691 V2 ch163 (1/2)

We arrived at the park and unloaded our bags.

”Hey, guys!” Bryce greeted us as he approached with his bag on his shoulders. ”Looks like I'm right on time.”

”Bryce!” Noah smiled. Then noticed his arms. ”Woah! Look at you! Have you been lifting all summer??” He got closer to pinch his biceps. ”Crazy! Dave, Kyle, come here! Let's compare!”

Kyle looked away. ”No need to compare. Bigger muscles doesn't make him better than me.”

”But it's pretty cool to look at.” Dave admired, coming closer to look. ”Has it messed up your pitching? You're not just lifting to get bigger, right?”

Bryce flexed his big arms. ”Of course I've spent the summer pitching. I worked with this training facility in the Bay Area. Thankfully I got my license just in time. So I went on my own almost every day.”

”Your parents let you drive to the city on your own?” Noah asked, amazed.

”They can check my location through my phone at all times. I also text them when I leave and when I arrive anywhere. It's a little annoying, but a small price to pay to have this kind of freedom before Junior year starts.” Bryce explained.

Noah has stars in his eyes as he looked at me. ”Let's start taking driving lessons.”

”Jake isn't 15 yet.” Kyle pointed out. ”Plus, you have to be 15.5 to get your permit first.”

Noah sighed in defeat.

Zeke nodded at Bryce, then headed for the park. The five of us followed him to the baseball field.

”It's a little rough.” Noah sighed, looking at the beat up field. ”We should have brought real bases at least.”

The baseball field was for public use so it didn't have all the usual amenities. The mound looked to be in okay shape, but the batter's box was a little worse for wear.

”Don't worry, I called for backup.” Zeke set his bag down.

”Backup?” Noah asked.

”Gotta be Mr. Miller then.” Dave smiled. ”He's the only one I know that can help fix this mess.”

Kyle was skeptical. ”You called Mr. Miller to come help clean up the field? And he agreed?”

Zeke nodded. ”He's also going to be the umpire of the game.”

Coincidently, Mr. Miller showed up next. With a familiar face: Stu. The pair brought over rakes and other stuff I couldn't recognize. They greeted us briefly and got to work on fixing up the field.

It wasn't long before the rest of the guys started to show up: Julian and Andy, Garret, Mahki, Sean, Brian, Mitchell, etc. They were all guys I knew, even if I didn't know them well, especially the pitchers like Theo. With the majority of the guys present, Zeke led us through some old warmups before letting us pair off to throw the ball. After that, he let us practice catching fly balls and fielding grounders as Mr. Miller and his friend finished working on the infield.

”Let's hurry and make the teams so I can start warming up properly.” Kyle complained to Zeke.

Everyone started to congregate around Zeke, expecting him to already have it decided.

Zeke pointed at the twins. ”They'll pick. Old school style. One for one.” He looked at the twins. ”Start with catchers first to make it fair.”

Dave looked around. ”We have three catchers here...Mitchell, Alex, and Kelvin. Are we just going to leave one out? That's not really fair.”

Kelvin raised his hand. ”That would be me. I already told Zeke I wouldn't be catching today. It's good to give my knees a break.”

”Then what position do you plan to play?” Kyle asked.

He shrugged. ”Wherever. It's not like everyone can be picky. A few pitchers will have to play on the field too if you guys plan on hogging the mound all afternoon.”

Kyle rubbed his chin. ”It's going to be tricky then.”

”Who gets to pick first?” Dave asked Zeke.

Zeke pulled out a coin from his back pocket. ”Kyle is heads, Dave is tails. I'll toss it up and let it land on the grass, that way it's as fair as possible.” He didn't wait for the twins to disagree or bicker and tossed the coin up, high into the air. It came down tails up.

Dave pumped his fists. ”Yes!”

Kyle rolled his eyes. ”Since he gets first pick, can I have first choice in catcher?”

Zeke nodded, agreeing to the terms.

”I'll take Alex then.” Kyle pointed.

Dave shrugged. ”I'll throw to Mitchell.” Then he grinned. ”And of course I'll take Zeke!”

”Well, I get Jake.” Kyle smirked.

”Julian!” Dave shot back.

”Garret!” Kyle countered.

”Noah.”

”Mahki.”

It went on until all eighteen players were divided up on two teams. The twins and their catchers went off to warm up and set the signs, while the rest of us moved the bags to the appropriate dugouts. Dave was the home team in the third base dugout, while Kyle's team was stuck in the first base dugout.

”Settle on positioning.” Zeke told Garret before going to his own team.