The coaches shared another look, but they didn't try and dissuade me anymore. The familiar coach just shook his head. "If you're sure." He got up from his seat and went to set up the machine.
I nodded, more to myself than to him. I went back to the batter's box and got in the righty's box. It's been so long since I've hit from this side. I stretched a little. This is a good opportunity to practice my right and to make sure that I could still do it. Too bad I couldn't pick 90mph for all twenty.
"It's ready!" The coach warned as he sat back down, clipboard in lap.
I heard the machine start running and heard the familiar sound of it getting ready to shoot out the ball. I cocked my bat back, elbow up, eyes on the machine. As soon as I saw the ball, I started my swing by stepping forward with my left foot and my arms came soon after. My wrists followed through as my bat connected with the ball and sent it right back at the machine. Luckily the netting protected it from getting hit by a comebacker.
I had to reset myself as the machine started to wind up again. Then I repeated the process, keeping everything the same for the next nine pitches. After the ten, the coach had to get up and adjust to the next speed. I took the opportunity to switch to the lefty's batter box. I even had time for a practice swing to help me readjust.
"Is he really going to try to switch hit?" I heard someone ask.
"Obviously. But he probably picked a slower speed since he's going to try lefty." Someone else had replied.
I overheard a few other comments as well.
"Ridiculous. He's just trying to show off. I bet he picked something slow like the 70mph."
"Just a waste of time."
"The freshmen give Noah a hard time, but it's this kid that's stealing a spot from us."
"Shut up." I heard Garret clearly as he raised his voice. "You all don't even know what you're talking about. Jake is second on the team for batting average. Just him hitting all ten pitches perfectly back at the machine should put you to shame. Never mind the fact that half of you can barely even hit 85mph. Don't you feel ashame?"
I forced the unnecessary noise out as the coach had sat back down, signaling the machine was ready to start. Bat back, hands ready, eyes unblinking. The first pitch came and I smacked it right back. I was back on repeat as I kept crushing each pitch back the way it came. There was something simple about the cages that made it soothing. There was no surprise or twist in what the speed or pitch type will be. I just went mindless as my body already knew the movements for this kind of speed. A part of me wishes that high schools would use machines instead of pitchers, that way I would look like a better player.
My ten at 90mph were soon up, making me wish I could do a few more. Maybe I could convince Noah to ask his parents if we could go to the cages tonight? That'd be nice. I turned to walk out, but stopped when I saw that the whole group was staring at me. Maybe it'd be safer to stay where I'm at...
"Wow! Even more amazing than I thought, Jake!" Garret came in the cage only to drag me out. "I definitely thought you would have done all 90mph though."
I looked back at the coaches, who had gotten up and were looking over their clipboards. "I was going to...but they said I wouldn't get a break in between so I wouldn't be able to switch boxes."
Tanner's jaw dropped. "You only picked the 85mph balls just so could switch to being a lefty halfway through? What's wrong with you??"
Uhh. I frowned. "A lot of things..?"
Garret tried to contain his laughter at Tanner's shocked expression. "No, no, no Jake. He didn't mean it in a serious way. He was just amazed with your batting."
Ah. "I've been mainly hitting lefty for games so I really wanted to get some work in with my right."
"See boys?! This is what a real batting prodigy looks like!" Garret pushed me in front of him and showed me off to our small group. "Any talk of him not belonging on varsity will require you to switch hit perfectly in the batting cage."
The guys didn't talk back, but they didn't look happy with my performance. They were stunned when I finished, but I think now, it's sinking in that I'm not completely useless in a game.
"You guys need to put away the bats and head to the JV field." One of the coaches spoke up. "They're going over sliding and stealing bases over there."
The boys in the group nodded and started to jog back to the dugout. Tanner followed, leaving me and Garret to go to our own bags.
"Man, when I said try your best, I didn't think you were going to silence your haters like that." Garret told me as we jogged.
"My haters?" I swallowed hard at the thought. "Do they all hate me?"
"Nah, they're just jealous. Heck, I am too. If I had known you'd be able to shut them all up on your own, I wouldn't have bothered to join the group. You obviously had everything under control."
I remembered what Kyle had told me previously. That Zeke may have asked him to join my group. "I don't think I would have done the same thing without you here." Flashback to me tripping. "I probably would have ran away after falling in the grass if you weren't here to keep an eye on me." Definitely would have ran. Super embarrassing. "The other guys would probably give me a hard time without you to supervise as well."
Garret looked happy. "Thanks." For what? "Let's not think of any more probabilities though. Would of, should of, and could of are irrelevant when you stand in the present." He slapped me on the back as we entered the dugout. "Let's ditch the bats and get to the next station. Pretty sure I can recover my honor from there."
Uh, yea? Easily. Without a doubt. I had hardly any experience or skill with baserunning. I especially hated sliding. Safe to say, this might be my weakest area.