Chapter 826 - V3 ch61 (VS Branham HS 1) (1/2)

Our room got busy after I finished icing my ankle. Mom, Dad, and the twins came in to see what was going on with my ankle. Dad agreed with Zeke that Coach should be making the final decision. Coach was staying in a nearby hotel and it didn't take him long to show up.

Coach was a little more reasonable than my family. He let me prove that I can jog by having me go up and down the hallway. His suggestion in the end was, ”Let's see how warmups go. If he can still field and swing his bat like normal, then let's not mess that up. It's not really a sprain so I don't think it would do Jake any good if we restricted his movements.”

I nodded enthusiastically. Yes, I don't need tape. It's really just a lump. We wasted this whole morning for nothing. Coach left first, saying he wanted to meet up with his staff. We snacked a little more until it was time for us to leave as well.

When we got back to the tournament grounds, it was noticeably less busy than before. The eliminated teams and their families no longer had a reason to stay. Coach told us to gather in the third base dugout of field #2. Both teams had three wins, but we beat them in run differential so we got to be the home team.

Garret was going to pitch today so after leading us through the basic warmup, he left for the bullpen with Mitchell and the pitching coach. We split into smaller groups and rotated between fielding grounders, fly balls, batting practice, and some other stretches.

Coach checked in on me periodically, making sure I wasn't being affected by my ankle. ”Manageable?” He asked me as everyone got back in our dugout, preparing to take the field in the first inning.

I nodded and gave him a thumbs up. ”No trouble.”

”If it gets worse, you tell me.” Coach lifted his sunglasses to make eye contact with me.

I nodded obediently. ”Yes, Coach.”

Coach then addressed the team, going over our lineup for today once more.

1 SS Noah

2 P Garret

4 3B Jason

5 CF Korrey

6 C Mitchell

7 1B Sean

8 LF Jesse

9 RF Tanner

”It's do or die time, boys.” Coach clapped his hands together. ”Win today and we get another game. Don't forget, three B's: ball, base, backup. On offense, I want to see you guys swing. No one better be caught looking. Anything close, you try to foul it off.”

He looked at Garret. ”You got this.”

Garret nodded. He glanced around the dugout. ”Let's go!” He was the first one out of the dugout. The rest of us followed.