Chapter 827 - V3 ch62 (VS Branham HS 2) (1/2)

I was the second to last one out of the dugout. Garret was slower than me, surprisingly. He walked up the mound like something was on his mind. I bet that first baseman was talking to him too when he was on first during my at-bat. ;

Just as I was hoping that Garret wasn't too affected, the cleanup hitter connected on the first pitch, hitting a line drive to the corner of left field. Jesse was sprinting to get the ball, picked it off the grass and threw his hardest to Noah, who went to be the cutoff. Noah turned to me at second, but the batter already made it here without needing to slide. ;

Noah threw the baseball back to Garret on the mound. Garret was expressionless when turning to face the next batter. I usually didn't care to note who the batter is or what position he plays, but the next batter up was that talkative first baseman. Garret cornered him quickly into a 1-2 count. He then threw his best breaking ball, the cutter. ;

The batter must have been waiting for that exact pitch, because how else could he hit it to center field perfectly? ;

The runner from second already had a good lead, and with his fast speed, I could tell he wanted to go home. ;

”To home!” Noah called out as Korrey fielded the ball on a hop. ;

Korrey threw his hardest, not bothering to throw to Noah, his cutoff. The ball wasn't going to make it in time. Mitchell got the ball and threw it back to Noah at second to stop the batter from moving to the next base. An RBI single for the talkative first baseman. Tch. ;

Noah called time and walked the ball up to Garret on the mound. Mitchell also walked up the mound to join their conversation. I glanced at Sean at first. Seeing him standing on the bag with that batter held me back. Whatever Noah wanted to talk about with Garret shouldn't concern me. They're the best when it comes to baseball knowledge. I wouldn't be able to contribute anything. ;

The ump stepped up and called for the game to resume. Noah went back to his position as did Mitchell. ;

1-0...Branham with the lead. We haven't been down in a game at all this tournament so this was a new experience. Maybe not 'new' because we've been down before in a game. The last time being in the CIF finals. ;

Batter number six got into the lefty's box, an unusual occurrence. There weren't too many lefty's normally, especially ones willing to face a left-handed pitcher. He was able to make contact like the previous two batters, but only hit a routine grounder to me. I flipped the ball to Noah at second base, and he completed the double play to Sean, beating out the batter. Two outs.

My shoulders sagged in relief. Despite the confidence I had in Garret, I was still tense. Garret must have had some relief too. No baserunners now and two outs. He struck out the next batter to end the inning. He walked back to the dugout as the rest of us jogged it in. ;

”What'd you say to Garret?” I whispered to Noah as we sat down on the bench. Neither of us would be going up to bat anytime soon. ;

Noah shook his head. ”I didn't say much. Garret was the one who did the most talking.”

My eyes drifted to Garret, who stopped next to Coach to say a few words. ;

”Don't worry about him.” Noah slapped me on the shoulder. ”A few hits given up isn't anything that can hold him up. His pitcher mentality is the toughest on the team. He's not fragile like Kyle.”

I cracked a smile. ;