111 Game Three: San Marino 6 (1/2)

I started to feel sick. My head was pounding in rhythm with my heart. I felt like I couldn't get enough air in my lungs. I watched the dugout diligently, waiting to see Noah.

Zeke stepped out of the dugout and went to speak with the umpire. He glanced down at the catcher with disdain, but didn't say anything to him and his coaches. He turned to me, standing frozen on second. He said something else to the ump before jogging out to me.

He stood before me, like a tower, blocking out the sun. ”Noah's okay.”

I moved so he didn't block the dugout.

”The catcher is worse off. Trust me.” He stepped in front of me again.

I finally looked up to him. Trust? Trust him? I couldn't even trust myself. Why would I trust him? I started to walk towards the dugout.

”He's fine. Stay on second.” Zeke grabbed my shoulder, pulling me back. ”You can check on him when we switch to defense. Stay here, be alert, and be ready to score.” He didn't wait for my reply. He made sure I was still on base, then headed back to the batters box.

I could do this. Just stay where I'm at. Noah isn't going anywhere. He'll still be in the dugout when I get back. I repeated these thoughts in my head to calm myself.

The catcher ended up being carted off just like Jason. They sent out a replacement and the ump allowed the pitcher to throw a few warmups before letting Zeke get in the box.

Zeke got in the batters box and everyone started to cheer, already predicting another homerun. I stayed on second, not daring to lead off. I was hoping Zeke would hit a homer as well so I could get back to the dugout to see if Noah was really okay.

Zeke let the first two pitches go by as balls. Then he hit a line drive down the first baseline. I ran to third and saw Mr. Miller waving me on. I rounded third, but abruptly stopped. The new catcher was guarding home, waiting for the relay throw. I immediately backed up and stopped on third.

The crowd was shouting for me to score and my teams dugout was close enough for me to hear them saying I should have ran. I didn't care. I wasn't going to be another Jason or Noah.

The right outfielder was able to get the ball back in, just as Mahki and Zeke took a few steps back to their own bags. The bases were now loaded with Julian up to bat.

”Kid. You're too green.” Mr. Miller said to me as I stood on third, nonmoving. ”If you ran at full speed, you wouldn't have needed to slide into home, and you definitely wouldn't have collided with the catcher.”