106 Game Three: San Marino 1 (1/2)
The dugout was tense. Beyond tense. Everyone was stiff and didn't seem relaxed at all. Even Zeke's face was stiffer than normal, but not because he's afraid of losing, but because he was wary of the aggression San Marino might show.
After he came to our room last night, he agreed with what the twins had said before: they play dirty. But in a near acceptable way, where it's hard for an umpire to decide if they're doing it on purpose. He spent most of the night instructing us on safety. ”I rather lose a game, than lose you guys for the season.” Zeke stated. That sentence had comforted me last night; knowing Zeke wouldn't punish me with laps if I dodged an ugly slide.
”Listen up.” Coach Wilcox called for our attention. ”I've already shown the umpires and tournament advisers the scorecards. They said they'll pay attention to the wild pitches so don't me timid up there.” His eyes fell on me.
”Don't worry about Jake, Coach.” Noah said for the team to hear. ”He could easily dodge any wild pitches.”
Coach lifted an eyebrow.
I nodded. I'm really good at predicting the pitches trajectory and taking note of the spin, to ensure that I could hit any pitch. It would be even easier to get out of the way.
Coach smiled. ”If Bambi ain't scared, then you older boys need to stop looking so afraid.” The guys all laughed, but me. One, now even Coach is calling me Bambi. Two, I'm still scared. I was thoroughly worried after Zeke warned us last night that they like to slide with spikes up.
I usually don't like the ball coming to me, but I rather have the ball come to me for every play, that way I don't have to cover a base and risk somebody purposely running into me.
”Okay, now that your faces aren't so paralyzed, here's the starting lineup:
1 SS Noah Atkins
2 2B Jake Hollander
3 LF Mahki Holstrom
4 CF Zeke Atkins
5 1B Julian Wilson
6 RF Sean Isner
7 3B Jason Morris
8 C Kelvin Bender
9 P Dave Atkins
Look alive and be aware.”
”It's David, Coach.” Dave just got back from warming up in the bullpen to hear the lineup. ”You guys never listen to me. One of these days, I'm going to stop replying to Dave. My name is David.”