"This ga will be a hit fest." Coach declared. He had gathered us after the end of Pleasant Valley’s win. "We’ll have Jas start on the mound."
"What about ?" Dave asked, pointing at his face.
"You would be the worst choice for this ga and up against this lineup." Coach didn’t hold back. "As soone who pitches to contact, you should know giving up hits is common. What Kyle did earlier, was a freak mont. Jas Lohr, will you be ready to go?"
Dave looked down, acting pitifully.
Jas, a senior that I haven’t spoken to personally, stood up. "Yes coach. Can I go start warming up with Kelvin? I want to make sure all my pitches are in good form today."
He waved them off. "Start off with so light tossing first. We’ve still got an hour before we take the field for warmups." He looked at the sun, which was above, but in February it would start setting soon. "Playing a late afternoon ga is more disadvantageous than an evening ga in February. The sun will be setting during the ga. Fielding will be difficult."
Jas and Kelvin stood up and walked away with their gear. One of the assistant coaches went with them.
"You boys watch Pleasant Valley beat on Katella, right?" Coach looked down at us.
The guys all avoided eye contact and made so incoherent mumbles.
Coach sighed and shook his head in despair. "Unbelievable. Just because you know how the ga ended, doesn’t an that you know all that has happened."
Zeke stood. "Their strengths lie in their bats. Though they only gave up a few runs, that was presumably their best pitcher. That’s why I suggested for Jas to start instead of Dave. Jas has more variety in his pitches and will be able to throw them off their rhythm."
Coach nodded. "Diligent observation."
Dave looked even more upset, not liking what Zeke had to say. He sighed and flopped back, laying his head on his bag like a pillow.
"Pleasant Valley won’t be pushovers with just a little strategy." Coach continued, ignoring Dave’s display of dissatisfaction. "They were able to rcy rule Katella. Katella might not be a strong team, but they have solid foundations. We have to co out, swinging. I don’t want any aningless strikeouts."
I sat up a little straighter. Swinging? Does this an I’ll be batting? I snuck a peek at Zeke. He caught looking and shook his head. Still not ti? I sighed and slouched.
"Jake." Coach called. I straightened back up. "Excellent fielding in ga one. Your running and sliding still needs work." The guys laughed and I blushed. "I’m gonna have to make you sit this one. At least to begin with. There will be a lot of base runners so I won’t you to focus on learning."
I felt dejected once again.
Noah patted my shoulder, sympathetically, and whispered. "It’s a good learning opportunity."
"Noah, you’ll be sitting out as well." Coach followed up. "This will be more of a hitting contest and your batting isn’t up to par."
"But-but-but, bad defense loses gas!" Noah protested.
"And good offense wins gas." Coach retorted. "Both of you will sit, watch, and learn. If I see a need to put you in, I won’t hesitate." He looked at so other guys. "Daniel Myers and John Roberts. You’re both it. Any slacking and I’ll pull you imdiately."
"Yes!" Both guys said in unison.
Coach continued to give out instructions and what to look out for. After awhile he went off to the side with the coaches, trying to figure out a new batting lineup order.
Noah, Dave and I all sulked in our misfortune of not getting to play. Kyle looked at us and rolled his eyes. "You’re all a bunch of five year olds. It’s just one ga. You don’t see complaining."
"Easy for you to say. You got to pitch a complete ga this morning." Dave glared at him. "And the satisfaction of a perfect ga, at that. I have to wait a whole day. Today is pointless."
"If we don’t win today, you don’t get to pitch tomorrow." Zeke said as he ca over to look down at our sorry state of mind.
Dave peeked up. He glared at his oldest brother. "You better hit a horun on my behalf. Or I won’t forgive you for holding out."
Before Zeke could reply, Noah jumped in. "Sa! I know you probably told coach to hold out. I want a horun on my behalf too! A totally separate one from Dave’s."
Zeke rubbed the space between his eyebrows. "Can you guys be serious for once? In a tournant, you can’t just think about the current ga, but also the next ga, and the ga after."
I tugged Noah’s sleeve and held up three fingers.
Noah grinned. He looked up at Zeke. "Jake wants one as well. You should hit a hor for every brother you bench, otherwise we’ll just think of you as heartless and cruel."
Dave nodded in agreent. "You said it yourself. If we don’t win today, then I don’t get to pitch tomorrow. Don’t let us down captain."
Zeke’s eyes narrowed at the sight of us three. I shivered and cowered behind Noah. Zeke sighed. "We’ll see what I get. I can’t promise sothing absurd as three horuns."
"Wait. What." Kyles jaw dropped at the sight of Zeke giving in. "What about ? I won’t be playing too! A horun for as well!"
"Impossible." Zeke and Dave said at the sa ti. They looked at one another in surprise.
Dave shrugged. "Kyle already has his mont of glory. He doesn’t need anything else. What did you want to say?"
We all looked at Zeke. He cleared his throat, but spoke low. "If I were to hit three horuns, we will win in a called ga. And we’ll rcy rule Pleasant Valley just like they did to Katella."
The Atkins all looked at each other before jumping up and beating on Zeke. They patted his shoulders, stomach, back, arms, anything they could touch. They all laughed as I stayed seated, confused on what the big deal was.
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