The Hitting Zone



I got a call just as school ended. I checked my phone, surprised to see it was Zeke. Or...I guess...it's not a surprise. He's probably heard by now. I hesitated to answer, staring at the flashing name. 

"Who is it?" Noah peered over my shoulder. He gave me a look like I was strange. "Why aren't you answering?"

I took a deep breath and answered. "Hello?"

"How's it going, Jake?" Zeke asked, sounding very casual and relaxed. 

I grimaced. "You know?"

He chuckled. "How can I not? Dave's been blowing up my phone. Rhys's too. I figured if we were catching this much hell, you must be a million times worse."

I scratched my cheek, a little self-conscious. "Well, not really. I think Kyle is the most annoyed by the bragging. I just don't feel good about it. Like how easily I was to get to."

"Yea...I guess Kyle would get it the worse. Don't let him bully you into striking out against him too." Zeke paused. "Want to give me your take on what happened? Dave wasn't clear on all the details."

I let out a heavy sigh. 

Noah gave me an encouraging nod and smiled. 

"There wasn't many details to begin with." I twisted my lips in an ugly frown. "Mitchell just kept talking. It was distracting. And...I didn't realize it until it was too late but they weren't exchanging signs. Last but not least, what I thought was a splitter was actually a forkball. I couldn't bring my bat down enough to foul it off."

"Hmm." Zeke hummed, not really saying anything. 

I glanced nervously at Noah. 

Noah mouthed 'what'. 

I shrugged. 

"What are you going to do differently next time?" Zeke asked. 

"Uhhhh." I looked around nervously. "I don't know... try not to fall for it?"

Zeke laughed. "Yea. That's the basic answer. But be more specific."

I pursed my lips. "Be more open-minded about pitch selections and watch the pitches more carefully."

He laughed again. "Jake, I think you have the best vision than anyone else I know in the sport. Watch it anymore carefully and it'll pass you by. There's a limit to how fast you can swing."

"I can start my swing and adjust!" I hurried to defend myself. 

"There's a limit on that too." He said. "But let's talking about Mitchell. What did he say?"

"I don't know." I mumbled. "It was just mindless chatter. I was just confused why he wanted to talk at that moment when he didn't with the others pitching to me."

"Distraction is a tactic that teams will use. Not just in this instance."

"Yea..." I cringed. I wasn't the best at staying focused on the field. 

"I think it's good for you that this happened now and not during an important playoff game."

I slowly nodded. 

"How are you going to address that specifically?" He asked again. 

I shrugged helplessly. "I really don't know. It's not like I can practice in the cages with a catcher trying to make small talk with me."

"That's not a bad idea." He commented. "Try it out this weekend. There aren't any games. Have Noah put on catching gear and squat right behind the plate. He'll talk your ear off about some baseball facts and that can be your starting point." He thought for a second before saying, "Let me talk to Noah."

"Oh. Okay." I handed the phone to Noah. 

They talked for a couple of minutes before Noah handed it back to me. 

"Good luck today." Zeke told me. 

"Have a safe trip!" I hurried to say to him. He had a series away starting tomorrow and would travel tonight. 

"Thanks. Bye." He hung up. 

I put my phone and looked to Noah. 

He put his hands behind his head. "We should probably get moving or we're going to be late."

"Oh, yea." 

We started walking, chatting about playing in the cages this weekend. We didn't have any other plans with Zeke and Jeremy both out of town for the weekend. We talked about going to the mall and movies and maybe inviting the girls. We reached the lower field, greeting a few classmates, who were waiting around for the game to start. 

"Going to hit a home run today, Jake?" One of the guys asked. 

I gave a sheepish shrug. "We'll see."

"Jake's too modest. I heard he owns the home run record for sophomores. Heck, it even beat the junior record." Someone commented. 

"Wow. That was owned by Zeke."

"They were both owned by Zeke." Noah stated. "Jake's just going to crush them as we go on." 

"Why are you so prideful?" A girl laughed. "You say it like you're the one beating your brother."

"Hey, I can still be happy for my favorite brother." Noah grinned. "Maybe by senior year, I can be just as good at the plate. For now, I'll be the best fielder we got, keep getting on base, and maybe I'll try to break the stolen bases record. We all have our own talents."

"Yea!" A guy agreed. "As long as they keep winning, that's what really matters." He slapped hands with Noah. "Go undefeated! I'll be there every step of the way!"

"Me too!" 

"Same here!"

A lot of the sophomores agreed, nodding and smiling like they were on the team with us. 

I look to Noah to see what he would say. 

He just grinned and raised a fist. "We won't let you down."

My stomach churned at the thought of his declaration. I was sluggish for the rest of the pregame as we changed and did warmups. It got to the point where Coach pulled me aside. 

"I know it can be hard taking a setback, but it's going to help propel you forward." Coach started off by saying. "You can't be thinking about yesterday when it's in the past. Look forward to the future."

I let out a nervous laugh. "What if it's the future that I'm nervous about?"

"Then I'll remind you to stay present." Coach told me with a smile. "One game at a time. And if that's too much for you, one inning at a time. Take the small wins and they'll lead to something bigger." He pointed at Garret coming back from warming up in the bullpen. "And if that's too much. Rely on your captain to lead us to a victory from the mound."

My shoulders relaxed. Yea. Nothing bad could happen this evening with Garret on the mound. 

Coach slapped my back and we went to join the team in the dugout. The lineup had long been posted and we were preparing to take the field. 

1 SS Noah Atkins

2 1B Sean Isner

3 2B Jake Atkins

4 P Garret Knudsen 

5 3B Jason Morris

6 LF Bryce Finn

7 CF Korrey Alvarrez 

8 RF Jesse Shipman

9 C Mitchell Torres

"It's been too long." Noah beat the inside of his glove with his right fist. 

"Not even a week." Sean laughed. 

"A full week!" Noah refuted. 

"God help you if you ever have to miss a full season to injury." Jason said. 

"You better knock on wood!" Noah pointed at him. 

Jason obliged, knocking on a wooden bench. 

Noah turned to Garret. "Give those guys something to hit. I want all the grounders to come to me. I want the most action."

"Then you should have been a catcher." Mitchell told him. 

Noah slapped him on the arm. "Do you really want me to come for your position?"

Mitchell laughed and shook his head. 

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