717 V2 ch189 (1/2)

”Booo.” Sean said playfully when I passed him.

”Jake becoming the next Zeke!” Jason hollered as I rounded third.

I felt my face warm up. I tagged home plate, making the score 4-2 and headed for the dugout.

Ollie, who bats after me, met me halfway, holding my bat out to myself. ”Great hit!”

”Thanks.” I accepted my bat and went inside the dugout.

”Looking good.” Mr. Miller complimented me. ”You keep that up and the scouts will be hanging out in your living room soon enough.”

I nodded and went back to my bag. On the way back, a few of the guys clapped me on the back even though we hardly knew one another. Noah rescued me by pulling me through and pushing me to sit down.

”Jake doesn't like the attention guys!” He told everyone. ”He's super shy. Don't ruin his game mentality, yea?”

Some of them laughed and others nodded. Whether they thought Noah was joking or not, I didn't care. I was getting better at not caring about what others thought of my problems.

”I think he needs a specialty pitch.” Garret mused as we watched Joey pitch to Ollie. ”At least, if he wants to get to the next level.”

”The twins don't have a specialty pitch.” Noah pointed out.

Garret shrugged. ”Not everyone needs one. But,” He glanced at us. ”Don't you see them trying to change?”

I nodded.

Noah shrugged. ”Doesn't Kyle just want to throw faster?”

”That's a part of it. He's completely changed his whole motion.” Garret commented. ”Risky, but Kyle has that determination. Even Dave has changed. He's trying to just tweak his motion and delivery. They also have really good control. Or, at least, they did. Probably will take some time to get that back after making adjustments.”

”I think Joey could be better if he listened to his catcher.” I thought about the few times he shook Mitchell off. Even when Mitchell had something to say to him on the mound, Joey didn't let him go up there. ”I think Mitchell has valuable input that Joey isn't willing to listen to.”

”Agreed.” Garret looked back just in time to see Joey strike out Ollie to end the inning. ”He's good. I'm just saying, he could be better. His mentality really holds him back. That's why I think a specialty pitch could do him wonders. Something he can fall back on.” He stood up and grabbed his glove. He was one of the first to leave the dugout with Ethan.

”I don't know why Garret cares so much.” Noah commented in a low voice as we grabbed our gloves too. ”With him and the twins, it's not like we need anymore starters.”