Drew finished giving me a quick look over just as Mahki made the final out by flying out to right field. I went back to my bag to grab my glove and hat before going out onto the field to do a warmup.
Garret was on the mound, a serious expression across his face as he threw a couple of pitches to Jordan. The umpire only gave us two minutes before asking for the game to resume.
The first batter for Quincy stepped into the righty's box and was set to swing. Garret started with his signature cutter, getting the guy to swing for strike one. The next pitch came inside and he held back from swinging getting a ball. I wasn't worried at first since it was normal for pitchers to throw the occasional ball out of the zone, but by the 3-1 count, I wasn't sure if Garret was doing this intentionally.
"Ball. Ball four. Take your base!" The ump called out loudly. The batter dropped his bat and jogged to first.
Garret got the ball back and toed the rubber a few times before turning to face the second batter, who was another righty. Right away he showed bunt. Garret pitched a fastball away for ball one. And two.
Jordan stood up out of the crouching position and jogged to the mound. He waved all of us infielders in for a meeting. We ran up as well.
"It's just for show, Garret. What are you afraid of?" Chris covered his lips with his glove. "Just go at him from the start."
"Easy for you to say." Garret scoffed.
"We can field it." Noah declared. "Sean and Chris, you two can cover the lines to get the bunt. Throw to me at second. Then Jake can cover first. Double play."
Chris looked skeptical. "You think it's that easy? Chances are, it's just a show bunt. He'll swing for sure as soon as we run in. There'll be too many gaps and the runner on first will score if he gets a good jump."
"Shut up." Jordan commanded. "I'm the catcher right now. I'll call the shots. Sean, Chris, stay stationary at your bases."
"We're not going to stay on guard for the bunt?" Noah asked.
"We'll leave it to Garret." Jordan stated, then looked at our pitcher. "Throw a fastball right down the middle. He won't swing or bunt and he'll take the called strike. With one strike against him, and seeing our corners far back, he'll try his best to lay one down. It'll be up to you to come off the mound on that second pitch and be ready to throw to second if you want two outs."
Garret nodded. "Got it."
"Are you even sure that'll work?" Chris asked, still not completely on board.
"Worst case scenario, two on, no outs." Jordan shrugged. "It's the freakin first inning, why are you so worried?"
The ump came over to break up the meeting on the mound.
"It's freakin Quincy, that's why I'm worried." I heard Chris mutter as he went back to third.
I worriedly looked to Noah. Noah smiled at me with reassurance. "Let's just play. Nothing good can come from worrying."
True. I nodded and went back to my position.
Garret did as he instructed and threw a fastball right down the middle. I tried not to flinch, thinking that the batter would surely swing on such a good pitch. Instead he took back his bunt and let it pass for a called strike. Wow. Jordan was at least half right. The next pitch would be the deciding one then.
Garret took a deep breath and got the ball back. He started his shorten motion again and threw another fastball right down the middle. The batter didn't pull the bunt back, and instead did his best to lay one down in the grass down the third baseline, then took off for first.
Garret didnt hesitate to come off the mound completely and chase the ball down. The runner was coming to second where Noah ran over to cover the base. I also sprinted over to back up the base in case it was overthrown or if Noah missed. Not that I think he would.
Garret picked up the stalled ball from the grass, whipped around and threw a bullet to second. Noah caught it with his foot touching the bag, then quickly threw to first before the runner had reached.
"Out!"
"Out!"
Excellent! I beamed, happy with how well that followed Jordan's prediction.
I saw Garret pump his fist as our dugout clapped for the well-turned double play.
The players jogged back to their own dugout as the third batter came up to the plate. Garret was smiling as he got back on the mound and received a new ball to pitch. Sadly the smile didn't last long. On the very first pitch, the third batter hit a single between Noah and Chris. Mahki came in and fielded the grounder, sending it to Noah so the runner didn't have time to advance.
That wasn't the end of it either. Garret may have been flustered by the sudden hit, and unexpectedly walked the next batter. Two walks in one inning? That's not like him.
The fifth batter came up with two on, two out. Just like Jordan in our offense. And just like him, he hit a hard single. It was a grounder between me and Sean. But Sean was hanging close to first base to try and keep the runner at bay so it snuck by, passed my outstretched glove.
All runners took off. Tony was sprinting in to grab the ball. I started to move to first to cover the bag since Sean had a stronger arm. But Sean had stayed where he was at, covering first. Ah. He doesn't know that Julian does the cutoff throws. Crud.
I sprinted to the outfield grass, just in time for Tony to throw the ball to me. I caught it and did my best to spin around, while transferring the ball to my throwing hand, and then threw to Jordan at home. The runner dove head and hands first to home plate, sneaking by Jordan. My bad throw didn't help matters by falling just short of home plate.
"Safe!"
Jordan didn't react to it too much. Instead, he grabbed the ball out of his glove and did a fake pump to make the runners go back to first and second.
Quincy had tied the game at one. Their home crowd was full of parents, friends and classmates, cheering them on. They made lots of noise as soon as we lost the lead.
Jordan walked up to the mound to hand the ball to Garret, also calling time, and effectively calling us to the mound. I dragged my feet there, hesitant to go. They're probably mad at my throw.
"Now that's how you should slide!" Noah threw his arm around my shoulders. "Did you see the way he went head first? When doing close calls like that, it may be best since you have more control over your hands than your feet." Noah walked me up to the mound, distracting me with his talk.
I shook my head, about to tell him that I couldn't do it as well as that guy but then I realized where I was and who surrounded me. I gulped and hung my head. "Sorry. That wasn't a good throw."
"No, it was my bad." Sean jumped in immediately. "I forgot that Julian does cutoff throws. It doesn't help that I hardly play first."
Chris snorted but didn't get a chance to say anything, because Jordan spoke up. "It's fine. We all could have done better. Leave it alone." He gave the ball to Garret. "Focus on the batter and forget the runners. Two outs." He glanced down at me. "The throw wasn't far off its mark. You're improving so don't hang your head. Look to the next one."
I blinked. "I should do the next one too?" I looked up at Sean to see his opinion.
Jordan didn't care where I looked. "It's best if you practice now to get the timing and placement right. Real games are even better than practice. You'll notice more. Your arm isn't as weak as you think it is. Not that I think you'll need to throw home very often either."
I nodded, then looked at Sean again. "I'll take the cutoffs." It's my job after all.
Sean just smiled and patted my shirt.
"Great." Chris said sarcastically. "Now that we've confirmed to give up runs every time a single is hit to right field, what are we going to do now?"
Garret straightened up. "We play the game. I'll pitch. You field. Get lost." He eyed Chris. "I'm getting real sick and tired of your snide remarks. This is my mound. Take your negativity elsewhere."
The ump showed up to break us up. Thankfully before Garret and Chris got into it. Everyone went back to their positions, and we started again with two on, two out.
Garret found the strike zone right away, cornering the sixth batter to an 0-2 count. He swung on the next pitch, sending a slow roller my way. I ran up to it and ignored the racing baserunners. I fielded the ball and threw to Sean at first for the final out of the inning. I felt a little bit better, getting that last out and felt some slight redemption.
"Good work." Noah told me as we jogged back to the dugout. "That inning wasn't as halfbad as Chris made it sound. We only gave up one run and it was a close one."
I looked at my right hand. "Could I have actually thrown him out?"
"Maybe." Noah shrugged. "Maybe not. There's no definitive answer. Don't stress about it. It was a good throw, especially for you."
I frowned, but Noah didn't see it. He had turned away from me to drink his water when we got to our bags.
