swings until the ump called for me to step up. I checked with Mr. Miller one last time. Do what I want. And what do I want? I wanted to try for homerun. See if I had the power for it.
I took a deep breath and slowly let it out as I got set in the box. I dug my back foot in. It would be best if I attack the very first pitch. Maybe get into this guy’s head my way like Noah did his way before the game. If he gets beaten down mentally, it might help out the rest of my team later on.
The first pitch came in the low far corner. Okay good. I completed a fast and heavy swing, hitting the ball with the thickest part of the barrel of the bat. Then carried the ball up and out. Dropped the bat and started to run.
I only started to slow down after first when I saw that the ball had cleared the left field fence. Yes! 2-0! I rounded the bases with a brisk jog and high-fived Garret at home plate.
He handed me my bat back. “Awesome! Great hit!”
“What a bomb!” Sean told me from the on deck circle.
I was greeted by more compliments in the dugout. I grinned and went back to my spot in high spirits. I put my gear away after checking out my bat.
Noah grinned. “Look at you. You’re really like the mini-Zeke.” I started to frown and he hurried to add. “At the plate. That is. You can’t deny it. I’m a hundred percent positive that you’ll hit more homeruns than he did his sophomore year.”
I relaxed and sat down. “Yea. I can do that.” My self-esteem wasn’t that high, but I did have confidence in my hitting. Especially lately.
“Look at you!” Noah pulled me in and gave my head a good rub.
The atmosphere was good all around. It only got better once Garret pulled a line drive down the right field line and ended up on second base. No stealing this hit from him.
