Noah and I rushed to get our helmets on, grabbed our bats, then stepped out of the dugout. Almost all before Zeke got in from the outfield. Noah was probably just excited to bat while I was nervous to face Zeke. It was only a few days ago, we were bragging about our theoretical practice and now here I am, getting an error in the first inning of an important game.
The pitcher for OLU was average height and average looks. His warmup pitches didn't have me concerned. Just gotta get it to the outfield.
Noah led us off, but his hitting struggles continued. Apparently yesterday's cages session couldn't improve his real life, real situation hitting. He struck out swinging, and was staring at his bat as he went back to the dugout, as if there were imaginary holes in it that he couldn't see.
I stepped into the lefty's box out of habit now. Bat back, elbow up, steady posture. My eyes were trained on the pitcher as he went through his motion. As the pitch came, it almost felt like it was in slow motion for me. Just barely in the 70's. I swung, making a solid connection with the ball, shooting it right over the middle...and right to the center fielder for a line out. Halfway to first, I let out a sigh and turned back. I picked up my dropped bat and went back to the dugout as well.
"You're too impatient." Coach shook his head at me as soon as I entered. "I get it. You messed up the throw earlier and wanted to prove yourself at the plate with something that you're good at."
I gave a nod. That's exactly what I wanted to do.
"You let your emotions leak too much into your play." Coach looked me in the eyes. "You have to be rational out there. Don't let outside forces influence what you're meant to do. We've talked about this before, haven't we?"
I nodded, feeling a little bit guilty. "I'm good at making the pitcher work."
Coach pointed to the guy on the mound. "With your one-pitch-at-bat, do you think that kid is sweating over it?"
I hung my head with shame.
A heavy hand patted my shoulder. "I'm not trying to make you feel bad. Just using this as a coaching moment. I don't care that you got out. It happens to everyone. My job is to challenge you. And I want you to challenge yourself. How many pitches do you think you can make him throw? Five? Ten? Even more?"
I looked up, feeling better but also a little worried. "I was told not to make them throw too many lest I get hit."
"You can't be afraid in the box. No matter what. It'll only make you shy away from the game. If you're worried about getting hurt, then your mind isn't on winning."
"Coach! Are you telling Jake to take one for the team?!" Noah appeared beside me, looking upset.
"No. I'm telling him to be smart. Know when to press on, and when to try and get a hit. Take a walk if you want. Only using up one pitch to get out isn't going to help the team any. Even if that was a hit, I'd be upset with you not making the pitcher work a little more."
Sudden hollering from the dugout made us look to the field to see what had happened. The baseball was in the dirt near Mahki's feet; he was rubbing his butt.
Noah laughed. "Took a pitch to the butt? That's the way to go!" He nudged me. "If you have to take a hit, definitely try and get it to hit the fattest part of you."
I fought back a laugh. I don't think it's funny that he got hit...just funny where he got hit. Mahki jogged to first and shared some words with Coach Luis, probably saying that he was okay. Hopefully. He stayed on first and Zeke stepped up to bat.
Coach sent us away and put his focus back on the game. I went back to my bag to put away my helmet and bat, and Noah followed.
"Don't listen to Coach, that was a good swing. It was just unlucky that it went straight to the center fielder." Noah tried to console me.
I let out a smile and repeated what he had said. "Don't listen to Coach?"
Noah looked around to make sure no one was eavesdropping before replying. "If he gets mad, just say 'sorry, my bad.' Coach isn't as tough as you think. As long as we win in the end, will it matter how it happened?"
I shrugged. I guess so.
We both watched on as Zeke did what I should have done at the plate: make the pitcher work. His total pitch count had easily reached 20 in the first inning alone. It could have been more if I was thinking.
Sadly, with one on and two outs, Zeke couldn't get anything going. He sent a hard grounder between second and first, but the second baseman made an amazing grab and threw him out at first.
"I should have done that." I mumbled.
"Nah. You made the right decision to go for the double play." Noah patted my shoulder as we headed out. "Like Kelvin said, it's still early."
We parted ways and went to our respective positions in order to start the second inning. Theo faced off with the sixth batter in the lineup, conceding another single after a drawn out battle. The other at bats looked to go the same way, but Theo was able to get them out with a little help.
Batter number seven hit a hard, long fly to center, but Zeke was able to track it down for the first out. The runner advanced to second on the tag, but couldn't go any further after that. Batter eight had tried to bunt, yet it went right to Theo for the second out. Brian was good at keeping an eye on the runner just in case he needed to throw to third too. The pitcher, who bat ninth like most, was easily struck out by Theo, giving him something to smile at as we went back to the dugout.
Bottom of the second, we had a hot start with a lead off walk by Brian, followed by a single from Jason. The momentum died with Sean hitting into a 4-6-3 double play. Seeing their second baseman make great plays in each inning so far made me want to practice a little harder. Just to be prepared like him. I wouldn't be such an embarrassment to my team, Noah, and the Atkins.
The inning ended with Kelvin striking out, leaving Brian stranded on third.
As we started the third inning, Theo looked more comfortable on the mound. He faced the top of the lineup once again, but with a little more confidence. The leadoff batter hit a hard grounder to Noah at short, but Noah was smooth and efficient in the fielding, practically making me look like a little leaguer.
Theo got the second batter to strikeout, looking. And the third batter went down swinging. Three up, three down. Theo was practically bouncing back to the dugout, happy with his performance.