The Hitting Zone

Chapter 1145  V3 ch379 Banquet (2)

"As a potential first round pick, I think your odds are little better than some people." Noah slid a glance towards Kyle.

Kyle rolled his eyes. "What round you get drafted doesn't matter too much. There's been players from all over, including the undrafted. Like Garret said, it's about opportunity. But also, you have to stay healthy and ready." He looked at Garret. "Don't mess around too much just because you like hitting."

"Hey, I'm not like Dave, attracting random injuries everywhere." Garret joked, making some of the guys laugh.

Dave shook his head, but was smiling too. "I'm just a little unlucky. Getting stepped on. A comeback pitch that dislocated a pinky. They're not really pitching injuries. Just wait, in college I won't have these kind of accidents anymore."

"Maybe you need an exorcism?" Noah offered.

Dave slapped him on the back of the head. "Shut up."

All the tables got louder with conversation as more and more people finished eating. Eventually someone from the coaches table got up and made his way to the podium.

The freshmen team's head coach, Ryan, was tall and burly, and didn't look comfortable in his suit. He took his jacket off and tossed it on an empty chair. "Hello everyone. As most of the players, and some of the parents, know, I'm Coach Ryan. I've been with this program at Watsonville for quite some time and I've got to say, every year I've been blessed to have such good teams."

He continued. "The boys won twenty games this year. That's a new record for even me. The whole adventure wasn't smooth, and we did have to grow, but as a team we stepped up and really amplified what teamwork was all about this season. One thing I pride myself more than anything on, is keeping a team with good grades and once again, I had a full team full of scholar athletes." He started to call up his roster, one by one.

I didn't know all of them, but there were a lot of familiar faces. These were guys that I played with during the week-long summer camp, and then even some played baseball with us all fall before Coach made roster decisions. I also played with a handful of them in a JV game when Coach had that big blow up.

Once Coach Ryan had them all line up across for everyone to see, we the audience applauded for their accomplishment. Making the team was already an accomplishment of itself. We might not be a huge school, but we were still big enough to have three full levels and still had to make cuts. Then those that got to play had to give up a lot of free time for practices and games so in order to keep their GPA's up is something to be proud of.

"While I have the team up here, I want to put the spot on a few select individuals that really made this team shine." Coach Ryan said. "First up, Defensive MVP: Miguel Rojas."

I clapped a little harder, recognizing the name and face. I've played with Miguel a couple of times now and definitely thought he was a better fielder than me.

Miguel walked over, accepting a small award from his coach as he was talked about. "Miguel is a very coachable player, knowing how to take advice and implement in his practices. He works hard every practice, trying to become a better player. He's not one to settle and I see him making a move to higher levels next year."

Noah leaned over to whisper to me. "He has to move up because if he doesn't, that means he was cut. Only freshmen can play on the freshman team. Sometimes I wonder if Coach Ryan is just bullshitting this award ceremony to please the parents."

"I thought some of the things he was saying sounded similar to last year." I whispered back.

"I wonder if we'll recognize more of it then?" Noah speculated.

"Now if you have a Defensive MVP, you're bound to have an Offensive MVP." Coach Ryan said.

Noah and I made eye contact, both grinning at how familiar that sentence was. I have to say, I had a little animosity towards Coach Ryan because it felt like he was treating the freshmen last year super well despite half of them being super jerks to Noah and by default, me. But now I realized that he treats all his freshmen like that. Kind of like a gardener in charge of growing a row of plants. Gotta water and fertilize. In reality he had to coach and encourage.

"Tanner Kliss." Coach Ryan announced. The player got out of the line to accept his award too. "Tanner wasn't the hardest hitter on the team by any means, but he could come through in clutch situations. His on base percentage was the highest on the team and he had the most hits by far. Maybe another Jake Atkins in the making."

I was called on and a lot of eyes shifted to me.

"For parents that don't know or haven't heard, Jake Atkins is the best varsity hitter in the state so that is very much a compliment." Coach Ryan said.

I shrunk in my seat, wishing he would speak faster.

Noah laughed, as did some of the guys at my table. "C'mon Jake. Don't be shy. Just smile and wave."

I held my stomach. "Would it be better or worse if I go hide in the bathroom right now?"

Everyone that heard me, laughed.

"You didn't pass out so I think you're already getting used to the limelight." Garret said. "Just a few more years of compliments and maybe you'll stop cringing."

"He's going to be the most timid major leaguer in the history of MLB." Sean joked.

"Well if he goes to college, that might toughen him up and even bring out his personality a little more." Jason offered.

"I think being shy is a personality trait."

Our table talking in low tones as Coach Ryan was still talking about his players was rude. Talking about my personality needing adjustments was even worse. I miss Zeke. He would have shut them down with a glance.

Coach Ryan introduced his Most Improved player of the year: Davin Newberry. Another name I knew mostly from the fall semester and being around Andy. I bet if Andy was on the freshman team, he would have won some of these awards. Probably MVP, especially since he can make JV right off the bat.

The Best Sportsmanship award was granted to Connor Norman, another guy I actually remembered. I was starting to realize that it wasn't as clueless and sheltered as I was last year. I couldn't name everyone like Noah probably could, but I think I could hold my own on naming some of the guys. I looked over the whole line and tried to name all of them, and I definitely would get a passing grade.

"For our team, we like to have the players vote who they think the Team MVP should be." Coach Ryan grinned. "It's a good tradition and I like seeing how it correlates to what I saw this season. Marc Hall demonstrated what a leader should act like. He treated his teammates with respect and was open to hearing their thoughts and opinions on issues surrounding the team. He has a great glove and knows how to put the ball in play. He drove in the most runs for this team and was very comparable to Tanner at the plate."

The tallest freshman stepped out of line to accept the award. He nodded at those of us, sitting down and clapping for his accomplishment. "Thank you." He looked at his Coach. "And thank you, Coach. You really did your best to pull out all of our potential to make us better players. Soon we'll be contributing to the varsity team and hope to continue the streak of being champions." He glanced to our two varsity tables.

Some of the guys straightened up, feeling like their spot on the team might be challenged. Other guys just smiled and nodded along.

"Yea, we're creating a dynasty here." Noah commented. He looked at me. "Do you think we'll be the first ever high school players to win CIF all four years?"

My lips twitched. "How would I know?"

He rubbed his chin. "It can't be very easy to look up, but I think Mr. Cameron would be able fo figure it out. At least for our Northern Section."

"Dude, you're taking it way too lightly." Dave flicked Noah on the ear. "You're forgetting some of the power schools in division one and two. Heck, you can start with a simple search to see if University Prep had won their CIF division again. Then you would know that they won two in a row too."

Noah held his ear and looked over at Dave. "They did?"

Dave nodded. "I wanted to save some of the articles about our championship win by Mr. Cameron. He had also done some on the other divisions. University Prep is the real dynasty. I think it said they won their league like six years in a row now."

"A dynasty that lost to us." Noah stuck out his tongue.