"What about ?" Kyle asked.
"Yea, what about the rest of us?" Dave shoved Kyle away from the group.
Mr. Caron laughed. "The list should be out after the New Year. I don’t know everyone’s ranking, but I’ve heard Jake’s na thrown around a lot. With his batting average leading your league, and a few others, it’s hard not to put him in the top player prospects. Especially with the CIF win and rookie of the year award."
"You’re fielding is probably holding you back from the number one spot." Noah told honestly.
I nodded in agreent.
"And your ugly baserunning." Kyle joked.
"Don’t forget your small size." Dave added. "They’ll hold that against you. For now. Once they see the hors you’re dealing out, I’m sure it’ll change."
"I bet Garret is number one now that Zeke is graduated." Noah said thoughtfully. "If Jake is in the top three, then I’m sure a double threat like Garret has to be above him. He can hit and pitch."
"His na is popular too." Mr. Caron nodded. "I’m going to watch your ga tomorrow because I want to interview him. He should be on the mound, correct?" We nodded. "Yea, I thought so with the way your Coach was holding down his pitch count despite the no-hitter he had going in ga one. Tomorrow’s going to be a good ga."
"You know the other team?" Noah asked.
"Sure do." He nodded. "They won their league last spring, but lost in the first round of CIF. They have good teams year in, year out."
Mr. Caron hung out with us for a little longer, talking about player rankings for the twins. They both had outstanding seasons last year and were trending upwards on the list for county, state, and nation.
We stayed to the point where the ice had lted against my ankle. Sa with Kyle. Noah helped take the wrapping off and handed the bag of water to Kyle since he was taking his to a nearby trash can. We said our goodbyes to Mr. Caron and headed back to the hotel. Jeremy had called Dad mid-conversation and made plans for dinner. He and Rose were just going to bring a bunch of takeout to our hotel.
It wasn’t obvious at first, but during dinner, I noticed Noah being quiet. It’s not like he went totally silent, but more like a loss of enthusiasm. This was the sa teen who wanted to wake up super early this morning. It wasn’t hard for to guess what was on his mind. Baseball. Always. But after eting with Mr. Caron and talking about player rankings, I’m guessing it was specifically about that.
I didn’t know what to say or how to cheer him up, but luckily I wasn’t the only one to notice. After dinner, we went back to our respective rooms to shower and get ready for bed. When I exited the bathroom with pajamas on, I overheard Zeke and Rhys talking to Noah.
"The rankings aren’t that important." Zeke was saying.
"Says the guy that was number one." Noah scoffed. He glanced at . "Jake. How does it feel to know that you top the list of the best players around?"
I slowly dried my hair with a towel. "Kind of...embarrassing..?"
Noah rolled his eyes. "I shouldn’t have asked you. What I ant was, don’t you feel validated? That you’re doing well enough to be considered one of the best?"
I shrugged. "Not really. If anything, I feel more pressure to do better. I’m only up top because I can hit the baseball better than others. When it cos to fielding..." I shook my head, helpless. "I feel like a poser. A fake. A fraud."
Rhys laughed. "Don’t worry about it. You’re a great hitter and that can take you to more places than being great at fielding." He looked at Noah. "You shouldn’t worry either. You’re only a sophomore. Even Zeke wasn’t on any list his sophomore year. There’s ti for you to improve and show them what you can do. Just be steady and resilient. You’re 3-7 at the plate so far this tourney. That’s a great start."
Noah frowned. "Being on the list will get my na out there though. I want to attract scouts and go pro after high school."
Zeke turned out one of the lights. "Like Rhys said, there’s ti. Nothing you can do about it right now. Continue to play well during gas and everything else will follow."
Noah and I got under the covers of our shared bed.
"For the record, I wasn’t even number one in my county ranking either." Rhys got in his bed.
Noah rolled his eyes again. "You didn’t even play your senior year."
"And you haven’t yet either." Rhys told him. "Now get so rest. I want to watch a good ga tomorrow."
Between waking up early and playing two gas today, I fell asleep rather quickly. Waking up to movent around the room, I squinted and saw Noah was missing.
"They already went down for breakfast." I heard Zeke before I could see him.
I glanced around the room and didn’t see him until he popped up from the floor. He had been doing ab exercises. I checked the ti, 8:45am.
"Breakfast ends at 9am so I told Noah to co back with breakfast for you." Zeke got back on the floor and started to stretch. "Ga at 2pm, be at the field by 1pm. Not a whole lot of ti for lunch so I told Noah to grab a lot of food that you guys can eat throughout the morning."
I let out a yawn and stretched too. Feeling a ’zing’ in my ankle, I pulled the blanket away to check.
"How’s the ankle?" Zeke stopped what he was doing and got close to check it out.
No bruising, but there was swelling.
"Let’s ice it again." Zeke decided. "I’ll go get so ice from the machine in the hallway. You stay here and prop your foot up on so pillows."
I did what I was told as he went out in the hall. He must have ran into Rhys and Noah on his way back to the room because the three of them walked in together.
"That’s gotta be super uncomfortable." Noah placed two plates of food next to on the bed.
"Are you going to be able to play, Jake?" Rhys asked. "Did it hurt when you tried to walk on it?"
"I didn’t try walking yet, but I’m fine." I told him. I picked a banana out of the food given to . "Nothing I can’t handle."
"Don’t push yourself." Rhys sat on his bed. "It’s just a Christmas tournant that doesn’t an much. Don’t be risking your season for this."
I shrugged. "It’s fine. Really." I looked at Noah for help.
"Jake’s tough, but he’s not dumb." Noah spoke up for . "If he says it’s fine, then believe him. My god, he must be annoyed with everyone treating him like a baby."
Zeke picked up his phone. "Jake is too tough and doesn’t know when to give up. We should have Coach look at it. Maybe get it taped up if he feels unstable."
"Kettle et pot." Noah snickered.
Zeke glanced at him.
Reviews
All reviews (0)