The Hitting Zone-Novel

Garret was up next. Two outs and just me on first. Since he was a good lefty batter too, I was looking forward to see what this Blake guy had in store for him. Would Garret only see two-seamers too?

The answer came on the first pitch. A regular fastball, with no movement. Garret had swung late and fouled it back for strike one. Pitch two was the two-seamer drifting outside. Garret got a piece of it and I took off.

Garret's hit was a grounder right to the shortstop. He scooped it up and stepped on second base before me, ending the inning. I had to turn back to the dugout.

"My bad." Garret admitted generously while taking his helmet off. We entered the dugout together with Coach Luis right behind us. "I didn't think he would throw a breaking ball so soon. I thought it was his deciding pitch against Bryce and Noah."

"I think the righty's see a different breaking ball." I told him. "We see the two-seamer. Probably the only things he's got against lefty's?" I took my helmet off too.

"Well, it's hittable. We'll get him next time." Garret stated.

We separated and got ready to take the field. I was only a couple steps behind Noah, heading to our position near second.

"You really made that guy work." Noah nodded with approval.

I shrugged. "He's good. I was trying to get him to throw me a fastball, but he wouldn't."

Noah frowned. "Probably some kind of strategy. Tell Coach when we get back to the dugout to see if he noticed anything."

I nodded.

Garret finished his practice pitches on the mound and the spare baseballs were thrown back to the dugout. The first batter was announced and stepped up to the plate. A righty. Garret cornered him quick on an 0-2 count, then jammed him with the cutter. The grounder went straight to Noah, who fielded it cleanly to Jason at first.

The second batter didn't stand a chance against Garret. He swung and missed on three straight fastballs. Garret pumped his fist after earning that first strikeout. Two outs and only used six pitches.

The third batter was announced: Carson Patterson. I saw him on the on deck circle so it wasn't a surprise. It was just weird to hear his name and the cheers that followed it. I wonder if Jeremy was clapping for him. He had to be if he was sitting with his family. I guess it would be more weird if Jeremy clapped with me while sitting with them. I resisted the urge to scan the crowd. It's better not to look for something that can hurt me.

Garret started him off with a fastball. He let it pass for a called strike. Mitchell threw the ball back to Garret and everyone got set again. Mitchell passed on another sign. Garret nodded and started his motion. This time Carson swung, connected on a fastball. There was a loud 'ding' and my head snapped to the right, just in time to see Noah diving and snatching the line drive out of the air. He hit the dirt but held up the glove.

"Out!"

Noah got up, left the ball at the mound, and jogged back.

"Damn." Garret dusted Noah's jersey off a little. "You have the fastest reflexes around. I didn't even see the catch because the ball came off the bat so fast."

Noah laughed, happy with the compliment. "Right within range." He patted Garret on the back. "You're looking sharp too. Keep it up."

We all filed into the dugout. Jason, Korrey, and Jesse would start us off.

I took my glove off and held it under my arm as I approached Coach.

"Concerned?" Coach noticed my presence right away.

I shrugged. "It might be nothing, but did you see that the pitcher never threw me a fastball? I thought it might be a lefty thing, but he threw a normal fastball to Garret. I saw a lot of two-seamers."

"Alisha. Sean." Coach called the pair over. Alisha still held a clipboard while Sean was simply dressed in the uniform despite not being able to play.

"Yea, Coach?" Sean looked between me and him.

"We're going to start keeping track of pitch types."

Alisha looked scared. "Coach...I really don't know that much."

Coach's lips twitched. "It's okay. I know you're still learning. You keep track of the game like normal, but on another sheet you'll write down what Sean says." He looked to Sean. "The pitch breaking away from lefty's, looks to be the two-seamer according to Jake. He's obviously got a good fastball. The pitch breaking away from the righty's must be a curveball."

Sean nodded then glanced my way. "What am I looking for?"

I shrugged. "I think I'm the only one not seeing a regular fastball."

"Is that going to be a problem?" Sean asked, surprised. "I know you saw a lot of pitches during your last at bat and not one of them was a regular fastball?"

"All of them moved." I lowered my voice so the other guys couldn't hear. "I'm thinking it's a strategy to avoid me hitting the ball too deep." I didn't have the strength to carry a breaking ball.

Sean's eyes narrowed.

"Why is that a problem?" Alisha whispered, sensing the pressure.

"It means someone will have to get on base before Jake's at bats to make him effective." Sean explained a little. "If only Jake is getting on..." He shook his head.

"Garret bats after him though." Alisha pointed out. "He's a great batter too."

"Garret isn't the problem." Sean told her. "Unless he can get the ball out of the park, then it'll be up to Jake's baserunning."

My nose started to tingle. Don't cry. It's okay. I gripped my fists. "I'm going to go talk to Noah."

Sean nodded and added. "Him and Bryce together."

Good point.

"It's still early boys." Coach inserted. "Don't rile yourselves up. For now, let's observe and then we can start planning." He looked at me. "Don't pressure the two. Try to approach them with ways to avoid swinging at the breaking ball."

Oh. I nodded and headed back to my seat.

Noah was there but Bryce was with Mitchell and Garret. Even the twins were over there.

An idea popped in my head. I nudged Noah and motioned for him to follow.

"I think he's topping out at 95." Dave rubbed his chin thoughtfully as they all looked out at the pitcher on the mound taking his practice pitches.

"97 has to be his fastest." Kyle replied.

"I saw it from the box." Bryce said. "I'm telling you guys, it's the low 90's. It just seems faster because of his throwing motion."

Sure enough! They were discussing the pitcher. I knew I could count on them discussing the guy as soon as I saw them grouped together. Pitchers have an uncontrollable urge to compare themselves to one another.

"What do you think, Garret?" Mitchell asked, taking his chest protector off. He had a small chance coming up this inning.

"Bro, I saw two pitches. One fastball and one that took off away a little." Garret nodded at me. "Jake says it's a two-seamer."

Perfect. I have an in.