I moved to the cubby that held the equipment. "Is it really okay to use whatever is here? Doesn't this belong to the team?""Sure!" Shawn came over and Noah followed. "All of this is spare equipment from the players past and present. Not everyone wants to wear out their favorite gear. Especially when hours of practice will age your equipment pretty quickly.""What a nice life college students live." Noah sighed as we looked at all the leftover gear. "I couldn't imagine having so much extra baseball equipment, that I could just leave it out for others or even leave it behind."I shot him a disbelieving look, that he didn't catch. This is the same kid that let me use his old cleats that were still in an okay condition. Noah had plenty of equipment. "Not everyone is the same." Shawn said. "Some just have supportive families that can afford all the extras. Others have a scholarship to rely on. And then there are some with part time jobs on top of school and baseball, just to have the best for their game." He pulled out one of the smallest helmets and slapped it on my head. "Here, this won't be too big on you."I adjusted it so my ears didn't fold. What a brute. I looked over the bat choices. In college, they could still use aluminum bats, which filled the container. I peeked around, not even daring to touch one. "This one would be the lightest." Shawn pulled out an aluminum bat that was silver with green writing. "It looks a little long, but this would probably suit you best."I shook my head and took a step back as he held the bat out to me. He frown and pushed it to making me flinch. Noah intercepted, snatching the bat away. He forcefully put it away, then glared at Shawn. "Jake doesn't like aluminum bats. Stop being so pushy.""Pushy? I was helping." Shawn didn't like the attitude Noah showed. Dave joined us to explain. "Jake only uses wooden bats.""That's a waste." Shawn shook his head. "You should obviously use a bat more suited to your stature. He's tiny with such thin arms. Wood bats are heavier and they don't have as much power."Noah was about to stand up for me, but Dave beat him to it. "Jake won't touch an aluminum bat. Stop asking. And stop forcing it. It's not like it affects you in any way. If you don't want to give him a wooden bat, that's fine, we'll just go back to the offices to rejoin our parents." Dave stood firm in his decision. Kyle and Noah stood side by side, nodding in agreement. Shawn's eyebrows furrowed. "Fine. Whatever. No need to be so defensive. Just grab any wood bat you'd like. I'm just saying, they're going to be heavier than you think." He gave a helpless shrugged and moved to the station Nick was setting up."Thanks.." I mumbled to the trio of brothers that stood up for me, knowing that I would panic if that bat touched me. "Sure thing!" Dave lightened up. He gave my shoulder a pat. "Choose what you want. Don't care too much about what he said, you're already great at the plate anyways." He gave a nod of reassurance before joining Shawn by the netting. "I'm sure you'll impressed them more than we could. Don't hold back." Kyle grinned at me before joining his twin.Noah was busy pulling out the few wooden bats he could find as his brothers spoke to me. He presented me with four choices. "This is all I could find. I didn't want you to have to dig around and move the bats yourself."Because he knew that I wouldn't. Noah understood my fear to even touch an aluminum bat, let alone hold one. Even during games, when the batter before me would get a hit or walk, and would toss his bat to the dugout, I wouldn't be the one to bring it back in. I would studiously ignore it and dodge it as I walk up to the batters box. Someone else would have to come out of the dugout to get it out of the way. Which makes me wonder if Noah or one of the other Atkins boys had said something to coach and the rest of the team. No one ever got mad at me for not helping.My thoughts didn't slow me down in picking a bat. I lifted each one and took one practice swing to find what I was most comfortable with. Shawn said they were heavier than the aluminum bats, but I've been using my bat for a month now and was accustomed to it. I found the bat with the most similar balance and decided to use it. It's not like it had to be perfect. It was just the cages. Noah and I joined the others. "You don't need any batting gloves? It'll tear up your hands." Shawn looked down at the bat in my hands. I shook my head and directly passed him to get in their batting cage. Nick stood behind the protective netting with the pitching machine. He loaded it up before looking at me. "What speed do you want to start with?"I thought about it. Normally I go from really slow to really fast to get properly warmed up, but it's not like I plan to hit for a long time. Just a couple of swings. "Let me try out the random setting please." I had never done something like that off a machine so it should be fun. Maybe even close to a real game like scenario against a pitcher. As Nick changed the settings, I took some practice swings with my left out of habit. Anytime that I think I need a hit now, I automatically start swinging as a lefty. Being ambidextrous was one of my early advantages, but lately I felt that my left has received more attention and practice. "Ready! It'll spit out 20 pitches so don't step over the plate and accidentally get hit." Nick explained as he pushed the button and the pitching machine roared to life. He moved to the side where the netting was thicker so he wouldn't accidentally get hurt.I stepped on the lefty's side and waited with my bat back and elbow up. This should be fun. The first pitch came out at an extremely fast speed, barely giving me time to swing my bat with precision. Instead I just barely hit a grounder right back at the machine. Wow. First pitch was 90mph right away. I reset my position to prepare for the next pitch. The machine whirred and spat out another pitch, this time around 70mph. I was patient and swung the bat, connecting perfectly with the pitch. The hit was a line drive right near the machine.The machine made a similar sound as it prepared to spit out another ball. The pitch came at 85mph, significantly faster than the last pitch, but not as fast as the first one. I stepped, swung, hit a line drive to the same spot. I frowned as the machine was ready to shoot me another pitch. Then I let out a sigh.
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