At the beginning of Tuesday's practice, Coach held a short meeting. Sean and I were told to rejoin the normal team practices and the twins had their focus on their upcoming respective starts.
"I don't want you in the bullpen this week." Coach told Bryce. "Stay with the outfielders. I'm thinking about using you Thursday."
"But Garret isn't going to pitch on Thursday either." Noah pointed out.
"What bullpen do we need with me on the mound?" Dave pulled Noah into a headlock. "I can deal with those guys from Golden West, no problem."
Coach cleared his throat and Dave stopped messing with Noah. "I believe in Dave and the rest of the bullpen. Our pitching is top tier in the high school level. Last year we lost to Golden West 2-3 and then beat them 1-0. Low scoring games so I want to focus on offense. Bryce has been good at the plate this past week so I want him in the lineup."
"Hard to imagine low scoring games with a team of Zeke, Garret, and Jake." Korrey sighed. "They must have good pitching too."
"Hey! I hit a home run in the 1-0 win." Garret threw out there. "Meanwhile, Jake went 1-2 at the plate in the same game. These guys aren't anything special."
"Except they're the only league loss you had last year." Jesse pointed out. "Kind of a big deal. Like you couldn't go unbeaten with a great roster then..."
"Jake didn't play in the loss last year." Noah spoke up. "And yea, they do have a good pitching program, but so what? Their best pitcher, Brady, has graduated. Our best didn't." He looked to me. "You're not afraid, right, Bambi?"
My lips twitched. I think I'm afraid that I can't shake this nickname. "They aren't University Prep." That was my only loss that I participated in.
"You heard it here, guys." Noah looked around. "If you're more afraid or worried than Bambi, then I don't know what to tell you. You might not be ready for what I want to do this season."
"What do you want to do?" Dave played along.
"Go undefeated through and through." Noah stated.
"YEA!" A couple of the guys echoed.
"I want to be back to back CIF champions!" Noah raised his voice.
"YEA!!" The team echoed again and started to get up and move around.
"Alright, alright." Coach grinned. "Let's hit the field and start preparing. We've got some important games to win this week."
With us fired up, Coach raised the difficulty level. We were diving in the dirt and grass for grounders. Practicing catching out of reach fly balls. Doing sprint drills around the bases like mimicking steals and pickles. By the time we got done, everyone had dirt, grass, and sweat stains.
Back home, we took turns showering and homework before dinner.
"Are you three coming to the game for sure on Thursday?" Dave asked Mom, Dad, and Grampa at the dinner table. "I'm pitching."
"Your father and I will definitely be there." Mom assured him. She glanced at Grampa. "The drive might be a little long for your grandfather though. Golden West is nearly three hours away. Then another three hours back."
"Servite is much closer." Kyle grinned at Grampa. "You can come to Saturday's game. When I'll be on the mound instead."
Grampa reached out to pat Dave on the shoulder. "I'll try to catch another one. This is one is a bit out of reach."
Dave sighed. "Yea, okay. I understand."
"You'll be okay without me there." Grampa laughed at Dave's dejection. "Half the season isn't over yet. I promise to be there every home game and maybe the closer away games."
We talked a little more about the upcoming games before finishing dinner and cleaning up.
Tuesday's practice followed a similar pattern, going hard until we nearly collapsed. Wednesday went much slower with a walk-through, going over situationals.
Thursday, after lunch, we packed into the bus with the JV and Freshmen teams. I sat against the window with Noah on the aisle, still trying to get used to sitting in the front of the bus. With Bryce and Sean in the row behind us, there weren't too many things to worry about. Except for the long drive. It seemed like everyone subconsciously agreed to take an afternoon nap. Noah fell asleep straight up, but when we did a sharper turn, he leaned against my shoulder and seemed happy to find a pillow. My eyelid twitched as I resisted the urge to push him away. My phone buzzed to distract me.
Jeremy: Good luck on the game today! It's a league game, right?
Me: Thanks. And yea.
I wanted to mention that we lost to them last year, but I know in some roundabout way, it would become clear that he was sort of the reason I missed the game we lost. Better to just ignore it. In the grand scheme of things, it didn't matter. We still became champions with that one loss.
Jeremy: I'm sure you'll crush it! Let me know how it went afterwards.
Me: Will do. Are you doing okay in Spring Training? I know Noah said they don't give you as many plate appearances as they look at some newbies.
Jeremy: I'm okay. Might get more opportunities over this weekend as the coaches look into potential lineups. Tell Noah I'm working on my speed so I steal more bases this year.
I grinned. Jeremy had recently gotten in on the family smack talk. Especially when Noah gave him a hard time about his lack of steals.
My phone buzzed again, but this time, a different brother.
Zeke: Unable to sleep on the bus still?
Me:...
Zeke: Try to stay in a meditative state. Kind of relaxed, but focus on what you hope to accomplish today. Is Noah awake or sleeping?
I took a quick selfie and sent it to him.
Zeke:...
Zeke: Wake him up when you're thirty minutes away from the school.
I sent a thumbs up emoji. Zeke didn't have any games this week since his school had end of quarter finals tests to do. Next week, he would technically be on spring break, but will have to stay at school for his team's practices. Next week would also be his 19th birthday. It would be hard to prank him this year. I started to Google some pranks people could do in long distance.
After a couple of hours, I nudged my shoulder to shake Noah awake. He yawned and stretched out. "Did I fall asleep on you? Sorry."
"It's okay." I told him. It was hard to be comfy on the aisle seat so I should be more sorry for him. "Zeke told me to wake you when we got closer so you would be more prepared for the game."
Noah nodded in understanding. He glanced at my phone. "Anything else?"
I started to shake my head. But then stopped and pulled up Jeremy's message.
Noah laughed. "I bet I'll have more steals than him in less games. Send him that."
I smiled and started to text.
"Have you been texting them this whole time?" Noah asked casually.
I shook my head and pushed send for the text. "Not really. I spent more time looking up stuff." I grinned and pulled up the webpage I had found earlier. "Like this?"
Noah was confused at first glance, but as soon as he read a little, he knew where I was getting at. "For Zeke's birthday next week?"
I nodded. "It's a little pricey, but if we get the twins to join, we can share the cost four ways."
"Nice!" Noah grinned. "You're really one of us now."
