The Hitting Zone

Chapter 87 Game One: Villa Park 7

Awkward was the word of the day. Since Mr. Miller wanted me to slide, I would have to try my best. I didn’t want to give Zeke any reason to add more laps. My first attempt at a slide looked more like an awkward fall onto to the base. I tried to dive head first like Mahki did in the first inning, but it didn’t look as smooth. But I got it done. I was hugging the base as a heavy pat came down on me.

"Safe!" The third base ump called out.

I could hear cheers and laughter from the dugout and spectator stands. Ugh. I coughed out some dirt that I accidentally let in my mouth as I dove. Dumb decision. I should have slid feet first.

"Time out, ump?" I heard Mr. Miller asked.

"Time!" The ump let everyone know.

Mr. Miller tugged me to my feet as I coughed some more. "That was the ugliest slide I’ve ever seen in high school baseball. But you were safe so it’s good enough for me." I finished coughing and stretched a little. The third baseman was a bit harsh with that tag. "Don’t worry. It’s an easy trip home. Zeke is up to bat."

I nodded. Zeke should be able to drive me home easily. The time out ended and Zeke got in the batters box, only for the catcher to stand up and signal for an intentional walk. I pouted at Mr. Miller. What was the point of my slide? I could have stayed at second, and still easily get to this spot because of the intentional walk.

Mr. Miller wasn’t paying attention to me; he was busying giving the signs out. Especially to Julian who is up to bat with two outs and bases loaded.

Julian was to swing at anything close. He nodded and got set in the batters box. He swung at the first pitch and completely whiffed. Being on third, I could hear some of the guys laugh in the dugout. Julian didn’t worry about them and got set once more. The pitcher was really sweating this inning. He had it easy with two outs and no one on base. Now the bases were loaded and a run had already scored.

The next pitch went wide, past the catcher, and hit the backstop. Everyone started to yell, cheer and groan. I looked around and noticed my dugout yelling at me and Mr. Miller waved me on. Uh what? Like go home? Now? I stood on third base frozen.

The catcher had chased the ball down and tossed it to the pitcher who was now guarding home plate. They exhaustingly looked at me. Jokes on them, I didn’t even attempt to run.

"Bambi! What happened?!" Someone called from the dugout.

I faced them and shrugged. Wild pitch? Passed ball? I don’t know.

The guys all laughed and I saw coach put a hand to his forehead, shaking it disapprovingly.

"On a wild pitch like that, you should have ran." Mr. Miller sighed. Oh, man. I hate hearing ’should have’; it usually meant that Zeke was going to add laps. I snuck a look at him on first. He was apparently waiting for me to look his way. He held up two fingers. Two more laps. Great. Fantastic.

I sighed and tried to focus back on Julian. Him and the battery had already gone to their respective spots. The pitcher agreed to a sign, and started his motion. The pitch was slow and looked to have nothing on it. Julian easily sent it high and away. I ran to home plate and turn to look to see what would happen. It was high, but it didn’t go far enough. The center fielder caught it on the warning track, before the outfield fence. Three outs. Bummer.

I jogged to the dugout and changed out my gear.

"Jakeeee." The coach stretched out my name. I shuffled on over, pushing my hat down to hide my shame. "Do you know that we missed out on a given run?"

I nodded. Sadly. A look at Zeke already confirmed that.

"Wild pitches or balls that get behind the catcher, mean the runners have a good chance on moving up. If you had a good lead, you wouldn’t have even needed to slide."

Wait. I would have needed to slide into home plate? I probably would have failed anyways. Good thing I saved myself from that embarrassment.

"Okay, try not to forgot." He patted my head. "Get out there with the boys. Defense now. Let’s keep the shutout going!" He raised his voice for the team to hear.

I hustled on out to my spot and joined the infielders in warmup. Kyle was still on the mound and was looking even more pumped up. Especially with the other team only sending out the bottom of their lineup.

Top of the third. Batters seven, eight, and nine. Kyle didn’t waste any pitches, and aimed for the strike zone with every single one. It was a groundout to short, strikeout, and a pop out to third. Three up, three down.

Oddly enough, when we got back in the dugout, no one congratulated Kyle on a good inning. Jason, Tony, and Kelvin all grabbed their bats and helmets and ignored him.

I pointed at the odd sight to Noah. Noah leaned in and whispered, "Kyle is in the zone. He’s perfect through three innings. In high school ball, that’s pretty impressive, especially against aluminum bats. He’s got four more innings to go."

Wow. I nodded, impressed. I peeked at Kyle and he looked happy, sitting all alone. Like he has met his goal: pitch well enough so no one would bug him. I wonder what Dave’s thinking in the bullpen right now.