"Let me try to throw you nothing but sliders!" Rhys demanded. "I want to know what the outcome would be!"
I hesitated. "Can I...try from both sides..? I want to know what would be better..."
"Sure!" Rhys hurried back to the cage and collected the very few balls he had thrown to me. He was back on the mound in no time.
I followed along, eager to try my best to hit his slider. I got set in the lefty's batter's box first and looked to Rhys.
Rhys looked beyond me towards Zeke and Noah. "Hey Zeke, you're in charge of the balls and strikes calls. This way it's fair. I have to get it in the strike zone and Jake has to use some of his judgement to swing or not."
"Alright." Zeke agreed.
Rhys calmed down and prepared to pitch.
Knowing that it was going to be a slider, I tried to watch more closely. I needed to get a better grip on the trajectory of this pitch. I gripped my bat, but held back as the pitch came.
"Ball." Zeke confirmed my guess.
Rhys rubbed his nose as he stood on the mound. "Troublesome."
I couldn't tell if he was talking about me or his own pitch.
He grabbed another baseball and got set. He repeated his motion and the ball came my way. I really couldn't see any difference between this pitch and the last one, so I held back.
"Strike." Zeke stated.
I glanced back at him. "Wasn't it the same?"
Noah looked unsure, glancing at Zeke too.
Zeke shook his head.
"1-1!" Rhys hollered.
"Tsk." Noah snorted. "Jake, don't mind him. You've got this!"
I thought so too, but that's when hitting the fastball was an option. Now I'm working with a difficult pitch that still had a lot of speed. I haven't even attempted to swing yet.
Rhys got set again and threw the ball.
I tried reaching it with my bat, but lost my balance and completely whiffed.
"Strike two!" Rhys flexed.
I fixed my posture and looked back to Zeke. "Would it have been in or out if I didn't swing?"
"In." Zeke told me. "But just barely. Umpires would have judged it differently, depending on their strike zone."
I sighed. It's my turn to say, troublesome. I got set in the batter's box again.
Rhys was already set. With me in position, he started his motion again. Slider. It's been low and away every time, so there shouldn't be so much difficulty. I know the speed, I know the location. I frowned and started my swing as soon as he released the ball. I timed it perfectly, but still whiffed.
"Strikeout!" Rhys grinned down at me.
"Right side." I told him, moving to the other side of the plate. This might be easier. Even though Zeke missed, it was because he was unprepared. I know the speed, location, and pitch type. What isn't working?
Rhys grabbed a new ball and got set.
Okay, so the pitch should be low and inside. A problematic spot, but doable. Just have to adjust my positioning in the box and the way I stand.
Rhys began his motion and the pitch came. I kept my hands together and swung my bat lower, knowing the general location of the pitch. I got a piece of it...and it got a piece of me.
I yelped after the ball came off my bat and smacked into my left leg. I fell to the ground, clutching the inside of my leg calf.
"Jake!" Noah yelled.
"Shoot! Are you okay?" Rhys reached me first, kneeling down next to my leg.
I clenched my teeth and held my leg. I took a couple of deep breaths, slowly letting the air out. "I'm fine."
"Let me see." Zeke demanded, crouching down next to Rhys. He pulled my wrists, taking my hands off my leg, revealing a swelling lump. "Noah, go tell Mrs. Johnson that we need a bag of ice. I'll take him to the table."
"Okay!" Noah took off.
"How bad does it hurt on a scale of one to ten?" Rhys asked.
"Eight." I said between clenched teeth. My pain tolerance was high, but this was definitely the worst I felt since my near-death experience.
"I don't think we should let him try walking on it just yet." Rhys told Zeke. "My aunt is a nurse and should be here soon so let's just ice it until she can take a look."
I gulped. "Do you think I'll need to go to the hospital? What about the A's game?"
Zeke shook his head. "Let's see what his aunt says and then decide. We have plenty of opportunities to go to more A's games." He looked me in the eye. "I'm going to pick you up and take you to the table, okay?"
I nodded. I held my leg at the knee, scared to jostle my leg. Zeke scooped me up, putting his arms under my knees and back. Then he stood up and carried me out of the bullpen towards the table. By the time he sat me down, Noah and Mrs. Johnson came outside with bags of ice.
"Oh no. Honey, are you okay?" Mrs. Johnson helped move a chair to be across from me so I could rest my leg on it. "Ouch! That looks like it hurts."
"It does." I gripped my knee a little tighter, wishing the throbbing and pain would go away.
"Let go of your leg." Zeke pulled on my wrists again, moving them away from my left leg. He started to cover my leg with the ice bags.
I hissed as my leg started to freeze.
"Should we take him to a hospital?" Mrs. Johnson asked, sounding worried. "I should call Mary."
"I was going to let Aunt Linda look him over first." Rhys spoke up. "Then decide what we should do. It's the Fourth of July so you know how packed the hospitals can be."
Mrs. Johnson didn't look convinced. "I'll call Mary to see what she says first. I don't care how packed the hospitals are." She went inside, presumably to call Mom.
Noah sat down next to me and pushed some snacks closer so I could reach. "Here. Eat something."
"Should we take off his cleats?" Rhys asked.
"I'll do it." Zeke sat down in a chair by my feet and started to untie both of my cleats. He lightly put my injured leg on the seat cushion and then got up to put my cleats away in my bag. He came back and looked at me. "How are you feeling now?"
"It's getting a little numb under the ice, but still throbbing." I told him, gripping the arms of the chair since I can't hold my leg.
"Wow. This can't be good." Noah sighed. "You weren't in this much pain when that cleat cut your arm. Do you think you broke your leg?"
"I hope not..." I mumbled.
"Me neither." Noah said. "We still have softball to play, training to do, and a camp to go to. Our summer can't just end here."
"Your summer isn't going to end." Zeke told him, flicking his ear.
"Ow!" Noah covered his ear.
"Let's not jump to any conclusions." Rhys stayed calm. "Batters foul pitches off their front leg a lot in the majors. Not all of them break their own leg."
