The Hitting Zone

Chapter 1154 V4 ch2 Sunday (1)

Sunday morning, I could hear Noah and Dave getting ready for their run, talking about getting a banana before they go out. Just as I was drifting back to sleep, there was a knock at the door. I opened one eye, curious to who it could be. We boys shared a room while Mom and Dad shared with Grampa so it could be any of them.

Dave opened the door. "Are you serious right now?" He started laughing, opening the door and pulling in the person with a hug.

Zeke. I quickly closed my eyes and pretended I was asleep.

"You came over so early." Noah sounded surprised. "Are you joining us on a run?"

Zeke chuckled. "Yea, Dad told me that you two still ran yesterday so I asked what time. I brought a clean set of clothes for after." He paused. "The other two aren't coming?"

"Not even if you drag me out of this bed." Kyle grumbled.

Noah laughed. "Nah. Those two need their beauty rest. Come on. Let's go. Dave and I wanted to stop at the breakfast and grab a banana first."

There was some more movement around the room before the three left together. I sighed with relief and snuggled under the covers. I got another hour and a half of sleep, only waking again when they came back from their run and started making a racket.

Dave and Noah were arguing over who would get to shower first while Zeke was drinking from a water bottle, sitting in the room's one chair at the desk.

He caught me looking at him. He raised an eyebrow. "Done sleeping?"

I slowly sat up and stretched with a yawn. "Yea."

Dave had won the battle over Noah, pushing him out of the bathroom and slamming the door shut.

Noah came over and plopped down at the end of the bed. "I don't think I'll miss fighting over shower time with the twins. Imagine all the free time I'll have once I don't have to fight with them on the regular."

"We won't miss you either." Kyle threw his pillow at Noah. "Always so loud. Do you not respect other's needs and wishes?"

"Dude. It's time to get up." Noah threw the pillow back. "We're actually in crunch time. We all have to be showered and ready to go by check-out time."

We were going home after the A's game so there wasn't any need to keep the hotel room for an extra night.

Kyle got up and stretched too. "Well, let's go down to eat breakfast then while Dave's hogging the shower."

"Go down all gross and sweaty and smelly? No thanks." Noah rejected.

Zeke slowly got up. "I'll go with you."

Noah looked betrayed.

Zeke reached out to pat his head. "We have to make use of our free time. No point in wasting it. You and Jake get your showers done and we'll come back for ours." He and Kyle left.

Noah turned to face me. "Can you believe that?"

I nodded easily. "Very much Zeke."

"Ugh. So annoying." Noah rolled his eyes. "Should have just made Kyle go alone."

I shrugged and got out bed to look for my clothes for the day. Most of the guys planned to wear A's t-shirts, but with our own team hats since we're celebrating our championship win after all.

"You know…the twins birthday is this week." Noah said in a low voice, eyeing the shut bathroom door. "I think we need to come up with something spectacular for Kyle. Specifically."

I thought about it. "We can't really do a singing gram like with Zeke." Strangers aren't allowed on campus.

"No, it has to be more traumatizing. I don't want him to be just embarrassed for a day. I want to do something that'll last awhile. Like when we dyed their hair. Maybe we can shave it this year."

I let out a laugh. "Kyle ditched the dyed hair with a close cut last time. It'll probably upset Mom more than him. Especially when it comes to graduation photos."

"Ugh. You're right." Noah continued to think it over.

Dave came out of the bathroom, done with his shower and I used my opportunity to sneak in next while Noah was distracted. When I came out, Noah was still pensive, obviously stuck on what to do this year. We aren't as prepared as we were before.

Once he got in the bathroom, Dave called out to me. "Yo, Jake. Tell me, what's on Noah's mind? He looks like he's struggling with something."

I reflexively hesitated.

"Is it that serious? C'mon, tell me, I can help."

I felt a tug at the corner of my mouth as I fought back the idea of Dave helping. I shrugged as calmly as I could and thought of a good excuse. "I think he's just upset that Zeke was willing to go eat with Kyle instead of all of us together."

Dave laughed. "Oh. Yea, that can get under his skin sometimes. But I just imagine that Kyle is listening to a lecture of some sort right now and that cheers me up."

Almost as if on cue, the room door opened and Zeke and Kyle walked in.

I know, I know, I get it." Kyle was saying. "Can you give it a break already?"

"I don't think you really do get it. And probably won't until you get to your assigned team." Zeke said.

Kyle made eye contact with me and suddenly gestured to me. "You should be telling all of this to Jake too. He slept in like I did."

"Jake isn't planning to go pro in two weeks." Zeke quickly refuted, keying us in with what the conversation was about. I looked away, feeling guilty. "Jake has already made his regional team and still plans on going to the next tryout. He'll have a coach there to guide him. You're practically going to be on your own. Those coaches and managers aren't going to care about you, just about your results."

"That's true." Dave joined in. "You really won't know what you'll be getting. I already know my pitching coach at Vandy and have a good connection with him. I know he's going to look out for me and make sure I don't throw out my arm or something. The minor leagues aren't going to be a walk in the park."

"You're going to the minors after college." Kyle pointed out.

"I probably won't start at the lowest level." Dave shrugged. "Players straight out of high school like you are almost always sent to the rookie leagues. Maybe Single A if you're lucky."

The discussion shifted and by the time Noah came out, ready for breakfast, the twins were in a discussion of how far Kyle could get his first year and whether he'll be playing in the fall league and winter leagues.

"You have to put the work in." Zeke said. "You're not having a real off season until you actually make it to the majors."

Kyle was facing the reality that he wasn't going to have as nearly as much free time in the winter as he thought he would.

"I think I would want to spend my winters in Australia." Dave mused. "Because it would just be summer there already. How nice. Endless summer if you go back and forth."

"Do you even consider how long the flight is?" Noah asked.

"Nah." Dave answered. "But then again, that's a bit further away for me."

"Kyle would probably just a Mexican league for winter ball." Zeke said. "After all, it's closest to where Marie will be. If he shines, he could be selected for the Arizona fall league. That might actually be closer." He stood up. "My turn to shower."

"You guys ready to go eat?" Noah asked Dave and I.

Dave got up. "Thought you would never ask."

I perked up too. All this talk about baseball made me a little confuse. I didn't know anything about playing in leagues in different countries during the offseason. I wonder if Jeremy did something similar.

The three of us left and headed down. The continental breakfast was still available, serving all sorts of breakfast items. It wasn't as good as Mom's though.

"After hearing Zeke talk about how Kyle should do a winter league, I started to feel sorry for him." Dave said after we all sat down with our plates. "College has fall ball, practices and some scrimmages, but nothing serious. I'll still get to come home for the holidays. Spring will be more busy, I'm sure."

"Yea, but you can just ask Rhys what it was like as a pitcher in a big school. He only pitched like once a week. If that." Noah said.

"Just gives me more time to practice." Dave didn't seem to mind.

"Talking about off-season makes me feel a little sad." Noah admitted. "Having travel ball was nice because it was just more games. More action." He seemed to think about the tryout we had missed out on last year.

"I think Jake can live without." Dave laughed. "His face right now says it all: I can't deal with the pressure all year round."

I poked at my eggs. "I was just thinking I prefer having my free time spent in the cages. But I would still do what Noah wanted to do."

"That's why I think you'll be going pro after high school." Dave nodded. "You follow Noah's footsteps too much. Come on, follow me to Vandy. I'll be there for two years alone, then two with you. Then we can go pro together."

I seriously thought about it. "I'll consider it."