"A bit of a mellowed-out dugout.

" Mr. Miller commented as he walked in with a couple of guys behind him. One I recognized.

Noah did too.

"Beef Stu! What are you doing here?

" He went over to bump fists with our former softball teammate.

The friendly old man bumped his fist with Noah's then stepped towards me to do the same.

"Miller had to call in for some reinforcements. Needed some stand-ins I heard.

"

Noah laughed.

"Yea, we're a little stretched thin all around.

"

Stu nodded, then glanced around.

"This is a bit of a dump compared to the varsity setup. You guys sad about missing out?

"

I shook my head.

"Nah.

" Noah shook his head too.

"It's no biggie. Just a game. You know me, as long as I get to play, I'm happy.

" He held my shoulder.

"And Jake here, couldn't possibly care less. He's probably more worried about running into the troublemakers. Heck, he'd be happier in the cages.

"

"Hey, I care.

" I bumped him.

"Sure you do.

" Noah patted the top of my head.

I swatted him away.

"If I didn't care, I wouldn't play. I'll be out there trying my best like any other game.

"

"Think you can hit an in-the-park home run?

" Stu asked as he glanced towards the outfield.

"There's a lot of space out there.

"

I automatically started to shake my head. No way.

"Then are you really trying your best?

" Stu asked me, looking into my eyes.

I paused, not knowing what to say.

Luckily Mr. Miller made his presence known, clapping his hands together to get everyone's attention.

"Alright boys, let's get this party started. Noah will lead warmups. After that, I want Brian and Scottie in the bullpen, getting acquainted.

"

"No worries.

" Brian spoke up.

"We've worked together before and even met up yesterday.

"

A chubby, pimply teen beside him started to nod. That was somewhat reassuring.

"Good.

" Mr. Miller nodded. He eyed some of the freshmen.

"I know half of you might be shy or even nervous about the situation. Take it easy. Introduce yourself to one another if you're not familiar. I have faith that we'll win with the few upperclassmen leading us.

" He nodded at Noah.

"Take them away.

"

Noah took over, leading us through warmup and stretches. He also took control of the introductions. He called out each guy individually to say their name, grade, position, and favorite baseball player. He was nice enough not to call on me first but I knew he wouldn't let me off.

I didn't make eye contact with anyone and focused on stretching.

"I'm Jake. A sophomore. I play second base. And...I guess...I have to say...that Jeremy Patterson is my favorite professional player.

"

Bryce laughed.

"Don't sound so reluctant to admit it. How would he feel if he knew?

"

I shrugged.

"I don't know very much about pros. I could say Maberry. He was very nice.

"

"Now you're just showing off.

" Sean said.

"We're talking about players we like. Like they play how we want to play. You're talking about guys you actually know.

"

I shrugged, helpless.

"Okay, okay. Stop picking at his answer.

" Noah broke it up.

"Let's pair up and start throwing the ball around. Come on, Jake.

" He called me away, saving me from the spotlight.

1 SS Noah

2 1B Sean

3 CF Bryce

4 2B Jake

5 LF Korrey

6 RF Brandon

7 3B Miguel

8 C Scott

9 P Brian

"As you guys can see, I'm starting every available varsity player given to us.

" Mr. Miller looked around at the small team in our dugout.

"With a solid lead, I'll use some subs in the later innings. Let's see what we can do against these guys.

"

Noah was the first to leave the dugout.

"Let's do it!

"

The rest of us fielders hurry to follow. Brian and his catcher, Scott, were the slowest; exchanging a few words before separating. Brian went to the mound and Scott went to the plate. They started to warmup with the rest of us.

One thing I noticed right away was how quiet things were. There were no announcements of the lineups beyond giving them to the umpires and scorekeepers. There were only two small bleachers with two handfuls of adults, all on our side. I spotted Grampa up front. He made eye contact and lifted a hand. I waved back.

The game started very casually, almost feeling like a scrimmage. Brian dealt with the top of the order with ease. A swinging strikeout. A fly out to the freshman, Brandon, in right field. Another swinging strikeout. We went back to the dugout, slapping him on the back and giving out compliments.

Stu went out to be the first base coach and Coach Jay, an assistant from the freshmen team, went to the third base coach's box.

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"I'm going to aim big.

" Noah told me as we got ready for our plate appearances.

"I want to see how far I can hit one.

"

I made a face.

"Why not play it safe first?

"

Noah laughed.

"Jake. You're here. It's already safe. I just want to push myself first time up. Next time around, I'll drop a bunt if I have to. Besides, don't you like to try different things every now and then?

"

"I like to when we already have the lead.

" I pointed out.

He patted me on the shoulder.

"I think your vision is a little skewed from only playing varsity. We'll win this game without a problem.

" He turned to leave me and the dugout.

"I hope so.

" I muttered under my breath. Coach was already in a bad mood. I can't imagine how he'll react if we mess this up.

Sean left the dugout too. Bryce and I stayed in the hole, listening to Mr. Miller talk to Scott about his pitch selection so far. I thought he did well with Brian, but obviously Mr. Miller saw room for improvement.

Noah was waved to the plate by the umpire and our half of the inning began. Noah let the first pitch pass for a called strike. 0-1. The second pitch, he swung hard and fast, hitting the ball in the air of right field. He started his run and so did the outfielders. The guy got underneath the ball and made the catch for the first out.

Bryce went out to the on deck circle and Noah came back. He pointed at me.

"You jinxed me. I know it!

"

I cracked a smile.

Noah covered his ears.

"Don't want to hear it. I know what you did. Lalala.

" He went back towards our bags.

Sean hit a long fly ball dead center. It would have been a home run on our usual field, but here the center fielder was able to chase it further back without a worry of running into a solid fence. He made the catch for the second out. Bryce did something similar. Like all three of them wanted to try to blast the ball out of here. I sighed and went back to the dugout in defeat.

"Okay. Not the best of starts.

" Mr. Miller clapped his hands.

"Let's get back to getting the ball on the ground. Drop it in for hits. There won't be any easy home runs here.

" He looked at me.

"I'll be playing it safe!

" I hurried to tell him.

He grinned.

"Jake knows what to do.

" He looked around.

"If you guys don't drive him home in the next inning, maybe I will start switching things up. We're here to play and play to win. If you guys want to fool around, I can send you to Coach Wilcox and the JV team.

"

Bryce patted Mr. Miller on the back.

"We weren't fooling around. We were trying our best. Don't worry Coach, we'll do it better next time. We won't make you look bad.

"

Mr. Miller squinted at him until he went to his bag.

"I'm holding you upperclassmen to a higher standard.

"

"Got it!

" Brian headed for the exit.

"I'll keep the offense at bay so you can relax Mr. Miller.

"