At practice, Dave immediately set out to talk to Coach before warmups. They had a thorough discussion before he came back, looking slightly better than before. He participated in warming up, at least until we started to throw the ball. Since he couldn't currently throw, he joined Kelvin and Julian near the dugout. Drew was already there speaking with the two so I guess Dave was serious about getting training advice from him.
Halfway through practice, just as we were about to start bp (batting practice), Coach pulled me aside. "Jake, you're a great batter."
I felt my face flush. "Ah, thanks." I stammered.
"Since you're so good, why don't you use this time to practice something you aren't good at?" Coach smiled but I didn't feel comfortable. "You know what your weak points are, correct?"
I gave a slow nod.
"Your fielding can be worked on with Noah and Zeke at home. I can trust them to help you practice fielding and improve your arm strength." He continued. "Do you know what I'm getting at now?"
I glanced to the area Drew had taken over. He was working with Julian on some drill I've never seen before. Kelvin was just beside them, putting his whole arm in an ice chest. Dave wasn't visible, so he was probably sent on a run. I gulped as I looked back at Coach. "Do I have to?"
"The question shouldn't be 'have to'. It should be about want and need. You need to get better. Not because you're already behind in skills, but because you can improve this team. All on your own. Think about it. Who gets on base the most?"
"Zeke?"
"Nope. It's you!"
"It's me?!" I took an unsteady step back as I pointed at my face. "Me? Are you sure?"
He grinned and pulled out his phone. After tapping it a few times, he showed me the screen. "This is the league statistics. After every game the scorekeeper will submit the stats for each player and it'll get totaled up. I can select the stat and it'll give me a list from best to worst. I can filter so it's only our team. Tell me, who's at the top?"
I swallowed as I stared at the phone screen. "Me. But how! Zeke has more hits than I do! And he hits homeruns."
Coach laughed. "This is strictly on base percentage, or obp. It's how many times you reach safely and includes walks. That's why you're higher. If we look at slugging, then Zeke will be the team leader. Probably league leader as well."
Oh. "So I get on base more than Zeke?"
"Currently." He took back the phone. "Do you see where I'm going with this?"
I knew where he was going with this from the beginning, okay. He just made a more convincing argument for why I need to work on my base running. "You want me to work with Drew to help me get better." I carelessly kicked the grass under my foot.
"And?"
"So I can get better at running the bases."
"Trust me. This may seem like something small for now, but let me help you put this in perspective." He got on one knee and pulled out a pen and hand-sized notebook. He drew a little field and pointed at second base. "You're on second base. Two outs. Bottom of the ninth. Zeke is up to bat. We're down by one run. If Zeke can only hit a short single between the outfielders, you'll have to sprint to try and tie up the game. It might even come down to a slide."
"I've been able to score from second before." Especially off a hit from Zeke.
"Yes, but it's sloppy. Sloppy means you can make a mistake. I want to cut down on those mistakes. It's my job to make you into a better player. You in?"
I nodded obediently. This was for my own good. And for the good of the team. "I'll get better."
"Good." He patted my shoulder, reminding me a little of Mr. Atkins. "Go and see Drew. I've already told him what I want you to improve on."
I nodded once more and started to jog to Drew. Dave had come back and was drenched in sweat. My body involuntarily tensed up, knowing that I would look like that too once Drew was done with me.
Dave wiped his forehead sweat with the sleeve of his shirt and fixed his cap. He beamed at me as I made my way over to the group. "Coach convinced you?"
I nodded. "Compelling argument on why I should get better at base running."
"Oh? What was it?" Dave looked interested.
"I get on base the most." I told him honestly.
"Look at you, bragging to your seniors." Julian laughed. "You're turning into Noah."
"I didn't mean to!" I waved my hands around. "Coach told me and showed me on his phone. I thought Zeke would be number one!"
"So now you're bragging about beating Zeke?!" Kelvin joined in the teasing.
I looked to Drew for help. Drew laughed. "Okay, let's not pick on Jake too much. He might run away from me." He started pointing at different stations. "Kelvin here. Julian here. Dave, if you're finished with your five minute rest, go run laps for another thirty minutes. This time, keep count of how many laps you do."
The three older players scattered to their respective workouts.
"Now, you and I can have some fun." Drew smiled down at me even though he wasn't that much taller. I really did want to run away at the sight of his creepy smile, but I stuck with it. There's not much difference in running away and running the bases.
I comforted myself by thinking of this week's schedule. We have games Tuesday and Thursday so Drew could only train me on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.
Drew spent the afternoon with me, working on slides and speed training. He really focused on acceleration training, trying to get me to be fast in short distances. While I did the assigned drills, he would check in with the others and switch up their exercises.
It wasn't until Coach signaled the end of practice did I finally get to collapse. We did a cool down before Coach rounded us up for a small team meeting. He announced the lineup for tomorrow's game, giving Bryce the start on the mound. He was the only change compared to the last game's lineup; everyone else stayed where they were at in the batting order and for positions.
