85 Game One: Villa Park 5 (1/2)

Wow. Zeke really is a monster. I jogged to home plate, with Mahki right behind me, and then Zeke came. Him and Mahki exchanged some kind of hand shake. I weakly held out my hand for a high five. Zeke gave a light smile, smacked my hand and patted my helmet. I've never seen him in such a good mood.

We three had a nice welcoming once we got back in the dugout. A lot of them smacked my helmet and patted my shoulder. Finally I made it back to my bag and turned my helmet in for my baseball hat and glove. I made sure my bat was in the proper place before looking for Noah.

”Jake!” Coach hollered. The team quieted down and made space for me to go where I was summoned. I shuffled my feet to him and stood by Noah who looked to be summoned beforehand. ”Want to explain why you didn't follow the signs?”

I glanced at Noah and he took over. ”We just went over some of the signs this morning, Coach.”

”I heard.” He glanced at Zeke who was getting a drink of water. ”What I want to know is why he didn't try to steal? You barely led off the base.” I've never seen coach so upset.

I looked down at my cleats, nervous.

”Uh.” Noah coughed a few times. ”You don't have to run bases when you hit in the cages.” An awkward pause followed. ”Jake doesn't know how. To lead off. Or steal. Or slide into bases. Obviously.”

”Did you see him jump back on second, Coach?” Kyle laughed. ”That was a typical Bambi move.” The rest of the team laughed at the memory. Ugh.

I heard coach chuckle, and peeked at him. He didn't look so serious as he was smiling. He caught me looking back up at him. ”Kid. You're just too raw. From now on, when someone's on base, I want you to strictly study their movements. How far they lead. If they attempt to steal. If they fake movements.”

I nodded. I plan to. This first at bat has just been one embarrassment after another. I'm probably going to be traumatized for the rest of my life.

”And when your third base coach waves you on, don't stop.” Coach Wilcox became stern once more. ”If the cutoff man was a second quicker, he could have thrown out Mahki and that would have been one less run.”

I nodded. I didn't really do so well overall. Coach finished scolding me and went back to watching the game. Noah and I sat down and watched as well.