The Hitting Zone

"Jake, here you are." Coach Rob interrupted Noah and Danny's conversation, standing near me. He wasn't alone. He gestured to the man beside him. "I don't know if you remember, but this is Coach Hastings. He's our lead on the pitchers and catchers."

Danny straightened up in his seat, eyes solely trained on Coach Hastings.

Coach Hastings was looking at me though. He gave me a friendly smile. "You'll be with me this afternoon, Jake. We'll have a special field dedicated to the trial."

"Trial? What trial?" Danny blurted out, unable to hold back his excitement. His eyes kept moving around to each of us, eager for an answer.

Noah put his hand on Danny's shoulder and said with a smile, "You were eager for a rematch, right? Well, here it comes. Jake's going to face all the pitchers today in order to help out the coaches."

"You've faced Jake before?" Coach Hastings was interested, turning his attention to Danny.

"Had him cornered before giving a walk-off double." Noah stated with a smirk.

"He cheated!" Danny declared, trying to defend himself.

Coach Hastings glanced at me.

Noah snorted. "It's not Jake's fault that he could notice that you had a tell. You should be mad that your catcher didn't catch such an obvious issue."

"If it was so obvious, why didn't you get a hit off me?" Danny asked.

"You came in after my after bat." Noah shrugged. "You should ask yourself why you were put in so late."

"Cody could handle you with ease. There's no need for me to waste my pitch count on you." Danny said.

I felt bad on Noah's behalf, but Noah didn't seem bothered. "Handle me with ease?" He laughed. "My sac bunt successfully got our player in scoring position for Jake. You should have swallowed your pride and walked him and maybe then you guys wouldn't have lost. Again."

Coach Rob cleared his throat. "Alright, let bygones be bygones. You guys can pick up your rivalry next season." He looked to Danny. "Do you want to be the first to face Jake this afternoon?"

"I rather it be random." Danny said, surprising me. "Plus, if I go first, I would be at the biggest disadvantage."

"How so?" Coach Hastings asked.

Danny answered with a question of his own. "Have you seen him in action?" He shook his head. "He can foul off so many pitches; it's like a game within a game. I rather he get a little tired first."

"Jake never gets tired from swinging." Noah said nonchalantly. "You would know if you've ever seen him in the cages. He's like the energized bunny. He just keeps going and going and going."

"Honestly doesn't seem like the type." Danny glanced at me.

I shrugged weakly.

Danny looked at Coach Rob. "So he's on the team already, right? He has to be if you're using him as a prop in the tryout."

"He's the number one in the state." Noah said. "Of course he makes the team."

I started to poke at my food, not really liking this attention.

"Okay, okay. We'll keep it random." Coach Hastings cut in. "Jake, after Rob here makes the announcements of where everyone should go, I'll come find you and we'll walk down there together. Okay?"

I nodded.

The two coaches left us to finish lunch. Noah and Danny were quickly eating while I got slower and slower.

"Did Cody not tryout with you after all?" Noah had asked between sips of his water.

"Oh he's here somewhere." Danny said mindlessly.

We both looked at him, confused.

"I thought you guys would be together since you play for the same school. Not on friendly terms?" Noah raised an eyebrow.

Danny laughed outright. "We aren't connected at the hip, but it's not like we hate each other. We have conflicting personalities. Like right now, he's probably eating outside alone somewhere. He likes the quiet and I can't stand it."

Noah slowly nodded. He peered at me. "You know two of the guys you're facing this afternoon. Cody and Danny. Just over a month ago you beat them both so don't be nervous. Just recall the last game."

"He went 1-2 against Cody." Danny pointed out, showing that he didn't forget that game at all. "That's only 50/50 odds."

"Ah, but it wasn't a strikeout." Noah grinned. "Coach Hastings said it was a showdown between hitter and the battery. Nothing about field players. Jake has a big advantage this afternoon."

I relaxed my shoulders. Yea. I did have an advantage. I just had to put the ball into play. I didn't have to worry about players positioning or runners on or anything like that. I showed a small smile.

"Damn." Danny muttered under his breath. His eyes narrowed as he stared at me. "You're going down, Jake. No matter what." He started to clean up and stood. "I'm going to find Cody. Make sure he knows the coaches are about to make an announcement."

Noah waved casually to send him off. After he was away, Noah looked at me. "You good?"

I nodded. "Yea. I think so. It helps that I just have to put the ball in play. It takes a lot of pressure off."

"Yea, but don't take it too easy." Noah said. "Every swing should be for the fences."

I laughed. "Yea. Okay."

Noah checked his phone. "Dave said he's going to bring some snacks, thankfully. But they won't be back for awhile since the restaurant is a little slow."

"It's only for the weekend." I shrugged, unbothered.

Ten minutes later, Coach Rob stood up on a small podium to make his announcement. The whole cafeteria was quiet as soon as he got up. He first officially welcomed everyone and congratulated on us making it this far. Then he explained that we weren't the final player pool to choose from; that he had a handful more across the states to host.

"We'll be selecting 52 players overall to make up two teams." He explained. "Stats and Stripes. They will have the same amount of games in pool play at the end of the summer. Each of the six regions have two teams so no, we aren't special. It's just a way to get more players visible to the committee so don't bother stressing on whether you're on the better team or not. Let the games decide that. Your first priority is to show us what you've got this weekend to make the final selection." Coach Rob started to split everyone into groups, first sending off pitchers and catchers to their designated field. Then he split the other players into much smaller groups.

Noah got up when his number was called. He held out his fist for me to bump. "Crush them, Jake. You've got this."

I smiled. "Yea. You too. Show them what you've got."

He picked up his bag and left with the steady flow of players.

I cleaned up our mess before putting my bag on my back and waited for Coach Hastings. He didn't show up until Coach Rob was done dismissing everyone and had a small discussion with his other coaches and adults in charge.