Nothing works according to plan though. Garret came out swinging...and missing. With an 0-2 count, he decided to let the third pitch pass, thinking it would be a ball. The pitcher had other plans though. He chose a fastball down the middle, getting Garret to strike out, looking.
I could hear Garret groan as he lifted his head to look up at the sky, dragging his feet back to the dugout.
Zeke was more patient, studying the pitcher like I wanted to. He even fouled off a few pitches, making the pitcher work, and allowing me to see more of his pitches. On the ninth pitch, he made a solid connection, and I took off. But the second baseman made a diving grab at the line drive, snatching it from the air, for the third out.
I slowed up and sighed. If he had missed, I probably could have made it to third. I turned around and jogged back to the dugout.
"Don't mind." Coach clapped his hands as we put on our gloves. "You guys did well, making contact. He's not unhittable. All we have to do is find those defensive gaps like Jake did."
"And try not to miss like Garret did." Dave laughed, sprinting for the mound.
"I was thinking too hard!" Garret defended himself, putting his glove on.
"You know how to think?" Noah asked.
"Come here!" Garret chased him out of the dugout, in the direction of their positions.
I laughed to myself, happy to know they weren't feeling depressed about the first inning. I put on my hat and followed them out.
Zeke was right behind me. "What did you think of the pitcher?" He asked in a low tone, hiding his mouth with his glove.
I shrugged. "Nothing too impressive."
He nodded and spoke into his glove. "They're not known for having a 'wow' factor. They're good at placement, endurance, and persistence." He upped his speed and ran to center field to play catch with Mahki.
As I got to my spot, I thought about what Zeke said. A 'wow' factor. I wonder if he meant that the pitcher didn't have a specialty pitch to rely on, like how Garret has a cut-fastball. It's not like the twins have any special breaking balls to rely on. They're straight fastball pitchers, more focused on getting batters out by contact.
The umpire called for the game to resume and the first Northwood batter was announced. Dave looked excited on the mound, eager to be back pitching against an opposing team. Kelvin wasn't any different. This was his first game back in over a month. Their smiles looked out of place and slightly creepy for such an important game.
Dave started with a low fastball, getting the batter to swing and miss. 0-1. The next pitch went outside and low, the batter missed again. 0-2. Dave threw the third pitch high, slightly out of the zone, but the batter still swung. The top of his bat got under the ball, and he popped it straight up.
He dropped his bat and ran for first as the ball went high up. Kelvin stood up and tossed his face mask away and watched as the ball came down. He backed up a few feet and made the catch for the first out.
"Woo!" Noah yelled out. "Welcome back, Kelvin!"
Kelvin rolled his eyes and threw the ball back to Dave on the mound. Dave glanced back at Noah. "Where's my welcome back?"
Noah pretended not to hear as he called out, "One out! Two to go!"
The second batter was announced so Dave had to face Kelvin again. He gave one last glance back at Noah, but was ignored. He came out even faster against the second batter, eventually earning a strikeout. This time he grinned while looking back at Noah.
Noah shrugged. "Not bad. Can you do it again?"
Dave, feeling provoked, didn't let up at all against the third batter. He didn't even waste a pitch away for a ball. Unfortunately, the batter got a piece of one, and hit it down the first baseline. Julian scooped it up and tagged the bag simultaneously, ending the inning.
"Hey jerk, why didn't you cheer me on?" Dave poked Noah as we jogged back to the dugout.
Noah laughed. "It's only the first inning, what's there to cheer about?"
"I didn't give up a hit!"
"But you will eventually..." Noah mumbled.
Dave shoved him into the dugout. "You brat. Don't curse me."
Noah laughed as he moved to his seat, pulling out his helmet and bat.
I sat down next to him. "Should you really be laughing at Dave? What if you cause him to do poorly?"
Noah laughed. "Nah. Nothing I say will affect his play. For Dave, it's a battle against himself. I'll cheer for him when he's doing bad, otherwise it'll just go to his head."
I glanced down towards Dave on the other side of the dugout. He was laughing with Kelvin as they spoke to the pitching coach. They were obviously happy with how the first inning played out, defensively. Kelvin soon left them to take off his catcher gear and get ready for his at-bat.
Top of the second, Mahki led us off. He fouled off two pitches before missing the curve and striking out. He let his bat hit the dirt and dragged it back.
"Eye contact!" Coach hollered for Kelvin to hear as he moved from the circle to the batter's box. "Watch the ball clearly before making a decision."
Mahki hung his head as he walked into the dugout, feeling the sting of Coach's words.
Coach patted his shoulder. "Next time, Mahki. I don't want you to just stare at it like Garret did, but don't waste a swing too. If you feel like you can't hold back, try your best to foul and reset, okay?"
"Okay!" He nodded.
"Coach!" Garret complained. "Don't use me as a bad example. I don't always get caught looking..."
"But you did today." Coach looked up and down the dugout. "This is for all of you. You don't know which at-bat will be your last. I rather have all of you swing and miss, instead of just standing there. Understand??"
"Yes, Coach!" The guys chorused.
Kelvin had a fight at the plate, but it ended with a fly out to right field. He came back as Jason stepped up, and Noah hurried to the circle. Noah didn't get his chance this inning though. Jason also made contact, but it was a slow dribbler right to the first baseman.
Noah came back, looking sadder than Jason who ended the offensive half inning.
"You'll lead off next inning." I patted his shoulder as he changed out his gear.
He pouted. "Yea, but now I have less of a chance to hit for a third time at this pace."
"Winning is more important than how many at-bats you have." Zeke snuck up on us, making us both jump in surprise.
Noah recovered first. "Yea, I know." He grabbed his glove and sprinted out, leaving me behind.
I hurried after him.
"Don't let Noah influence you too much." Zeke said from behind me. "He's a little selfish when it comes to stats. The only stat that matters to the team is the scoreboard." He passed me up, going to center field.
"Easy for him to say." Noah told me when I joined him near second base. He had overheard Zeke apparently. "Zeke has never bat in the bottom of the lineup."
Neither have I, but it didn't seem like a good time to bring that up.