Bottom of the sixth inning, Noah, me and Sean would get to start on the offense. I took a seat next to Noah and studied his movements to make sure he wasn't hurt as we put on helmets.
He caught me looking and laughed. "Seriously Jake? It's no biggie. This happens often in games. I'll show you some clips later."
"It's nice that you can laugh it off." Chris snorted as he passed us to sit on the other end of the bench. "If some idiot took that long to get me the ball, I would have just let the runner be safe. Why should I risk an injury? So I could sit out a few weeks like Jason?" He scoffed.
The dugout got eerily quiet. My eyes widened and looked at Noah once more.
Noah frowned as he stood up. "You got something to say Chris?"
Chris stopped and turned to face him with ten feet in between. "I already said it, but I'll clarify it for you and the kid. Jake is too slow. He could get by on the easy stuff, but with a hard grounder he'll take too long and you'll get hurt. Unlike you, I won't put up with that crap. A loss is better than a season-ending injury." He glared at me. "What a —" Zeke stepped in front of him and he stopped mid sentence.
Zeke had his back to us so I couldn't see his expression, but with the silence of the dugout we could hear what he says. "Who is the captain on the team?"
Chris sneered. "So just because I'm not a captain, I can't tell the underclassmen what they're doing wrong?"
"If it was constructive criticism, I would have let it slide." Zeke's voice was devoid of any emotion. "But it's not. Tomorrow, twenty laps for you."
Chris glared, then smirked as his eyes looked for Coach. "Coach, Zeke is abusing his power of captain to protect his youngest brother and friend. How will you rectify this situation?"
Coach came over. "I agree with Zeke. Even if what you said was right, how you said it was wrong. Twenty laps. If you've got a problem with how we run things, you can drop down to JV for some games." He looked around. "Myers. Get your glove on. You'll be going in for Chris."
Daniel jumped up, with an incredulous expression. "I'll have to play third?"
Coach eyes narrowed. "Have to? No, you get to. If you don't want it, I'm sure someone else on the team would like to."
Daniel gulped. "No that's not what I meant." He put on his glove and started to do some stretches.
Coach spared Chris one last glance. "Sit down." Then he walked over to me and Noah. "Tomorrow you'll stay late to work on turning over all kinds of double plays. I don't want my players to get hurt." He looked down on Noah. "And I especially don't want players who don't know when to get out of the way." He nodded to us then went back to his spot to watch the game. "Get out there already."
We quickly got a move on. Noah hustled to the batters box and I stood in the on deck circle. Sean was in the hole, waiting by the entrance of the dugout.
"Hey. Jake." I turned to see Zeke calling me from beside Sean. "Come here."
I dragged myself over, scared he wanted to talk about my 'slow' fielding too.
"Do you want to hit?" He suddenly asked, surprising me. My jaw dropped but I nodded eagerly. "Okay. Go ahead. I think you'll find this pitcher interesting."
"I already find him odd." I added. "But Noah didn't think so."
"Watch his pitches closely. Maybe you'll want to foul some off so you can see more. But that'll be a risk for you. It might work against you and you could end up like the others."
"The others?" I tilted my head.
Zeke pointed past me. I turned in time to watch Noah strike out. "Just think. He hasn't given up a hit yet. This could be your first out."
"Should you be adding pressure to him like that?" Sean jumped in.
"It's no pressure." I scratched my cheek. "I only find him odd. Not really difficult. Interesting at best." I gripped my bat. "I'm going to go hit now." I left them and came face to face with Noah, who was coming back to the dugout.
"You get to hit?" Noah asked.
I nodded.
"What do you think you'll do?"
I shrugged. "A single most likely."
Noah nodded and patted my shoulder as we moved past each other.
I stepped in the lefty's box without a practice swing. The left fielder turned pitcher wasn't surprised. Or maybe he didn't remember what I hit before. He just got set and threw his first pitch, a fastball outside. Ball. He had something extra compared to the first pitcher. A fastball down the middle for a called strike. Not only did he throw faster, but he didn't have any breaking pitches. Ball. With a 2-1 count, he came after me with a fastball down the middle, I fouled it back. 2-2. He gave a smile as he got the ball back. Maybe he did have a breaking ball? I watched closely. He started his motion and the ball came out of his hand. It had movement. Not much, but it was going further down and a little away. So a two-seam fastball. Also known as a sinker. He mixed it well with his four-seamer. I remember reading that sinkers were used to get strikeouts and groundouts. I shouldn't disappoint. I swung and connected, sending a hard grounder between third and shortstop.
It squeezed between the two infielders and I safely reached first. Claps and cheers came from the stands, but no one could outdo Noah. He yelled the loudest and clapped the most. I turned red and tried to remain focused.
Sean moved up to the box and Zeke to the on deck circle. I looked to Mr. Miller for the sign. He signaled for me to lead off and run as soon as the ball was hit. Sean faced the pitcher and got in the lefty's box. The pitcher started off with a two-seamer, luring Sean to hit the same pitch as me. He did so, hitting a grounder right to the shortstop. I was sprinting as fast as I could, but it was no use. The shortstop tossed it to the second basemen, who tagged second base and threw to first.
"Out!"
"Out!"
I sighed along with the crowd. A double play. Zeke wouldn't get to come up again unless the other team tied the game up and forced us to bat in the seventh. I jogged back to the dugout and switched gear.
"Were you satisfied?" Zeke stood nearby.
I shrugged. "I guess. He used both a two-seam and a four-seam fastball. He uses the same motion and throwing mechanics but it doesn't hide the stitches."
Zeke raised an eyebrow. "You could see the stitches that clearly?"
I nodded, not understanding the significance. And Zeke said no more. We ran out onto the field with our teammates for the top of the seventh inning.