326 Game: @ Quincy High School 3 (1/2)
Drew finished giving me a quick look over just as Mahki made the final out by flying out to right field. I went back to by bag to grab my glove and hat before going out onto the field to do a warmup.
Garret was on the mound, a serious expression across his face as he threw a couple of pitches to Jordan. The umpire only gave us two minutes before asking for the game to resume.
The first batter for Quincy stepped into the righty's box and was set to swing. Garret started with his signature cutter, getting the guy to swing for strike one. The next pitch came inside and he held back from swinging getting a ball. I wasn't worried at first since it was normal for pitchers to throw the occasional ball out of the zone, but by the 3-1 count, I wasn't sure if Garret was doing this intentionally.
”Ball. Ball four. Take your base!” The ump called out loudly. The batter dropped his bat and jogged to first.
Garret got the ball back and toed the rubber a few times before turning to face the second batter, who was another righty. Right away he showed bunt. Garret pitched a fastball away for ball one. And two.
Jordan stood up out of the crouching position and jogged to the mound. He waved all of us infielders in for a meeting. We ran up as well.
”It's just for show, Garret. What are you afraid of?” Chris covered his lips with his glove. ”Just go at him from the start.”
”Easy for you to say.” Garret scoffed.
”We can field it.” Noah declared. ”Sean and Chris, you two can cover the lines to get the bunt. Throw to me at second. Then Jake can cover first. Double play.”
Chris looked skeptical. ”You think it's that easy? Chances are, it's just a show bunt. He'll swing for sure as soon as we run in. There'll be too many gaps and the runner on first will score if he gets a good jump.”
”Shut up.” Jordan commanded. ”I'm the catcher right now. I'll call the shots. Sean, Chris, stay stationary at your bases.”
”We're not going to stay on guard for the bunt?” Noah asked.
”We'll leave it to Garret.” Jordan stated, then looked at our pitcher. ”Throw a fastball right down the middle. He won't swing or bunt and he'll take the called strike. With one strike against him, and seeing our corners far back, he'll try his best to lay one down. It'll be up to you to come off the mound on that second pitch and be ready to throw to second if you want two outs.”
Garret nodded. ”Got it.”
”Are you even sure that'll work?” Chris asked, still not completely on board.
”Worst case scenario, two on, no outs.” Jordan shrugged. ”It's the freakin first inning, why are you so worried?”
The ump came over to break up the meeting on the mound.
”It's freakin Quincy, that's why I'm worried.” I heard Chris mutter as he went back to third.
I worriedly looked to Noah. Noah smiled at me with reassurance. ”Let's just play. Nothing good can come from worrying.”
True. I nodded and went back to my position.
Garret did as he instructed and threw a fastball right down the middle. I tried not to flinch, thinking that the batter would surely swing on such a good pitch. Instead he took back his bunt and let it pass for a called strike. Wow. Jordan was at least half right. The next pitch would be the deciding one then.
Garret took a deep breath and got the ball back. He started his shorten motion again and threw another fastball right down the middle. The batter didn't pull the bunt back, and instead did his best to lay one down in the grass down the third baseline, then took off for first.
Garret didnt hesitate to come off the mound completely and chase the ball down. The runner was coming to second where Noah ran over to cover the base. I also sprinted over to back up the base in case it was overthrown or if Noah missed. Not that I think he would.
Garret picked up the stalled ball from the grass, whipped around and threw a bullet to second. Noah caught it with his foot touching the bag, then quickly threw to first before the runner had reached.
”Out!”
”Out!”
Excellent! I beamed, happy with how well that followed Jordan's prediction.