I yawned for the hundredth time after waking up an hour ago. Like Coach had demanded, the team was gathered in the clubhouse by 6:50am. Most of them looked wide awake like Noah, bouncing around, tying their cleats, and tucking in their jerseys. Very few were like me: slumped in a seated position, barely keeping eyes open.
After a quick look around, I realized I was the only one like me.
"C'mon Bambi! Rise and shine!" Garret squirted water from the bottle at me. It splashed my face, but I was too tired to wipe it off so I decided to let it air dry.
"Leave him alone." Noah stuck up for me and stood in front of me to defend more water coming my way. "Jake isn't a morning person."
"Not even for baseball?" Garret questioned.
"He's still getting used to it. We've been waking early for games most of our lives. We can't say the same for Jake." Noah explained rationally.
I was touched. But…he wasn't exactly right.
"Jake is like this every morning on the way to school." Dave came over and stood beside Garret. "So it's not just games. He's not a morning person period." Ah, Dave might know me better than Noah. At least, in this aspect.
I didn't like waking up. Sleep was comforting. It was safe. Nothing existed there. Even nightmares could be forgotten most of the time.
"He'll wake up once we get going." Noah said.
"He better." Zeke stood tall among the group. He made eye contact with me. "If I catch you slacking off for even a second, don't think that I won't make you run 25 laps." 25 laps? 5 laps equal 1 mile. So that would be 5 miles? That would be 5 miles!
I quickly sat up straight and patted my baseball bag. "I'm ready!"
The guys nearby all laughed at my eagerness. It wasn't until Coach came in, did everyone quiet down. He looked around the room to see everyone already had their cleats on and most were already in their jerseys except for those who wore a sweatshirt because of the cold. Like me.
"Good. Glad to see you boys up and ready to go. It won't be easy today." Coach stated. "OLU puts together a solid team every year, and this year is no different. They haven't lost a game yet this season."
"That's not fair…we only lost to a big school like University Prep." Noah rebuffed. "We'd be undefeated too if we only played crappy teams."
"Then give them their first lost." Coach pumped his fist. "Give them a taste of the pain we've already felt and a little bit extra for last year's loss."
"YEA!" The team cheered together with the exception of me. Not because I didn't want to join in, but because I didn't know that was something they would do.
"Good." Coach nodded while pulling out a sheet of paper from his back pocket. "I've got the lineup ready so listen up."
The team went silent, eager to hear who'll play.
1 SS Noah Atkins
2 2B Jake Hollander
3 LF Mahki Holstrom
4 CF Zeke Atkins
5 1B Julian Wilson
6 3B Jason Morris
7 RF Sean Isner
8 C Kelvin Bender
9 P Theo Hixson
More or less the same in my opinion. Coach would switch it up occasionally, but I've been feeling that the first five have been pretty consistent.
"Coach." Julian spoke up, moving closer to him with an obvious limp. "Actually, after the doubleheader on Saturday, my foot started to hurt more than it originally did. I think I'll have to sit this one out." He glanced around. "Sorry guys."
Some nearby teammates clapped him on the back and asked for more details on what hurt and how it got re-injured.
Julian could only shake his head and shrug his shoulders. "I'm not sure myself. My parents already scheduled me an appointment this afternoon with a podiatrist."
Another round of consoling only dampened the atmosphere.
"Brian Swoope." Coach narrowed in on the sophomore, who has experience in pitching and playing in the outfield. "You'll bat fifth and play first. Any questions?"
Brian jumped up. "Okay!" Then he scratched his cheek. "But…I don't have a first baseman's glove."
"You can use mine." Julian volunteered. He limped to his bag, dug around and pulled out his glove. He then handed it over to Brian.
"I didn't know first baseman's had different gloves than everyone else." I whispered to Noah.
Noah shrugged. "Not like it matters to you. Or me. Just throw to him when you get the ball. Who cares about his glove."
"The person playing first would obviously care." Dave snorted. "You brats are as ignorant as always."
"I am not!" Noah argued.
Zeke was quick to step between them. "Stop fighting. It's about time to go warmup." He raised his voice for Coach and the team to hear. "Let's show OLU the future league champions!"
"YEA!" The team hollered out in unison once more, regaining some of the earlier energy.
We grabbed our bags and moved them to the dugout, prepping them for warmups and the game. After grabbing our gloves, we followed Zeke to the outfield to jog and stretch. On the other side, OLU was already in the process of warming up, showing that they were just as serious as we are this morning.
