The Hitting Zone

Chapter 84 Game One: Villa Park 4

Mahki took the first pitch as a called strike and immediately looked at me. I looked around, confused on what to do. My foot was still on the bag...I didn’t even lead off first because we never practiced this.

Some laughter came from the dugout. I looked and Zeke was talking to Coach Wilcox, while Noah was talking to the guys. Something must have happened.

I peeked at Coach Luis, who was shaking his head in disappointment. He caught me looking. He got close and lowered his voice so the first baseman couldn’t hear. "You missed the sign."

What sign? I looked at Mr. Miller and squinted. Did he give the indicator sign? Was I supposed to do something? Mr. Miller made eye contact with me. He tapped his shoulder, ran two fingers across his chest, touched his belt, then touched his elbow. Okay the belt was when he has something for us to do. Was was the elbow touch..?

My jaw dropped. That was for a steal. I immediately shook my head no. I heard a burst of laughter come from the dugout. Dave and some other juniors were watching me. I felt my face heat up. Apparently this wasn’t the first steal sign. I wasn’t even comfortable with taking a lead, do I really have to do this? I looked at Zeke, hoping that he would help.

Zeke copied Mr. Millers signs. Why were they so adamant on this? I’ve never attempted a steal! I’ve never even practice sliding into a base. I looked at Coach Luis and didn’t look happy with my response. I sighed. Fine. I could fake it.

I started to step off the base, taking a small lead, keeping my eyes on the pitcher. The pitcher was right-handed so he had his back to me. He peeked over and I hurried back to the bag.

The dugout laughed once more. A few shouts started to come from my team:

"C’mon Bambi!"

"You can’t just stand on the bag the whole time."

"You’re not making the pitcher nervous at all, Bambi!"

Of course not. I’m the one out of my comfort zone. The pitcher shouldn’t be worried about me. He did his motion and pitched to Mahki. I took a small lead, with the intent of running back to the base, but Mahki connected. It was a line drive to center field. I booked it to second and saw Mr. Miller waving me on to third. I saw the center fielder catch the ball and decided I couldn’t outrun his throw so I stayed at second.

"Mahki, come back!" I heard coach Luis call out. I looked back and saw Mahki halfway to second base, where I stood. He looked up, saw me, then quickly cut back and dove back to first base, just barely beating the ball back.

Oh no. That was my fault. Oh geez. Coach is going to be mad. Zeke is going to be mad. Even quiet Mahki is probably mad at me. I peeked at him on first. He was patting the dirt off the front of his jersey. He glanced my way and let out a laugh. "Don’t mind, Bambi!"

My face was on fire. So embarrassing. I quickly looked away. I check Mr. Miller, praying he wasn’t giving the steal sign. He added a few extra signals before touching his belt, then gave Zeke the sign to hit.

Zeke stepped up to the box after a quick practice swing. The team dugout stopped with the Bambi jokes, and cheered for Zeke. If it’s on the ground, I should run right away. If it’s in the air, I should be wary of a pop out or line drive. Just try not to get in a double play, I told myself. I really wished they had let me participate in batting practice so I could know what to do.

I saw Mahki take a lead so I followed suit. But unlike him he stepped over a few feet, I tried to stay within arms reach so I wouldn’t get thrown out.

From the corner of my eye, I saw the second baseman run over to me, I quickly dove on the base. I could hear some laughter. I peeked up and saw him laughing, showing me his empty glove. The pitcher still had the ball in his hands.

I picked myself up and rubbed the dirt off my hands. My face really couldn’t get any redder. Not only was my team laughing at me, but now even Villa Park was making fun of me. Why did I ever think baseball would be fun? I sighed and looked at Zeke in the batters box, still waiting for his first pitch. His eyes were looking sharply at the pitcher who was still having a laugh at my random dive. I know that look well. It’s his "You’re in so much trouble" look. I gulped.

The pitcher finally regained his wits and got set on the mound. The catcher gave some signs and the pitcher nodded. I took a few steps off the bag. He peeked at me, seeing that I wasn’t taking much of a lead he smiled and focused back on Zeke. He did his motion and the pitch was headed to the catchers mitt.

But Zeke didn’t allow it. He took a step with his left, and his arms quickly swung the bat, connecting with the ball and immediately sent it out over the right field fence. Was that the advantage of aluminum bats? Or Zeke’s raw strength? No wonder he was the captain. The right fielder didn’t even attempt to chase after it; he just turned and watched the ball go over. The umpires moved their arms around to signal homerun.