13 The Cages 3 (1/2)

That's right. I stepped into the lefty's box. I practiced both since the end of sixth grade when I heard the school coach say switch hitters are the most useful because it's like two batters in one. They can face any kind of pitcher.

It took me quite awhile to get the hang of it, but now I was pretty equal for both. I could do the exact same thing, sending all twelve pitches back to the machine, with my left.

I left the cage and got in line for the next speed, 60mph. Noah was right about the 50, it was pretty wimpy. It didn't even feel like a warm up for me, even though I took half a year off. This was the line I fit in with the most. All the kids in this line looked to be close to my age and to my stature.

It only took a few minutes to get to my turn. I put in my third token and got in the righty's box first once more. Twelve pitches turned into twelve perfect hits straight up the middle. The fourth token let me match my perfect right with a perfect lefty performance. Very even, very equal. The satisfaction was insurmountable.

I moved to the line for the 70mph cage just as Noah came out of the 75mph next to it. He smiled as he came over. ”Moving on up, huh?” I nodded. ”It's going well then?” I nodded again. ”How many coins do you have left?”

I pulled out the six tokens to show him.

Hie rolled his eyes. ”I can't believe you wasted four dollars on the slow stuff. That won't make you into a better player.”

”Warm-up.” I muttered.

He squinted at me. ”You needed a warm-up? Twice in each cage?”

I nodded. I haven't even held a bat in six months, of course I need to shake off the rust.

He put a hand to his forehead and sighed in exasperation. ”Unbelievable. What a waste. You better hit at least half of these 70's then. Like full on hit where you know it'll be a fair ball.”