The Hitting Zone

Chapter 481 CIF Semifinal: Anderson HS 7

Bottom of the fifth. We took the field with renewed energy, happy to have the lead back, 7-6. Dave had to start with the top of the lineup, which wasn't so bad when you look back and see that they haven't been able to do much.

At least, back then, but they turned up for the second half of the game. Starting with a hit, the leadoff batter skipped a fast ground ball right by me, even when I laid out in the dirt for it. The batter tagged first and rounded the base, going straight for second without hesitation.

Mahki, who was back in right field with Garret back in left, came sprinting in. He lowered his body to snatched the ball off the grass and continued his movement, throwing the ball almost immediately. I was still in the dirt, caught out of position. I started to push myself up.

"Down!" Noah's voice raises above everyone else's.

I stayed where I was at, trusting him. I turned my head to see him catch the ball that Mahki had thrown, and then swung down the gloved-hand at the runner, who was sliding into second.

"Out!" The umpire pumped his fist.

"Oh yea!" Noah pointed at Mahki right field, then gave him a thumbs up. The runner could only get up and jog back to his dugout with his head hung low. Noah threw the ball back to Dave on the mound. "One out!"

"One out!" Some of the guys echoed.

Dave wasn't as happy as the rest of us. He groaned in frustration and it affected his pitching to the next batter. He gave up another single, but this time the runner didn't go to second and get thrown out. Instead, he waited until the following at-bat, then stole second right under our noses. I froze when he took off, unsure of what to do. Luckily, Noah covered second when Kelvin made the throw after the pitch or maybe the runner would have been able to go to third.

"Keep cool." Noah told Dave when throwing the ball back to him on the mound.

Dave clenched his jaw and gave a tight nod before turning back to the batter. He centered himself and focused on the batter instead of the runner. He worked out: the batter popped the ball up right to me. I barely moved a step before making the catch, getting the second out. Dave finished the inning off on a strikeout, letting us keep the lead.

"You had me worried there for a second." Noah jogged to catch up to Dave.

Dave scrunched up his face in dissatisfaction. "They're good. I definitely felt pressured. Kyle and Garret didn't have it easy, that's for sure."

Noah patted his shoulder. "Don't worry, you've got this." He told him as we entered the dugout.

"Dave, take a rest." Coach said as soon as he saw Dave.

"Or not..." Noah said. "Whoops." He mumbled before sneaking away. I slowly followed him.

"I'm okay, Coach." Dave pleaded his case. "I didn't give up any runs."

Coach shook his head. "Anderson has too much info on you three. We'll go with Ryan next inning, then James will close it out."

Dave knew he couldn't win so he sighed and walked to the end of the dugout to join his twin.

"That's gotta hurt." Noah said when he knew Dave couldn't hear him.

I put on my helmet before nodding in agreement.

"Coach has a point though." Noah added on. "Plus we're about to go up against the core of their lineup that has scored and driven in most of the runs. Ryan will have to come into a tough situation."

I gulped. "I could never be a pitcher."

"It's not for the faint of heart, that's for sure." Noah agreed with me.

Top of the sixth. I was prepared to bat, in hoping for a few more insurance runs, but I only got as far as the on deck circle. Jason hit a fly ball to center, Mahki struck out swinging, and Julian popped the ball up, right to the pitcher. Three up, three down. At least I was guaranteed to bat one more time before the game ended.

Top of the sixth, Coach came out as we took the field for warmups, and told the umpire about the pitching change. Ryan came jogging in from the bullpen and shared a conversation with Coach and Kelvin on the mound before taking some practice pitches.

Ryan started with the fifth batter in the Anderson High lineup. He had a fly out and was hit by a pitch so far, while scoring one run. Not as scary as the cleanup hitter.

Ryan cornered him, getting to a 1-2 count, making him swing at some pitch on the outside. The batter grazed the pitch with the end of his bat, sending a surprise fast grounder my way.

Startled, I got caught flat footed, and needed to dive at the ball. I did so, only to knock the ball with the side of my glove, pushing it further away from me. I scrambled for the ball on my knees. I threw the ball once I got ahold of it. The throw was late though. The batter was already safe.

I hung my head as I dusted myself off, not willing to look at Ryan on the mound or my other teammates who were yelling that 'it's okay' or that it 'was a nice stop.' What a bunch of liars. I'm not completely new to the game anymore. That was an error. On me. I groaned, frustrated with myself.

"Next batter, next batter." I heard Noah a few feet away, clapping with his glove. At least he wasn't lying to me.

My error must have thrown Ryan off his game. He walked the next batter, and just as he was getting into the rhythm with the following batter, a hard hit single went to the corner of right field. The first runner scored, tying up the game at 7. The other runner made it to third thanks to my indecision after receiving Mahki's throw. Runners at first and third, no outs, the game was tied...can it get any worse, I asked myself.

The answer came from the next batter: yes. He sent a long fly to left field. Garret was able to make the catch for the first out, but his throw wasn't in time to stop the runner on third from tagging up and scoring, taking back the lead.

Coach came out of the dugout, called 'time', and went straight to the mound. The other infielders went too, so I hurried to join even though I was scared that he was going to yell at me. This inning did start with my error after all.

"Sorry, Coach." Ryan was the first time speak.

"No time for apologies, Lewicki." Coach waved him off. "It's in the past. We now don't have the lead, you know what that means?"

Ryan shook his head, the rest of us looked as confused as him.

"It means that you don't have to feel nervous anymore." Coach gave a small smile and reached out to pat his shoulder. "We still get another inning to bat, with some of our best guys coming up. You just get them there, alright?"

Ryan nodded obediently, looking more like a freshman than a senior.

Coach looked to me next, causing me to shiver. "As for you? Stop overthinking! The error is already in the books, nothing you can do about it now." He clapped his hands a couple of times. "Two outs to go." He left for the dugout.

"Two outs!" Noah hollered before running back to his position.

As long as Noah still saw hope, then I would follow his lead. "Two outs!" I repeated, jogging to my own position. Julian and Jason were the same.

Ryan closed down the sixth inning, getting the last batter in the lineup to strikeout swinging, and then the leadoff to hit a pop up, just foul of Julian. Julian caught it with ease and we all ran to the dugout.

A chant began as we jogged off.

"A-H-S. A-H-S." The crowd made us feel like we really were the away team even though this was a neutral site. They got louder as Anderson High took the field.

This was it. If we fail to score, to even tie it up, we won't even get another chance at defense. We would just...lose.