697 V2 ch169

"You depressed about something?" Garret had heard my sigh. We jogged back to the dugout and sat by our bags. "Or was that a sigh of relief? Are you worried that Julian's little brother might take your spot in the infield?"

I shook my head. "No, I'm fine."

"Oh, ho, you're that confident?" He laughed. 

I mindlessly scratched my face. "I mean, yea I think I'm okay. I'm better at fielding and my batting is still as good as before so I don't think I'll lose my spot. But what I sighed over was..." I lowered my voice. "I wanted Noah and Andy to do a little better. Get a hit. Show off their skills."

Garret laughed even harder. He reached over to pinch my cheek. "Bambi, you're so cute."

I slapped his hand away and rubbed my now sore cheek. 

"But seriously, stop thinking so much and worrying over the little things." Garret told me. "There will be plenty of time for them to show off their skills and whatnot. This is just a game between friends. We'll have the high school camp this week, and then all of fall to impress the coaches. If those kids can't show their talents in all that time available, then they just aren't cut out for it."

I frowned. 

He nudged me. "Do you really think Noah needs your concern? He made it to varsity on his own as a freshman. I'm sure he'll be able to keep his position as long as his hitting improves."

"He's working on it." I spoke up, trying to defend him. 

"I'm sure he is. Noah isn't one to quit. And he doesn't like to fall behind." Garret smiled. "As for Andy, I don't know him very well, but for an incoming freshman, he looks steady. Not something stunning like you, but possibly JV material."

I sighed. 

"That's just from my first impressions, kid." Garret laughed. "You act like I'm the coach, making decisions on who gets to stay or not. You don't know what the future might hold."

"Oh." I glanced up at him, and thought of a previous conversation I had with the Atkins. About who would be captain with Zeke leaving. "I think you would make a good captain, Garret." I told him. 

Garret was stunned into silence. Then his lips twitched. "Jake, you might not know this, but pitchers make horrible captains. We're too selfish."

I nodded. "I know. The twins said something similar."

He let out a short laugh. "Well, as long as you know."

"But I still think you would make a great captain." I stood firm. 

Garret looked away from me, turning his attention to the field. I think he was embarrassed by my comment, but I couldn't understand why. 

Bryce took the mound one more time in the bottom of the seventh. He looked good, striking out Mitchell, but got lazy when facing Dave, walking him.  Bryce struck out Brian next, bringing up Noah who had done nothing today. 

Noah looked like he was aiming for the low pitches, fouling them off anyway he could. Alex called for a high pitch and I immediately knew what was coming. Bryce threw a fastball just above the strike zone, but Noah swung freely, getting the exact pitch he wanted. 

I jumped as high as I could, but the ball just wasnt within reach. It bounced into right field towards Kyle. Kyle came running in, scooped up the ball and threw it back to the infield. I caught the ball and saw that Noah was already at first, while Dave had reached second base. I smiled, happy that he got a hit. 

"Not the time to be smiling, Jake!" Bryce complained from the mound. 

I tried to hide my smile as I threw him the ball. 

"Punk." He muttered as he turned to face Julian. 

Julian singled on the third pitch to Kyle in right field. Dave sprinted around third and went on home. Kyle fielded the ball and threw directly to Alex at home plate. Dave had already slid in before a tag could be made. Alex didn't dwell on it and threw the ball to Jason at third, where Noah was trying to slide in. 

Jason came down with the tag. 

"Out." Stu declared. 

"Noooo!" Noah flopped over onto his back in the dirt. "I swear I was safe."

Stu laughed. "Sorry. The call is final." He looked up to Mr. Miller. "Now that the score is tied, do we let the game end or play in extra innings?"

Mr. Miller walked over to Stu. "Better if it just ends here with a tie. Otherwise these boys will want to keep going until the day is done."

Zeke and his team all came out of the dugout as my team came in from their positions. Once everyone was close enough, Mr. Miller announced the end of the game. 

Dave squatted near Noah and lightly punched him on the forehead. "You dummy. Zeke was up next. We could have had a walk-off win."

Noah held the spot that was hit. "I was safe! It's not my fault that Stu got it wrong."

"There's no replays in high school ball." Stu shrugged, not caring about Noah's complaints. He looked to Mr. Miller. "Do we have to clean up here? Or can we leave it to the kids?"

"Leave it to us." Zeke stepped forward. "I appreciate you guys coming out here for the afternoon." He looked down at Noah. 

Noah quickly got up. "Yea! Thanks! We appreciate it!"

"Thanks!"

"Thank you!"

"It was fun to have you guys be the umpires. Felt more real."

Everyone started to show their appreciation to the men that spent their Saturday afternoon watching us play just for fun. 

Mr. Miller waved his hands to cut us off. "Alright, okay, we get it." He looked around. "It was a nice little reunion and I'm happy to be apart of it. I'll miss those of you that have graduated. Make sure you come to visit in the future if you have the chance. As for everyone else, I'll see you boys on Monday."

Mr. Miller and Stu said their goodbyes, gathered their stuff and left us at the field. 

"Monday!" Noah clenched his fists. "I can't wait!" 

"You just came from a camp." Andy pointed out. 

"So what?" Noah shrugged. "It's not the same. The high school camp is like a long tryout. A prequel for the future season."

Andy looked to me. 

I shrugged. I wouldn't know. I wasn't here last summer or fall. I barely came in just before the season started. My tryout was strictly facing the twins and Garret's pitching. 

"Let's clean up the field and make sure it looks better than when we arrived." Zeke spoke loud and clear, and started to hand out directions for everyone to pitch in.