The Hitting Zone

"We're going to do warmups first." Coach looked around. He cleared his throat and raised his voice. "Listen up, men. We have a new face among us." He tried to pat the top of my head, but I dodged by reflex. The team laughed at our awkward moment. "Well, you've definitely got quick reflexes." He looked around at the guys in the dugout. "This is Jake Hollander. He will be getting a tryout at today's practice so we'll be changing things up a bit."

There was twenty or so pairs of eyes on me. I quickly took a step behind Noah, trying to avoid the looks.

Zeke clapped his hands just outside of the dugout. "Stop gawking. Grab your gloves and head to the outfield for warmups."

The team went into action, grabbing their gloves and following Zeke to the foul line in the outfield. Noah turned around and gave me mine before having us follow.

Zeke stood on the foul line and dropped his glove. "Skips." The whole team followed suit, and started to skip forward to the center of the outfield.

"Just skip forward then we skip backwards." Noah explained. "Our warmup is all about dynamic stretching. Do you know what that is?" We stood at the end of the group and did our skips with the team. Only going like twenty yards out then back.

I shook my head no.

"Basically it means stretching as you move. Which is different than static stretching which means you stay in place. Dynamic stretching is better because less chance of injury and you become more flexible. Good for baseball." Noah commented.

For every word Zeke called out, Noah had to explain what it was specifically. Zeke was able to shorten every stretch into one word, making me feel that I didn't know anything about stretching. Occasionally I could hear the teammates mention my name, making my face burn with embarrassment.

After an assortment of dynamic stretches including arm and leg swings, circles, shuffling, squats, jogging and a few short sprints, Zeke told us to pair up and grab a ball.

I obviously stuck with Noah like gum into shoe. We picked up our gloves and he grabbed us a ball. We stayed on the edges of the group so I didn't feel too uncomfortable being around so many strangers.

As we threw the ball back and forth, he would keep taking a few steps back, increasing the difficulty of the throws. He wasn't the only one. All the guys on his side kept backing up further on the grass. Dave and Kyle were already the furthest apart, challenging one another to who would have to make a bounce pass.

Noah didn't go as far as them and as others. "We're infielders." He explained. "We focus more on speed and accuracy than distance. The twins are pitchers so they also need the strength."

I glanced at Zeke, all the way on the other end, tossing the ball with a tall, dark skin boy. They had the same distance between them as the twins.

"Zeke? He's a center fielder so he naturally has the strongest arm. He's throwing the ball to Mahki Holstrom. He's also a senior. He plays in the outfield as well, usually on the left, but it depends."

I stopped throwing the ball, and tilted my head, letting Noah know that I didn't get it.

"He'll play on the right if Garret isn't pitching. Because Garret is a lefty, it's better if he plays left to better protect the foul line." Noah explained.

"Bring it in." Zeke called out. I turned and saw the coach already standing beside him. It must be time to start the tryout. I forced myself to jog towards him with the rest of the team.

Noah caught up to me and gave me a friendly pat on the shoulder. "Remember to stay calm. Stay alert. And most importantly stay loose. Don't tense up. You'll make errors and bad judgement calls if you don't."

I nodded. There's no need to be so uptight. I went years without being on a baseball team before. If I can't play here with Noah, I'm sure we can still go to The Cages together in his free time.