With the game taking up most of the afternoon and early evening, there wasn't much time for anything else besides homework and dinner after getting back to the house.
Friday, most of our classes had tests or quizzes so it we weren't assigned very much homework which made us a pair of happy freshmen. At least…until practice.
Coach wasn't kidding when he said we would have a rough practice before the weekend. He made us work on every aspect of a game before calling it a night. He kept us as long as he could before getting close to the maximum hours practice time. We were diving in the dirt and rolling in the grass. Coach was adamant about making sure we were trying our best to be prepared for Monday's game against Servite.
After practice he gathered around for one of his famous mini-speeches on being the best player we could be, even in our off time. This only inspired Noah to lead us in a more intensive ab workout once we got home since "we won't practice tomorrow!" …I just followed along. It helped knowing that a stronger core would lead to balance and more power.
Saturday morning, Mrs. Atkins prepared a giant breakfast selection before heading off to work with her husband.
"Here's some snack and drink money." Mr. Atkins handed a couple of bills to Zeke. "You're taking all of them?"
Zeke looked to the twins for confirmation.
Dave was the first to nod.
Kyle, on the other hand, hesitated. "Well…it's only optional, right?"
Zeke's eyes narrowed.
Kyle looked to his dad for help.
Mr. Atkins laid a hand down on Zeke's shoulder. "If it's optional, then you don't have to go. What else do you have planned?" He looked at Kyle with a friendly expression.
Kyle, feeling more comfortable with his dad holding Zeke back, brightened up. "Well..Marie also has the day off from practices and whatnot, so I was going to spend the day with her. If you want to spare some money for us, I won't object!"
Mr. Atkins laughed, let go of Zeke and pulled out his wallet. He handed Kyle a $20 dollar bill. "Be good. Stay safe. Since Zeke will be taking the car, is she coming to get you?"
Kyle pocketed the money and nodded. "Yep! I'll text her when you all leave."
Mr. Atkins paused for a second. Then he looked him in the eyes. "She's not allowed in the house alone with you, understand?" He said, sternly.
Kyle rolled his eyes. "Yes, Dad. I know the rules."
"That hasn't stopped you from breaking them before." Mr. Atkins laughed. He said his final goodbyes to us and followed his wife out the door for work.
With their parents gone, an awkward silence fell over the table. Well, maybe only awkward for me and Kyle, because the other three seemed to be giving him the silent treatment purposely.
Zeke was the first to speak up as we neared the end of breakfast. "Let's hit the road. Bryce and Brian said they needed rides."
"Oh, we're giving the sophomores a ride?" Dave asked, interested. They both got up and dumped their dishes in the sink and rinsed them, leaving me and Noah with Kyle.
Kyle looked slightly stressed once he heard that we were picking up the two sophomore pitchers. He looked towards us. "How mad do you think Zeke and Dave are?"
Noah suddenly got up and headed for the kitchen with his dirty dishes.
Kyle looked even more guilty. He turned to me next. "Jake?"
I glanced to the kitchen, but unlike the other three, I didn't have the guts or attitude to ignore Kyle and give him the silent treatment. I also wasn't as upset as his brothers so it didn't make sense for me to shun him as well. "Yea?" I answered in a low voice.
He sighed with relief. "I'm glad you aren't mad too. They're just being childish." He scolded, looking upset.
I poked some of the scrambled eggs on my plate. I didn't think his brothers were being childish. "I think they're just serious about baseball." Baseball was number one in their thoughts after all.
"Yea, but there's more to life than high school baseball." Kyle said seriously. I couldn't tell if he was trying to convince me or himself.
The only thing I could do, was shrug. I didn't know what else to do beside watch some baseball with Noah. Currently, that is my life and I like it. It definitely beat out what I used to do on the weekends. Maybe because Kyle had a girlfriend, he had different thoughts on the matter.
"Jake! Hurry up!" Noah called for me.
I gave Kyle a tight smile before taking my dirty dishes to the kitchen.
The four of us were soon packed into the car, driving away from Kyle.
It was quiet for a little while, but soon, with Brian and Bryce joining us, the conversation picked up. Luckily the two could tell not to bring up the missing twin. They just played dumb and the topic was quickly set on the game we were going to watch.
"We need Servite to win right?" Brian asked, leaning forward to make sure Zeke heard him.
Zeke gave a slight nod.
"It's because we couldn't score more against Golden West." Noah sighed. "Even though we have a tie record with them, we would lose the run differential. But if they lose to Servite today, that puts us in a favorable position for Monday's game."
"Yea but if Servite wins by a lot, they'll be in a favorable position too." Dave sighed. "We only beat Servite by one as well. Same goes for Golden West. So if they win today by two, they'll only need to beat us by two."
My head started to hurt. "But if they beat Golden West, and then we beat them, we'll win league?"
"Exactly!" Bryce bounced in his seat happily. "Everything else is just so extra. Don't bother thinking too hard about it. Just think of this as another opportunity to scout Servite."
"Will Sanchez pitch today?" Noah asked.
"Possibly." Zeke answered. "Maybe they'll keep him on a limited pitch count this time though. Brady won't be able to pitch today since he did so on Thursday."
"But if Sanchez stays under 50 pitches, he'll only need to rest on Sunday." Dave sighed. "We could possibly see him on Monday."
I let out a small smile.
"Hey!" Noah shoved me a little. "I saw that! You don't find him to be a problem at all, do you?"
"Neither does Zeke!" I quickly defended myself.
The car started to fill with laughter, lightening the atmosphere.
