The Hitting Zone

Sure enough, Kyle sent us a text in the group chat just after the last bell of the day rang, saying he and Dave had detention. We could wait in the library for them to be done in an hour. Noah replied, no thanks. I gave his message a thumbs up as the twins started to leave angry emojis.

We walked to the parking lot, finding Garret's car with ease. With Zeke and the twins, we rarely needed rides so I was little nervous with Garret's driving, but he was fine. Stopped at yellow lights and waited three seconds at stop signs. He followed all the rules of the road. He didn't fall into the stereotype of a male teenage driver we had learned about in Driver's Ed.

"You're watching me very closely, Jake." Garret commented. "Looking for a weakness already?" He was driving us home first since we didn't have our gear with us like he did.

"No, just watching you drive." I answered.

"We're going to take our permit test soon." Noah told him. "You're a pretty good driver for a teen."

Garret let out a short laugh. "Yea? I have to be. Can't put my future at risk for a little speed. Getting somewhere ten seconds faster won't be worth it if I hurt myself drive unsafely. I think I learned a lot from Zeke. About taking care of yourself in all aspects to prepare for a lifetime of baseball."

"Yea, he's like that. No nonsense. All baseball." Noah said. "You going to any of the games this weekend? We can get you an extra ticket if you want."

"I'll be watching from home. I have a lot of prep work coming up." Garret grinned. "Plus, it's Prom on Friday. Don't tell me that Kyle and Marie ain't going."

"Oh." Noah shrugged nonchalantly. "Forgot about that. You taking a girl?"

"No, going with a group. Some of the baseball and softball players combined. We're thinking about getting a limo together." He shrugged. "With Kyle and Marie dating, we've kind of just orbit around them. It's a good friend group." He laughed. "It'll be really awkward if they break up again, but maybe I won't see everyone as often after high school ends."

"They're fine." Noah waved his worry away.

We got to the house and took our backpacks in as Garret waited in the car. We changed into workout clothes, told Grampa where we would be, then grabbed our bags and headed back out.

Garret took us to the nearby park where we had a lot of fun memories. With the twins. With Zeke. With our freshmen year team.

"We won't be able to do a scrimmage against former players like last year." I commented as we unloaded and headed for the baseball field. "You and Kyle will be somewhere else." So even if we played before others headed off to college, they would be long gone.

"Are you going to sign right away or is your agent going to fight for a high signing bonus?" Noah asked Garret.

"Nothing is concrete." Garret shrugged. "I'm sure you guys have been paying attention to Kyle and his agent. There's all these rumors and numbers floating around. Honestly, if I can really go first round, I don't think I'll care about the numbers."

"Spoken like a true rich kid." Noah nodded in the affirmative.

Garret reached out to flick Noah's ear. "Shut up. I'm not rich rich. Just well off. And an only child. Besides, if anyone's rich, it's you guys."

Noah stuck his tongue out before saying. "Just well off." He repeated what Garret had said.

"It's all about perspective." Garret went on to say. "If I really do go in the first round, my signing bonus is two million at the low end and like nine million if I go really early. You know how long it took my dad to make two million in his lifetime? Like 15 years. I'm basically getting a shortcut on my finances with just the bonus."

"Don't forget that you'll lose a good chunk to taxes." Noah reminded him. "Then there's the fees to your agent. To your accountant. Probably have to have a lawyer on retainer. Who knows what else."

Garret was surprised. "You've been paying attention to Kyle's talks."

Noah shrugged. "Well yea. This is the path I want to take. No matter how low I go. I'm already saving up money for worst case scenario."

The two talked about the upcoming draft as we set our bags down and got our cleats on. Mitchell showed up soon after, getting ready too. I thought we would just jump right into things, but Garret had us go through the whole warmup like normal. He paired up with Mitchell for the long toss, and I got Noah.

Noah and I didn't go as far as Garret did with Mitchell. We also didn't throw for as long since he had to start doing his pitching routine. They stopped briefly for Mitchell to get all his gear on while Garret did some stretches.

Noah offered to toss some baseballs for me to hit into the fence and I accepted. It was kind of like hitting off a tee, but required a little more hand-eye coordination and a faster reaction speed.

We tried switching after awhile, but I kept flinching with Noah's swings, not liking being so close to his bat.

"Forget it." Noah stopped after the third bad flinch. "It's hard to get in the rhythm with you like this. I don't want to mess you up before you face Garret."

"We're ready!" Mitchell called out from behind home plate, waving his glove. "Batter up!"

"I'm coming!" Noah headed over with a brisk walk.

I picked up the loose baseballs and took them back to our bags in the dugout. Then I took a seat to watch Noah's at bat.

I don't know whether Garret was proving a point, but he threw three straight cutters at Noah, getting him to go down swinging.

"One more time!" Noah hit his bat against home plate and got set. "I dare you to throw me another cutter."

Garret got set, did his windup and soon the ball was leaving his fingertips. It cut in on Noah for the fourth time. Noah just stood and didn't swing.

"Ball!" Noah declared.

"You kid too much." Mitchell got up and threw the ball back to Garret. "That was clearly in."

"Says who?" Noah asked. "You're the catcher, you're biased."

They bickered until Noah caved. Garret threw his fifth pitch to him. It started to go in. Noah started to swing, but his angle was wrong. It was the slider. He swung and missed.

"Damn, you won't throw me a fastball?" Noah muttered. "You that afraid?"

Garret laughed as he caught the ball from Mitchell. "You can say what you want. The outcome will be the same, I'm the winner and you're the loser." He got set again and started his motion. He did throw a fastball this time though. Too fast for Noah to catch. He swung and missed. Second swinging strikeout.

"Damn." Noah cursed. He headed back to the dugout I was in. "Okay, Jake. Show him what you've got. Bring him down a little bit so I can feel better."

I cracked a smile and grabbed my bat.