Top of the seventh inning would start with Noah so he sprinted with excitement back to the dugout. As I jogged in, he passed by me on his way out. He gave me a carefree smile and walked on out.
"What's the count?!" Kyle hollered, making his entrance known. "What am I at?"
It took me a second to realize he was talking about his own pitch count and not Noah's batter count.
"Settle down, you're done for the game." Coach told him, giving him a pat on the shoulder. "You did well."
"No way, Coach, you said I get 75 pitches. Not one more. So you might as well not do one less. What am I at?"
Coach looked to Kelvin, who held a clipboard in his wrapped up arm. "Tell him."
"68." Kelvin gave Kyle a look of pity.
"You won't be able to do a complete game." Coach told him, bluntly. "I'm not going to send you back out there just for one more batter. That batter might do a ten-pitch at-bat as well and put us in a bind."
Kyle didn't give in. "What if I say I don't want to pitch on Tuesday? It should be Garret anyways. I'll go Thursday."
Coach's eyes narrowed. "Are you telling me how to run my team?"
Kyle took an unsteady step back. "No, no, I wouldn't. I just want to finish this out."
Coach sighed, not looking so angry anymore. "Listen, Kyle. We don't have any starters like you, your brother, and Garret. With you three, I know I can get quality starts. I'm not afraid to use the others, but I like to keep my options open. This isn't a league game. You already have a win in place. What are you after?"
Kyle looked guilty. "I-I just want to pitch. I know I won't blow the win but what if something happens?"
"Are you not trusting your teammates? Are you not trusting me?" Coach asked, exasperated.
"He just wants to show off, Coach, don't mind him." Dave wrapped his brother's shoulder with his healthy arm. "His girlfriend is here today so I'm sure he just wanted her to see how far he's come since last year."
Coach threw his hands up in the air. "Teenagers!" He pushed through them and put his focus at our offense.
Kyle tried shoving Dave away. "You! That's not what I was doing!"
"Shut it!" Dave hissed. "Can't you see that you were putting Coach in a bad mood. Do you really want to do another running practice?"
Kyle dropped his arms in defeat. Dave guided him to the bench and sat down with him. "Like Coach said, it's just one inning. You already have the win. And you padded up your stats quite nicely. Six strikeouts across six innings. As good as Garret."
"I heard that!" Garret joined the pair and the three started to talk about their pitching stats.
Seeing that the drama had died down, I sat down to relax.
Noah had put up his own fight in the batter's box, desperate to get a hit. There was a few fouls mixed in with balls and he was at the full count, 3-2. He hit a high bouncing grounder down the first baseline, but the first baseman was playing close to the bag. He easily got it and tagged the base before Noah. One out.
Noah came back and sat down with a sigh as he put away the bat and helmet. "Stuck with one." He referenced how he only had one hit today. "Tuesday, I'll get two!"
I nodded to show my support, then told him all that went down with the twins and Coach.
Noah rolled his eyes. "Ridiculous. A bunch of ball hogs, I swear."
"Dave calmed him down after though." I thought of him in a good light. He didn't make fun of me nearly as much as Kyle, and I felt like he was always comforting someone.
"Dave probably doesn't want to fall too far behind." Noah explained. Okay, that could be true too.
We watched as our teammates couldn't produce any more hits this game after Sean grounded out to third and Alex struck out. We jogged out to hopefully close this game out with a win.
Coach came in and waved to the bullpen, and Matt soon came running out. He smiled happily as Coach gave him the ball on the mound and then proceeded to throw some pitches at Alex.
Matt would have to start with the other teams core, batters three, four, and five. Batter three was even the one that had hit a homerun off Kyle.
Matt was a junior like the twins and Garret, but didn't have the same skill as them. I'm not saying he's bad, but there's something lacking.
Batter three stepped up to the plate and Matt got ready. He did a full windup and threw, what looked to be, his fastest pitch. But it didn't phase the batter at all as he swung for the fences and almost gave all of us whiplash with how fast the ball left the field. It was already at the outfield fence when I was able to spot it. Garret could only helplessly watch the ball leave. A solo shot home run off the first pitch no less.
Matt kicked the rubber a few times as the batter jogged around the bases. He didn't look too down on himself. Just contemplating.
The next batter was the cleanup hitter. Matt didn't shy away from the strike zone just because of the homer. He just continued to do his best. The batter smacked a line drive between me and Noah and it headed to center field. Zeke came sprinting in, made a dive at it, and had to completely lay out for the ball. He made the grab just as he crashed into the grass. He rolled twice, and jumped up, throwing the ball to Noah. One out.
Matt gave a friendly wave to thank Zeke. Zeke nodded and went back to position. After these two hard hits that Matt had given up, I wasn't feeling too confident. Matt turned to face the fifth batter of the lineup. At least this time the count was worked up to a favorable 2-2, but it still had the same result: a hard hit ball. It was a line drive to Sean, right to his head. He caught it and smiled. "Two outs! Play's at first."
Matt smiled gratefully and got the ball back. He got set once more and prepared for the next batter. Number six had previously struck out looking and grounded out to me. I backed my heels to the grass to give myself space in case the ball came my way. It didn't. On a 3-1 count, another hard hit ball was crushed to the corner in left field. Garret had to chase it down.
I went to second base to prepare for the relay as I knew the runner would definitely try for second. Garret got the ball and threw it all the way to Noah with ease. Noah turned around, but I held up my arms in a cross. The batter was already here. Noah threw to Matt on the mound instead.
My heart was pounding now. These pitches are being hit really well. If I was Kyle, I might be concerned about my win now. I wiped the sweat off my forehead and fixed my cap as we prepared for the next batter.
At the 'ding' of the bat, I could only watch the ball fly to left field. Garret sprinted to the baseline and thankfully made the catch, robbing the batter of a hit and a RBI. I let out a sigh of relief. We won. And although we only gave up one run this inning, I don't think I'll ever be comfortable with Matt on the mound again.
Matt and Alex shared a high five and the team seemed to convene on the mound to celebrate. I watched from a relatively close distance, not too close, but not as far as I use to be.
"Another win for the books!" Noah smiled at me as he came over. "Let's keep this going for the rest of the season."
I nodded, happy as well. I would also don't want to lose any games for as long as I play with the Atkins. I watched as Zeke spoke with Coach to the side. It'd be hard to imagine to lose with such a player. The one lost we have had was without him. But like they say, not one player makes the team great.