The Hitting Zone

Top of the second. Garret breezed through the core of their lineup. The cleanup hitter smacked a sharp grounder to Noah, who caught it and made a perfect throw to Sean at first. Then Garret used his cutter to strike the next two players out. He roared along with the crowd, in high spirits.

Dave slapped Garret excitedly when he came back into the dugout. "Yes, man! That's the way! Two outs an inning and you won't have to share the record with that stinky guy anymore!"

Garret grinned, yet he didn't deny it.

Our half of the second inning went nearly just as fast. Jesse and Korrey both made contact, hitting fly balls to the outfield and then Mitchell struck out swinging.

We switched back to gloves and took the field for the top of the third. I saw some action for the first time in the game, catching a short pop fly for the first out. Then it was all Garret again. He struck out the bottom of the lineup back-to-back. He slapped hands with everyone on the way back to his seat in the dugout. Dave was all over him, cheering him on like that was his twin.

"I bet Kyle is already sweating and pacing nervously in the bullpen." Noah chuckled as we got ready to bat. He was on deck and I would be in the hole.

I nodded in agreement. "He only just tied the record two days ago."

Noah shrugged. "Serves him right with all that bragging he does." He lowered his voice. "This is good for Garret though. He's finally going to get the attention he deserves if he can rack up the strikeouts on the mound while getting the hits at the plate."

"I thought it didn't matter if pitchers can hit since there's a DH?" I picked up my bat.

"It's still a good quality to have for a fallback option if his pitching can't cut it. He can switch to being an outfielder and make it to the MLB with his bat."

We went near the entrance where he had to leave me. He joined Sean out there to take practice swings. The game was called to resume and Sean went up first. He hit a single to right field, clapping his hands once as he stood on first, happy to continue the small hitting streak he had going for the last five games.

Noah had a long hit streak going too, however he already had a hit in the first inning. In the third inning, he went down swinging, missing a low and outside pitch. He smiled sheepishly as we traded places. "I won't go chasing like that again."

I grinned and nodded, heading to the plate. I eyed the catcher as he squatted down after throwing the ball back. I raised an eyebrow. They were going to pitch to me? Now? I guess it makes more sense than the last at bat where first was open. Now Sean was on first with one out. Maybe they were hoping for a double play. Something I haven't done since playing University Prep last month.

I kept my facial expression calm and tried not to show off my excitement. This was a good opportunity for me. With Mr. Miller's green light, I felt ready. It just so happened that the first pitch was his fastest down the middle. I swung and pulled it down the line. Fair, high, far, and gone. A two-run home run.

I rounded the bases and met Sean at home plate. We slapped hands with each other and then with a waiting Bryce.

Bryce grinned. "You just couldn't let me have all the glory, could you?"

I shrugged. "I've got to swing when I get the chance to."

Sean threw his arm around my shoulders. "I've got to get in on this action too!" He guided me to the dugout. "I'm pretty sure we have more home runs as a team now than we did last year."

"For sure!"

"I'd believe it!"

"Jake alone is on pace with Zeke's senior year!"

I felt my face heat up and hurried to my spot away from the guys. I didn't mean to show off. I just wanted to do my best. And it was such a good pitch.

"I'm thinking your stats and rankings alone can get you on the regional team." Noah said thoughtfully. "Maybe we can save money on a tryout."

I thought about it seriously as I put my helmet away. I would kind of like that but would also feel like I'm missing out. I frowned.

"Just kidding." Noah laughed. "If they cared about that stuff then they would only use that kind of info and not hold tryouts." He changed the topic a little. "I wonder if we would stay with Jeremy that weekend? Or would he be too busy since he's in season?"

"I think Mom and Dad will want to go with us." I pointed out. "Zeke plays at home that weekend so kill two birds with one stone."

"That's true." He glanced at me. "Would you rather watch Zeke's college game or Jeremy's pro game?"

"Wouldn't we all go to Zeke's?" I asked. "He plays less games than Jeremy. We can watch the A's all summer and even practically in the fall."

"Sounds like you're playing favorites."

I squinted at him. "Sounds like you want to watch the A's."

Noah laughed and held up his hands in defense. "I can't help it. They're my favorite team. But you're right. We'll probably pick to watch Zeke."

Bryce hit a single, cutting into our conversation as we clapped and cheered him on. Unexpectedly, Garret pulled the ball to the right, hitting a grounder to the second baseman, who flipped the ball to the shortstop covering second base, and then threw to first. A double play. Something he hasn't done all year because he usually gets under the ball.

"Dang. Can't even talk shit on him right now." Noah muttered as he grabbed his glove. "But as soon as he gives up a hit, all bets are off."

I grinned and shook my head. "You're so picky."

Top of the fourth, Garret was back to facing the top of the order. The lead off guy actually hit the ball to the outfield, but Jesse tracked it down and made the catch for the first out. The second batter was late on a swing, hitting a grounder to me. I fielded it cleanly to Sean at first. The same thing happened to the third batter, being late and hitting another grounder to me. I stuttered step for just a second before going to the ball and fielding that one to Sean as well.

I could feel Noah's jealous gaze as we jogged back to the dugout. I shrugged helplessly. "It's not like I can control it. Send your complaints to the pitcher."

Noah immediately took my advice and slowed up to be next to Garret. "Use the cutter more. I want more grounders to come my way. I've only had one so far!"

Garret laughed. "Yea, yea, I know. Don't worry. I'll mix it in more along with the slider. I just wanted to see how much I could control my fastball mid-game."

Back in the dugout, Dave let Garret know his pace for the strikeout record was affected. "Not even one? Do you want to be tied with Kyle at the end of the season?! Don't waste this perfect opportunity."

Garret shrugged. "There'll be more chances next month. Besides, I feel like I'm doing something better than a strikeout record." He grinned.

He wasn't the only one. Dave. Noah. All the guys nearby started smiling too. We could all feel something special was going on. Garret was dominating these guys through four innings. He was more than halfway there to a perfect game.

Jason led off in the bottom half of the fourth with a walk. Jesse hit a sharp grounder nearly up the middle, just barely stopped by the dive of the second baseman. He threw to the shortstop from the dirt. The shortstop stepped on second base and Jason slid into him, breaking up the potential double play. Korrey followed up with a single just after Mr. Miller called for a hit-and-run. With Jesse's early jump off of first, he made it to third. Runners on the corners with one out for Mitchell.

The Porterville coach came out and signaled for a pitcher change. He took the ball from his player and slapped him on the back as a new guy jogged in from the bullpen. After a short throwing session off the mound, the umpire called for the game to resume.

Mitchell came through, punching out a single to left to drive in Jesse, making it 6-0. Just as I thought I might get another chance to bat so soon, Sean struck out and Noah hit a fly ball straight to center, leaving me on the on deck circle.

Noah came back with a sheepish look again. "At least I didn't strike out again?"

I laughed. "It's okay. You made good contact. It just went right to the guy. If you had hit it to the gap, you would have had a double for sure."