Julian ran around the bases, greeting Chris at home plate with a double high five. I stood on the on deck circle, with my hand held high for him. Julian came by after picking up his own bat, then slapped my hand as hard as he could, making it throb. But his smile wasn't something I could bare to frown at, so I grinned through the pain.
Julian then headed into the dugout, where shouts and slaps could be heard even in the stands. I didn't bother taking practice swings in the circle, and instead focused on what the pitcher had left in the tank after giving up that home run. Chris tried his hardest in the box, but that made him look sloppy and out of whack. Kind of what I imagined myself to look like in my last at bat. Chris tried to recreate Julian's swing, and even got under the ball to give it the height. But it didn't have the distance. It flew right to the center fielder for the second out.
He dragged his bat and himself back to the dugout not even sparing me a glance or a glare. I didn't mind. I just moved to my lefty's box and dug in.
"Look at who's back, the little freshie who finally hit into his first out. That's pretty great kid." The catcher started chatting as he squatted into position. His words sounded like they were complimenting me, but the tone was definitely mocking.
Just tune him out, I reminded myself. Focus on the pitcher, his fingers, and time the swing with his release. I didn't waste any time or any pitch like beforehand. The first pitch was low, but I liked it enough to swing at it, and sent it right up the middle. I dropped the bat and sprinted to first, I rounded the bag but saw that the center fielder was already throwing it in to second base so I stayed on first.
I could hear Noah cheering for me as he moved to the on deck circle and Mahki came up to bat. I peeked over and he gave me a thumbs up. I smiled, happy that I didn't let that catcher distract me. Sadly, my happiness didn't last. Mahki continued to struggle at the plate and sent a weak grounder to the second baseman, who easily threw him out. 3-1, bottom of the fifth we go.
Top of the fifth started near Sunset's bottom of the lineup players, which Garret had shutdown before, but now he began to struggle. He walked the seventh batter and followed up by letting the eighth batter hit a single. With runners on first and second, no outs, I started to panic. A home run could take away our lead. I kicked at the dirt, trying to keep my anxiety in check.
"Slow it down, Garret!" Noah yelled out. "Take your time, no rush."
Garret looked extremely tensed in the shoulders, but he didn't snap back at Noah. He just got set once more to face their number nine batter. He took a few deep breaths, checked the runners to make sure they weren't trying to steal, then he started his motion. I don't know if his pitches got sharper or if the number nine batter is just that bad, but he whiffed on three straight pitches. Strikeout.
Now back to the top of the lineup. Garret hadn't given anything up to the leadoff guy, but has given up a double to the number two. A double play would be great. Or back to back strikeouts.
Garret's pitches continued to be sharp, but with a better batter in the box, he was able to distinguish the difference between balls and strikes. With a 2-2 count, the leadoff batter swung at an outside fastball, just barely hitting the ball with the end of his bat. It was a sharp grounder heading between first and second. Julian was close to first to keep the runner near the bag, so I was the closest one to go for it. I sprinted over, stretching out, landed in the dirt, but I at least stopped the grounder from going to the outfield. Without thinking, I transferred the ball to my right hand and threw to Julian on first, from my knees.
Julian tagged first, getting the batter out, then threw his hardest to Noah at second base. It was close. We waited for the umps call.
"Safe!"
Noah shook his head in disappointment, but then collected himself and made sure the runner that made it to third base didn't try to sneak home.
So no double play. I sighed and steadied myself on my feet. Noah took the ball to Garret on the mound and surprisingly Julian came over to me.
"Don't beat yourself up over it. That was a nice stop and we at least got one more out." Julian patted my shoulder.
I flicked some of the dirt off me. "But we could have gotten a double play if I was faster. Or if I had a stronger arm. Or if I threw it to Noah at second instead." I sighed again.
Julian let out a laugh. "Why are you trying to be a perfectionist? Just think, if you didn't stop the grounder, the score could have easily been 3-2 or even 3-3. You made a smart decision and got the for sure out. When I was younger, I had a coach that told me 'play the way you face' and it's not bad advice for newbies."
I wanted to argue that I've could have done more, but Julian was already jogging back to his position. I glanced over and saw that Noah was also in position and Garret had been waiting on us. I felt the blood rush to my face, so embarrassing.
Garret didn't seem to mind, he merely gave me a nod and then faced the next batter. The one who had hit a double off of him at the beginning of the fourth inning. Garret didn't even look like he remembered. He treated him the same as every other batter: strike him out. Garret started throwing some pitches, starting with his cut fastball that came inside on righty's. The batter let them passed for called strikes until he couldn't anymore. He fouled an extra two before Garret gave him an outside fastball like he did for the last batter.
The batter reached for it and sent a grounder to almost the same spot. I started to move for it, but Julian was able to cut it off since he didn't have to hold any runner at the first base bag. He grabbed the ball and threw to Garret who ran over to cover first base. Last out to end the fifth inning. Still 3-1. What a relief.