Noah stood 90% of the ti. Thankfully he wasn’t as tall as Zeke or Dad yet, so he didn’t obstruct anyone’s view behind us. I only stood during the big monts, and there turned out to be a lot. The A’s beat the Rays pitcher down early, while not giving up too many hits themselves. The A’s won 6-1, looking good all around.
After the ga, a postga interview with Jeremy was held on the big screen in the stadium. We watched that as the stadium slowly cleared out for those who wanted to beat the traffic.
"Jeremy, thanks for joining ." A lady with the microphone said, standing beside him. "This is your first appearance in the postseason and you did amazing! Two hits, two runs scored, one horun, and three RBI’s. How does it feel to have this kind of success early on?" She held the microphone under his chin.
Jeremy chuckled. "Feels pretty darn good. I had so friends and family in the crowd tonight and they had really put so pressure on to co out hot." He waved in our general direction.
"Monts like these make feel like I’m living in a dream." Noah sighed.
I laughed. Jeremy seed to like Noah, constantly calling him out in interviews. I’m glad. I hoped that Noah didn’t affect his play, and it seems like it was only for the best.
We waited for most of the crowd to clear out before leaving too. I sent Jeremy a text on the ride ho, congratulating him on a good ga. He sent a reply before we even got back to the Johnson’s house, asking if he could treat us to brunch. I showed Dad, and he talked it over with Mom and Rhys’s parents before agreeing. For the most part.
"Tell him to et us here, but we’ll be the ones to treat him." Dad instructed. "Also ask him to bring Rose if he wants."
I nodded and sent the ssage.
Jeremy agreed.
Saturday, he and Rose showed up and t everyone again. Taking such a big group to brunch, Mom called ahead to make reservations and then we headed over.
"You look much more relaxed today." Rose told Noah as we all sat down.
Noah laughed. "Yea, a win does that for ." He looked to Jeremy. "If Patterson was a little bit more reliable then I wouldn’t be so stressed."
"Hey, I’m only a second year player." Jeremy defended himself. "I should give you Maberry’s number."
"Maberry isn’t going to be MVP." Noah shot back.
I looked up at Jeremy. "Do you think you’ll really be MVP?"
"Of course!" Noah slapped the table in his excitent.
"Noah Jas." Mom scolded.
Noah simred down. "Sorry, Mom." He turned back to us. "But really. There’s no question Jeremy is the Arican League MVP. He killed it."
"Now you have confidence in ?!" Jeremy joked.
Noah shrugged. "When it cos to this? Yea. The MVP and regular season is a marathon. The postseason is practically a sprint. There’s no ti to be in a slump because it’ll cost you the series."
Dave laughed. "Can you stop putting so much pressure on him?"
"Yea." Kyle agreed. "There’s eight other starters on the team and a whole lot more players that could be a ga changer."
"Zeke never shied away from the pressure." Noah pointed out.
Rhys laughed. "Yea, there are so players who thrive on it. Zeke is the type that can co out stronger." He glanced at . "Jake probably prefers no pressure."
I nodded.
"But you’ve done so well!" Dave reached over to poke in the cheek.
I think every high-pressure scenario has taken so years off my life. "My anxiety..." I didn’t need to finish.
"Everyone’s different." Jeremy cut off. He grinned at Noah. "Don’t worry about . We just need our pitchers to stay hot. They control a lot of the ga as players who touch the ball the most."
This led to the twins and Rhys talking about pitching. Mr. Johnson even spoke up, giving the boys pointers.
After brunch, I said goodbye to Jeremy and Rose. They would both be leaving on the team plane this afternoon to get to Tampa, all the way across the country.
We also had to part ways with Zeke and the Johnson’s. Rhys and Zeke would get to stay another night before going back to school, while we had to go back to our own ho. Mom and Dad still had work to do.
Sunday late afternoon, Noah, , and the twins, gathered in the living room to watch the A’s take on the Rays. It was almost like a repeat performance of ga one. Jeremy and Maberry both had solo shots while the pitcher didn’t give up anything. Dad brought ho pizza for us to eat as the ga finished. A relief pitcher for the A’s gave up a run, but they still got out of it, winning the ga 4-1.
Going to school on Monday, there was a sense of excitent for those that were A’s fans. A few classmates would approach to complint Jeremy, but thankfully Noah would take over.
In Spanish, Mitchell and Sean asked about the ga experience.
I smiled. "It was cool. Very packed. Everyone there was an A’s fan."
Sean laughed. "Of course. They’re playing the Rays. That’s an even smaller fan base. If they played one of the big teams like the Red Sox or the Yankees, then it wouldn’t really feel like a ho ga. You can fans of those teams anywhere."
"It looks like it’ll be them and the Yankees in the ALCS." Mitchell said. "Both of them have won gas one and two. Only one away from moving on." He looked at . "Are you guys watching the ga after practice?"
I nodded. "Probably." Noah would never pass up the opportunity to see the A’s in action. Especially in playoffs.
"I wonder if we can get Coach to end practice early so we can watch the ga." Sean said thoughtfully. "Watching baseball could be considered as practice."
"Why don’t you text him and ask?" Mitchell suggested. He nodded his head at Coach Luis, who was working at his desk. "Ask Coach Luis to say sothing and that might help too."
"You know what? I will!" Sean got up out of his seat. He approached Coach Luis and spoke with him quietly.
I watched nervously, still a little afraid when it ca to Coach Luis. But soon, Coach Luis was nodding at what Sean was saying. Then he sent Sean back.
"What’d he say?" Mitchell asked.
I looked up at Sean too.
"He’ll call Coach during break." Sean grinned.
After class, I t up with Noah near our lockers and told him what Sean did and said.
Noah bead. "Yes! That would be aweso!"
I raised an eyebrow. "You want to miss two practices in a row?" We had already skipped Friday and now if we miss Monday, that’s four days of not playing baseball.
"Like Sean said, watching baseball is a form of practice." Noah stated. "Also serves as inspiration. That’s where I want to be. Now if we had a ga, I would rather play than watch."
By the end of our fifteen minute break, Coach sent out a mass text stating that practice was canceled and to pass it on to the freshn since he didn’t have everyone’s numbers. Noah forwarded it to Andy and told him to pass it on too.
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