"Garret." Coach nodded at the new arrival. He handed over the baseball, putting it in Garret's hands. "You're down in the hole, but don't pay too much attention to that. We'll put some runs on the board in time."
"I'm not properly warmed up, Coach." Garret scrunched up his nose. "Give me some leeway."
Coach nodded, understanding. "If they put a lefty in, I won't hold it against you. But." He looked him in the eyes. "Two runs. That's all I can allow."
Garret nodded, holding the ball tight.
Coach looked around at us infielders. "Keep your heads up. We won't be held down for long."
"Yea!" We echoed.
Coach went back to the dugout and we all stepped off the mound to give Garret his space. The umpire gave him ten pitches with Alex before getting the game to resume. As the four of us circled up behind him, we could see Tanner running to the outfield with his glove. He spoke with Zeke and Mahki before going towards right, pushing Mahki to left field.
"Jake." Noah's voice was clear, reaching and pulling me to the present. "You're not scared are you?"
Scared? I wanted to laugh, but settled for a simple shake of the head. "I'm not scared." I looked on as Garret warmed up. "Do you think he can hold them down?"
"Garret can end this inning." Julian spoke up. He sounded sure of his statement, yet it made the other remaining innings look questionable. "We're only down by three."
"Have we ever been down by three?" Jason asked.
"University Prep." Noah mumbled.
"Correction, first time we played Redwood." Julian pointed out. We were beating them before they took the lead, but guess what? We got them back." Julian patted me on the head. "We have Jake. And Zeke. And the team as a whole. We hold them here and then worry about the comeback, okay?"
"Right." Noah nodded. "Ok, let's do this!"
We went back to our own positions. Although Noah said 'let's', us infielders weren't any help to Garret. He struck out his first opponent all on his own. We clapped for him and our dugout made some noise, but it didn't last.
Batter number eight was replaced with a lefty. Garret's cutter was seen through easily, and put into play over my head. Tanner sprinted in and caught the hit off a bounce, and then threw it directly to Julian at first. The batter was safe for a single though.
As if we were stuck on a downhill slide, batter number nine in their lineup, was Sanchez. He bats right, but it didn't matter because he was still a good player overall. He pulled a single to left field, the ball bouncing before Mahki could get it. Mahki picked the ball up and threw to Noah. Noah turned, yet both Servite players were safe at first and second. Back to back singles.
My jaw clenched, teeth grinding. Why won't this inning end already? It's like we have to go through their whole lineup just to get three outs.
The leadoff batter was replaced with another lefty. I had forgotten how many lefties they had on standby. Noah nodded at me when we made eye contact, signaling for me that he would cover second. I shifted back, heels on the grass, ready for anything to come my way. Left-handed batter's statistically hit this way, so this was the best we could come up with to try and get an out.
Pointless. He was able to lift the ball and shot it above my glove, even with me jumping. The only saving grace was that the hit went to center field. So even though it bounced in the grass, Zeke was able to return the ball with speed, keeping it to a single and keeping the runners from scoring. The bad news is...the bases are loaded.
The Servite fans cheered on their team, surrounding us with discouraging words. I gulped.
"Stay steady!" Noah yelled out, raising his voice to be heard.
Garret glanced at him, the corner of his lips upturning. Seeing him looking calm, helped me calm myself. Noah was good. Garret was good. Looking at Julian, who didn't even look angry with this outcome, helped as well. Everyone got into position.
"One out! Play is at home!" Noah announced for even outfielders to hear.
Servite finally ran out of lefty batters to put in against Garret. Or maybe they thought this batter could get the job done, not needing a replacement. Garret faced him with speed, using his fastball consecutively, until jamming him with a cutter. The ball soared up, the runners ran back to their bases, holding a foot on the bag, looking ready to take off once it was caught.
The ball went high into the air, but didn't leave the range of the infield. Noah backed up, tracking the ball as Jason and I moved to cover third and second base respectively. Noah caught the ball, then quickly checked to see if the runner on third was daring enough. Since the runners all stayed, he threw the ball back to Garret on the mound.
"Nice pitch!" Noah looked around at the rest of us. "Two outs!"
"Two outs!" A lot of them repeated.
Batter number three stepped up. The same batter who had started this inning. The batter who was already 2 for 2 on the day, with both hits being doubles. He's definitely looking like the mvp of the game.
Garret didn't hesitate to use his cut-fastball against him right from the start. The batter fouled two in a row, getting cornered with an 0-2 count. Garret wasted a pitch outside, trying to get him to swing, which he did. He connected though, pulling a line drive to left field.
It could be foul. Or it could bounce on the line and score in a few runs. I watched on as Mahki came sprinting in, diving and making a play for the hit. He made the grab and rolled in the grass before jumping up, holding his glove high.
"Out!"
Mahki scooped up his hat, putting it back on his head before throwing the ball back in. We all jogged back to the dugout amidst the loud clapping and cheering for the home team.
"Keep the heads up, boys." Coach said as we settled in the dugout. "We have three innings to make something out of this game. Don't give in." He looked to Zeke.
Zeke stood beside him, standing in front of the whole team. "This is it. You each have to individually put in something to get something out of this game. What we all want, is a win. Get hits. Make those plays." He looked specifically at Garret. "Pitch. Don't worry about getting hit. Just make sure it's over the plate."
"Like I need you to tell me that." Garret scoffed. He had put on a jacket to keep his pitching arm warm. "I can finish this. I'm just going to rely on you and the kid to get us out of this jam." He glanced at me.
He wasn't the only one. All eyes fell on me. I shifted around in my seat, unsure if I was supposed to say anything or not.
"Hey! I'll get a hit too! I'll contribute!" Noah spoke up, jumping out of his sitting position. "It's not like Zeke and Jake are the only ones that know how to swing a bat."
"Right!"
"Yea, me too!"
"Give me a shot as well!"
The dugouts atmosphere picked up, showing some liveliness.
"Give it your all!" Coach said before walking to his spot.