With Garret's nudge and the coaches urging, I jogged out to the open area where everyone else had started. The coach with the bat, raised the ball in his left hand. "Ready?"
I gave a thumbs up. Albeit, a shaky one, but at least I wasn't as nervous as before when I was alone. I'm really glad Garret joined my group. It really helped me relaxed.
'Ding!' The coach had hit the ball high into the air. I watched as it came my way and judged that I only had to go forward a bit. Got one! It fell right into my glove boosting my self confidence. The next four were hit in a similar fashion, making me feel good that I hadn't made a mistake yet.
The sixth ball, the coach switched to something farther. I started to back up, keeping my eye on the ball. I had realized I won't be able to catch it if I don't run back normally instead of jogging backwards, so I twist my body, but that was a mistake. I kicked my own ankle and fell into the grass.
That wasnt even the worst of it. Soon, a few laughs could be heard from my group and some from the stands. My face heated up as all the blood rushed to it from my embarrassment. I not only didn't catch the ball, but I tripped for all three teams to see. I wish the grass would just swallow me up.
"Okay, it's okay! Next one!" I heard Garret yell out.
Right. Four more to go. I got up and brush some grass stains but it wasn't any use. I faced the coach, scared he'll give me a talking to for missing the fly ball.
"Ready?" He asked, looking unaffected.
I nodded and got set.
He smacked a line drive right at me. I got my glove up and in front of me, catching the ball before it hit my chest. "Umpf." My hand burned from the hit. I moved the ball to my throwing hand and lobbed it to the other coach. Of course my throws still couldn't compare to others, but I wasn't ashamed of that. I've been getting stronger and they look better from the start so it wouldn't hurt for me to try and make these long throws myself.
The coach picked up another ball, tossed it in the air, then swung the bat. This time it was a short line drive. I debated whether I should sprint in and dive for it or just get it after the bounce. At the thought of my earlier trip, I decided to stay on my feet. I caught the ball on the bounce and threw it back as quickly as I could.
The last two hits were similar in being short, yet I didn't dare to dive for it. I already embarrassed myself...no need to make it worse. After I threw the tenth ball back to the coaches, I turned to jog away but slowed down. Everyone in my group was looking at me.
Garret left them once he saw me slow down. "C'mon get back. It's my turn now. Watch while I steal the show!"
I gulped and went back, clearly keeping a safe distance from the group. Despite some odd looks, none of them said anything mean about my fall.
"Garret is such a showoff." Tanner came over to tell me, yet he didn't get too close. "Just watch. You'll see why I didn't want to go after him."
Garret was waving his gloved hand excitedly at the coaches. "Bring it on! Give me the highest ball you can hit! Or something far! Preferably to the right!"
The coach with the bat didn't reply. He just got a ball out of the bucket and tossed it up. With a swing of the bat, he sent the baseball to the left of Garret. Garret sprinted, reached his right arm across his body and dove at the ball. After making the diving grab, he rolled in the grass twice and then jumped up. He threw the ball back in. "Hey! I said to the right! My right! Not yours! Do you know how hard it is to reach across my body like that?" He started flexing while looking back at our group.
The coach wasted no time getting a new ball and smacking to Garret's right. His far right. Especially because he didn't center himself. He sprinted across the grass, dove out with his right hand stretched out, caught the ball, slid in the grass, then he popped up. "Hahaha. You got nothing on me!"
Tanner snorted. "He's too much sometimes."
I revealed a half-smile. "I think he's pretty funny. And really good. I wish I could have been like that."
Tanner laughed. "What are you saying? There's still time."
Time? I don't know about that. I didn't want to be kicked off the team. Or demoted.
Tanner saw the worry on my face. "Hey, cheer up. It wasn't that bad. Players trip all the time. Even the pros make errors, right?" Right. I've been told that before. "And look at Garret. With him attracting all this attention from our group and even the spectators, no one will remember you falling."
I watched on as Garret demanded more difficult catches so he could fly around and make diving saves.
"Is he-" I paused.
"Is he what?" Tanner asked.
"Do you think he's doing it on purpose?" I tilted my head while watching the show he put on. "Is he trying to make a memorable performance for himself so the others won't remember me tripping?"
Tanner smiled. "Maybe. Maybe not. Garret always liked to show off. He would do it without anyone asking, but since he pitched yesterday, I wouldn't be surprised if someone had asked him."
I didn't have anymore time to discuss the thought with Tanner as Garret had came back and it was time to move to the next station: fielding grounders. In the infield, a pair of coaches had buckets of balls everywhere.
"This is what we're going to do: Garret to first, Kameron to second, Dillion to short, and Evan to third. We'll be hitting grounders randomly to you. Not only will you field the ball, but also, you'll make the throw to first." The coach explained. "Scenarios might be called out to make you boys turn a double play so keep your ears open. We'll rotate clockwise with the exception of Garret."
"Booo." Garret pouted.
The coach didn't look bothered by it. "You're a lefty. The only lefty. You can't play the other three positions so we might as well just use you as the first baseman."
Garret sighed with defeat.
"You four." The coach pointed at us, the ones not assigned a position. "Go stand by the third base Coach's box. When I say switch, send someone in to play third. Third will move to short, short will move to second, then second will take a rest. The seven of you will get a chance to play all three spots and will definitely receive at least one ball at each position. So be sharp."
I fiddled with my glove, standing slightly behind Tanner who moved to the coach's box. A ball at each position? I've only ever played second base... Why can't I just pick the position I want to do? I sighed to myself.