The Hitting Zone

"David Atkins, right-handed pitcher, committed to Vanderbilt." I read next per Dave's request. The next sentence made me pause. I frowned and skipped to another sentence. "David showed he was ready for the next level, having closed out the California state championship of Division Three, only giving up one hit."

"Technically he gave up two runs on that hit." Noah pointed out. "He's just lucky it was charged to Garret."

Dave glanced in the rearview mirror. "Is that it?"

I shrugged, avoiding eye contact by looking at my phone. "Yea. Pretty much. Has some of your stats and awards too like being first-team all conference. That kind of stuff. Says you're unlikely to sign with a team if drafted."

"That's fair." He nodded slowly. "They have me pegged for being ready for college. That's good. I'm hoping to make an impact right away, even if I'm just a freshman."

"You'll be the biggest incoming freshman, I bet." Noah said, talking about how tall Dave was. He wasn't underweight at all either. Noah glanced back at me, but didn't say anything.

Feeling guilty, I looked away. I didn't want him to know I skipped a sentence about Dave. It wasn't something I wanted to say to him. Not that I think Dave couldn't handle it, but it just wasn't nice. It talked about how he was very injury prone and missed a lot of the season with various injuries. Which I didn't find fair at all. He doesn't play every game like a position player and that dislocated pinky was just bad luck. Plus there was the time he got stepped on and Coach pulled him just in case it was more serious.

Noah may have been a little suspicious about it, but his attention was drawn back to the game. Stanford and Cal State Fullerton kept it close until the end, with Stanford just barely pulling through 6-5. They would get their rematch with Texas A&M.

We had made it back to the stadium parking lot and hung out in the car with the updates. Mom called us right after the game, telling us that the stadium had to be cleared out and cleaned for the night game so we should just hang tight. They were being taken to an area where grampa could stay seated because of his old age.

The three of us killed time by texting friends updates and being on social media. I remembered to text Jeremy, telling him a little about our tryout then mostly about Zeke's game tonight. Surprisingly Jeremy got back to me right away, but then I remembered his game was earlier on the east coast. He should actually be on his way back.

"Jeremy wants to know if we have anything planned for the draft for Kyle?" I leaned forward between Dave and Noah. "I know we're going to Garret's for the first draft day, but like…are we going to do something special for Kyle?"

"It's a Thursday." Dave laughed. "What can we do besides watch from the house? Heck, we didn't do anything special for Zeke last year and he went in the first round. Plus, they only do a live broadcast of the first round. The second round is only online. Then the rest won't even be available to see. Like at most, we'll be there when he gets the call?"

Noah twisted around to look at me better. "Maybe Jeremy is asking if he can come over? For moral support? He's got a home series Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday; then off Thursday. Home series for the weekend."

"Oh!" I nodded. That makes sense. "Yea, I should invite him over then." Mom wouldn't mind an extra mouth for dinner.

"Ehh…" Dave hesitated. "Maybe we should look up…your cousin first?" He suggested.

I blinked. Then blinked again. "I forgot he was going in the draft too." Carson is a graduating senior like the twins. It had been a couple months since we played against one another in The Foothill Classic. I glanced down at my phone and sat back. "Yea, we should look him up. I don't want to invite Jeremy when he already has somewhere to be." That would put him in an awkward spot.

"I'm looking up the draft." Noah declared. "Like if we think Kyle goes third round and later…he might be day three so Friday. We could really celebrate if it's not a school night." Noah was faster in getting his answers. "Ok, just kidding. Round one and two are Wednesday. But like Dave said, live tv for round one plus something called the competitive balance round A. I don't know what that is. But like a quasi-still-first-round. Rounds three through ten are Thursday. So he's definitely a Thursday player. And we can't really watch anything except some updates from reporters."

"I found Carson's info." I spoke up. "He…looks like round two potential."

"No way. He wasn't that good, was he?" Noah was skeptical. He got up and leaned over the seat to take my phone from me. He scanned it. "Oh. I guess he does have good numbers. And he has some advantages like being a top player at a top school. So lame. Heh. I'm glad they mention that his higher than norm pick might be due to his relation to Jeremy. Because I believe it."

"Okay, okay, be nice. Remember, Jeremy is probably just as proud and as happy for him as we are for Kyle." Dave said. He paused. "Don't tell Kyle I said that."

"Of course I will. You big softie." Noah laughed. He handed me back my phone. "Looks like he might have plans for Wednesday so you can tell Jeremy to come over on Thursday."

"He has a game Wednesday." I said, pulling up my texting app. "You think Carson will go to the A's game during the draft?"

"I mean, maybe?" Noah shrugged. "Draft starts at 4pm for the west coast and that's a few hours before the A's game start time at 7pm. He could do both so Jeremy could be present."

"You can ask Jeremy." Dave pointed out. "We're just speculating here. Invite him for Thursday then ask about his plans for Carson."

"Yea…okay…" I took a deep breath and started to type.

Me: Nothing special planned for Thursday but you can come over for dinner. You can bring Rose too. Ryan should be coming over as well, I think.

I mentioned Kyle's agent, knowing that he was a friend of Rose. They should all move in the same circles so it wouldn't be awkward.

Jeremy: We'll be there!

Me: Are you going to be able to be with Carson on Wednesday when he's picked?

Jeremy: Yea, the organization is going to let us use a conference room for him and the whole fam. They'll set up a laptop to keep an eye on the second round. I still have to warmup like normal, but should be able to catch the actual moment he's picked. Just have to sacrifice some team time. No biggie.

I hesitated for a minute before telling him:

Tell Carson congratulations from all of us when it happens.

Jeremy: I will! Thanks!

I cracked a smile. I could just imagine how happy Jeremy is just because I sent that.