The Hitting Zone



Most of our team had left or had started to leave. Coach and Mr. Miller started working on cleaning up the field together with help from a few other volunteers. Coach didn't have a normal postgame speech since the Servite coach and two pitchers had wanted to stick around to talk for a bit. Garret simply passed the word around that Coach would start tomorrow's practice with a team meeting. 

Noah and Danny really started to click when talking about the regional team and playing against better players. They promised to find one another on Instagram before Danny was pulled away by his coach. His whole team had left for their bus. They still had an hour drive back in the dark night. 

Mom was also getting impatient. She came onto the field to find Noah herself. His ice bag had long melted and she didn't like the sight of his fingers. She took the lead in taking Noah away while pointing at Kyle. "Drive your brothers home and start taking showers. Your father will drop Noah and I off at the hospital first and then bring dinner home with Grampa."

"Okay." 

She guided Noah away and that was the cue to go. I finally got to take my cleats off and pack up my bag. A good thing about leaving late, there were no more coaches or scouts or reporters or whatever else waiting to talk to me. Though, I did waste a lot of time talking to the other team so I don't know how much better that is. 

"I can't believe you guys suddenly became friends with those guys." Kyle said as we loaded the bags into the trunk. 

I shrugged. "I wouldn't say friends." I paused. "Well maybe Danny and Noah became friends. They were making plans to meet in round two of the regional tryouts."

"You're not bothered by that?" Kyle asked. "That dude could probably beat us single-handedly."

I shook my head. "I don't think so. He said he was a closer only."

Kyle was taken aback. He rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Okay. Maybe his endurance is pretty bad. But still."

Dave laughed. "Don't bother. We don't have to see that guy anymore. That's their own problem."

We got into the car and buckled up. Kyle started the car and drove us back to the house. 

"It's just like Noah to make friends in baseball. He used to do it a lot more before high school." Dave said. 

"Noah is friends with everybody." I pointed out, thinking of all the classmates he knew and was on good terms with. 

"Noah's has a friendly personality." Dave agreed. "But I'm talking about something different. Before high school, he would make friends in baseball whenever, wherever, and with whoever. He just hit a wall after making the team and leaving some of those friends behind."

I bit my bottom lip, remembering how that played out. "Well, Noah can make new friends. Danny is crazy about baseball like him."

"What if he steals your best friend?" Kyle joked. 

"Noah's my brother." I stuck my tongue out at him. 

The twins laughed. They talked a little more about Cody and Danny, saying how good they were for sophomores. We would have serious competition for two more years. I didn't want to think about it. I liked to live in the moment and not have more anxiety than I already do. 

"Did Cody say he was going to try out for your regional team?" Dave asked when we got home. 

I shook my head. "No. He didn't say much after I assured him that I didn't see any tipping of his pitches. He and Danny were kind of like opposites. One was loud and outspoken. The other quiet and introspective."

"Kind of like you and Noah." Kyle laughed. 

We unpacked our bags and cleaned the car out a little bit. Kyle brought up Noah's backpack and Dave carried his baseball bag. Back in the shared room, we started to get organized. I was to take a shower in the hall. Dave in the room's bathroom. Kyle would clean up the room a little bit. It started to feel a little quiet without Noah around. 

It started to get closer to bedtime when Dad and Grampa showed up with some tacos. They simply put the spread out on the table. Dad only had one taco before getting a call from Mom that they would be done soon and would need to be picked up. Dad left Grampa with us and left almost as quickly as he came. 

"That was quick." Grampa noted. "He was just barely dropped off. Must be a good sign since he's coming home so soon."

"Bet he still has to sit out on Saturday." Dave said. "Worst case, Monday and Tuesday."

I was surprised. "We have three games in a span of four days?" I think the most we've done is three in five.

"It's fine." Kyle waved. "I dont even need a full day of rest. I'll probably get Saturday. Garret can have Monday. Dave should be eligible again by Tuesday."

"Nah, I bet Coach starts the juniors. Bryce and Brian need work before the season is up." Dave put his two cents in. "We'll be rested and ready to go for playoffs."

Kyle laughed. "Ok, but you know we still got Quincy and OLU after those three games, yea? Enough for everyone to get a start."

The two started to guess what Coach would do and I focused on eating. Grampa ate two tacos before moving to the living room. I wasn't far behind, but doubled the amount he could eat. The twins actually took the initiative to clean up after us before Mom and Dad came home with Noah. 

Noah walked in with nothing covering his fingers and I automatically let out a sigh of relief. 

"How long you our for?" Dave asked. He was probably the most invested just because he had to sit out a lot for injuries. 

"Meh." Noah shrugged. "Nothing's wrong so not at all. My fingers just got jammed. Probably just depends on how it feels when I pick up a ball or bat tomorrow."

"The injustice." Dave said dramatically. 

Mom gave him a look. 

"Kidding." He quickly straightened up. "Glad it's not serious. Five more games before playoffs. Let's finish strong."

Noah grinned. "Yea." He was sent off to take a shower. 

The three of us were stared down by Mom. "I assume that the three of you finished your homework since you're just sitting around, watching tv?"

I nodded while the twins swiftly got up. 

"Kyle, hang back. You have additional work that needs to be done." Dad said. "Ryan Ward sent you an email through me so we could look it over together." Dad and Kyle headed for the office. 

Dave escaped safely. 

Mom looked to me. 

"I did my homework during school." I quickly told her. 

She smiled. "Good. I know it's tough to balance school and sports, but you have to know which has the priority. You only get thirteen mandatory years of school. Afterwards..." She gave me a sad smile. "I try to get you boys to college, but I know it's not in the cards for all of you." She gave me a different look, the kind I couldn't decipher. She went to join Dad and Kyle in the office. 

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