432 Game @ Golden West (2)

"I'm feeling good today!" Garret roared as he came back in the dugout. 

"Simmer down!" Dave rolled his eyes. "You already lost a perfect game with that walk."

Garret puffed out his chest. "How many strikeouts did you have last time? I think I can beat that!

Dave glared. "I had ten. In four innings."

"Meh." Garret shrugged. "I could get ten today!"

"In four innings?" Alex asked, raising an eyebrow. 

"Just in this outing alone." Garret smirked in Dave's direction. "It's not my fault you had to leave due to injury. It's your own fault for not taking care of yourself."

The pair continued to bicker as everyone else moved away. Tanner and Jason moved out of the dugout, getting prepared to start the second inning. I sat by my bag, where Noah was getting ready to bat as well. 

"They're so rowdy." I mumbled. "It's like Garret isn't scared of Golden West at all."

"Why should he be?" Noah asked. "He's one of the best pitchers in the league. On par with Brady and Sanchez. I guess the twins are right behind them." He glanced down at them. "It's definitely more lively in the dugout with Dave in here."

"It's probably because he gets anxious with being unable to play." Mahki told us, passing by. He stopped. "It's not bad to have somebody loud and outgoing in the dugout. Especially if they aren't playing. They'll always keep their head up."

"True." Noah nodded. "Keeps the morale up too. No one likes a silent dugout."

Tanner grounded out to the shortstop so Noah had to leave to go stand in the circle. Jason followed it up with a grounder to second. Then Noah ended it with a swinging strikeout. Three up, three down...and not in a good way. 

We switched to defense. 

"I'll get ten for sure!" Garret told Dave before running out onto the field. 

"In your dreams." Dave huffed. 

Zeke smacked him on the knee with his glove. "Be more supportive."

Dave rolled his eyes. Then yelled out to Garret. "I hope you get nine."

Some of the guys laughed as we took the field. Zeke just shook his head at Dave's antics, but didn't have the time to scold him. 

Garret continued to pitch well, getting the fifth batter to hit a grounder right to Jason at third. Jason fielded the ball smoothly, getting the first out without a hiccup. The next batter hit a hard one down the first baseline. Julian dove at it, making the stop. Seeing that the runner would beat me and Garret, Julian scrambled for first himself, diving at the bag. 

"Out!" The umpire declared.

I sighed with relief, watching the batter head back to his dugout. That was a close one. 

Julian threw the ball to Garret and then patted the dirt off his uniform. 

Garret ended the inning by strikeout. His fourth of the game. 

Back in the dugout, Dave was quick to rub it it. "One strikeout an inning isn't going to cut it. Especially if you get pulled off the mound."

Garret was at his bag, switching his gear in order to go bat. "Don't worry about me. I'll catch up and I definitely won't need a relief. I'm feeling it today." He grinned before leaving the dugout. 

"What a cocky-" Dave let his comment trailed off after a glare from Zeke. "I mean, I'm only worried because I believe he can do it."

I laughed with some of the guys while putting on my own helmet. 

Noah was watching Alex's at-bat, but he was also sharing in the laughs. "Who knew Dave would be so useful when being injured? He's definitely keeping Garret in check."

I nodded. "He hasn't given up a hit yet."

"Shh." Noah told me, raising a finger to his lips. "Don't say that out loud. Just let him worry about catching up to Dave in strikeouts. It's working."

I nodded.

Alex struck out on three straight pitches. 

"Brady hasn't given up a hit either." Noah mumbled. He rested his chin in his hands as he leaned forward. He glanced up at me. "Do your best."

I swallowed hard and made a move to the on deck circle. 

Garret had already moved up to the batter's box, showing the same kind of energy he had on the mound. Since he was a lefty, I thought it'd be good to watch and see what kind of advantage he had against a right-handed submarine pitcher. So instead of taking practice swings, I took a knee and watched from the circle. 

Garret didn't give me much to work with. He swung and connected on the first pitch, pulling it to right field. The ball soared up high and didn't come down in the field. It cleared the fence. A home run!

I jumped up in my excitement as I watched Garret jog around the bases. He picked up his own bat after tagging home plate, knowing that I wouldn't touch it. He held up his hand and I smacked it. 1-0! 

The first thing I heard him say in the dugout was, "Are you prepared Dave? Today looks to be my day!"

I laughed to myself as I went to the batter's box. I stepped into the lefty's box like Garret did, but found some solid ground to stand on. Him and I weren't the only left-handed batters today so the box wasn't as clean as it used to be. 

From the very first pitch, I noticed some differences in batting from the lefty box. I felt like I could see the pitch better, for one. For another, his motion wasn't too intimidating from this angle. With this I made him run up his pitch count a little easier. For him to pitch inside to me now, he had to throw it like he would for an outside pitch to a righty. I know Julian said to not pay attention to his movement, but fouling off the pitches weren't so hard now that I know what to look for. 

After the tenth pitch, I started to look for something to hit. I wish I was like Garret or Zeke and just hit a homerun as I please. The pitch came and I swung all the way through, pulling it to the right like Garret had done before. But I'm not Garret. My hit wasn't high enough, nor did it have the power behind it. 

The first baseman jumped straight up and snatched my line drive out of the air. He was tall. I felt like hitting myself on the head. The first baseman was tall...why didn't I try for a grounder or maybe hitting towards the opposite side?

I picked up my bat and dragged my feet back to the dugout. 

"Good swing, Jake!"

"Way to battle it out!"

"That should have been a hit!"

"Next time, Bambi!"

My teammates tried cheering me up as I headed for my bag. I nodded my thanks and forced out a small smile. 

"Don't dwell on it too much." Noah told me as I put my bat and helmet away. "Brady is one of the best pitchers in the county. It would be crazy if you could make him look bad the first time you played him." He nodded towards Garret who was sitting with Alex. "Garret has played him multiple times so he knows what to look for."

"I know what to look for too." I told him, sitting down. "I just...didn't factor in that the first baseman was tall. And he could jump really high." I sighed. "It's not the pitching that I struggle with." I could earn a walk every time if I wanted to. "It's the fielders. I don't know how good they are, how they move, what they can do; there's just too much to look out for."

Noah rolled his eyes and flicked me in the arm. "I don't want to hear complaints from one of the best batters in the whole league. Batting wise, you're almost on par with Zeke. Besides RBIs. At the least, your averages are close to being the same. You don't see him complaining, do ya?"

I shook my head. Zeke doesn't complain. He works it out. If he thinks he's doing poorly, he fixes it. Whether that be during the game, or after, or even during practice. Zeke was always working on improving himself. 

Julian grounded out to shortstop to end our offense, leaving Zeke in the hole.