Sean laughed.

"Thanks for the vote in confidence, Jake. Hopefully I don't let you down.

"

I hope you don't let yourself down, I thought to myself.

The umpire broke up the meeting on the mound and called me to plate. I chose to bat from the righty's side this time. Hoping for different results with a different choice. It didn't help. The first pitch went high, making the catcher pop up for it. The catcher threw the ball back, eyeing Garret on third.

With two outs, I was in a tough spot. I couldn't do something risky like putting the ball into play. Any grounder, and I would be out. If there had been only one out, we could have tried another sacrifice bunt to get Garret to score.

The pitcher did a check throw to third before his second pitch. Another high, outside ball. 2-0. His third pitch came inside, making me take a step back. 3-0. Not as aggressive as my last at bat, but that was probably because Garret was on third. If he really had a pitch go wild, Garret was fast enough to score. The fourth pitch was low, nearly in the dirt. 4-0. A walk.

I ditched my bat and jogged to first. Sean was up with runners on the corners, two outs. On a 2-2 count he pulled the ball down the third baseline. But with the third baseman playing stationary, it was a routine play.

"Don't mind.

" I heard Garret saying to Sean.

"You we're in a tough spot. At least you know you're making contact. Try to bat from the left side so you stop pulling to third.

" Sean could switch hit to some extent.

"At least we're on the board.

" Sean told himself.

Garret nodded.

"Exactly. Let's switch to defense.

"

Bottom of the third. Dave was starting with the bottom of the lineup. Batter eight was a lefty that pulled a grounder my way. It was easy to deal with, fielding it and throwing him out at first. The ninth batter was the pitcher and Dave dealt with him on his own, getting his second strikeout of the game.

Back at the top of their order, the leadoff with the tough lineout to Korrey in the first, snuck a single over Noah's reach. The second hit off of Dave so far. Dave wasn't too bothered, going after the next batter without doing a single check throw. The second batter hit a high fly ball to dead center. Garret waited for it, made the catch to end the inning, then we all started to jog back in.

Top of the fourth. Jason went down swinging. Korrey got a single, but Mitchell hit into a double play to bring it to a quick end.

Bottom of the fourth. Dave was dealing with the core of their lineup: three, four, and five. His pitch count took a sharp incline against batter three, who fouled off five straight pitches before hitting a fly ball to right. Bryce chased it down near the baseline and made the catch for the first out. The cleanup hitter had a long at bat too, getting to a full count and a couple extra fouls before finally missing and striking out.

"Two outs!

" Noah hollered.

"Way to hang in there Dave!

"

Dave smirked, not looking tired at all. The fifth batter made contact earlier in his at bat, hitting a grounder to Noah. Noah to Sean at first to end the inning.

Dave came back to the dugout, pumped up.

"Alright! Things are going my way.

" He pointed at Noah.

"I'm going to get on base this time; just watch!

"

Dave, Noah, and Garret were starting off the inning again.

"I like the confidence!

" Noah nodded with a grin.

"But you still gotta follow through.

"

All of three of them got ready. Noah and Dave left the dugout first, taking practice swings as the pitcher warmed up again. The umpire called for the game to resume and Dave took a couple of long strides to reach the batter's box.

The pitcher didn't waste any ball on him, throwing in the zone immediately. Dave was able to foul off four pitches in a row. On the fifth pitch, everyone was surprised that the ball went right for Dave's ankles. Dave tried to avoid it, but still got clipped and fell to the dirt. Noah and Mr. Miller got to him in a hurry.

I jumped up with the others, off the bench, and clutching the dugout fence.

"What the heck, ump?

"

"That was intentional!

"

"You can't keep this guy in if he can't control the ball!

"

Coach stormed out of the dugout with a deep frown. He checked on Dave first, who was still sitting in the dirt, talking to Noah. Coach then approached the umpire and started to raise his voice. The OLU coach came out of his dugout too.

Mr. Miller and Noah helped Dave to his feet. The umpire pointed to our dugout and then to OLU; both teams were warned. Anyone and everyone could be tossed on the littlest offense. Coach trailed after the three, still talking to the umpire until he got to the dugout.

"Logan!

" Coach hollered.

"Get on first!

"

Logan hurried to his bag, put his helmet on, then hurried out. Mr. Miller and Noah also had to go back to the field. One was the third base coach and the other was due up to bat.

I squeezed between the guys, getting to Dave, who was pulling his knee up to his chest. His fingers were massaging his ankle.

"Are you okay?

" I asked.

Dave frowned.

"Most likely just a bruise. Got me right on the bone.

"

"Take your cleat and sock off.

" Coach instructed.

"You're done for the day.

"

Dave groaned.

"Come on. What the **. Why is this my life?

"

Coach's lips twitched and didn't bother to scold Dave for his language.

"The luck just isn't going your way. All you can do now is get checked out and make sure that you'll be ready to go on your next start.

"

"Fuckin' bull**.

" Dave mumbled, untying his left cleat. He pulled off his sock, and there was a nice little bump forming on the outside of his ankle.

Coach lost the faint smile and the frown was back.

"You better get x-rays to be safe. Are your parents here?

" He looked at me.

I nodded.

"Should I call for them?

"

.comn0

/v

/

/el

/

/bin.

/

/net'

"No way.

" Dave rolled his eyes.

"Let me finish watching the game first.

"

I looked to Coach, wanting his opinion first. He was in charge. He knew what to do more than anyone here.

"Go.

" One word.

I hurried to the end of the dugout and left the back way to see the area by the stands. Dad was already walking this way. I waved my whole arm to catch his attention. Once he spotted me, he picked up the pace and reached me in a couple of strides.

"Coach says Dave should get x-rays.

" I reported. This was the first time that one of the boys were hurt and I was to get Mom or Dad. Even though Dave was hurt, I was feeling a little cheerful in my chest. I didn't need our parents for once.

Dad frowned.

"How bad is the pain?

"

I gave a small shrug.

"He's not crying.

" Then I whispered.

"It's hard to tell. He said some curse words but I think he might just be mad.

"