The Hitting Zone

Chapter 1190  V4 ch38

Auburn looked more upbeat Sunday at noon than I would have thought. The game stayed close throughout. Stanford took the lead first thanks to an RBI double from Bradley to drive in Zeke. Those two really made up the offensive power for Stanford and with the pair being hot, it was hard for Auburn to catch up. Stanford's pitching held it together well and the distance between the two teams grew.

When the Stanford pitcher got the last out of the ninth inning, the team threw their hats up and charged the mound to go celebrate. Zeke bumped fists with the other two outfielders as they made their way to the infield.

They weren't the only ones to celebrate. The whole stadium were up on their feet, clapping and cheering.

Noah probably had to be the loudest. "We're going to Omaha!!" He shook me by my shoulders and started to chant. "OMAHA! OMAHA! OH-MA-HAAAAA!!!"

The twins joined in no time, pumping their fists. "OMAHA!"

Soon it spread throughout our section and everyone was chanting along. I grinned and joined in too. None of the Stanford fans really got going until the workers started to clear us out, saying that they had to clean up.

The other college students that came to watch moved the fastest, clearing out of the stadium while laughing and in high spirits. As family of the players, we were allowed to wait for them just outside the stadium.

Zeke came out and Noah sprinted at him. Just as I thought he was going to jump on him, he started to bounce around, talking excitedly with the biggest grin. Zeke laughed at something he said and nodded along. Rhys was just a step behind, reaching for Noah and pulling him into a small headlock. Noah didn't seem to mind, looking up at him and talking to him too.

The three made their way to us. Zeke slapped Dave's outstretched hand and gave him a half-hug. Then he did the same to me and Kyle. Rhys also greeted us the same way.

"So do you guys leave for Omaha right away?" Dave asked. "Or do you get a day off? Do you want to come home until you have to leave? The school has to be empty with finals over already."

Rhys laughed. "I don't about Zeke, but I'm going home for a day or however long it takes them to book the flights and hotel." He reached out to give his mom a side hug and kept his arm around her shoulders.

"You're not going to celebrate with your team tonight?" His mom asked him.

"Nothing to celebrate just yet." He smirked. "We'll save it for the big one."

"Then let us take you boys to dinner." Mom declared. She gave them no room to turn her down, already pulling out her phone and looking for a restaurant that could take our big group.

"So does this count as his celebration party or my going away party?" Kyle asked.

"Why can't you share?" Noah rolled his eyes. "Aren't you used to it?"

Kyle reached for him, but Dad intercepted. "Let's save the rambunctious playing for at home. We've got a lot to do this evening. You especially, Kyle."

"What do I have to do?" Kyle asked.

"For one, pack." Dad told him. "You need to have a bag of normal clothes, another for your baseball and workout clothes. Organize and clean out your baseball bag. Maybe think of some things you can't live without for the next couple of months."

"I don't want to overpack, Dad." Kyle told him. "Like Jeremy said, it's only a short stay. I don't need anything but my glove and cleats. Really. Everything is going to be super basic."

As Mom found us a restaurant to go to, Kyle and Dad thoroughly talked about what would be necessary and when they can hit the road.

"Let's take a day. Tomorrow, you can spend the day saying goodbye to Marie and your friends." Dad suggested. "We'll also pack up your car. Tuesday morning, we'll hit the road."

Kyle immediately lit up. "We should drive all the way through. 11 hours on the road. It won't be bad at all."

Dad's face seemed to twitch, but maybe I was imagining it. "We'll get a better idea of the itinerary when we get home. You pack up and I'll plan the trip."

"What about us?" Noah asked. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

"We'll plan out your way to Omaha as well." Dad rubbed his hands together slowly. "I'll probably fly straight from Phoenix to you guys in Omaha. Probably have to rent a car. The hotels are probably filling up so we'll be working with limited options." Dad pulled out his phone and opened up his notes app, starting to write down what will have to be done tonight.

He didn't just wait to get home to start his to do list. After dinner, on the way home, with Dave driving, he could work on his phone and start booking flights.

"How to compare bowling to long walks through the airport and stadium?" Grampa grumbled, resting with his eyes closed.

Grampa tried to argue that the traveling would be too much for him, but Dad wouldn't hear it. "If you can still bowl, you can go to a few more baseball games."

"Wow, he's calling you out." Noah laughed at Grampa.

"How to compare bowling to long walks through the airport and stadium?" Grampa grumbled, resting with his eyes closed.

"We should look into getting you a wheelchair." Mom said. "Take it with us when we go. Just so you don't have to walk as much."

Grampa didn't reply. Either subtley agreeing or didn't want to get into a fight with Mom. Mom started to look up manual wheelchairs and Dad was moving on from flights to the car rental. By the time we got home, Omaha was pretty much set. Mom and Dad decided to hope for the best by picking a return flight after the tournament end date. Worst case… we would be watching teams that Zeke and Rhys weren't on.

"Think Noah will want to run tomorrow morning?" Kyle asked while packing a bag. Noah was taking his turn in the shower and it was just me and Dave getting ready for bed. It had been a long day.

"Maybe. 50/50." Dave shrugged.

"He'll run and want to lift after." I stated, getting comfy under the comforter.

"I think we should all go. One more workout with you guys before I'm with the other draftees." Kyle said nonchalantly.

"We should play over the line instead." Dave suggested.

"Nah. It won't be fair. Whoever has Jake, wins. Let's just do a workout. Then I can go see Marie and hang out with her for lunch and the whole afternoon."

"Can I…skip the run?" I nearly whispered, a little scared to voice my thoughts even though I knew Kyle wanted us to do this together. But I wouldn't even be able to keep up on their run.

"Yea, okay. But you've gotta join us in the garage for some lifting." Kyle zipped up a bag and opened another. "I want to kind of take stock where I am against you guys before going away for a couple of months. Then when I get back, I can do it again to see if there's any visible changes."

"And here I thought you were being sentimental." Dave snorted.

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