Coach Wilcox came back. "Alright boys, not much to say. You know what to do." Kyle and Kelvin came from the bullpen to the dugout. "We've got Kyle going up first. No wild pitches. Give your fielders a chance to get outs. Walks are how we lose games." He clapped his hands a few times. "Simple is best." He looked at me. "Three B's, don't forget."
I nodded. I've burned it into my brain all week. I'm pretty sure I've even had dreams about the three B's.
Coach stepped aside to his assistants and Zeke took over. He put a hand in and the rest of the team added theirs. I held my hand out as well, confused on what we're doing. Noah happily tugged my hand and put it closer with the others. "Win on three. One. Two. Three."
"WIN!" The whole team, but me, shouted. Some of them clapped as the starters jogged out to their positions.
Noah dragged me to the field. "That's our pre-game cheer. To pump up the team."
And the team did look pumped up. Everyone on the field had an extra hop in their step. Kyle and Kelvin were doing a few warm up pitches from the mound, and the outfielders were tossing a ball around. Julian was rolling grounders to us infielders and we would throw it back to him. Noah explained before, that we do this at the beginning of the inning and every time we switch from offense to defense.
After two or three minutes, the home plate umpire signaled it was game time. The extra balls went back to the dugout. The other team sent out their first and third base coaches, and the umps all took their spots.
Villa Park's first batter stepped up to the plate after some light stretches. He was a righty. Kyle read Kelvin's signs, nodded, then got set. Then he pitched a heater right down the middle. What a great pitch! To hit! But the batter didn't swing at all. He just watched it for a called strike.
"Nice one, Kyle!" Noah said from his spot, clapping his glove.
Kyle glanced back at him after he got the ball back. I saw the biggest smile on Kyle. Was he that happy with Noah's praise..?
He went back to the pitchers rubber and got set once more. This time the batter foul tipped. No balls, two strikes. A 0-2 count. No outs. Kyles next pitch was on the outside, but the kid still swung. Strikeout! I copied Noah and clapped with my glove, as our dugout cheered for Kyle. He was off to a good start.
The second batter worked it to a 2-2 count, but then grounded out to Noah, who threw to Julian at first. I made sure I ran to cover second just in case. Not that I believe they would make an error, but just to further ingrain what to do in my head.
The third batter popped up on his first pitch. It was a foul pop out caught by Jason, outside the third baseline. The team cheered and I let out a sigh of relief.
A laugh next to me, made me jump. "We're you happy that you didn't have to do anything?" Julian asked as we jogged back to the dugout. I nodded slowly. "Games aren't like practice where Coach aims for you ten times straight. Or wants you involved with every play. But that can also let you slack off. So stay focused out there!" He smacked my back and found a spot to sit on the bench.
I looked for Noah to see what I should do next, but he was already near the batters box, taking practice swings, watching the villa park pitcher warm up.
"He's up to bat. You're on deck. And Mahki is in the hole." Mr. Miller stood beside me. "Noah knows what to do, but he figured you might get confused. Grab your bat, put on your helmet, then go stand in the on-deck circle. You can take practice swings out there. But be careful of foul balls that may come your way."
I nodded, thankful that Noah still thought of me, also glad that Mr. Miller came over to instruct me. I put on my helmet and held my wooden bat with care. I maneuvered between my teammates, careful not to touch any of them. I stepped out of the dugout and stood in a painted circle off to the side. I watched as Noah took practice swings at the same pace as the Villa Park pitcher. I started to follow suit.
"Jake." A voice called out. I turned to the dugout and saw Zeke standing beside Mahki, who already had his helmet on and bat in his hands. "Take it slow." Zeke hinted.
I nodded. Right. I shouldn't look so ready to hit. My job was to be to test the pitcher and help Jake advance a base.
The head ump signaled for the batter to step in. I watched Noah's at-bat, feeling nervous for him.
I've never really paid attention to his batting before, but now I had an up close chance to watch. Noah let the first pitch pass by for a called strike. 0-1. He took a deep breath and some practice swings before getting back in the batters box. Mr. Miller was the third base coach and didn't send any signs, fake or real. I guess Noah is going off Zeke's earlier instructions.
The next pitch was a ball. 1-1. The following pitch came in high. 2-1. Coach Luis, as the first base coach, clapped his hands and called out, "Good eye." Noah watched the next pitch. Strike. 2-2. Ugh. Zeke said to try for a walk or hit by pitch, but it was looking tight for Noah. He didn't even attempt to swing at those easy strikes.
The next pitch came in. I squinted. It looked liked a curve. Noah stepped, then started to swing, but the ball fell into the catchers mitt. A swinging strikeout. Just like Villa Park's leadoff hitter.
I watched as he made his way back to the dugout and took off his helmet. He scrunched up his face when he saw my look of worry. "That was a bit pathetic on my part, I know. There's always next at-bat." He held out a fist. "Get on base, okay?"
I gave him the fist bump he was looking for and nodded. Then I headed for home plate. As I approached, I started to panic. Which side should I choose. No one ever told me if I should go with right or left... should I pick myself?