Bottom of the fourth brought up Etna's top of the lineup again. I wasn't worried since Kyle seemed to be able to shut them down and close them out. Almost as proof, he got the first batter to groundout right to Sean. Sean merely scooped up the ball and touched first base before the runner even got close.
Good start. Batter two stepped up and put up more of a fight, fouling off four straight pitches. Kyle got frustrated and threw a fastball right down the middle trying to get that third strike. It didn't workout like planned. The batter connected and hit a hard grounder between me and Sean. I dove at it, but all I came up with was dirt in my glove, in my jersey, and in my face.
Mahki came in from right field, picked up the ball, and threw it directly to Sean at first base since I was still lying in the dirt.
With a sigh, I pushed myself up and dusted myself off. Afraid to make eye contact with Kyle, I focused on getting the dirt out of my glove and wiped my face as best as I could.
"Take your time." Noah had come over, almost scaring me. "Is there dirt in your eye?"
I shook my head. "I'm good. I'm fine."
"You sure? We called time. We can get some water to flush the eye out." Kyle also came over, off his mound.
I rubbed my my face in shame. "N-n-no. Really. Nothing got in my eyes." I couldn't look at him, knowing that I just let the ball pass by, taking away his perfect game and no hitter in one go.
Noah took my hat off, catching me by surprise. He started to shake it and let the dirt and dust fall off. "There. That's better. This way the dirt won't fall into your eyes later."
I nodded my thanks after he placed it back on my head.
"No need to be so down." Kyle gave me a reassuring smile. "It was a good hit."
"But you were..." I was going to mention his perfect game, but he cut me off.
"It's in the past." Kyle shrugged and headed to the mound. "It's not like I can be perfect all the time."
Noah rolled his eyes, then headed back to his own position, while letting the ump know that I was good to go.
Kyle prepared to face the third batter. He nodded at the signs given by Alex, and then got set. He came at the batter with a fastball from the getgo. The batter swung and missed for strike one. The second pitch he fouled. On an 0-2 count, Kyle threw a pitch low and away, trying to get him to swing at the ball. He didn't fall for it. 1-2. Kyle attempted to pick off the runner at first, but the guy was paying attention. He got back in time without needing to dive.
Kyle turned his attention back to the batter. He accepted Alex's sign, then did his set up. Left leg up, then stepped forward, and his right hand soon followed the body's motion, using the momentum from it to throw the pitch.
The batter swung as it got close, and blasted it down the left field foul line. All of us in the infield had to whip our heads around to watch the ball fly. Go foul, go foul, go foul. It banged off the foul pole in left field. The umpire waved his finger in a circular motion to signal home run. Our shoulders seemed to fall in unison. Just like that, we lost our lead. 2-2 after a two-run homerun.
If I had just gotten that previous ground ball, it would have only been a solo homerun. I kicked the dirt in frustration. I then looked to the mound to see how Kyle was taking it. His shoulders weren't sagging like mine. He just stood tall as Alex came up to the mound.
I looked to Noah to see if we should go up as well. He shook his head so I stayed in position, just watching them exchange some words behind gloves. Kyle then patted the catcher on the shoulder and they separated.
Alex squatted behind home plate and the cleanup batter stepped up. This time, Kyle took a different approach. He aimed all of his pitches to outside the strike zone, getting the batter to swing and miss three in a row! Nice comeback!
"Keep it up!" Noah called out. "Two outs! One to go! Play at first!"
I clapped my glove too.
Batter number five didnt chase those outside pitches and let the first two pass by for balls and a favorable 2-0 count. Kyle did an inside pitch, still in the strike zone. He swung and fouled it down the third baseline. The following pitch was closer to center, and the batter made a better connection, sending a fly ball to center field. Zeke was there though and he had no trouble run in, making the catch, and then jogging straight in.
I hurried to the dugout too.
Surprisingly, the dugout wasn't all 'gloom and doom.' Everyone seemed to maintain positive attitudes as we got ready to go on offense.
"We need some runs!" Kyle called out when he got in.
"It helps that you're not batting this inning." Dave laughed.
"What'd you say?!" Kyle made out like he was going to slap him.
But Zeke was faster. He slapped Kyle's hand down as he made it in time. "Focus on the game. Unless you want to be pulled off that mound."
Kyle pouted as he rubbed the slapped hand. "That's not fair. He was making fun of me."
Zeke stared him down. "How old are you? How can words like that hurt?" He paused. "Especially when they're the truth." He walked away to his bag.
Kyle's jaw dropped. "The injustice! I'm pitching my heart and soul out there and you're all mocking my batting??"
Noah rolled his eyes as Kyle rambled on. "Ignore him. Such an ego, I swear."
I laughed a little as I put my helmet on and sat down.