The bottom of the sixth would start from the very top of the lineup for Quincy. Dave finished his warmup with Bryce and the leadoff batter stepped up to the plate. He had a walk and a strikeout so far on the day, but who could say what would happen now with a new pitcher/catcher combo.
Sure enough, Bryce didn't give out any signs with his fingers after squatting behind the plate. He just stared intently at Dave, waiting to see what he would do and where he would throw. The pitch came, and Bryce adjusted his glove to where it would land, but it was pointless because the batter ripped it away. I tried to jump for the ball, but the line drive was just too high. With Sean at first, and Noah moving to cover second, I went out to the grass to be the cutoff. The line drive had dropped between Zeke and Tony and rolled to the fence. Zeke picked it up, spun, took a look to see the runner going for two. He took a skip and threw the ball straight to Noah at second, completely ignoring me. Understandable with an arm like that.
The runner slid into second just as Noah caught his brother's throw. He tagged the runner.
"Safe!" The umpire declared.
A leadoff double.
Noah threw the ball back to Dave on the mound. Dave received it, but then looked down at his pitching hand. He had formed a fist and was looking at his fingers. He only gave it a second look before getting set again.
Batter two had hit into a double play in the first inning, and then reached on an error in the third. My error. He was the bunter. I looked to Coach in the dugout to see if he would have any instructions. None. I put my focus back on the batter. He wasn't showing bunt, but I won't rule that out completely.
I started to creep in, staying on the dirt, but prepared to run on the grass. I didn't want to repeat my last error again.
Dave threw his pitch. Ball. He tried again. Ball.
Bryce hesitated in his crouching position, but ultimately decided to stay where he was. Dave played with the ball in his hands before calming down. He faced the batter and threw a fastball in the strike zone. I heard a grunt but it was overshadowed by the 'ding' of the aluminum bat. None of us infielders had a chance at it as it was a shot down the first baseline.
Tony chased it to the corner. From that position, he didn't try to throw the runner out at second directly, like Zeke did. Not only was he further than Zeke but his arm wasn't as strong. So he threw to me, and I turned with the ball. The runner from second had scored and the batter had reached second. Crud.
I walked the ball in, intending to throw it back to Dave on the mound, but he was bent over holding his hand. His pitching hand.
"Noah!" I yelled. He was focused on the play too and didn't see that his brother was bent over and looked to be in pain.
"Ump, time." Noah told the nearby umpire before running to the mound. He wasn't the only one. Bryce, Sean, and Jason started to jog in. Even Coach came out of the dugout.
Before I even reached them, Noah was waving at the dugout and saying, "Drew!"
That can't be good.
I reached shortly after Coach.
"What's happening?" Drew showed up, with the head umpire not too far behind him. "Is it your wrist? Arm? Elbow?"
"It's my freakin' finger." Dave groaned. He was still grasping his hand, and shifting foot to foot.
"Let me see." Drew commanded calmly, reaching out to him.
I felt a tug on my jersey and saw Noah beside me, shaking his head. "Let's step back. You don't want to see this."
It was too late of a warning, I already saw the damage to Dave's finger. To be more precise, his fingernail. His middle fingernail was ripped in half and blood was leaking out.
Dave let out a string of curses as Drew took a look.
Noah dragged me away, and the other three teammates joined us off to the side.
"Shoot." Bryce muttered. "I knew something was off. He wasn't completely focused on pitching and kept looking at his hand like a bug was on it."
"Is he going to be okay?" I asked.
"It's just a ripped nail." Noah patted my shoulder.
"Just?" Bryce repeated. "For a pitcher, the middle fingernail is one of the most important tools for pitching."
"Won't he be fine after they rip it off and the bleeding stops?" Jason asked. "Yea, it'll hurt but surely it won't be that bad."
"You don't get it because you don't pitch." Bryce shook his head. "The fingernails helps with control and spin rate. Dave is going to be done for not only this game, but at least a week. Maybe more depending on how messed up the nail bed is."
Silence fell among the four of us.
Besides incoherent chatter from the crowd, we could hear Dave cursing and Drew trying to soothe him. Coach patted Dave's shoulder and walked him back to the dugout with Drew. He then came back out and signaled to the bullpen.
James came running out and met us with Coach.
Coach looked around at our group. "So far, not so good. I'm not going to lie, even with Dave it didn't look good. Just because there's no signs doesn't mean you can't play." He focused on James. "With Dave going out on injury, the umps will give you enough time to warm up properly so don't rush. Just be calm and steady. One out at a time." He looked to Bryce. "James will undoubtably throw curves so try and not let too many pass you. Do the best you can."
The group had a solem feel to it.
"You guys still have a three run lead. Try not to give it up, but just know that if you do, you'll have a chance to come back in the seventh to take it back. This isn't the last inning, got it?"
"Got it!" They answered. I just nodded. I believe in Coach; he hasn't steered me wrong so I doubt he would do that to the team. If he believes that we can still win, then we can.