Top of the fifth inning, Kyle had to start at the top of the lineup. His jitters continued as he allowed back to back singles, placing runners on first and second. He was able to strike the third batter out, bringing up the cleanup hitter.
The cleanup hitter was the one that reminded me of Zeke, with an overwhelming aura of 'I'm better than you'. He had previously hit the home run, plus he was also hit by Kyle's pitch in his second at bat.
Kelvin called time and walked up to the mound to share some words with Kyle. I peeked over at Noah to see if we should join, but he just shook his head. The talk didn't last long, just a few seconds before Kelvin went back to his spot. Then came the showdown.
Kyle checked the runners, stepped on the rubber, checked again, and then started his motion. The ball looked to catch a piece of the strike zone to me, but the ump called it a ball. Then another ball. A foul tip back into the netting. A foul line drive down the first baseline. On the 2-2 count, his fast, heavy swing connected perfectly with the ball. It wasn't a 'ping' or 'ding' sound, but more like a 'bam!' as it flew away. I turned to watch it go to the outfield. Zeke tracked it down to the fence, jumped, but came down empty handed. Another home run. A three-run homer to give them a 5-3 lead. Shoot.
I kicked at the dirt so I wouldn't have to look at the runners rounding the bases and scoring points. The Durham dugout and their fans in the stands, both hollered and celebrated, making it feel like the end of the game.
"Jake!" Noah's voice made me look up. He was jogging to the mound like the rest of the infield. I quickly made my move to join them.
Coach had also left the dugout to join us on the mound. He held out his hand to Kyle. "You just don't have the right mentality today."
Kyle sighed, passed him the ball, then walked off the mound back to the dugout.
Coach waved to the bullpen and Dave came running out. He joined us on the mound and coach handed him the baseball. "Come out fast. And come out hard. Nothing easy, alright?"
Dave nodded eagerly. "Yes, sir. No worries! I've got this."
Coach looked at us infielders. "I don't want anymore grounders sneaking through. Hang back towards the grass if you have to. Good luck." He gave a nod, then walked back to the dugout.
Dave shooed us off his mound so he could warmup properly on the game mound, so we all went back to our positions. The umpire gave him a couple of minutes before asking the batter to step in.
Dave looked way more comfortable than Kyle did, but he started off a little wild, walking his first batter. I suppressed a sigh and tried to remain diligent. Dave bounced back with a swinging strikeout and then got the seventh batter to hit a grounder to Noah. Noah played it safe and got the out at first to move us to the bottom of the fifth.
Durham weren't the only ones to start at the top of the lineup. We got to do so as well. Julian stepped up to bat, Noah was in the on deck circle, and I was in the hole. Julian worked the count to earn a walk, however Noah wasn't any help and ended up striking out. He stomped his way back to the dugout, glaring at his bat like it was the culprit.
I stepped up to the plate and checked Miller for any signs, but he only gave out the sign to swing. I peeked at Zeke in the on deck circle, but he didn't add any signs. I dug my back foot in and faced the pitcher.
The pitcher was obviously getting tired; his pitches had slowed down and he started to lose momentum. Which makes sense since Kyle was just pulled too. They had to have almost the same pitch count. The first pitch was a ball, but the second pitch looked too sweet to pass up.
I stepped forward with my front foot, moved my arms and my wrists, twisted at the hip and connected with the ball. The ball was a line drive over the third baseman's head and the left fielder was unable to catch it, letting it go over and hit off the wall. I was sprinting to first then onto second as I kept my eye on the outfield. The left fielder played the ball off the wall, and threw a long one to make it to the infield. The cutoff man, the shortstop, caught it and turned around to stop Julian and me from advancing anymore.
Ah, what a good feeling. I clenched my hands as they could still feel the vibration of my bat when it connected with the ball. Now it was up to Zeke.
Zeke got into the batter's box, yet the catcher didn't squat. Instead, he held out his hand to call for a ball from the pitcher. Again. Like Noah and Zeke said before, they had done their research and they weren't going to give Zeke a chance to even bat. Cowards. They rather load up the bases than face him head on.
With Zeke being intentionally walked, it brought up Garret with the bases loaded and one out. Just like in the first inning. If Durham could have a repeat of their first inning, then why can't we?
Unfortunately, that's not how the game works. Garret tried his best, but ended up grounding into a 6-4-3 double play. Great. I held back a groan as I jogged back to the dugout. I don't know what it is with today, but I've been feeling frustrated.
Top of the sixth, we took the field and Dave got on the mound. He started out strong, getting the first two batters up this inning to ground out. One to Noah and one to me. At least we won't fall too behind.
The Durham leadoff hitter stepped up to bat and Dave came at him with a couple of fastballs down and away. Some were balls and some were strikes, making up a 2-2 count. Dave got set, did his motion, and threw a pitch inside. The batter slightly leaned in, not even attempting to swing, and let the pitch hit just above the knee.
The umpire didn't waste any time pointing at Dave and then did the arm motion to signify that he was out of the game. My jaw dropped. Coach was the first to react, storming out of the dugout.
"Are you kidding me?!?" Coach's voice could be heard nice and clear. "That batter leaned in! That should have been an automatic strike! Meaning he should be out!"
The umpire said something back, but it wasn't clear since I was so far away. I stepped closer just as Dave joined coach and the umpire.
"That was a good pitch! And it wouldn't have hit him if he didn't lean in!" Dave tried to defend himself.
By now, me and the other infielders were near the mound so we could hear what's going on a bit better. The batter had already ran off to first base with his smug face.
"I gave warnings for both teams." The umpire said in a calm tone, not fazed by our team's yelling. "It was a dangerous pitch. After my warnings, you should have been more careful about your pitch selection."
"What!! You can't just influence the game like that!" Dave started to turn red in the face.
The umpire looked at him. "Son, I suggest you leave the field now. I've already made my decision and ejected you from the game. Any more arguing and your coach will be the next to go."
My jaw dropped. "Can he do that?"
No one answered me. Instead we watched as Mr. Miller and coach Luis come out and drag both coach and Dave away. Coach Luis pointed at the bullpen, asking for a new pitcher. With Kyle gone, and coach back in the dugout, Coach Luis took over and handed the ball to the newcomer.
Troy, a senior pitcher that I didn't know very well. He was tall, lean, and didn't speak much. His blond hair stuck out of his cap a little bit, but it didn't seem to bug him.
Coach Luis looked at the four of us as Troy started to warm up with Kelvin. "Stay calm. There's nothing we can do to change the umps decision. Hell, he can't change it either. One more out and we'll switch to offense." He headed back to the dugout where Dave was packing his bag and Coach was still yelling out complaints.
"Does Dave have to leave the dugout? Or is he just super mad right now?" I whispered to Noah as we headed back to second base. Julian and Sean already ran back to their own spots.
"He has to leave. All ejections have to leave the field. And not just our field, but the dugout and the stands will also be off limits." Noah sighed. "No doubt, he's mad about it too. He just got in. And had a better start going than Kyle."
I sighed too.
"The worst part is that he won't be eligible to pitch tomorrow if we even get that far. All ejections have a minimum one game suspension. So even though his pitch count is still low, he won't be able to be in the dugout tomorrow. If we make it that far." Another sigh.
"We're only down by two." I tried to comfort. "Batting wins games, fielding loses games, and pitchers are irrelevant." I didn't exactly believe that last part, but I figured it wouldn't hurt to say it.
Noah started to grin. "Right. Right! We just have to leave a strong showing in the bottom of the inning." His enthusiasm returned and comforted my own anxiety. As long as Noah hasn't given up, then I think there's still hope.
The umpire decided Troy had enough time to warm up and called for the game to resume. Troy's first opponent was the second batter, who had a walk, groundout, and a single. So 1-2 for the game. I didn't know Troy well enough to guess what he would throw. He surprised me by starting with a high curve that fell into the strike zone for strike one. Then a 12-to-6 curve, catching the bottom of the strike zone for strike two. The next pitch was a curve that went at the batter, making him flinch, but then it drifted to the center for strike number three. The third out was a looking strikeout on three pitches.
I was stunned. I didn't expect our bullpen to have a curveball specialist. A strong urge took rise in me as I really wanted to face him in the next practice. As we jogged into the dugout, I stared at Troy, curious as to why he hadn't been used before.
