I continued to hit every pitch, fast and slow, back towards the machine as a line drive. Besides the first pitch that surprised me, the rest really weren't that hard. In fact...it was too easy. Not interesting like I had thought before. After my 20, I headed out of the netting and rejoined the Atkins boys.
"Great job, Jake!" Dave slapped my back, forcing me forward.
"I think you may be more related to Zeke than we are." Kyle laughed. "No one else can hit so consistently like you two."
I blushed. It's not like they didn't have a chance to be like Zeke. The twins focused all of their attention on pitching. Plus Noah was more talented at fielding, but he wasn't bad at the plate. I looked at Noah to see if he was offended by Kyle's comment since I knew he wanted to surpass Zeke one day.
Noah tilted his head at me. "You don't look satisfied."
I blinked in surprise. Then glanced at the two college players beside us. I didn't want to seem cocky...except... "It wasn't a real challenge." I shrugged helplessly.
Shawn frowned, but Nick didn't reveal any different expression. "Why not?" He asked, not sounding or looking upset.
I looked at Noah and he gave me a nod to say that it would be okay. I needed that kind of confirmation just in case I would upset these men that were taller and stronger. "There are two things that made it easy. The first was the location of the pitch. Even though the speed would vary, the location wouldn't. If I know the location, that cuts down the difficulty in half."
Shawn's frown deepened. "So what. With a varying speed, that should have at least thrown you off."
"Yea..." I mumbled. "It should have. But, the machine was too loud."
"The machine?"
"The pitching machine makes a certain noise when it's getting ready to shoot the pitch out." I explained. "The noise gets louder when it's a fast pitch because it needs more speed itself before sending the ball. So when it slowed down, I would have to be patient. But when it got a little louder, I knew I had to be ready to swing to match the fast speed. All of that plus knowing the exact location it would come to, made it easy."
The cages filled with silence. No one spoke and the breathing was barely audible. After two long, awkward minutes, I shuffled my feet away from the group to the cubby. I put away the helmet and bat, before facing them, uncertain of what they were thinking.
Noah was the first to return to normal. He pounced on me, jumping around excitedly. "Wow. Too cool! A random pitching machine can't even throw you off!"
Ah, compliments are so embarrassing and hard to accept. I tried to brush it off. "I'm sure Zeke could do the same. And the first pitch did throw me off so it's not like I'm completely perfect. Pitching machines are only good for practice."
"Look at you, comparing yourself to a monster like Zeke?!" Kyle laughed.
Dave joined in the laughter. "And only one of his hits wasn't a line drive and he has the nerve to claim he isn't perfect. We definitely have a mini monster on our hands."
Nick nodded in agreement. "What a rare talent! And only a freshman too. That alone could prove why you deserve to be on your varsity team regardless of your questionable fielding. Even college players will struggle with the randomization setting on their first try."
"Yea, but just because you're good in the cages doesn't always mean it'll translate to real game scenarios." Shawn snorted, no longer happy as he was in the bullpen. He even killed the excitement of the Atkins and made me feel a little more embarrassed. "Pitchers can choose location, speed, and pitch type. Then there are other factors that could come into play to give a pitcher more advantages."
It finally dawned on me why Shawn wasn't very happy with my performance. He's a pitcher. No doubt my show of batting's skills lit up his competitive spirit. "Yea." I conceded. "I'm not perfect in games either."
"But pretty darn close!" Noah added, also picking up on Shawn's attitude, but not caring. "Jake hasn't been struck out this season so far. And he's safely reached base at least twice in every game he's started."
Shawn was about to come back with another challenging remark, but Nick stepped in before it could escalate. "Shawn, just accept that Jake has some good batting skills. It was smooth and solid and didn't show any obvious flaws. It's not like you're pitching against him. And you won't be. He's a freshman in high school." He emphasized the last sentence.
Shawn let out a breath of air that seemed to also release his anger or whatever it was. He gave me a light smile. "You do have a good swing. Very well balanced. And as a lefty, you won't be at a disadvantage against left handed pitchers."
"He's not a lefty." Noah replied, matter of fact. "He throws right, but can bat switch."
Shawn and Nick even looked more impressed.
"I am slightly better with my left now though. I think." I told them. "I've been only batting from the left lately so my right might not be up to the same level."
"Wow." Nick let out. "You lot are definitely impressive. From Zeke, down to the youngest. Your high school is very lucky to have you all. No doubt creating a dynasty."
"Ehh, it's not that amazing." Dave started to feel a little embarrassed, joining me in that department. "League just started, but we definitely have high hopes. Making it to CIF is the goal after all."
"With the five of you all on one team, I can't imagine how other high schools must feel." Shawn shook his head. "I wish I had a big family like that."
Me too.
After filling us up with more compliments, it was time for us to go. Nick and Shawn had received texts from their coach, demanding that they bring us back. All six of us walked as a group, leaving the big stadium behind and headed towards the office area where we had last seen Zeke and the parents.
We joined them and the coach, while Shawn and Nick headed off in different directions as they still had classes to attend before practice. The Stanford coach was the one to give us an official tour of the school and was well informed. Even more so than Nick, who had given brief introductions before.