Alex hurried to take off his catcher's gear in order to go bat. He would lead off with Dave and Noah right behind him.
I glanced at Noah.
Drew came over to check on him and Zeke was hovering close by. Garret and I watched on as Drew made Noah lift his arm, rotate it, rotate his upper torso, move this way, move that way.
"I'm fine." Noah stressed, exasperated with all the attention. "It's just going to bruise later."
"We have to make sure." Drew said. "A broken or cracked rib is very serious since it can puncture your lung or cause internal bleeding."
"I would know if anything broke." Noah huffed.
I nodded in agreement. "You wouldn't have this much energy if you broke a rib. Definitely wouldn't be able to move so freely."
All eyes landed on me.
I shifted, uncomfortable with the attention. "I broke a rib before." Multiple ribs, multiple times. I watched as Alex left the dugout to start his at-bat.
"I need to get ready too." Noah pushed Drew slightly to the side so he could reach his helmet, bat, and batting gloves.
Drew sighed. "Okay. Tell me if it gets worse. I'll report to your Coach."
Noah nodded and started to tug on the batting gloves.
Zeke stood by, arms folded across his chest, looking down at Noah.
Noah, feeling the stare from above, looked up. "What? It's not bad. I've had worse." Zeke waited. Noah sighed. "I swear I'm fine. I swear on the rest of this season."
"Blasphemy!" Garret shouted. He was putting on his helmet when he heard Noah's words. He pointed at him. "You best be good, otherwise I'll beat you twice as hard."
Zeke just shook his head and walked away.
Noah glared at Garret. "I'm being honest." He looked to me. "You believe me right?"
I nodded. After all, I've had broken ribs since I was young. I knew what to look for.
Noah grabbed his bat, pushed his helmet down and walked to the entrance, ready to move to the on deck circle.
Alex made contact and sent the ball to the outfield. He took off sprinting. The ball dropped in right-center field, rolling to the fence. Alex slid into second base as the ball came back. The tag wasn't close. Safe! A lead off double.
Garret grabbed his bat and everyone moved up.
I took off my hat and put on my helmet, hoping for the best. At the very least, I'll make it to the on deck circle so it doesn't hurt to be prepared. I held my bat in my hands, running my fingers over it to check for splinters.
Dave hit a short fly to right. Too short. Alex didn't attempt to tag up.
I got up and moved to the edge of the dugout, as Garret went out to the circle and Noah went to the batter's box. Noah swung and missed the first pitch for strike one. Let the second pitch pass for a called strike two. The third pitch must have also been in the zone, because he tried swinging at it, but it just barely grazed the ball.
The ball rolled forward to the pitcher and Noah took off for first. The pitcher scooped up the ball easily, made sure Alex wasn't running to third, then threw Noah out at first.
Garret vacated the on deck circle so I took over as Noah jogged back, grabbing his bat along the way. He was wincing just a smidge; it must be from the rough landing in the last half inning. Although he didn't break anything, a bruised rib will still hurt.
Garret, who already had a pair of strikeouts on the day, came through with a single to left field. It wasn't far enough and Alex wasn't fast enough to score on such a short hit.
I started to walk up to the plate, but then the OLU coach came out of his dugout to request a pitcher change...again. I had a weird feeling of déjà vu.
"Jake." I heard Zeke call out for me. I turned to see him already by the circle with a bat in hand.
Seeing as I had some time before the new pitcher came out and throw some pitches off the mound, I went back to Zeke.
"Do you know what's going on?" Zeke asked in a low tone as I stood near him.
I shrugged. "They're changing pitchers."
Zeke rolled his eyes, showing some dissatisfaction. "And why are they changing pitchers?"
"Oh...I'm not sure." I turned to look at the new guy on the mound. "He doesn't look any better than the previous two pitchers."
"Now we're getting somewhere." Zeke mumbled under his breath. "What's the biggest difference between this pitcher and the last one?"
The biggest difference? I turned to study the pitcher's movements, the way he threw, how fast he threw and then moved on to his physical looks. Feeling Zeke's frustration for my previous replies, I was hesitant to answer.
"Let me put it this way, what is so special about you that warrants a pitcher change? It's no longer a coincidence that they switched pitchers right before your at-bat." He added.
I felt enlightened. "Because I have long at-bats!"
Zeke nodded. "Exactly. You push pitchers until they get tired. You also own a high batting average and on-base percentage. You don't lack in runs or RBI's. I would go so far to say that you're a core member of our offense. It only makes sense that they want to shut you down. The pitcher isn't the only one to get tired during a long at-bat, right?"
I nodded, recalling how heavy my arms felt when I finally decided to swing for a hit.
"Do you know what to do now?"
I nodded slowly. "Get a hit right away..?"
Zeke nodded. He leaned in. "Two on, two out. What's the point of tiring the guy out if he's just going to be replaced when you come up again." The umpire called for me to step up. "Do what you want." He nudged me forward.
I walked back to the batter's box and stuck one foot in. I scanned the field to find an opening and saw a nice gap between the first and second baseman. The first baseman was stationary at the base, holding Garret there.
On the first pitch, I swung trying to pull the ball to the same side I batted on. The ball bounced quickly to the gap, but just as I started running, the first baseman scooped up the ball with his glove, and tossed it to the second baseman who was running to cover first base. It became a foot race to first between me and the second baseman.
I pumped my arms and legs, and tried my hardest, but not only was the second baseman closer to begin with, but he was also faster than me. I was out. The third out.
I took off my helmet and had the urge to throw it to the ground in anger. That was good placement. Why didn't the first baseman stay?
"Don't mind." Zeke told me as he picked up my bat for me. "That was a good play on their part."
My face twitched with anger as I tried to calm down. "It had good placement though."
"Opponents won't always move the way you want them. You can't be perfect all the time." He handed me my bat. "Just let it go and tell yourself to get the next one." He left me so he could put back his helmet and bat.
I did the same, alone. Noah had already ran out onto the field, probably scared and unwilling to be switched out because of sore ribs.
As I jogged out, I started to replay my at-bat. Maybe Zeke and I had the right idea to swing early, but that didn't necessarily mean to do it on the first pitch. I also could have tried for a walk to load up the bases for Zeke. Ah, but if they knew I was swinging intentionally, they wouldn't waste any balls. Yea..that's right...my last at-bat didn't even get to three balls on such a long at-bat.
I shook my head to get rid of the thoughts. I could be overthinking for no reason. Like Zeke said, I have to let it go. There's still a chance for me to get another at-bat before the end of the game. Small chance, but not impossible.