As it so happens, the pitcher was lacking in control and I easily earned a walk without having to move my arms around too much. It hurt just to swing my arms as I jogged to first base. I rather run than have my arms be like this ever again.
As I got on first, Julian stepped up to bat. He sent a high, but short, fly ball to the left fielder for the first out. Mahki had more luck at the plate, hitting a short line drive over the second baseman's head, sending me to second.
Zeke comes up with one out and two on. In typical power-hitter fashion, he sent a line drive to the outfield with ease. I sprinted as fast as I could, tagging third and easily reached home to score the first run of the game. 1-0. Santa Fe was quick to get the ball back into the infield, holding Mahki at third and Zeke at second. I went back in the dugout to exchange gear in order to be ready for our next defense.
Sean, who sat on the bench last game with Noah and I, came up to the plate ready to swing. Mr. Miller signed for a hit and run, which means the runners would run at contact. Sean didn't let them down, and hit a hard grounder towards the shortstop, then took off for first. Mahki sprinted down the third baseline, scoring the second run of the game, 2-0. Zeke was too close to the shortstop so he was held at second. The shortstop threw to first to get Sean for the second out of the inning. Kyle ended our offense with a swinging strikeout, unable to touch anything.
To start the second inning, Kyle came out angry and aggressive, obviously not pleased with striking out in his own at-bat. He struck out the first two up with no problem, which was amazing since they were the cleanup hitters. Against the sixth overall batter, he gave up a short hopper that came my way.
I stumbled forward, trying to get my body in front of the ball like Zeke had taught me before. It took an awkward bounce, and hit high up on my arm instead of going into my glove. I hurried to grab it and threw to Julian at first, while still on my knees. But it was no use, the batter already made it safely. An error. On me.
"Jake!" Noah jogged over to me, pulling on my arm so I would stand up. "That was a tough play, don't mind."
I rubbed the spot where the ball hit my arm. "I'm sorry."
"What are you apologizing for?" Noah cracked a smile. "This is apart of baseball. Errors happen all the time, even in the major leagues. They average about one error a game. So just think to yourself, the error of this game is already done with. Nothing else to worry about."
"Are you guys done so I can get back to pitching?" Kyle grumbled as he got close to us.
I brushed the dirt off me and nodded. Then I looked him in the eye. "Sorry."
"What are you apologizing for?" Kyle oddly repeated what Noah said before. He got closer to me and pushed my cap over my eyes. "If I was a better pitcher, then that would have been strikeout number three. Just watch me get it back right now." He walked back to the mound.
I fixed my hat so I could see properly.
"See?" Noah smiled. "Even Kyle isn't mad at you. He's mad at himself for not getting that third straight strikeout." He patted my shoulder. "Refocus." He jogged off back to his spot.
I rubbed my arms. Between getting hit by the ball and Noah's pat, they were really aching. I'll need another ice bath when I get home. I moved back and got into position for the next batter.
Kyle faced him with the same aggression as the first two batters. This time, sending him away with a looking strikeout for a hard earned strikeout number three to end their half of the inning.
We all moved to the dugout to get ready for the bottom of the second inning. I sat down by my bag and put on my helmet, since I might have the chance to get up again. Noah switched gear and headed to where the entrance was since he was in the hole and would definitely get to bat.
"That'll be ten laps." Zeke said from the side, making me flinch. I didn't pay attention to my surroundings and he caught me off guard. "Ten laps for every error recorded. Mental errors will be five."
I looked up at him with a sad expression, already thinking about my future laps. "How do we classify mental errors?"
Zeke cracked a smile. "Up to my discretion." Then he walked away to speak with the coaches.
"Wow! Look at you pout!" Kyle flopped down next to me. "Just a few weeks ago, we were thinking you were a robot with only set emotions."
I turned my pout his way.
"Don't look at me like that. Makes me feel like I kicked a puppy or something. I just came over to cheer you up."
I brightened up. "You'll run my laps?"
Kyle burst out laughing. "No way. I was just going to remind you that if you have laps to do, you won't have to do the wheelbarrow training."
I nodded thoughtfully. That makes sense. I rubbed my arm where the ball hit. I'm sure it wouldn't hurt this much if I wasn't sore to begin with.
Kyle noticed my actions. "Does your arm really hurt? It's not like a line drive hit you. Might just be a bruise."
"I've had worse." I shrugged, looking away to focus on our team's offense.
Kyle didn't say anything else. Or maybe he didn't know what else to say. My mom was like a demon living in the shadows, always there but not always noticeable.
Kyle stayed beside me as we watched the game. Kelvin grounded out to second. Chris flew out to center field. I moved to the on deck circle as Noah got up to the plate. Unfortunately, he ended the second inning with a strikeout. We went back to the dugout together to grab our gloves.