184 Game One: Sunset Preparatory 6

Bottom of the fourth started with Sunset's number two batter who popped out foul in the first inning. This at bat, he made Garret work and throw strikes by fouling off what was close and letting balls pass. With a 3-2 count he sent a line drive right up the middle. Both Noah and I were too short and too far away to make a play for it. Zeke was running in to field it, so Noah jogged out to be the cutoff man, and I covered second base right behind him. In the corner of my eye I could see the batter rounding first and running as fast as he could to me.

Zeke caught the ball on the hop and threw a bullet to the infield, bypassing Noah, and aimed straight for me. I caught the ball with my glove and swung my arm to try and tag the player who had already started to slide into the bag.

"Safe!" An infield umpire declared.

I sighed, disappointed. I threw the ball to Garret on the mound as the runner stood up and brushed himself off. He looked at me with a smirk across his face, "Still a kid with kid moves."

I frowned, not understanding. I looked over to see what Noah thought. Noah rolled his eyes and shook his head, so I took it as not to care. This must be another attempt to 'get inside my head' like Noah said during my at bat. Zeke said I shouldn't get distracted by the other team and to focus on the game itself. I rolled my shoulders back and found my spot, trying to stay loose.

Garret's next showdown came against the guy who had hit the home run. Garret didn't look put down from giving up the double, but looked more motivated to get this next out. He started off with a couple of cut-fastballs, his specialty, and drove the batter to an 0-2 count. The batter was able to attack the first fastball that came his way, and the runner on second took off. A hit-and-run.

The hit was a fast grounder to Noah. He grabbed the ball, barehanded, and threw the ball to Chris at third. Chris tagged the runner before he even. Got a chance to slide.

"Out!"

The runner looked as stunned as I felt. Noah took a chance and threw to third for the potential out instead of getting the for sure out at first base. Why? I rubbed my forehead to calm the headache I could feel coming on.

"One out! Runner on first! Play at second on first!" Noah hollered out for the team to hear. Some of the guys mimicked him.

Garret stared at him for a moment as if he had something to say, yet he just turned back to Jordan and got back to pitching. He sent their cleanup hitter, the one I knew, down with just three pitches, looking more dominant than ever.

He continued throwing strikes to the next batter. Unluckily, he connected and sent a grounder between me and Julian. Julian was trying to hold the runner at first so he was too close to the bag and couldn't help. I dove in the dirt, but came up empty-handed. Sean came in and fielded the ball back to the infield, only allowing a single and letting the runner advance to second. Two on, two outs. I knocked some of the dirt off of me, feeling even more down on the way I keep coming up short in everything I do.

Garret waved Jordan to the mound and he complied. They had a brief discussion and then Jordan went back to his spot behind the plate. Whatever was said was effective, since Garret was able to strike out the next batter without any problems. End of the fourth, still 2-1, thankfully.

Top of the fifth would start with Sean, Julian, and Chris like the second inning. This time I didn't mention any negative comments as I put on my helmet and grabbed my bat. I wanted a chance to redeem myself sooner rather than later.

Noah sat down beside our bags, but he tended up after looking over my head. I turned to see Zeke standing tall, arms crossed over his chest. If Zeke was usually described as expressionless and stone-faced, then right now he was anything but. He radiated anger and the frown on his face was deep.

I worriedly looked at Noah to see what was up.

Noah shrugged, faking nonchalance. "I didn't do anything wrong so I don't know why you're looking at me like that."

"20 laps." Zeke spun on his heel and walked over to Garret and Jordan.

"What was that about?" I whispered.

Noah rubbed his nose. "It may have something to do with my fielding choices. Don't worry about it." He nodded at the field. "Sean just struck out, looking. You're in the hole. Don't let that catcher get to you this time. Just block him out. He's irrelevant."

I took his advice and moved to the dugout entrance. Chris moved to the on deck circle and Julian stepped up to bat. Julian had a powerful hit at his first at bat, where the center fielder had to go to the warning track to catch it. I noticed the outfielders backing up, expecting another long one. I gripped my bat, excitedly, looking at the extra gap they had left between them and the infield. That's where I would aim to hit!

Julian had other ideas though. He was swinging for the fences from the get-go. He fouled off the first pitch sending it just left of the third baseline, going over the little fence. Just a couple more feet over and that would have been a home run. That didn't discourage him though, if anything it gave him more confidence. The next pitch looked to be a low ball, but Julian swung anyways, almost imitating a golf swing and sent the ball in the same direction as his foul. However, this time it stayed fair. The left fielder chased it down and jumped to make an attempt, but the ball was blasted on out. A home run. 3-1!