That's right . I stepped into the lefty's box . I practiced both since the end of sixth grade when I heard the school coach say switch hitters are the most useful because it's like two batters in one . They can face any kind of pitcher .
It took me quite awhile to get the hang of it, but now I was pretty equal for both . I could do the exact same thing, sending all twelve pitches back to the machine, with my left .
I left the cage and got in line for the next speed, 60mph . Noah was right about the 50, it was pretty wimpy . It didn't even feel like a warm up for me, even though I took half a year off . This was the line I fit in with the most . All the kids in this line looked to be close to my age and to my stature .
It only took a few minutes to get to my turn . I put in my third token and got in the righty's box first once more . Twelve pitches turned into twelve perfect hits straight up the middle . The fourth token let me match my perfect right with a perfect lefty performance . Very even, very equal . The satisfaction was insurmountable .
AdvertisementI moved to the line for the 70mph cage just as Noah came out of the 75mph next to it . He smiled as he came over . "Moving on up, huh?" I nodded . "It's going well then?" I nodded again . "How many coins do you have left?"
I pulled out the six tokens to show him .
Hie rolled his eyes . "I can't believe you wasted four dollars on the slow stuff . That won't make you into a better player . "
"Warm-up . " I muttered .
He squinted at me . "You needed a warm-up? Twice in each cage?"
I nodded . I haven't even held a bat in six months, of course I need to shake off the rust .
He put a hand to his forehead and sighed in exasperation . "Unbelievable . What a waste . You better hit at least half of these 70's then . Like full on hit where you know it'll be a fair ball . "
I shrugged . That's easy . 70mph isn't my limit . I went into the cage after it freed up . Put the token in . Then got set .
"Tighten up your stance!" Noah called out from behind .
I ignored him . Everyone hits differently and have different preferences . The way I taught myself leaves me satisfied so I see no reason to try something new . The first pitch came, I sent it right back to the middle .
"Lucky hit!" Noah called out . "Let's see if you can do it again . "
Of course I did it again . And again . And again . For all twelve pitches . When I turned to face Noah, I had to laugh at his shocked expression .
He came back to reality at the sound of my laugh . "Unbelievable! You let me believe that you weren't even good . "
I raised my eyebrows and went to put another token in .
"Again? Come on . Let me see you do the 75 instead!"
I shook my head no and slid the token in . Then went to the lefty's box . Noah was saying something but he stopped mid sentence as soon as I hit the ball back to the machine . Repeatedly . Perfectly . Twelve for twelve .
I felt good . If only I could do this everyday .
I stepped out of the cage and Noah tackled me, pushing me around playfully . "Jake!! Too amazing! My brothers can't even do that! Were you always able to do that? You're like a machine yourself!"
Chapter end
Report
|
Donate
Oh o, this user has not set a donation button.
|