The Hitting Zone

Chapter 1146  V3 ch380 Banquet (3)

Coach Ryan dismissed his team to sit down, yet he continued to stand. "Now, it's no secret that our JV team has had a very tumultuous season. The head of our program, Coach Wilcox, took charge and did some restructuring. He had one of his assistants, Coach Luis take over."

Coach Luis stood up and started making his way to the podium. He shook hands with Coach Ryan and they switched spots.

Coach Luis didn't smile. He looked a little exhausted like he hadn't had a good nights sleep. "Welcome everyone. Like Coach Ryan said, I'm Luis. I used to be an assistant to Coach Wilcox at the varsity level, specifically the first base coach. A little after halfway through the season, we had a situation that I've never come across before: a fight within the team."

The whole room was silent. You could hear a pin drop. No one knew what kind of face to make. I looked to Noah, kind of worried where Coach Luis was taking this. Noah watched on calmly, hands in his lap, not even worried in the slightest. Which…I mean…why would he be? Why would I even worry about the JV team? I guess I was just scared Coach Luis would see some backlash.

"I came into a team that was broken. Divided. Dysfunctional. They needed to start anew. Coach Wilcox ran them around until they had no more energy to waste on stupid stuff." Coach Luis said.

I looked around, scared that some parents not like the word stupid being used in the same context as their teenagers. No one still made any remarks. Maybe he's already talked to the JV parents long ago. The JV team was in really rough shape when he got to them.

"Teamwork isn't just a group of individuals coming together to work and train. It's about aligning their goals and efforts with a shared vision. Baseball only has one goal: to win games. To win the most games. To be champions that stand on top of all the other teams." He paused. "When a team does come together and can understand and commit to the same goal like this team did in the last month…

we can achieve great results. We didn't lose at all this past month and that is what I'll be basing these awards off of."

I glanced at the two JV tables and saw the whole lot of them staring seriously at Coach Luis. He must have really reigned this team in under his control and set them straight. It made me happy and sad at the same time. Happy that they all listened to Ckach Luis and took him seriously, but sad that he wasn't going to be around to work with our team anymore. Selfish of me, I know.

"But first, let's bring up the young men that represented our school and baseball program at the Junior Varsity level." Coach Luis started to call up every player on the roster in alphabetical order of their last name. After he got them all up there, he continued. "Not everyone achieved the necessary 3.5 GPA to have to be considered a scholar athlete so I'll just be handing out the certificate to those that did without publicly saying their name."

He straightened up. "Let's begin with our Defensive MVP, Aaron Fipps." The room clapped as the teenager stepped forward and accepted the award from Coach Luis. "Aaron is a very versatile athlete that has a very strong sense of positioning. His reflexes and timing has stopped many would-be hits and helped quite a few pitchers to keep their stats down."

Some of the guys I knew as pitchers looked a little ashamed. Maybe that was a slight dig at his own players?

"For Offensive MVP, I'm going with a freshman." Coach Luis said and I immediately looked to Andy. The only freshman I really knew on the JV team. "I didn't know this young man well before taking over the team, but once I came in contact with him, I knew he took baseball seriously. He never slacked off and when I said we needed to produce more at the plate, he accepted the challenge and succeeded in getting the ball into play more often than not. Andy Wilson."

Andy didn't seemed surprised in the slightest. He accepted the award like it was a matter of fact. He didn't hold it up with pride and just merely told Coach Luis 'thanks' before stepping back in line.

I clapped more for our friend, happy for him. Noah laughed at my expression but he wasn't clapping any less. I bet the loudest though had to be Julian, wherever he had found a seat.

"Most Improved was a lot harder to figure out and narrow down." Coach Luis got back to talking about his team. "I only had so much time with these kids that it's hard to have a baseline. With this, I turned to Coach Ryan for help. A lot of these players had previously played for him. With some discussions and viewing of the games, we both agreed that Caleb Clemens had to be the best decision of Most Improved."

Noah looked surprised, clapping a little slower than normal. I tried to mimic his timing, not sure if we liked this guy or not. If Noah had problems with him like with Austin, then I didn't want to cheer for him even if we did go to the same school.

Caleb accepted the award from Coach Luis and coach kept talking. "I've got to say that Caleb made it easy to pick him by switching positions from an outfielder to a very effective pitcher. He had a small learning curve yet was still able to perform on a higher level." Caleb stepped back.

I nudged Noah to give him an inquisitive look.

He waved me off. "Tell you later."

"You would think that with a team so divided, it would be hard to find a player deserving of the award of Best Sportsmanship." Coach Luis continued. "But in fact, it made him stand out so much more. Senior, Michael Tye, treated every teammate with respect and never used his status to make others submit."

That sounded like another dig. I looked across the JV team but didn't see anyone looking guilty or ashamed. Michael stepped forward to receive his plaque and said something to Coach Luis in a low tone for only them to hear. Coach Luis nodded and stepped back.

"Hi everyone. I'm Michael. Obviously." He greeted the room and received plenty of applause and smiles. "Thank you. Honestly, I feel a little embarrassed receiving such an award as a senior. It feels like a cheat. I'm older and supposed to be better and wiser. It's not like that clearly. Otherwise I would have been on varsity or maybe have won a more competitive award." He said. "I wanted to share a little bit, more so for the players than for the parents. Sorry."

Michael didn't sound like any of the seniors on our team. If I didn't know better, I would have said he was younger. Maybe more childish. He didn't carry himself the same way as guys like Garret or the twins or Jason.

"This might sound wrong or weird coming from a senior that only made it as high as JV, but I think it's important for baseball players to keep striving for more, but also don't forget to take in the view. Get to know your teammates. Enjoy every practice no matter how difficult. It's sad to say, but you don't always know when the last game or practice will be. I don't regret not being able to make Varsity. I regret not taking in the moment every time I played. Period." He stepped back.

There was a small pause as some of us looked unsure of what to do. But as soon as one person started to clap, everyone joined in. Coach Luis excused his team and let them sit back down. Then he went around to place the scholar athlete certificates in front of the players that earned it.

"Michael has more mental strength than I do sometimes." Jason sighed and commented. "I don't think I could handle being a senior on JV. It's not like you're supposed to feel ashamed, but maybe you do feel 'less than'."

"I wouldn't. Baseball is baseball no matter what form it comes in." Noah shrugged.

"Says the kid that started on varsity." Garret laughed.

Noah shrugged. "I mean even if I didn't, I would still keep trying until the very last game of my senior year to improve. But I don't forget to enjoy it. Just being able to play is enough for me. If I'm stuck at double A all my life, I won't regret it."

"That's because you're already the type to take everything in and be happy." Kyle rolled his eyes. "I bet if we ask Jake about playing on JV, he might not have the same answers."

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