Kyle strolled up to the plate and glanced at Mr. Miller for the sign. Mr. Miller surprised all of us, by asking for a bunt.
"Has Kyle been practicing his bunts?" Garret came over to ask us.
I stared at him blankly before turning to Noah. Noah was expressionless.
Garret chuckled. "Well, at least, he looks confident."
That was true. Kyle stood in the batter's box, totally prepared to swing. On the very first pitch, he dropped his bat and got into bunting position, just as the ball came out of the pitcher's hand. The first and third basemen came sprinting in. Mitchell was already taking off for second base. Kyle connected, pushing it down the third baseline. The third baseman made a barehand play, throwing the ball to the second baseman who was covering first. Out.
But Mitchell was safe at second. A successful sacrifice bunt. Kyle came back to the dugout with his head held high.
Noah, who had his helmet on and bat in hand, rolled his eyes as he passed him. He went out to the on deck circle as Sean moved to the batter's box.
"Not bad at all!" Garret congratulated Kyle.
I put my helmet on and grabbed my bat just in time for Garret to grab me by the shoulders. "Be honest, you've been giving him lessons."
I shook my head. "I really haven't."
Kyle was putting his helmet away. "Feeling threaten, Garret?" He chuckled. "You won't be the only pitcher that's good at the plate."
Garret let me go so I could stand in the hole. "Pshh. You're so far down the list of pitchers who can do well in the box. I'm obviously first. Then Bryce. Brian. Joey. Dave."
"Dave isn't better at hitting than I am." Kyle rebuked.
"Remind me again, which twin has a hit in this tournament?" Garret smirked.
Kyle let out a curse before replying. "I've only had one at-bat. Just wait."
Sean earned a walk. Noah went up next and I moved to the on deck circle. Nothing came of the runners on bases this inning though. Noah got jammed on an inside pitch and hit a slow roller back to the pitcher. He fielded the routine grounder to end the inning.
Top of the third, Kyle started with the eighth batter in the lineup, getting him to strike out on a foul tip. The ninth batter, which I recognized as the pitcher, made Kyle work the hardest, throwing more pitches than any other at-bat. To make it worse, he ended up getting a single off of Kyle.
Back to the top of the lineup we go. Kyle stunned the first batter, catching him looking at strike three. Second strikeout of the inning, and fourth of the game. The next batter hit a solid line drive to right-center field, and the baserunner from first made it all the way to third on his single. With baserunners at the corners, two outs, Kyle got the third batter in the lineup to hit a routine grounder to Noah at short. Third out. We headed back to our own dugout.
"Do you really want to know?" Alisha asked Kyle as soon as he got in the dugout.
Kyle waved her away. "Forget about it. No need to worry about my pitch count."
He had thrown too many pitches this inning. No one cracked any jokes this time around. Kyle wasn't doing bad, but he wasn't looking all that great either.
I hurried to switch out my hat for a helmet and left the dugout with my bat in hand. I would start our offense for the bottom of the third inning. Jesse and Garret would follow.
Seeing how the pitcher wanted to face me head on, I felt good about aiming for the fences. I fouled off a few breaking balls until he came at me with his fastball. From the righty's box, I pulled the ball to the left corner field. The left fielder started to chase it down and I started to run the bases, only slowing down when I saw that the ball was gone. 3-0.
Jesse was waiting for me at home plate, lightly clapping me on the shoulder after I tagged the plate. I nodded at him, smiling just a little bit. Garret was in the on deck circle already after putting my bat in the dugout. He grinned and held out his closed fist. I bumped it and went in the dugout to accept more congratulatory comments.
"Awesome!" Noah slapped my back as I took off my helmet and put it away with my bat. "You're crushing it. Seeing you in action makes me super impatient for the season to start."
I smiled, happy with the way my hitting was going too.
"Jake's going to crush any and all batting records the school may have had thanks to Zeke." Sean laughed. "At least you're keeping it in the family."
I blushed.
Noah and Sean talked a little more about what records Zeke might have left behind and some that he couldn't break while he was on varsity. Our offense was limited to my solo shot to left field. Jesse hit a grounder to the pitcher, similar to Noah's from last inning. Garret made great contact, hitting a fly ball to right field, but it didn't have enough under it. The right fielder made the catch at the warning track. Jason followed that up with his own fly ball to right field for a bloop single. Korrey ended the inning with a grounder to their second baseman.
Top of the fourth. Kyle started with the cleanup hitter. The batter pulled a hard grounder down the third baseline. Jason was thankfully there, and made a great throw to first. It was a close call that went in our direction for the first out. The next batter was able to hit a line drive above Jason's reach, earning a double. The fourth hit Kyle's given up so far.
Kyle wasn't too fazed, and was able to get the next guy to strike out, swinging. The following batter hit a long fly ball to center field. Garret chased it back and had to make a jump for it. He bounced off the fence, still holding the ball. The third out of the inning.
There was a mix of cheers and groans from the stands. The game was still close and that could have been a run scored for the other team if Garret couldn't make that play.
"You got caught a little out of position." Coach said to Garret, pulling him aside as soon as he got back into the dugout.
"I know." Garret nodded, understanding Coach immediately. "I need to work on my positioning in center field."
Coach frowned, thinking. "We could always move you back to left field and have one of the others take over."
Garret waved his glove, shaking his head. "No, I've got this. I just need to practice some more."
Bottom of the fourth, our offense came up empty. Mitchell popped out to the second baseman, Kyle struck out looking, and Sean struck out swinging. Three up, three down. Top of the fifth we go.
