251 Game: @ Porterville HS 1 (2/2)

I glanced at Noah and saw that he was too busy focusing on the pitcher, trying to find the timing. I swallowed down some anxiety and shuffled over to the fence.

She wiggled the paper through. ”Finished it off in five innings. Think you could do the same?” She smirked.

I took the piece of paper and shrugged. I don't know. It's too soon to say.

”Who's the pitcher for the game?” She asked, making me wonder why she hasn't left yet.

”Dave.” I whispered.

She laughed. ”Make sure to give him the paper then. He'll have to beat my sister's stats which is impossible for him.” She turned and walked away, joining some of her teammates in the bleachers.

I went back to the dugout to hand the paper to Dave. ”It's from the softball team.”

He opened it, then a look of determination took over. ”Five innings pitched, zero runs, two hits, and three walks. Struck out five.”

”Damn.” Garret whistled. ”What's the box score for their offense?”

”Fifteen hits. Ten runs scored. Ten RBIs. Shoot, did Porterville even show up?” Dave handed the paper over to Garret and looked back at me. ”Get out there and kill it, Jake. Your stats are doubled so you need to score the runs and drive them in.”

”No pressure.” Garret laughed.

”What are you doing?” Zeke asked from behind, making me jump. ”You're supposed to be in the on deck circle. Noah's already at the plate.”

I hustled out of there, trying to avoid Zeke's ire. I don't know if he was taking the bet seriously or if he just didn't care since he wasn't involved. Knowing Zeke, it's hard to tell. On one side, he would say only winning matters. But on the other...I think he would like to have his brother's back. His stats wouldn't count though so there wasn't much he could do.

The pitcher for Porterville didn't look as good as the other pitchers we've gone against. If anything, he looked to be the worst. He started Noah off with a walk.

With my name called by the announcer, I stepped up to the lefty's box accompanied by a few claps. I turned to see the Atkins' parents putting their hands together for me, making me blush. I turned to focus on the pitcher. His pitches were still all over the place, but on what would be ball four, I swung and connected. For the boys to win the bet, we needed hits, not walks. And since I was always a fan of hitting anything close, I didn't mind. It was a single to right-center field.

I safely reached first base, as Noah legged it to third. I'm always impressed by his speed. If I had hit it to one of the corners, I wouldn't be surprised if he tried to score off my single.