Noah told me a little more about the pitcher and catcher dynamics as the bottom of the fourth inning started. Just like Shasta, our offense continued to struggle to get anything going. Unlike them, we didn't even get a hit this inning. Daniel struck out, looking, causing Noah to complain a bit more under his breath. "How is this helpful at all? Does coach just wanna see why he should leave us in? Ugh."
I didn't have any answers for him so I just shrugged.
We watched on as Julian and Mahki both repeated their first inning at-bats. Julian hit another grounder to second and Mahki had another long fly ball to the right fielder.
This time I sighed in unison with Noah. The game was moving awfully fast, but it wasn't a good sign since we haven't gotten a hit, let alone score a run.
"Do you think we'll lose?" I mumbled as the team took the field again.
"Hey!" He slapped me on the arm. "What did I say about that negativity?"
I rubbed my arm. "It was just a question…"
"Jake, I know you're a pessimist, but really, try and let that go. Simply change some of the words in your question. Instead of that, you should have asked if I think we'll win."
"Doesn't that have the same meaning though?"
"It's about the wording! You make it sound like you're expecting us to lose."
"I just wanted to know your thoughts."
Noah sighed. "Forget it. We'll work on that later. As for the game, of course we'll win."
"Even though it's looking pretty even?"
Noah clenched his fists. "We can only trust our teammates to get it done. And if not, we can trust Coach to put in a pinch hitter like Zeke or you to help spark the offense."
"But Coach made it sound like he didn't care either way." I glanced to where Coach and Zeke stood, talking to one another.
"He says that, and because it's not a league game, he's right. But something else to pay attention to is team morale. If losing this game puts the team into a funk, then we might struggle against actual important opponents." Noah nodded to himself. "Coach knows what he's doing. He's the best I ever had. I learned a lot from him last semester during the tryout season."
"Oh." I didn't have any disagreement there. I still remember day one when he taught me the three B's: ball, base, and backup. Coach really knew how to get through to his players. From veterans like Zeke to newbies like me.
Kyle was no longer shaken or on edge for the fifth inning. He was back to the three up, three down pattern and I had no complaints about that. Strikeout. Grounder to second. Then Julian caught a foul pop up for the third out. The team jogged back in almost as swiftly as they left.
"There's been a lot of grounders to second today." Noah commented.
"Five total." I stated. "We've hit three and they had two."
"Glad you're paying attention." Noah patted me happily.
"Zeke told us to. Plus I like seeing others play second too. How they move and react. How they approach the ball." I thought back to when Noah and Zeke were first teaching me how to play the position. "You guys had only shown me videos of professionals so it's harder to relate compared to this."
"That's true, I guess." Noah glanced at our replacements as they came into the dugout. "You could probably ask John for tips, but it's a little bit tricky since you took his starting spot. And you're the underclassmen. Well, we can always practice on our own or even have Zeke supervise. He's good at everything."
I nodded.
The sound of an aluminum bat hitting a ball grabbed our attention. We looked to the field just in time to see Garret's hit fall right before the center fielder. A single! Our first hit for the team. The guys in the dugout, including us, clapped and yelled some encouragements for Garret. He gave us a fist pump then went back to focusing on the game.
Chris was up next. He was one the guys who had grounded out to second base previously. This at-bat wasn't any better. In fact, it was worst since he hit into a double play, forfeiting our only baserunner thus far.
"He's probably rusty since he was benched all last week." Noah whispered to me, wiggling his eyebrows.
Does that make it my fault that he's not doing well at the plate? Nonetheless, I avoided eye contact with Chris and purely paid attention to the game. Kyle earned a walk, only for Kelvin to hit into a force out. The shortstop fielded the grounder to his second baseman, getting Kyle out to end the inning. Still 0-0.
Top of the sixth we go. Kyle was slow to take the mound since he was the last out, but that didn't mean it affected his pitching. If anything, he looked as strong as he did in the third. He held Shasta at zero as he struck out the first guy up, got the next one to pop up to second, then finished it out with another strikeout.
"This game is going by super quick." I told Noah. "Is this the first pitching duel we've had with another team?"
"What do you expect?" Noah shrugged with a sigh. "You and Zeke are the core of the offense. This must be what Coach wanted us to see. We obviously need to work on our hitting as a team."
As Noah was speaking, our offense was starting their attack again. Tony, John, and Daniel would lead us off. Tony was putting up a fight at the plate as Noah was just saying that we needed to work on our hitting. Just as he finished, Tony smashed a line drive down the left field line.
Everyone seemed to jump up off the bench at the same time as we watched the ball. It soared over the third baseman's head and even passed the left fielder, only to hit off the fence. A collective sigh could be heard, but it was quickly covered up with cheers for Tony, who made it to second base safely.
John accepted a sign for a bunt from Mr. Miller, the third base coach. He laid one down the first baseline, catching the infield by surprise. The first baseman rushed for it, but so did the pitcher. They met at the ball before one took the lead and snatched the ball up, but it was too late for them. Tony knew the bunt was coming and had taken a lead off second base and had safely reached third. John was also safe at first since no one covered for the first baseman who went to get the ball.
"If Julian has rushed up for the bunt, it would be your job to cover first." Noah told me. "The official scorekeeper will probably give John the bunt single, but that's honestly a mental error for the whole Shasta infield."
"I think we should practice this, if we get the chance." I thought for a second before elaborating. "This had never come up before. If this happened to us, we would probably have the same result."
Noah nodded in agreement. "We should definitely look over more challenging situations like this so you can be prepared for anything."
Daniel stepped up to the plate as Julian moved to the on deck circle. Daniel was given the sign to swing away, and runners were set to go on any kind of contact. Tony just had to watch for a fly ball. Daniel did his best to keep the ball on the ground, hitting a fast bouncer to the second baseman. The second baseman underhanded the ball to the shortstop at second base. He tagged the bag and threw to first. A 4-6-3 double play. Yet we were cheering because Tony scored. We gave up two outs but at least we finally had the lead.
"What would you do if you were that second baseman?" Noah asked as we calmed down and reclaimed our seats.
I shrugged. "The same thing? Get the two outs?"
"Maybe for this game that would be okay, but for a league game or an elimination game like in a tournament, it would probably be best to defend the plate. Especially when it's 0-0 like this."
"Didn't you get scolded before, for doing something like that? I'm pretty sure Zeke was adamant about getting the outs." I asked, unsure of what to believe.
Noah waved that off. "And I'm adamant about winning. For a game like this, sure, get the double play. But for a close elimination game, I think it's best to defend the run."
I gave it some thought. Noah wasn't wrong. Winning an elimination game would depend on where I would throw and what I would have to do. The only solution I could come up with for now, is to hope that it doesn't come to me in a situation like that.
"Ohhh!" A loud gasp reverberated around the dugout and stands. We turned to the field to find out what happened, only to see Julian hopping about.
"Hit by pitch." Noah mumbled as we watched Coach jog out and meet with Miller to hover over Julian.
Julian gestured at his foot and said something to the coaches. After a short talk, he leaned on the two of them as they walked him back to the dugout.
"Noah. Get a helmet on." Coach commanded. "You'll pitch run for Julian." Him and Miller set Julian on the bench.
Noah quickly pulled out his helmet and sprinted to first base. Mr. Miller went back out and headed back to the third base coach box as Mahki stepped up to bat.
Coach pulled out his phone as he stayed by Julian. It was obvious who he was calling. Drew. The athletic trainer. Some of the team tried to get close, but coach waved them off. "We still have an inning to go. Don't lose focus."
Mahki's at-bat didn't last long; he swung on the first pitch, sending a high fly ball down the right field line. Just as I was thinking it would be a foul, the right fielder sprinted over, chasing it down. He jumped up and caught the ball, landing on his shoulder. The third out to end the sixth.
Noah came back to the dugout, and switched out his helmet for his glove. "What do you want me to do Coach? Take first? Or go to short and move Daniel to first?"
Coach shook his head. He looked over Noah and spotted someone else. "Sean. You go cover first. Noah, sit back down." As the team started to move about and go to their positions, Drew snuck in and approached Julian and Coach. "Julian was hit on the foot by a pitch." He quickly explained to Drew before leaving the dugout to go tell the umpire of the player change.
Noah slumped back into his seat beside me. "How lame. I didn't get to do anything but wear a helmet for a few seconds."
"At least you didn't get hurt." I mumbled, keeping an eye on Drew as he conducted an exam on Julian. "Do you think he'll have to sit a game or two?"
"Nah. It just bounced off his foot. It might not even leave a bruise." Noah replied. "I just hope Kyle can close it out here, otherwise I'll be a little upset losing a chance to keep playing in the game."
We watched as Kyle got on the mound to start the seventh inning. If he could close them out here, we would get the win. It must be a lot of pressure, knowing he only has a one run lead. Unlike his usual insecure self, Kyle was poised to close it out. The first batter grounded out to Daniel at short. The next one struck out, swinging on three pitches.
Kyle faced the third batter with a fierce expression. Just one out away from a complete game. And it would be a one hitter. Kyle started his motion, going on the offensive as he threw his hardest down the middle. The batter returned in kind, swinging his bat and connected with the pitch. The ball flew right back to Kyle. As he had just finished his whole movement, he was facing towards first and didn't look ready to catch the line drive.
To my surprise, and to the surprise of the batter I'm sure, Kyle stuck out his left hand and caught the ball while facing the wrong direction. Everyone paused for a second, then as the umpire announced the game's final score of 1-0, everyone rushed to surround Kyle.
