"Wow. Did everyone come?" Noah gasped as we walked down to the field. The four of us headed to the varsity field and were surrounded by the same boys from the morning. It really did look like everyone came to this 'optional' practice.
"Of course." Kyle snorted. "If they didn't show up, Coach would think they're not serious about baseball. They might not all participate in the tryout though because they have self awareness."
"Then what will they be doing?" I asked, stifling a yawn. I had a restless nap so I felt even more tired than before. It took Noah a lot of effort to get me out of bed in order to make this practice on time.
"Spectating, most likely." Kyle shrugged. "That's what I plan to be doing. But unlike these fools who have to sit in the stands, I'll get to watch from the dugout. It'll be a good view." He reached out for Noah's head, and twisted his hat back and forth. "Good luck out there. Try not to disgrace yourself and my last name."
Noah slapped his hand away and fixed his baseball hat. "Shut up. I don't need you to tell me that."
I started to worry. "What's going to happen?"
"Coach will probably hold it like a normal tryout." Kyle told me.
"I-I-I haven't had to attend a tryout before. In middle school, they only let me use the batting cages. And here, all I had to do was hit a few pitches." I stumbled.
"It's like that." Noah cut in before Kyle could say anything. "Coach will just ask us to field a few grounders, catch a few pop-ups, and hit a few balls in the cage. Just like practice."
"Except you're getting graded." Kyle added. "And you're up against others. It's a head to head competition. You versus every other second baseman that wants your spot." He laughed at my stricken expression. "I don't think you'll lose your spot. You have the second best batting average in the whole league so it'd be hard to knock someone like you out of the lineup."
"But I'm not the best fielder out there." Heck, not even an average fielder. I probably make one or two mistakes a game.
"Yea, but you can bat. Coach likes hitting more because that's how you score and win games. I'm not saying that you can just tank in fielding. Just be calm and do what you normally do. Then be excellent in the batting test." Kyle looked to Noah with an evil grin. "It's Noah we have to worry about. He hasn't been any good at the plate lately and that's why the other freshmen are getting restless."
I looked to him, feeling more worried.
Noah rolled his eyes at his brother. "Just sit back and watch me show them up. Again." He gave me a reassuring smile. "Jake, don't panic so much. You have to know that I've beat them out for the spot the first time around in the fall." He flexed. "I'm even better now."
"Yea, but they should be better too." Zeke spoke up suddenly. "They're also working to a higher goal."
Noah looked up at Zeke and raised an eyebrow. "Who says I'm not working to a higher goal too?"
Zeke gave a light smile, patted Noah's head, then walked ahead of us to go straight to the dugout where our team was.
"What's the higher goal?" I asked.
Noah grinned. "Zeke. Obviously. He's the best in the county. Good at everything. I want to be able to do the same."
"Well you're off to a good start." Kyle told him. "You made varsity as a freshman when he didn't." He moved his eyebrows up and down. "Hopefully you don't lose your spot."
Noah shoved him away. "Jerk. Get lost."
Kyle laughed and moved to where some of the pitchers had gathered in the dugout.
Noah and I went to our usual spot and started to change into our cleats.
"Are you going to be okay?" Noah asked me as we got our gear to have it ready.
I shrugged. "I mean, Kyle said I'd be okay, right?"
Noah nodded. "Good. Just be crazy good in the cage and then treat the fielding like practice. It's not your position that's in jeopardy."
I swallowed kind of hard. "Is your position in jeopardy?"
He shook his head. "Nah, not too much. The batting cages isn't like facing a real varsity level pitcher. So I shouldn't struggle too much. As for fielding, that'll be easy."
My shoulders sagged in relief.
"All players trying out for the varsity team should gather in the outfield." Coach spoke up, loud and clear for everyone to hear. "Zeke will lead warmups. Then I'll divide you all into groups. Like in the Fall, all coaches will have clipboards to score you accordingly. There'll be multiple coaches at each location to ensure equality." He looked at Zeke. "Take them away."
Zeke, who was already geared up with cleats and glove, stood tall. "Let's go." He jogged to the outfield.
A big group of us followed after him. Besides the regular varsity players, at least twenty new faces joined us, making the outfield line feel a little crowded. That didn't bother Zeke at all. He led us through our normal warmup, which must be conducted at every level because no one seemed surprised or anything.
After warming up, Coach started to divide us into smaller groups.
"Group One: Zeke, Tony, Mahki, Sean, Jason, Chris, Trevor, Austin, and Joseph." He announced. "Group Two: Daniel, John Roberts, Noah, Zach, Brett, Korrey, Sahid, and Mitch." Wait. I didn't hear my name. "Group Three: Jake. Hank. Timothy. Evan. Kameron. Tanner. And Dillion."
I stopped listening to the other groups. I poked Noah. "We're not in the same group. What am I going to do?"
Noah patted my shoulder. "Just do you. We talked about it already. We don't have to be in the same group to keep our spots on the team. You're going to be just fine."