The Hitting Zone

We still went to practice on Monday, surprising the guys and the coaches. Mom said we shouldn't have planned on being there so we told Coach and them that we wouldn't make it. Coach immediately sent Dave to the bullpen to work with the pitching coach and Mitchell. It was just going to be light work since he was still the projected starter for Wednesday's game against Golden West. Maybe they were working on a game plan since these guys did get a few hits off of Brian.

Kyle went to join other pitchers on some kind of running; I guess it's just conditioning work. The rest of us were divided into infield and outfield, taking turns for batting practice while working on situationals.

After practice, we went home to take showers and to make up some missing class work. During dinner, Mom and Dad informed us that they were going to Zeke's game tomorrow and would stay the night there.

"But you'll still go to Wednesday's game, right?" Dave asked. They nodded. He looked at Grampa. "And you too. It's a home game so you can't miss it this time."

Grampa laughed. "Where else would I go? I'll be sitting front and center, with a great view of you striking your opponent's out."

Dave looked relieved.

"I'll be in the bullpen in case you get hurt again." Kyle spoke up.

Noah outright laughed and I tried to hold myself back.

"Mommm." Dave complained.

Mom looked at Kyle. "Can you not be so pessimistic about your brother? Say something nice?"

Kyle shrugged. "His track record speaks for itself. Dude hasn't done a full game since the Foothill Classic. Over a month ago now. I think it's pretty fair of me to say that I've got his back and can finish the game this time if he can't. He doesn't seem to like when Brian finishes it for him."

Dave glared at him. "That's because I don't want to be taken off the field. Coach keeps putting me on the bench for the most minor inconveniences."

"I appreciate the effort your coach puts in to keep you healthy." Dad took over. "It's important that you don't go on, pushing your limits until you break." He looked around the table. "That goes for all of you. Bend, don't break." He looked directly at Kyle. "I think you can better rephrase your words of encouragement to Dave."

Kyle looked guilty before looking down at his food. He stabbed a couple of vegetables with his fork. "Yea, yea, I believe in him. Seven full innings. Get the win."

Dave patted his own chest. "I've got this."

After dinner was more homework and making sure we were ready to go back to school tomorrow morning. Tuesday, Noah started to advertise our game tomorrow, trying to draw a big crowd for Dave's return. I still couldn't understand how they like having more people in the bleachers.

"I'll be there." Kaylee nodded. "After practice, of course." She looked at me. "Is Jeremy going to come?"

I tilted my head. "I didn't ask him...?"

"Just wondering." She shrugged. "Since he has a day game tomorrow, he should be done in time for yours in the evening."

I pulled out my phone. "I'll mention it." It's been a while since I saw Jeremy. Lately we've been barely keeping up with texts. I think Zeke has seen him more this past month than me.

"Don't even bother." Noah told me. "After tomorrow's 1pm game, he probably has to get ready to catch a flight. They play Thursday at Houston."

I put my phone back down. "I'm glad you keep up with the schedule."

"It's on the app." He rolled his eyes. "Honestly there's probably only a game or two left that he could even come to. His schedule is maxed out." He grinned. "But we'll have no problem seeing him this summer."

I smiled back and nodded. Then I look at Kaylee again. "How are things in your family?"

"Yea! Any change since last weekend?" Noah asked too.

Kaylee gave a small shake of her head. "No. Marie's still going to UCLA. And my parents still are looking to moving down there too. I started to email some schools that have boarding programs, but the few replies I've gotten say they don't have any athletic scholarship to cover. And these schools be super expensive. If I don't have a scholarship, there's no way I can convince my parents."

"Well...how are your grades?" Noah asked.

"I get mostly A's. Some B's. But nothing that stands out for an academic scholarship either." Kaylee shook her head. "It's not looking good for me." She sighed.

"It's too early to give up." Noah told her. "Keep emailing. Keep doing well in your games. It's not over until the fat lady sings, right?"

"I just hate everyone right now." She mumbled, slouching in her seat.

I frowned, not used to seeing her so down. "You should try talking with Dr. Moore."

Kaylee looked at me.

I shrugged and continued. "When I don't feel good, I go to see him. Talk about my worries and frustrations." I covered my stomach. "Everyone talking about the future makes me sick. I like the present very much."

"You hate the unknown." Noah corrected. He glanced to Kaylee. "He's right though. Talk with Dr. Moore. Heck, maybe he can talk to your parents about how detrimental it is to move so late when you'll be graduating in just two years."

"Yea. Okay. I'll see if I can go on my break." She said.

During break, I pulled out my phone again to text Jeremy. "Hey, are you still interested in going to the A's game after the regional tryout?" I asked Noah first.

Noah nodded. "Yea. Why? Are you changing your mind about seeing Zeke play?"

I gave a small shoulder shrug. "Maybe we see Jeremy that Saturday night and then Zeke Sunday afternoon before going home?"

"I agree!" He said happily.

I sent Jeremy a text about us signing up for a tryout thing in the Bay Area next weekend and he was quick to reply that he would come to support us. Maybe take us to the stadium after. I said I would talk it over with Mom first to make sure it was alright to do so.

After school and practice, we went home for showers and homework. During dinner, I brought up next weekend.

"Jeremy said he would come to support. And then we could see him after." I nervously looked at Mom. "He has a home game at 6:30pm."

Mom looked at Dad. "You already looked over the schedules, right?"

Dad grinned as we all looked towards him. "Yes. I've looked over everyone's schedule. Next Friday, you boys play away. Not too far, but we're thinking we take you straight from the game to the hotel in the bay."

"Uh, is this for all of us?" Kyle asked. "Or can I just go home with the team after the game? That way I can still hangout with Marie that weekend."

"That's fine." Mom nodded. She looked at Grampa. "Don't let them be in the house together unsupervised."

"Yes, ma'am." Grampa gave her a salute and made most of us laugh. Kyle rolled his eyes.

"As I was saying." Dad cleared his throat. "On Saturday, the boys tryout is 8am to noon."

"8am?" I repeated with a look of disgust.

"Four hours?!" Noah's eyes shone with excitement. "If it's that long, we should be doing some kind of game play."

"I wouldn't know anything about that." Dad shook his head. "But I do know that Zeke's game is at 2pm that afternoon. So we should be able to watch his game and see Jeremy play that night."

"Wow. Really?" Noah pumped his fists. "It's going to be a whole day of baseball."

"Can I go tell Jeremy?" I asked Dad. "Maybe he'll want to see Zeke play too."

"He has to do him pregame workout though." Dave pointed out. "Probably leave after having lunch with you?"

"You can call him after you finish eating." Mom said, pointing at my half-eaten plate.

I turned my focus on my plate and ate in a hurry. Mom started to talk to Kyle about the rules for next weekend, basically she didn't want to become such a young grandmother. Even I had to laugh. After dinner, I called Jeremy and explained the plan for next weekend and to see what he thought.

"Okay, I'll definitely be there for your tryout." He answered. "Hopefully they have somewhere for parents to watch from a distance, I imagine. I can stick around for lunch, but after that I'll have to go to the stadium."

"Yea, we thought it might be too tough for you to watch Zeke's." I nodded.

"How many tickets do you think you'll need for that Saturday night?" He asked.

"Me. Noah. Mom. Dad. And Dave. Kyle is going to stay home because of his girlfriend."

He chuckled. "Hey, that's teen love." He got serious. "Ask Zeke and Rhys too."

"Oh yea." I forgot them. "Okay. I'll text Zeke and then let you know."

"Sounds good." He yawned. "Good luck on your game tomorrow. You beat this team already, right?"

"Yep. 7-3. Dave got stepped on that time and Coach pulled him early. So he's really pumped to give it another try." I looked around and made sure no one was around to overhear me when I whispered. "He was perfect for three innings. It was the pitcher after him that gave up the runs."

"I see." Jeremy laughed. "Well tell him good luck too."

I cracked a smile. "Not to Noah?"

He laughed some more. "Noah makes his own luck."

I grinned, understanding that too. If something didn't go Noah's way, he would just try, try, try again. We said 'goodnight' and hung up. I sent Zeke the text and got a quick reply that him and Rhys would be happy to come too. I quickly passed that along to Jeremy. A party of seven to see him next Saturday. That would be after a week-long road-trip for him.