Chapter 1105: V3 ch339 CIF Quarterfinals: West Valley Prep (1)

Coach had an answer for us at the beginning of practice. "Garret gets the start."

"Don't worry." Garret said. "I'll finish them off this time. No mistakes."

"Make sure to stretch properly this week." Coach told him before addressing the team. "I'm going with our strongest hitters so Bryce and Brian will not be in the bullpen. West Valley had quite a few strikeouts against us last year. Especially early on with their starter. They're a good school with a program that can consistently make it to the playoffs. However, they like to pitch around the best players." He looked directly at me. "Jake. Today and tomorrow, I want you working on steals."

"Steals?" My jaw dropped.

"All kinds of baserunning." Coach told me. "I'll send you off with Miller and a few others. You'll work on real scenarios and try to get comfortable before Thursday."

I made a face but didn't say anything. I had to do what I could for the team.

"Noah." Coach turned to him next. "We're going to put your bunts to work this week. We're going to play small ball and advance our primary baserunner, Jake. He'll leadoff and you'll follow. Your only job is to advance him to the next base."

"So I won't have to steal?" I scratched my cheek, feeling awkward about speaking up, but I needed to know where I stood in this game plan.

"We're keeping options open, Jake." Coach gave a small smile. "There's always a chance that they pitch to you too, ya know."

I perked up. "That'd be nice."

A lot of the guys laughed.

Coach started to dish out assignments of what he wanted everyone to work on. A lot of the starters got to work in the cages with me and Garret being the biggest exceptions.

Tuesday and Wednesday passed by quickly. In class, I felt like the teachers were more lenient with assignments and coincidentally, none of them arranged tests for Friday. Our classmates were excited for us, talking about how the school was going to arrange a student bus to go to the game and that they would be there to cheer us on.

I tried to not panic over them being there. I couldn't be like Noah and use them as fuel to do better. But I could handle it. As long as I didn't make any big mistakes.

"Not gonna lie, I feel like your team is hogging all the attention here." Kaylee told Noah and I on Thursday morning in Chemistry.

"It's because we're going for back-to-back champs." Noah shrugged. "But don't worry. We know your league champions too."

"It's not official until after tomorrow's game." Kaylee said. She glanced our way. "You guys coming?"

"Its away isn't it..?" Noah looked unsure.

"Yea. It's fine if you don't." She shrugged, looking unbothered.

"It's not that we don't want to." Noah told her. "But if we win today, there's going to be practice tomorrow. Then by the time we finish practice and get to your game..."

"I said it's fine." Kaylee glanced at him. "Our quarterfinals game is Tuesday. You can try to make that one. Should be at night like yours. Maybe the school will put together a bus of students for us too."

"They have to!" Noah declared. "Don't worry. I'll talk with the athletic director to make sure it's the same for the both of us."

Kaylee hummed, looking down at her homework we were about to turn in.

I could feel that she was a little down, but I didn't know what to do or say. I could only follow Noah and hope to go to the playoff game on Tuesday to cheer her on.

The school day felt a little long as everyone wished us luck for the game tonight. A lot of them said they would go, taking the bus arranged. Noah used that opportunity to talk up the softball team, getting a lot of the guys interested.

After school, we met up with the twins and went down to the car by the field. We ditched our backpacks completely, only taking our baseball gear with us. We boarded the nearly empty bus, each taking a seat of our own. Noah and I sat across from one another. He tossed me a bag of trail mix to snack on, then got comfy for a nap. I had the urge to try to do the same, but I just couldn't find that feeling.

It took us a little over an hour to reach the neutral location, a community college somewhere between us and San Francisco. It was a new spot we've never been to, putting me a little on edge. It didn't help that there were a lot of students roaming around and our arrival drew some attention. I shuffled my feet as we walked towards the field, trying to keep close to Noah.

He noticed. "You good?"

I nodded. "Yea, it's just...new."

Noah grinned. "Yea, but it's not like a whole lot has changed. We still have a dugout and we still play the same game." He gestured for me to look around. "And it's a small place. Practically the same as our home field. You've played in bigger locations. Like at Stanford."

I nodded again.

"Don't forget to do some of your breathing exercises." Noah reminded me. "This is just another day at the fields."

"Sure. Sure." I started doing some breathing exercises and relaxation techniques that Dr. Moore taught me.

As home team, we chose the dugout that we were most used to, so we took up space in the third base dugout. We spread out and changed into cleats, preparing our equipment.

Coach also used this time to give out the lineup early.

1 2B Jake Atkins

2 SS Noah Atkins

3 CF Bryce Finn

4 1B Sean Isner

5 RF Brian Swoope

6 LF Korrey Alvarrez

7 3B Jason Morris

8 C Mitchell Torres

9 P Garret Knudsen

"Why is Garret at the end? Doesn't it feel a little counterintuitive?" Jason looked confused. As did most of us.

Coach answered. "I want his focus to mainly be on pitching. Hitting is secondary to him today. He won't get a lot of appearances being at the bottom, but remember, right after him is Jake. We can make things happen. There are endless possibilities."

"I'll get the job done on both sides, you guys." Garret declared confidently. "Even without me getting an extra at bat, I think our lineup is solid. We'll accomplish our goal today."

"Yeah!" Noah agreed immediately. "Three wins to go! Come on you guys!" He got the dugout charged up with excitement.