Chapter 1115  V3 ch349 CIF Semifinal: Gridley HS (3)

After Bryce's single, Garret smacked a long fly ball to the corner of left field. It was near the same spot as mine, but his hit went much high and a lot less further. The left fielder had plenty of time to get under it and make the catch. Bryce tagged up and the left fielder had a slight delay before throwing the ball back in.

"He didn't expect Bryce to tag up?" Noah mumbled, sounding confused. "How did these guys make it this far? Coach would murder us if we played dumb like that."

I shrugged. I wouldn't know. I thought it was amazing that they moved up a division just a year ago and already won league. I don't think we could do that. We've played higher divisions before and every time, it was a challenge.

Brian poked a single into right, pushing Bryce to third. During Sean's at bat, Brian was able to steal second and the catcher didn't attempt to throw him out. Not with a runner on third. Put us in a real good position though.

Everyone in the dugout was up against the fence, yelling out cheers for Sean. On a 2-2 count, Sean popped the ball high into the air. Short left field. Bryce got back on third and looked ready to tag up. The left fielder came running in, made the catch, and hurried to throw it in. Bryce faked like he was going home, but knew he couldn't make it on such a tight play so he retreated back to third.

Jason came up with two outs, two on. It was our turn to cheer him on and encourage him to score some runs for us. Jason pulled the pitch to the left. The third baseman and shortstop both went to make a play at the sharp grounder as our two runners took off. The ball ricocheted off the third baseman's glove and then went the opposite direction of the shortstop. An error that allowed both Bryce and Brian to score. 4-0. We'll take it!

Mitchell hit a grounder the other way, but no hope for an error here. The second baseman handled it easily and the inning was over.

Top of the second inning was slow to start with Mitchell having been the last out. He needed extra time to get all his gear on. Korrey came out with a mask on and caught a few of Kyle's warmup pitches to help out.

Kyle made short work of the middle of the lineup. The cleanup hitter grounded out to Jason at third. The fifth batter hit a routine fly to center. The sixth batter had the best shot of getting on with a sharp line drive to center, but Garret made an outstanding forward dive to save it. Everyone cheered happily for the play, but I knew of one player that wasn't happy in the slightest.

Kyle tossed his glove carelessly onto the bench. Then his hat. "Stupid. Why are these guys so good at making contact?" He pulled his helmet on and grabbed his bat. No one said anything to try to calm him down before he left the dugout.

Kyle took the lead, going up for his at bat and things didn't get better. He popped a pitch high and back. The catcher jumped up, threw away his mask, tracked down the pop fly and made the catch for the first out. Kyle came back into the dugout with the deepest of frowns.

It was too bad that Noah was up after him so there was no hope for Noah to calm him down. It would have to be up to Dave or Garret. Coach would only get involved if it started to affect the game. I couldn't say anything to help him; not because I was afraid or anything, but I was on deck. And because I was on deck, I had a perfect view of Noah striking out on a foul tip. He came back with a frown of his own.

I slowly walked up to the plate, picking to bat from the left side this time. If I have a chance to swing that is. The catcher stayed in position and the pitcher got ready after playing with his rosin bag. Okay, it's happening. I tightened my grip and zoned in on the pitcher. I had one goal in mind: try to hit a homer from this side of the plate.

The pitcher nodded at the catcher's signs and got set. He started his motion and threw a fastball. I started my swing and made perfect contact. The ball flew off my bat towards right field. On my way to first base, I had a good view of the right fielder racing to the corner, jumping with the help of the fence and snatching the ball out of the air, robbing me of my home run.

There was a loud collective sigh before you heard the cheers for the catch. I slowed up and went back to my dugout as Gridley went back to theirs.

"Damn, you were robbed!" Bryce told me.

"You don't have to state the obvious." Garret told him as we walked through the dugout. He looked at me. "It was a good play. Don't let it get you down."

I shrugged. "I'm not down. It was a good catch." I grinned. "I'm just happy that they're pitching to me."

"With you hitting into a fly out, maybe more people will think you're human." Bryce joked. "Then everyone will start facing you again."

I laughed with a few of the guys and went to my bag to switch gear. I slowly thought about it, but maybe Bryce had a point. If I showed some vulnerability, more teams would, or at least should, pitch to me.

"Hey, Jake? You awake?" Noah snapped his fingers in front of my face. "We have to take the field now. Kyle is practically zooming through his warmup pitches."

"Oh yea. Let's go." I snapped out of it and went with Noah to take the field.

We got into position and the top of the third inning started. We were facing the bottom of the order starting with the seventh batter. Kyle dealt with him swiftly, striking him out. His first of the game. Kyle didn't seem to relax in the slightest. He threw aggressively to the next guy, getting to a 1-2 count before the guy made contact.

The kind of contact that made me cringe. The loud echo of the bat as it blasted the ball beyond the infield. Kyle immediately hung his head, not daring to look back. Me either. The umpire at second base was waving his finger around, signaling that it was gone. 4-1.

I looked to Noah yet he wasn't walking to the mound to give Kyle a pep talk. He just kicked the dirt as the runner went by. With him gone, Noah clapped his hand into his glove. "Okay, okay. One out, two to go!"

"Two to go!" Sean and Jason echoed.

"Two to go!" I hurried to say after them.

Kyle got a new ball from Mitch, kicked the rubber, then got set.