"Some history between you two?" Ryan asked.
I gave a small shrug. "We're in the same league."
"Wow. And I thought you would just breeze through everyone." Ryan laughed.
I gave a weak smile, not feeling as good as I did before. My mind was still on Cody's matchup as I took on the next few pitchers. It didn't hold me back though. I calmly put every ball in the outfield, starting a new streak of sorts. Then it was another familiar face. Danny.
He headed straight for me instead of the mound. I tried to stay calm, reminding myself that I just had lunch with this guy. He's similar to Noah with how loud and energetic he was, but he didn't have any bad intentions.
"Jake, how's it going?" He asked with a small smirk, throwing me off.
"Okay, I guess." I gave a small shrug, glancing back at Ryan, not sure how he felt that we weren't jumping right into the challenge.
"Yea, can't be great since I heard you lost to Cody."
My head snapped and my eyes focused on Danny.
"Did you not consider it a loss? Hitting a pop out to him?" Danny grinned. "You had the whole field and no other position players. Yet it went only a couple feet."
I bit the inside of my cheek, unsure of what to say.
He lifted his gloved hand and used it to pat me on the shoulder. "I'm going to try to one-up that. With a strikeout. Good luck." He slowly walked to the mound.
Ryan let out a low whistle before saying, "You know some wild ones."
"They're from the same school." I said
He chuckled. "Some friendly rivalry can be good for progress."
I took a deep breath and slowly let it out. Okay. It wasn't a personal attack. It's just a challenge. Calm down and settle. You know Danny. He has a fastball and changeup. Same motion, but you know him as a pitcher. He's going to start fast. He has to. Better to attack early and send him away.
Danny waited for me to step in the batter's box and then fixed his feet. He straightened his back, looking tall on that mound. I tightened my grip. It'll be fast. It's unrealistic and unreasonable to start with a changeup. Danny started his windup. Halfway through his motion, I had a wild thought.
Danny was unreasonable.
The ball left his fingertips and I had changed my mind, not swinging at my fastest. As the ball got closer, I could feel myself grinning. I had guessed right. I connected on the pitch and smacked a line drive up the middle to center field.
"Fuckkkk." Danny's curse was loud and echoed on the empty field. He had put his hands on his knees and hung his head. But it didn't last long. He straightened up and looked towards Coach Hastings and a few other pitchers. "Can I have a redo?"
My lips twitched. It just very much reminded me of Noah.
"You might have another chance during the scrimmages tonight and tomorrow. For now, we need to get a move on." Coach Hastings waved him over. "Don't worry. This is just one small part of the tryout. There are plenty of opportunities to show your stuff."
Danny's shoulders slumped. He started to walk off the mound, but then diverted his walk towards me. My grip tightened on the bat I was holding, but I knew it was just anxiety.
"You swear I'm not tipping my pitches?" Danny asked a question that he had asked just a month ago.
I nodded. "You're not tipping."
"Then how did you know?" He asked, sounding stress. He took off his hat and looked up at the sky. "I really thought I had you convinced that I would start out fast and aggressive."
I gave a small smile. "Yea. You almost had me."
"Ughhh." He slapped his hat back on and pointed at me. "Next time. Next time, I'll get you out. I swear." He turned on his heel and stormed away, going past the coach and pitchers waiting.
Coach Hastings sent a new pitcher towards the mound and we picked up the pace again. When we finished, Coach Hastings had Ryan send me to join one of the in fielding groups at a different field while he went to deal with his pitchers.
"You're an amazing hitter, Jake." Ryan told me as I slung my bag onto my back. "Like incredible. You're absolutely getting picked to go to Team USA."
I wiped some of the sweat from my face, unsure of what to say. "Do you know…what that's like?"
Ryan was taken aback by my question. He gave a sheepish smile and shrugged. "Not exactly. I didn't make it this far as a player, but I assure you, it's a great experience. One in a lifetime opportunity."
"Oh."
"You don't sound too impressed." He remarked and continued before I could defend myself. "And why would you be? You practically breezed through everyone this weekend. I think you should be move up an age group. Maybe they would when they see your skill."
"Oh." I tried not to think about it. That's the future. Leave the future problems to the future me.
We approached a field and I spotted a few familiar faces. Mom, Dad, and Dave. I smiled and relaxed, knowing that Noah had to be at this field too.
Dave noticed me first, waving and drawing attention from Mom and Dad. They waved too. I waved back.
"Your family stayed to watch?" Ryan asked.
"Yea. For a bit." I looked up at him. "Do you mind if I go by? Just for a second?"
"Yea, of course. You don't have to ask me for permission." He laughed.
I sped up and met with the three quickly.
"I was about to go look for you if you took any longer." Dave commented as he flicked the bill of my cap.
I fixed it. "I was hitting against the pitchers."
"Did anyone corner you?" Dave asked, raising an eyebrow.
I tilted my head. "Cody Peace got me."
"Got you to strike out?" Dave asked.
I shook my head. "No. But I did pop out to him. Couldn't get it by him."
"And he couldn't get it by you so don't worry." Dave nodded.
"I'm sure you did well, honey." Mom rubbed my shoulder. "Don't get hung up on one little bump in the road."
"Yea, there's no perfection in baseball." Dad assured me.
Dave cleared his throat meaningfully. "Not to nitpick, Dad, but we do have something called a perfect game."
I smiled. "Don't worry. I know what he meant. Batters don't normally hit it all. Noah said it's the only sport where you're good if you're only failing half the time."
"Good, keep that in mind." Dave said. He handed over a grocery bag that I just noticed. "Here, put these in your bag. It's just some snacks for tonight in case dinner is bad."
"It's okay." I told him while accepting the bag. "Just not up to Noah's standards. But he'll appreciate the snacks so thanks."
"Don't let him eat it all." Mom warned me. "And try to make sure to eat an extra serving of fruits or veggies at dinner, okay?"
I nodded. "We will." I glanced at Dad's watch to get a sense of the time. "Are you guys going to leave soon for Zeke's game?"
"Yea, we'll hit the road soon." Dad answered. "We won't be too far if you or Noah need anything."
"They'll be fine." Dave said with a smile. He patted me on the shoulder. "We'll be back tomorrow. Try not to let Noah act like a fool."
"Yea, yea." I started to back up. "Tell Zeke good luck. Send us updates and we'll see it at dinner."
"No problem." Dave agreed.
