A metal bat connecting with a ball always made me flinch, especially when I'm not paying attention . I wasn't able to see the ball come off the bat, but with Noah suddenly leaping to his right, with his left arm stretched out, I knew where it must have went .
I watched on as Noah snatched the line drive before it could bounce or even sneak pass him . He landed on his side, keeping his gloved hand in the air, showing off the ball .
The second base umpire pumped his fist . "Out!"
Even though we were the away team, a few claps could be heard from our side of the stands . I looked over and saw Mr . and Mrs . Atkins applauding, but they weren't the only ones . Some of the softball players had also clapped and I could hear a "Nice catch!" from somewhere .
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Noah got on his knees and threw the ball back to Dave on the mound . "Nice pitching!"
Dave just grinned back at him . "Good one kiddo . " He turned back to home plate to face the new batter .
Noah jumped up and brushed some of the infield dirt off his uniform . He caught me looking and smiled at me too . "One out! Two to go!" He got loud . Some of the teammates repeated after him .
For some reason, I started to smile too . That player had what should have been at least a single, but Noah just snatched it from the gap . Talk about being robbed . . . in my mind, that's worse then a non home run . At least I made it on base and drove in some runs .
With everyone back into position, Dave got back to work . The second batter hit a pitiful high fly to Mahki in left field . He got underneath with time to spare and caught the second out . The third out of the inning was a routine grounder to Noah, who easily fielded it to Julian . We jogged back to the dugout in high spirits .
Dave stayed in his bubble and didn't talk to anyone . It was a little strange not to hear his chatter throughout the course of the game . Even when he was in the bullpen, he would be jabbering away . The only words I really heard him say since warm ups was that compliment to Noah .
We would start the inning with Jason, Julian and Dave . The good vibes seem to be flowing as we started strong . Jason singled and Julian walked . As a new pitcher came in for Porterville, I saw how zoned out Dave looked . Maybe zoned out wasn't the right phrase . His eyes were focused on the mound, but not on the pitcher . It was like he couldn't wait to get back out there and work his way to his own perfect game .
"Is he going to be alright up there?" I asked Noah with a slight frown .
Noah shook his head and sighed . "He's not thinking about batting or offense at all . Chances are . . . he'll strike out . At least that would be better than a double play . "
I guess . I just can't see what's so great about pitching . Hitting was more fun .
True to Noah's prediction, Dave struck out looking on three pitches . Not like he was looking at the pitches . He had something else on his mind .
Tony moved to the batter's box, Kelvin to the on deck circle, and Noah was in the hole . He had already put on his helmet and grabbed his bat . Now he was tightening his batting gloves as if they could be loose .
I also put on my helmet and grabbed my bat . I ran my fingers over it a few times and decided it would need some care tonight . I could feel a few splinters that needed to be sanded down in case they caused problems later on .
As I moved to stand beside Noah, he whispered to me . "Do you think Tony can get another hit? I really want to get an at bat with multiple runners on . Maybe I could push us to ten, and then Dave will shut them out . It would be a perfect mercy ruled game . Unique right?"
"Can it be considered a perfect game if he doesn't pitch all seven innings . . ?" I asked, not sure about the rules for classifications .
Noah paused . Blinked . Blinked again . His mouth opened, yet nothing came out . I guess he didn't know . Or at least, didn't even think about it .
Tony hit a big one to distract us from the question at hand . It went down the first baseline to the corner of the field, making the right fielder chase it down . Both Jason and Julian scored, making the score 9-0 . Tony slid into second even though a throw didn't come to try and get him out . He stood up and smiled at the dugout that cheered for him .
Chapter end
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