343 Midseason Tryout 7 (2/2)
I looked back at the coaches, who had gotten up and were looking over their clipboards. ”I was going to...but they said I wouldn't get a break in between so I wouldn't be able to switch boxes.”
Tanner's jaw dropped. ”You only picked the 85mph balls just so could switch to being a lefty halfway through? What's wrong with you??”
Uhh. I frowned. ”A lot of things..?”
Garret tried to contain his laughter at Tanner's shocked expression. ”No, no, no Jake. He didn't mean it in a serious way. He was just amazed with your batting.”
Ah. ”I've been mainly hitting lefty for games so I really wanted to get some work in with my right.”
”See boys?! This is what a real batting prodigy looks like!” Garret pushed me in front of him and showed me off to our small group. ”Any talk of him not belonging on varsity will require you to switch hit perfectly in the batting cage.”
The guys didn't talk back, but they didn't look happy with my performance. They were stunned when I finished, but I think now, it's sinking in that I'm not completely useless in a game.
”You guys need to put away the bats and head to the JV field.” One of the coaches spoke up. ”They're going over sliding and stealing bases over there.”
The boys in the group nodded and started to jog back to the dugout. Tanner followed, leaving me and Garret to go to our own bags.
”Man, when I said try your best, I didn't think you were going to silence your haters like that.” Garret told me as we jogged.
”My haters?” I swallowed hard at the thought. ”Do they all hate me?”
”Nah, they're just jealous. Heck, I am too. If I had known you'd be able to shut them all up on your own, I wouldn't have bothered to join the group. You obviously had everything under control.”
I remembered what Kyle had told me previously. That Zeke may have asked him to join my group. ”I don't think I would have done the same thing without you here.” Flashback to me tripping. ”I probably would have ran away after falling in the grass if you weren't here to keep an eye on me.” Definitely would have ran. Super embarrassing. ”The other guys would probably give me a hard time without you to supervise as well.”
Garret looked happy. ”Thanks.” For what? ”Let's not think of any more probabilities though. Would of, should of, and could of are irrelevant when you stand in the present.” He slapped me on the back as we entered the dugout. ”Let's ditch the bats and get to the next station. Pretty sure I can recover my honor from there.”
Uh, yea? Easily. Without a doubt. I had hardly any experience or skill with baserunning. I especially hated sliding. Safe to say, this might be my weakest area.