My helmet felt too tight when I put it on and my bat felt too heavy in my hands. I could feel the guys in the dugout all glancing my way.
"Do your best!" Coach told me on my way out.
I stiffly moved to the batter's box. The catcher had just gotten back from the mound after a short talk with the pitcher and one of their coaches.
"Batter up." The umpire's voice was oddly clear, even with the crowds cheering.
I stepped in the box, but the catcher didn't squat back down. He stayed standing, his left hand with the glove on was outstretched, far beyond my reach. They were going to walk me?
The pitcher threw the ball nice and slow, way out of the zone.
"Ball." The ump said and the catcher threw it back.
I glanced back at my dugout, but no signs came. Zeke stood on the circle, lightly swinging his bat back and forth.
If they weren't going to pitch to me, are they going to pitch to him instead?
I kind of felt relieved. I accepted their intentional walk and jogged to first base after four balls.
"Stay on your toes, kid." Coach Luis leaned down and whispered in my ear once I reached. "Be ready for anything."
I nodded and got set.
Except, the pitcher didn't even bother to look my way. The catcher was still standing as Zeke stepped up to bat. He outstretched his right hand this time, to be out of reach for Zeke. They were walking him too. Unbelievable.
I nervously looked at Garret on deck. They were practically counting on him to get out or even hit into a double play. Garret was crouched in the circle with his bat leaning against him, frowning at the scene.
Zeke was officially walked, pushing me to second base. I jogged there and looked to Mr. Miller by third. I wanted to know what the plan would be.
Mr. Miller looked at Garret while giving the signs, even though one was specifically for me. To run. To run home. As soon as the ball was hit. I gulped. I shook my hands nervously as I took small lead, watching Garret stepping up to bat. He was a true lefty unlike me. Unlike like his last at-bat, Anderson didn't put a left-handed pitcher in again. Whether that's because he earned a double off of him or they just didn't have another one, I don't know.
The catcher finally went into a squat and gave the pitcher some hand signs. The pitcher nodded, looked at me, looked at Zeke, looked back at me, then started his motion. I took a few steps off, getting ready to sprint if needed.
Garret swung, connected, and pulled the pitch way foul along the first baseline. The crowd gasped as the ball left the field. Our dugout could only sigh; too bad it wasn't fair.
The umpire gave the catcher a new baseball to give to the pitcher. I scooted back closer to second, showing my timidity without shame. The pitcher eyed me, then Zeke, before getting back on the rubber. He nodded at the next pitch selection before checking on us again. Then got set, started his motion.
I got off the bag and started my lead. The pitch to Garret was a fastball away. Garret swung, and the ball went to the opposite field, dropping between left and center field. I took off.
Mr. Miller waved me on like crazy on my way to third, so I only slowed down long enough to make the turn and head home.
"Down!"
"Slide!"
"Ball, ball, ball!"
"Runner!"
Yells came from all around, none of them were really distinguishable.
The catcher got into position in front of home plate as I came running in. His eyes weren't on me, but in the direction of where the ball went. It must be coming in. I really dug in and just as the catcher moved in anticipation to catch the ball, I dove at home plate at his feet.
The catcher's knee came down on the back of my leg.
"Safe!"
The crowd roared.
I hopped up and happily limped back to my dugout, meeting Coach halfway. Drew wasn't far behind him, also rushing out of the dugout.
"Jake, are you alright?" Coach asked first.
I smiled. "We're tied."
Coach fought off a smile. "Not bad."
"How bad is it?" Drew asked, kneeling down by my injured leg.
I waved him away. "It's fine! I'm fine!" We were tied at 8! "It's just going to bruise."
Drew didn't accept my rejection. He put his arm under mine and helped me back to the dugout.
Noah was the first player to come up to me. "Jake!"
I smiled at him and he immediately relaxed.
"What are you doing here?!" Coach shooed him away. "Get on deck. Take some practice swings."
Noah saluted him like a soldier and jogged our with his bat.
"Does this hurt?" Drew flexed my foot back and forth.
"Not much. It's just a bruise Drew." I said, feeling exasperated.
"You said your arm wasn't much either." Drew narrowed his eyes at me. He continued to work on my leg, forcing it to bend this way and that.
I could only sit back on the bench and let him do his job. My teammates didn't crowd around me, knowing that I liked my space. They gave me a few smiles and shouted some feel good words of encouragement before focusing back on the game.
Anderson had done another pitcher change to go up against our pinch hitter, Tanner. Ryan wasn't needed for the last inning with James coming in.
"What do you think, Drew?" Coach asked, eyeing the game.
Drew rubbed the back of my calf, right where it hurt the most. "It's a good size knot. He'll have to simple home treatments like RICE." (Rest. Ice. Compress. Elevate.) "He's going to be sore for a couple of days."
"Can he go back in?" Coach asked, drawing my attention to him.
Drew shrugged. "It won't be too much of a hindrance, but I would suggest immediate rest to not make it worse."
"Hmm." Coach hummed as he watched the game. Tanner just popped out to the third baseman, keeping Zeke and Garret at second and third respectively. He glanced down at me. "What do you think?"
"I'm fine!" I told him.
Coach let out a short laugh and watched on as Noah got up to bat next. "Let's play it by ear. If we can grab the lead, I'll feel confident enough to let James close it out. If we're still tied, you'll go back out since we can't afford to lose you on offense right now." He walked a few steps away, watching the game with all of his attention now.
Drew continued to massage my leg.
Noah was struggling against the new pitcher, unable to keep up with his speed. He was quickly cornered into a 1-2 count. The pitcher threw a wild curve, Noah didn't swing as the pitch hit the plate and bounced passed the catcher.
"Go!"
"To third!"
"Go, go!"
Everyone seemed to be yelling at the same time. We watched as Zeke sprinted to third as the catcher scrambled for the ball. The catcher picked the ball up, spun around and threw to third as Zeke came sliding into the base.
"Safe!"
The third baseman didn't stop for a moment before throwing to second base. Garret has taken off too, but he had even more time to reach safely.
"Safe!"
Runners at second and third. One out. 2-2 count. I clenched my fist as Noah got back in the box. This was good. He can't hit into a double play now.
The pitcher went at Noah with a high fastball. Foul. Still 2-2. Then a low fastball. He got a piece of it, yet still foul. 2-2. The team chanted Noah's name as they watched him from the dugout. I could even hear Mrs. Atkins out in the stands, yelling for Noah to do his best.
'Ding.'
He connected! Stay fair! The ball popped off Noah's bat and floated over the infield. It landed softly between the first baseman and the right fielder. The right fielder picked the ball up and threw to home right away just as Zeke tagged the plate with ease; Garret stayed at third. Noah got us the lead back! 9-8.
The team shook the dugout fencing and made some noise. Noah stood proudly on first base, grinning like he won the lottery.
Coach glanced back at me. "You're out." I nodded, understanding. He looked down the dugout. "Hey!" It quieted down. "Tanner, you'll go play second for Jake so get your glove out."
"Is Jake hurt?" Zeke asked, coming back in time to hear Coach's words.
"It's just a precaution." Coach answered.
Zeke came to me anyways. He spoke with Drew and was finally satisfied with his answer that I'll just have a good size bruise tomorrow.
Zeke shook his head at me. "What are we going to do with you if you keep getting hurt?"
I shrugged, feeling a little guilty.
"Let me put your helmet away." Zeke gently pulled my helmet off my head and went to my bag, packing it up.
Sadly, two runs was all we could get out of this inning. Kelvin hit into a 6-4-3 double play. But we still had the lead, a one run lead.
"Jake! Did you see that?!" Noah exclaimed as he came back to the dugout. I nodded. "I hit that! I got a RBI single! To take the lead back! This is amazing!"
"Alright, that's enough." Mr. Miller came in and pushed him along. "You have to get back out there and play defense still."
Noah looked back at me, losing some of his excitement. "Jake, are you not coming? Is your leg hurting?"
"I'm fine." I gave him a thumbs up.
Noah sighed with relief then hurried to his bag to switch out his gear to take the field with the others. Coach came back from talking with the umpire about the pitching change.
Bottom of the seventh. James continued to show his dominance at closing games. He struck out the side, batters two, three, and four. They couldn't even foul off his curve. Our team rushed to the mound to celebrate.
"That was a tough one." Drew sighed. "So hard to watch."
"But it was worth it." Coach smiled as he came over. He held out his hand, waiting. I hesitantly reached out so he could shake my hand. "Jake, congratulations, you're going to the finals."
A smile took over my face. "Thanks, Coach. You too."
Coach laughed, looking sincerely happy. We stayed in the dugout as the rest of the team jumped around, shoving one another in their happiness. A part of me wanted to join them, but a bigger part of me was just happy to be watching.