181 Game One: Sunset Preparatory 3 (1/2)
Our teammates greeted us with slaps on the backs, high fives, and smiles all around. We went back to our bags and switched out our gear. As I was putting on my hat, I heard the 'ding' of a bat hitting a ball. I turned to watch Garret run to first as the ball was fielded back to the infield. Zeke was held up at third.
Jordan stepped up to the plate next. I remember Noah saying he was one of the better batters, but only played in games where he would catch for Garret. It was a weird dynamic for me and I wanted to ask more about it, but that was all Noah knew.
”You boys ran well out there.” Coach cake over to congratulate us. ”Especially you Noah. I think you may be the fastest on the team. Besides some of the seniors. But you're aggressive out on the bases and that's what we need right now.”
”Easy-peasy.” Noah grinned.
Coach studied his face for an extra second or two. ”But, I also want you to watch for Miller's signs. He's the third base coach. He'll know best whether or not you can score.”
Noah rubbed his nose, looking a little contrite. ”It was the heat of the moment. I felt 100% positive that I would be able to score.”
Coach sighed. ”But you don't factor in the chance for a collision and getting hurt. Trust Miller.” He left to go back to the end of the dugout to watch the game.
I stared intently at Noah.
He finally felt me looking at him. ”What is it?”
I grimaced. ”Don't get hurt.”
Noah immediately smiled. ”Of course I won't. Coach can say that Miller knows best all he wants, but really, I know my own body better than anyone else. He was just saying that to scare me.”
I hope so.
The sound of a hit made us look to the field. It was a hard grounder to the second baseman. He smoothly fielded the ball and gave a short toss to the shortstop on second, who tagged the bag and then threw to first. A 4-6-3 double play. Noah and I sighed in sync.
”Hey, hey. Don't look so down. It's only the first inning.” Mahki hit the tops of our heads with his gloved hand. ”Let's get out there and show some defense of our own. We're off to a good start!”
As a team, we switched to defense and ran onto the field for some warmups. We took a little longer than normal since Jordan was the last out and needed some time to get his catchers gear on. Once he came out, Garret was able to throw some warmup pitches. They looked fast, but not as sharp as they could be. Maybe he's trying to fool the batters coming up, I decided, not worrying about it. I hardly know anything about baseball itself, let alone a complicated position like pitching.
Soon enough, the ump called for the balls back and for the batter to step up to the plate. Garret came at him fast...but wasn't able to place his first two pitches in the strike zone. 2-0. I looked at Noah on my right to see if I should be worrying, yet Noah was in the zone, focused on the batter. I snapped out of it and tried to do the same.