The Hitting Zone

It was actually Garret who broke up the celebration and told us it was time to clean up. It made a lot of us feel like he wasn't happy or satisfied with this kind of ending.

Kyle slapped his back. "Hey, man. There's nothing you can do about a bad ump. You pitched well. We all know it was a perfect game."

Garret grinned and threw his arm around his shoulders. "You and Dave better not forget it. King of the Mound is mine once again."

Kyle shoved him away. "I still have one more chance to shine."

"And you think that can top my two perfect games and a no-hitter?" Garret was skeptical.

"I could get 21 consecutive strikeouts." Kyle said.

Garret laughed, holding his stomach. "Your girlfriend has a better chance of doing that than you do."

Kyle couldn't exactly get mad at that. Or refute it, in case it got back to Marie.

Garret caught sight of someone beyond the fence and waved him down. "Hey! Chris! Chris Cameron!" He was actually calling for a reporter we knew. About half of the guys followed behind Garret while the other half started to clean up.

I naturally followed Noah who naturally followed the drama.

"Tough break out there, Garret. But still an excellent game." Mr. Cameron commented as he got closer. He looked around at those of us who followed. "Can I ask you guys a few questions about the upcoming playoffs?"

"Sure, but I got a question for you first." Garret said.

"Yes?" Mr. Cameron asked.

"Did I hit that guy or not?" Garret's eyes narrowed and he turned serious.

Mr. Cameron slowly shook his head. "It was extremely close. To the naked eye, no one in the stands could tell."

"I feel like you have something more to add." Noah lowered his voice and got closer. "Tell us you have evidence."

Mr. Cameron looked around. For what? I don't know. He looked at Garret. "I've seen a video that a scout was recording. He did a replay for some of us nearby." He looked at Garret. "Don't worry, all these scouts know you threw a perfect game. They'll pass along the message."

Garret leaned against the fence and folded his arms across his chest. "What if I want to pass along the message." He looked Mr. Cameron in the eyes. "Can you get me a copy of the hit by pitch scene?"

"For you to go and post it to some social media site?" Mr. Cameron guessed.

"Just thinking I could use some social justice." Garret said casually.

"Yes!" Noah agreed immediately. "It'll be great to see that ump realize how wrong he was."

Mr. Cameron wasn't convinced. "You don't really want to do that, Garret. It'll cause a lot of unwanted attention."

"No. I want it." Garret stated.

"What happened to saying you can't go back and change things?" Jason pointed out.

"I can't go back and change it. But I should still be allowed to point out his mistake." Garret's lips twisted in disgust. "That umpire let the batter make the call. If he didn't see it or realize it the first time around, then he shouldn't go off the batter's say-so."

Mr. Cameron thought about it. He looked around at all of us as we waited. He frowned as he went back to Garret. "Maybe you should talk this over with your coaches. With your parents. The game just ended. You'll calm down with time."

"I feel like I'm pretty calm." He looked around at each of us. "Guys? What do you say? Ain't I calm?"

"Calmer than I would be." Kyle admitted. "I would have to be ejected after a bad call like that."

"No joke, I probably would have told Mitchell to miss the next pitch and let it hit the ump." Dave added. He caught sight of me frowning. "But maybe I wouldn't have if I thought about it a little harder."

Noah nodded. "Yea, yea, we wouldn't resort to violence." He looked at me. "You're not against some public shaming, right? It wouldn't have happened if this ump did his job."

My frown deepened. "I don't think you guys should do anything mean."

"Residential good boy at heart." Sean chuckled, coming closer to me so he could pull me into a side hug. "I'm with the goody two-shoes. Let's not mess around too much with playoffs coming up."

Noah and the twins avoided eye contact, looking guilty. Those three were essentially in agreement with Garret. They weren't necessarily wrong. Garret did get screwed.

I looked to Mr. Cameron. "Can we file a complaint though? Like someone has to be in charge of umpires, right?"

"Yea, send that guy back to little league." Noah chimed in.

"That'll be my job." Coach said, making a lot of us jump. Okay...mostly me. Somehow he sneaked up on us, probably catching wind of what Garret wanted to do. "I'll get in contact to see if I can have the video sent to the officials. The athletic director will back us up too."

"Are we creating more trouble for you?" I asked quickly, scared that we might lose Coach again.

"This is pretty standard. To file a complaint with the higher-ups." Coach told me. "Just like when I talk to tournament officials about the trouble we've had with San Marino."

"Oh. Okay." I looked to Garret to see what he would do now that Coach was here.

Garret didn't look completely convinced, however he let it go with a breath. He straightened up, facing Mr. Cameron. "Please help my coach get a copy of the video clip."

"I will." Mr. Cameron agreed more easily now that Coach was involved. "And Garret, you do your best to forget about it. High school baseball will be just a memory once you get going in the minors and perhaps the majors."

"My last home game was tainted. I won't be forgetting." Garret told him in a strangely calm tone. "You can include that in your article about the game." He thought about it. "Oh, make sure to add that I appreciate all the students and friends that came to support us. I hope they keep it up as we move along in the playoffs."

Mr. Cameron nodded. He started to take some notes, asking about Garret's thoughts on how well the season went and what he could expect from the team in the playoffs.

"We'll keep rolling on this train that we've got going." Garret answered. "All season, everyone has taken their turn to contribute to offense while we've also worked more starting pitchers in our lineups. Everyone is raring to go."

"As the second best player in the state, do you have any opinions, Jake?" Mr. Cameron asked.

I was taken aback, forgetting that I was the number two player in the state. The whole state. I swallowed a small lump forming in my throat. Then coughed.

Noah laughed. "Mr. Cameron, don't scare him before we even get going. Jake will do what he does best: hit. It'll be up to our pitchers to keep us in the game so why don't you question them."

"I am curious what your coach will want to do for the starting pitchers for the playoffs. Everyone should be eligible to have a go when the first game rolls around." He looked to Coach.

"It should be me. Clearly." Dave stepped up. "Garret got today. Kyle gets Monday. I get playoff game one."

Kyle made a face of disgust. "Then you can have Monday."

"I was told the first playoff game will be next Thursday." Coach spoke over the twins, focused on Mr. Cameron. "That leaves Monday's starter out. He'll have to sit the bench."

"I don't mind going Monday." Garret said. "The twins can fight over next Thursday."

"You can't do back-to-back games you ball hog." Dave argued.

I smiled as things seemed to return to normal. Coach answered the rest of Mr. Cameron's questions without naming who would get the first go at the mound. He did say that I wouldn't be cleanup since he wants to give me more chances for extra plate appearances. That made me happier. I didn't feel lucky in the four spot. Maybe that made me a little superstitious like Noah. But hey, the stats speak for themselves. I couldn't perform my best there.