478 CIF Semifinal: Anderson HS 4

After Garret's practice pitches, he easily shut down the ninth batter, getting him to strike out to end the second inning. We jogged back to the dugout. 

"That was brutal."

"Not a good start."

"Already in the hole."

I heard depressing mumbles as I followed Noah to our bags. 

"Heads up!" Zeke's command made me jump. He stood at the dugout entrance, just coming back from the outfield. "I don't want to hear anyone giving up. There's still some baseball left to play."

"Just gotta bounce back." Noah added, bouncing in place. 

"Kelvin. Jason. Mahki." Coach called out. "You three must be feeling pressured to getting on base, correct?"

Kelvin, who just took off his catchers gear, nodded. 

"I want you to use that pressure." Coach told them, then looked around at all of us. "Use this pressure to push yourselves. Prove to me, to them, to everyone, that you want this more. You have to want to win more than they do, but you also have to prove it."

Kelvin grabbed his bat and headed out first. "I want this the most. I sat on the bench for too long to pass this opportunity up." He went straight to the batter's box, taking a few big practice swings. 

"Great." Coach nodded in satisfaction. "Jason, Mahki, you two get ready as well. We're cutting that lead down now."

They quickly got ready to bat and moved to their spots. 

"Wow. Coach is really serious." Noah remarked, putting his glove down between us. 

"Coach is always serious." I replied, trading my hat for my helmet. 

Noah shook his head. "But it's reallyyy serious now. Almost like, if we don't score now, the fight will be even harder later on."

I shrugged. "Could be." 

Noah watched Kelvin's at-bat intently. "This could be good or bad. Morale wise. Coach is really gambling on us right now. If we don't score, the morale might take another dive."

I held my bat in my lap, unsure of what to say. I wasn't a leader. I don't know what morale is or how bad it would be if we didn't have any. Just hearing everyone else around me though, I could take a guess. 

I peeked to the end of the dugout where Kyle was. Alone. In the corner. His elbows were on his knees and he was hunched over, contemplative. He looked down. A little sad, a little angry, a little frustrated. No one approached him. 

'Ding!'

My head whipped back as I looked for the ball. Seeing the left and center outfielders running, I finally spotted the ball just in time to see it hit the fence. 

"Go! Go! Go!" Noah jumped up and yelled. 

He wasn't the only one. The whole team was urging for Kelvin to run his fastest. He slid into second as the ball was returned to the infield. A double!

I made a move to the on deck circle as Julian stepped up to bat, but Zeke held me back. "Jake. A minute."

I stopped beside him and Coach. 

"I know we pressured you early on in your first at-bat." Coach started off by saying. "But now it's going to be heavier." His eyes shifted to the field, almost as if to hint to something. 

I watched the field closely. The pitcher started his motion and Mahki took off. It was a steal! Mahki sprinted to second, the pitcher hurried up his throwing, the catcher popped up immediately and threw to second. 

"Safe!" The ump declared. 

"Runners on second and third, one out." Coach stated. "Miller will give Julian the sign to swing as he pleases. Hopefully he can drive in a run or two. Whatever's left will be on you. If he gets out, then that leaves you an even smaller room for opportunity with two outs."

I nodded slowly, not sure where he was going with this. 

"Take your time." Zeke spoke up. "We don't want you to panic or think too much. Treat it like the batting cages. We need runs, not outs. Not walks."

I blinked. "Okay." With that, they gave me a pat and sent me to the circle for some practice swings. It's crazy to think I started the season with nothing but a bunch of walks, and now I was to aim for hits. Good hits. RBI hits. 

Julian did his best in the box, but got caught looking at a curve. He hit his bat against home plate before coming back. He gave me a curt nod as we traded places. 

I chose the lefty's box again, with my back to my dugout. I could hear the shouts of 'come on' and 'let's get this'. And lots of clapping. The fans were also clapping. Almost like I had already gotten the hit. 

Mr. Miller gave me a couple of fake signs, then clapped his hands together. Hit freely. 

As the pitcher nodded at his catcher, accepting the pitch choice, I was searching. Searching for a spot to aim for, without being too obvious. The ball needed to clear the infield and not be caught by the outfield. 

"Strike." The umpire said. 

I looked down and saw that the first pitch came and went. Okay, no biggie. 

"Stay calm!" Kelvin's voice and clapping grabbed my attention. He stood on third with the third baseman right next to him. 

Then it hit me. The third baseman was stationary, preventing Kelvin from taking a big lead. With him like that, the rest of the infield was shifted. The shortstop had more ground to cover, the second baseman was almost directly behind his base, while the first baseman covered the gap between first and second. They were leaving the first baseline wide open. 

I gripped my bat a little tighter, focusing on the pitcher. I didn't want to look and give it away. I just had to be calm and treat it like batting practice. Down the line. Down the line. Down the line. 

The pitch came, a fast curve. I didn't hesitate to swing, using force to pull the ball down the first baseline. The first baseman dove for it but it was out of his reach. 

"Fair!" An umpire yelled out as the ball skipped across the outfield grass, before rolling over the line. 

Everyone was running. I sprinted to first, Kelvin and Mahki weren't in my line of sight, but I could see the right fielder sprinting for the ball. I reached first, the right fielder grabbed the ball out of the grass and threw it well over my head. I whipped my head around just in time to see Mahki sprinting home and the ball coming in. The catcher caught the incoming baseball, then did his best to make the tag and block Mahki's slide. 

All eyes were at home. The umpire extended his arms. "Safe!"

Yeah! I pumped my fist and stood at first base properly. 2-3, only down by one now. 

Kelvin and Mahki were excited as well and hurried back to the dugout amidst cheers from the spectators. 

I spotted Mr. and Mrs. Atkins in the center bleacher, higher up, waving and clapping. I felt the blood rush to my face. 

"Great job, kid." Coach Luis slapped my shoulder, making me take a step forward. 

Zeke walked up to the batter's box for his at-bat, making a few others get more wild. Zeke could easily get us the lead with a homerun. 

Unfortunately, the other team decided to pitch around him once more, intentionally walking him. I jogged to second as he took over first. Garret was up next. Garret seemed to copy some of my movements, pulling a curveball to the right, but with Zeke on first, the first baseman was more stationary and holding the line. He easily caught Garret's line drive and ended our rally. 

"I knew you could do it!" Noah jumped around me as I switched my helmet for any hat and glove. "That was awesome. Now we're one step closer to being out of the hole. I knew you could help us climb out."