All of us were back in the dugout which was filled with excitement as Sean was stepping up to bat.
"That was just way too cool!" Noah joined me at our bags after going to congratulate Mahki. "I want to be able to do that some day!"
I tilted my head. "Hit a home run or to be able to turn it into a grand slam?" I pulled out my glove and pushed my helmet away.
"Both! Of course, it'll take some time and training." He sat down beside me. "It's not like Zeke was cranking out home runs all the time his freshmen year. Well…he could do it occasionally. But he was taller than I am at this age." He pouted. "Maybe a little more muscular too. I've gotta start lifting weights."
That'll be a no from me. I shook my head. I would never want to lift weights again. The first and only time was traumatic to the max. Plus… "Power isn't the most important."
Noah looked me in the eye. "Oh? Insight from the young batting prodigy himself? Please advise me!"
I looked at his eager face, seeing that he was dead serious. "I've been thinking about it for awhile." At least I've been thinking about it since the confrontation on the bus. "I think the most important thing when it comes to batting is contact."
His face fell. "Oh." He lost the pep he had before. Maybe because he's been making contact half the time but still getting out.
"The second most important thing should be placement. Contact doesn't matter if it's a pop out every time, right?"
Noah perked back up. "Go on."
"Another important trait for a hitter would be speed."
"The speed of the bat? What? Why?"
I shook my head. "No. Speed. Like how fast you run. Look at me… I can hit well, but I never go to second. Because I'm not fast enough. And I suck at sliding."
"Yea, you really suck." He stuck his tongue out at me.
I rolled my eyes. "Do you want to hear what I'm thinking or not?"
"Please!" He switched back to his obedient look.
"Well, you know how you've been working on hitting grounders instead of flying out or striking out?"
"I try. Even though it hasn't been working out."
"And you're fast. Almost the fastest on the team."
"Yea, I know." He bragged.
I stopped and stared at him.
"Oops, sorry, continue please." He folded his hands and put them in his lap, putting on an act of being well-behaved.
I took a deep breath. "As I was saying, you're fast, and even when you hit a grounder to an infielder, it's always pretty close. So what if you could shave off a half, or maybe even full, second?"
"I would be able to make it depending on the fielder and the throw, but how could I become a second faster?"
"Hit from the left-handed box. That would put you closer to first. And, when you finish swinging, it'll put you in a good position to sprint to first."
There was a moment of silence between us. We were sound surrounded by groans as Sean had struck out swinging.
"Your advice…" Noah started. "Is for me to become a lefty? Are you joking?"
"Not a real lefty. Just bat lefty."
"Jake…I'm not like you. I haven't been hitting switch all of middle school. Heck, I don't think I've ever even taken a fake stance to be a lefty. I don't know where my hands would go, what my swing should look like, or anything like that."
"Just be your own reflection." I told him.
Noah shook his head. "You're crazy. That's horrible advice. Who knows how long I would have to practice for the swing to be even usable in a high level game like this. I'd probably be even worse."
Oh. "Forget it then. It was just a thought." I mumbled. "I don't really know how else to help you. Maybe Zeke can." After all, Zeke would know way more than me.
"Yea. I'll have to have a talk with him and Coach about what I should do at the plate. Nothing's working." He let out a sigh and slouched on the bench.
I heard a 'ding' and soon the dugout got loud as they cheered. I looked and saw Jason running the bases. Wait. Jason?
I looked around and saw Chris sitting by himself with a gloomy expression. He must have been pulled and Jason was his pinch hitter.
I looked back to the field where Jason was. He had stopped at second as the ball was returned to the pitcher. A standup double. I clapped along with the rest of the guys. In my opinion, I thought he was better than Chris. Not just because I like his attitude more, but also because he had a better batting average with the same level of fielding skill as Chris.
Too bad Coach didn't have a pinch hitter for Tony. He was never really good at the plate so it was hard for me to see why he was on the team. For his glove? Wouldn't there be better outfielders on the lower levels? Or maybe we were stuck since Sean had to play first with Julian still being sat. I don't know. It's not like I could judge with my questionable fielding and decision making and sliding and running and…the list can probably go on.
Tony grounded out to the second baseman ending our offensive. But we got some runs in so I didn't see the need to worry. At least-not until I took the field with Noah and the other field player and realized that we didn't have a pitcher or catcher come out.
Coach came out and spoke with the umpire about the substitutions. Soon, Dave came out of the bullpen, and had jogged to the mound. That wasn't as shocking as seeing a teammate run out of our dugout in full catcher's gear to the mound. We had a third catcher? I squinted. Bryce. It was Bryce.
I looked to Noah. Only to see him walking to the mound already. I soon realized that Sean and Jason were doing the same thing. Even Coach, who had finished talking to the ump, was going to the mound. I quickly jogged in as well so I wouldn't be the only one left out.
"I'm not going to lie to you guys, I haven't played catcher since fourth grade." Bryce flat out stated while adjusting his chest protector. He fiddled with all the straps trying to get it all to fit together. "I don't even know the signs. For pitching or fielding."
"That's on me." Coach arrived. "I didn't think we would go through both catchers in one game." His frown seemed permanent. "We'll have to make do with what we got for the next two innings. Bryce, you have good reaction speed and skill, I chose you because I know you won't let a pitch pass by easily. You also have a strong enough arm to throw out a runner if needed."
Dave held his glove up in front of his face to speak up. "It would have been better if Garret was still pitching. He had faced the lineup twice so he would know what to throw. I'm practically going in blind. Bryce doesn't know anything either."
Bryce shrugged, also helpless.
"Also on me." Coach said firmly but still held his calm demeanor. "I took him out thinking of preserving him, but I didn't think it would bite me back so soon. Between Jordan benching himself and Kelvin getting hurt, we're in a tight spot. But we have breathing room. A four run lead. Dave, throw what you can. If you don't know what to do, look to the dugout and I'll give out some signs."
Every one of us looked skeptical. Basically our game plan was: wing it.
"Are you throwing some pitches for warmup or not? You have ten seconds." The umpire approached our cluster.
"Look for me." Coach told us before going back to the dugout.
Sean, me, Noah, and Jason all got off the mound and walked a few feet back to give Dave some room to throw a few pitches to Bryce.
"Be on your toes." Noah told all of us. "Anything close, try your best to make a stab at it. I can already feel that this inning won't be a good one."
The three of us had nothing else to add. We were left without a senior to take control so it was up to Noah to command the infield. Jason was the oldest as a junior but he played even less than the three of us. Sean was a sophomore, yet this was also his first year on varsity. As for me, there's nothing to say. I couldn't compare to Noah when it came to fielding.
