375 Game: @ Redwood HS 2 (1/2)

”Be patient!” Mr. Miller said as he clapped his hands from the third base coaching box. It was a subtle reminder to make the pitcher work. I couldn't be like Noah and just hit the first pitch. Or maybe it's better to say that Noah couldn't be like me and work up the pitcher's count? That's kind of mean.

I stepped into the lefty's box, and got set. The pitcher adjusted himself and threw a breaking ball away for his first pitch. 1-0. The next pitch came in, making me jump out of the box. 2-0. The following pitch was low, yet I fouled it back. 2-1. I let another pitch pass for a ball. 3-1. Foul. 3-2. Foul. Foul. Foul. Foul. I made sure my fouls went down each baseline and bounced so I wouldn't accidentally hit a pop fly to somewhere that's catchable.

After a few more fouls, the pitcher was frowning. His next pitch was outside and could possibly be ball four. I didn't want to risk it being a called strikeout so I swung and connected. The ball went down the third baseline while I sprinted down the first baseline. I couldn't see the play, but it wasn't hard to see the incoming throw that the first baseman caught while tagging the base. Out. I slowed down and sighed.

Clapping came from the dugout and it grabbed my attention. I turn and found Noah grabbing my bat for me, off the dirt. He must have scored.

”Good work!” He told me as we headed back to the dugout together.

”That wasn't bad, but it could have been better.” Coach spoke up when we came in.

I nodded and went back to my seat. I understood what he meant.

”Coach is such a perfectionist.” Noah mumbled as we put our helmets away. ”Don't bother about too much. You did great! An RBI groundout. We're already winning.”

I shook my head. ”Nah, it's okay, I got what Coach meant. I could have fouled that ball instead, and waited for a better pitch.” I sighed. ”I was just too committed on hitting this one in play because the pitcher looked frustrated. I gave them a freebie.”

Noah laughed. ”Wow. What a nice self-reflection.”

We watched the rest of the inning end in a couple of minutes. Garret hit a fly ball to center field, and Zeke also grounded out to third. We were putting the ball in play, but...what can I say?

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We took the field with the rest of the team, with Kyle on the mound. He's been having a great season, and had some good pitching stats among the league, according to Noah.

Kyle started off shaky today though. He gave up a single to the first batter, then walked the following two to load the bases. It was only the first inning so no one came to the mound to talk to him. If Jordan was catching, he might have just because he likes things to go his way.

With the bases loaded, Kyle didn't crumble under pressure. It was like he wasn't himself. Or maybe he just has more confidence lately. He was able to get their cleanup hitter to strikeout swinging. That was the best case scenario, because it helped keep the runners on their respective bases.

As the fifth batter stepped up, I started to get a little nervous. I wiped my sweating hand on my jersey to try and dry it out. The ideal play right now would be a double play. The most likely double play in baseball, involves the middle infielders. Me and Noah. Noah and I. One of us will have to field, and the other will have to tag second and make the throw to first. I wiped my hand some more and took a deep breath.