342 Midseason Tryout 6 (1/2)

”You! You're my boy!” Garret shook me around some more. ”It's slang for friend. C'mon now! Keep up!”

”Wow.” Tanner snapped out of his daze. ”You really are a batting prodigy.”

By this point, I think my face is permanently red from embarrassment. I don't really like all this attention on me, good or bad.

”I definitely won't go after Jake.” Garret shook his head. ”I rather him go after me, that way, everyone will even forget what I had done. Versus everyone comparing me to him and his perfection.”

”Perfection?” Tanner asked. ”Man, don't put so much pressure on him.”

Garret just laughed. ”You say that because you've never seen him in action. Jake would have a perfect batting average if we base it off just the machine.”

”Wow. Yea, for sure let me go before you fools.” Tanner said.

I just wanted to bury myself in the grass. Can they just stop already?

Luckily, it didn't take long to go through this station. It was pretty cut and clear. You pick your speeds, then the coaches will judge your performance. As we got to the last of us, Tanner made sure he went in before Garret.

Tanner told the coaches behind the netting what he had decided on. They nodded and he went to the batter's box. He was right-handed and the same went for his batting preference.

I followed Garret as he moved closer to the gate in order to watch Tanner. We squeezed through some of the guys, who were discussing their results.

Tanner got off to a good start, making solid connections with the 75mph pitches. Like Garret suggested, Tanner chose to do the 6/6/6/2 pattern. When it got pushed to the 80mph setting, he was able to connect with all six, yet one of them would have been a foul ball.

”Not bad, right?” Garret said as we watched. ”Tanner is one of the better hitters on junior varsity. He's solid and consistent.”

”Why isn't he on varsity then?” I asked.

”Outfield is one of the most competitive positions. Especially when there's over ten plus guys who can field all the same. So batting is what makes them different.” Garret explained.

”Is he better than what we have? Do you think he'll make the team?” I asked some more inquisitive questions. I liked Tanner. He was easygoing and wasn't aggressive like some other people I know.

Garret thought about it. ”Hard to say. Tony has been struggling at the plate, but he's a solid outfielder with a good arm. Yet, if I'm playing left field, Mahki will go to right. And Mahki has been heating up again. He came in clutch with that grand slam yesterday so it'd be hard. Then again...I'm not a coach and it's hard to know what they're thinking.”

I nodded. I got it. There are plenty of players that do better in tryouts compared to real games and vice versa.

Tanner struggled to catch up to the 85mph pitch; hitting three, fouling two, and completely missing one. The last two pitches at 90mph would be a good test. The first one he whiffed, too slow and not even close.

I gripped my bat in my hands. ”Try-try swinging your fastest with your normal swing.” Tanner didn't hear me as he got set for the next and last pitch.

”Tanner! Swing your fastest!” Garret shouted.

The machine whirred and the pitch came. Tanner must have heard Garret since he started his swing earlier and that bat moved even faster than before. He fouled tip the 90mph pitch back, making us jump as it hit the fence protecting us.

Tanner grinned as he walked out of the cage. ”Man, I was close to getting that last one.”

”Yea, thanks to us.” Garret scoffed. ”Jake was too quiet with his advice that I had to yell it for him. Now you have to watch as I embarrass your performance.” He laughed as he walked into the cage and went to tell the coaches what he wanted.

Tanner came over to stand by me, resting his bat against the fence. He took off his helmet and held it in his hands. ”I didn't need the advice...I could tell from my first try at it, that I wasn't fast enough.”

”Oh.” I said in a small voice. ”Sorry.”

”I'm not saying you did anything wrong.” Tanner laughed a little. ”It's nice to hear the encouragement. Particularly in a competitive tryout. You didn't hear anyone else tell me something similar, did you?”

Besides Garret, who had repeated after me? ”No.”