The Hitting Zone



We got home super late with the hold up, but it was still good timing as Mom and Grampa just finished setting the table. We talked about the umpire's mistake and Dad agreed that it was only right for Coach to take over. Garret shouldn't create any drama with the draft coming up. 

Mom pointed at Kyle with her fork. "You better keep it clean too. Remember that you're not just playing high school baseball anymore. You have quite a few eyes on you."

"Don't blow it Monday." Dave smirked. "Or all those eyes will be disgusted and you'll be dropped a few rounds."

"Shut up. I'll crush it." Kyle said. 

"And I'll crush Thursday's game to get us moving in the playoffs." Dave cracked his knuckles. 

"Coach could still go with Garret. You know he likes to start off strong." Kyle said. 

The two started to bicker over starts. 

Noah turned to Mom. "Are we going to do a more official watch party for Kyle than we did for Zeke?"

"We're going to Garret's for day one." Kyle stopped his fighting with Dave to state. "Day one is just for round one picks and we should be there if gets selected. Day two and three will be streamed online and honestly it's not that exciting. Let's just live our lives normally."

"I think it's still important." Dad said. "We'll put the livestream on in the living room and kind of have a bbq. All of you should hang around the house those days."

"Where else would we be?" Dave shrugged. "It's during the week. We'll be coming home from school and doing homework and preparing for finals."

"Feels anticlimactic." Noah mused. "I guess that's what happens when one brother is a first rounder and the other is..." He trailed off. 

"You better be thinking of something nice to say." Mom threatened him with her eyes. 

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"Well it's nice to Zeke?" Noah smiled sheepishly. 

"It's fine, Mom. I know where I stand." Kyle said. "Ryan says I'll have slim chances to go in the second or third rounds. But we're really thinking fourth." He grinned. "Still looking at a $400,000 signing bonus. Minimum."

"You'll be sitting down with an accountant before signing anything." Mom said strictly. She looked at Dad. "Let's make sure we call Ryan one more time to make sure we're ready-" she caught herself. "To make sure that Kyle is ready for this draft. And what will come after."

"I've talked to Ryan plenty." Kyle said nonchalantly. "You guys aren't the only ones worried about my future."

"What's your biggest worry?" Dave asked, interested. All of us were. 

Kyle rubbed his nose. "Well, like how I don't know where I'm going. We're an easygoing family, but knowing that as soon as I sign a contract, I'll be shipped off to a small town in the middle of nowhere had me a little on edge. Ryan said with negotiations, it'll stretch my time out a bit. Because at that point, I'll know what farm system I'll be in so it'll narrow down the options and give myself time to prepare."

"You'll have time to buy a car, right?" Dave asked. "Still thinking an SUV so you can carry around your life?"

"Yea, I think it's the best option as a teen in the minors." Kyle and him started to talk car options and what was available on the market. Dave really wanted to take a car to college too the more they talked about it, but Mom shot him down saying he should be spending plenty of time on campus with school and baseball. Plus, he was in the central of the city, everything was within reach. 

Mom then talked to Noah and I about starting Driver's Ed soon. "We found a school that does both the Driver's Education and the Driver's Training after."

"Training?" I asked. 

"You have to do six hours with a professional instructor, remember." Noah nudged me. "Mom will make sure we get a guy instructor."

"You guys will be driving yourselves by the time school comes around." Mom smiled, happy for us. 

We wasted a lot of time talking, getting to bed late. Which left me slow-moving on Friday morning. It was a day of tests before getting to practice. Coach kept things straightforward and easy. Kyle would get the start on Monday. Dave would potentially have Thursday's first playoff game. He said he didn't know our opponent yet, but there would be a chance that he could change the starter if needed. 

"I feel offended." Dave muttered under his breath. 

"Don't do anything stupid this weekend." Coach told the team as we packed up in the early evening. "We're doing something very special with this team this season and I don't want anyone to risk it." He looked at Kyle first. "No pitching this weekend." He looked to Garret next. "Rest up and stretch your arm and shoulder properly." Then to Dave. 

Dave held up his hands in surrender. "I'll be good. Just running and stretching."

"I actually think it would be good if you got some pitching in." Coach told him. "Have a simulated game tomorrow. Then recovery Sunday. Then it's prep for Thursday."

"Oh. Yea. That makes sense." Dave agreed. He looked to Mitchell. "Can you come over tomorrow?"

"Anytime." Mitchell nodded. 

The pair made plans as Coach finished handing out instructions. After that, we finished cleaning up and started to go our own ways. I think you should take a look at ραΠdαs.cοm

"Hey. Noah. Jake. Wait up." Logan called out to us. 

I was taken aback and looked to Noah to see what he would do. I knew Logan even less than I knew Dalton. We didn't work together much on the field and had even less to talk about. I knew he shared a class with Noah though. 

Logan wasn't alone in his approach. Dalton joined us too. The twins spared us a glance, but seeing that Noah wanted to hear them out, the pair said they would meet us at the car. 

"What's up?" Noah greeted. 

Logan lifted a shoulder in a half shrug. "Just wanted to talk to you guys about the summer. Are you going to try out for the travel team?" He glanced at me. 

But I was looking at Noah. 

"Oh we're invited to play this year?" Noah smirked. 

"C'mon man." Dalton said. "Let's leave the past behind us."

"It was just an observation." Noah said plainly. 

"You interested or not?" Logan asked. "Because if you have something better we can do, then I'll be willing to give that a try instead."

Noah looked as surprised as I felt. "Well, actually. We tried out for the regional team a couple weeks ago. And-" He glanced my way. "Jake has already made the team. I participate in round two of the tryouts early June."

"What if you don't make it?" Logan asked. "Are you doing camps and clinics?"

I tensed up at the thought of Noah not making it. 

"Yea, I guess. I'll probably plan it around Jake's tournament in North Carolina. That's where the big tournament is held. They use it to select kids to tryout for Team USA." Noah was more relaxed now. 

"You'd go too? Even if you didn't make it?" Dalton raised an eyebrow. 

"Of course. My parents would go. Dave wants to go too, but it depends on his college report date. It's just a few weeks of the long summer. If there's something I'm really trying to do, is the Stanford camp again. With Zeke being there, it just makes sense. Plus, we get a discount."

Dalton nodded, understanding. "Yea, family discount. My cousins went to the same college and got a discount for that even." He looked at me. "Congrats on making the regional team though. It sounds crazy, but I know what you can do. You'll be great there."

I felt my face heat up. "Thank you." I pursed my lips. "But don't let it spread. I don't want..."

"Everyone talking about it?" Dalton asked. "Yea, that's understandable. You don't like the limelight." He looked at Logan. "I guess we can look into some camps. My parents might be willing to send me to a couple in exchange of travel team fees."

Logan hesitated before looking directly at Noah again. "You've done both. A summer of travel ball versus your last summer. Which helped you become a better player?"

Noah grinned. "I see. You want to get better."

"Don't we all?" Dalton asked while shrugging. "This season is the most time I've ever spent on the bench. We're not used to it."

"I want to be able to do more." Logan added. "You don't know how it feels to be overlooked and have pitchers replace you in your position." I cringed, feeling a little bad for him. It can't feel good that's for sure. 

"Then practice more." Noah told him. 

"How much more?"

"Theres no way to quantify it." Noah said. He turned serious. "But let me put it this way; Jake and I have spent every free weekend at the cages even during the season. And we haven't ran into you guys there once. Do you really think you're practicing hard enough? How many hours have you spent at the park, working on your fielding? Coach has said it to us before; just going to regular scheduled practices isn't enough to take you to the next level. You've got to do the extra on your own time."

I nodded along. Noah was the hardest working player I knew. All the early morning runs. Lifting weights with every spare second. Doing ab workouts in the room before he takes a shower. He definitely put in more effort and energy than I did. 

Logan twisted his lips. "Are you going this weekend?"

"To the cages? Yes. To the field? Also yes. We don't have anything else to do this weekend, but practice." Noah said. "If you guys want, I'll shoot you a text when we go."

"Okay." Logan agreed quickly. 

Dalton nodded too. "Yea, I want to see what extra work you guys do. Might not make us better players before playoffs, but at least we'll be able to have a better chance to start next year."

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