The Hitting Zone

Where did he even come from? I was positive he wasn't there when I put my second token in. The guilt started to weigh me down and I became hesitant to leave the cage.

The twins caught onto my expression and turned around as well. It would be a miracle if they could still keep their smiles in front of that stone-cold statue that is their brother.

"Don't hold up the cage." Zeke finally broke the silence.

I made my way out as fast as possible and stood before him, knowing punishment can't be that far away.

Zeke hadn't said anything just yet, as the old man swaggered over. "My! What a show! Such a talented boy! Why don't I give you a few more coins and see if you could do some more. Where did you even learn such a skill?"

"Mr. Porter." Zeke faced him down. "If I'm not mistaken, you're a coach at a prep school now. This could be considered as a bribe. Or worse, scouting the other team at a non-supervised practice."

The old man stiffened up. "I'm just enjoying my weekend hitting the ball. Nothing over the line."

Zeke raised an eyebrow. "Talking to a minor without an adult present is pretty suspicious." Zeke looked at me. "Do you know this man, Jake?"

I shook my head no.

"This is called stranger danger." Zeke explained slowly as if I was an elementary school kid. "You never know if an adult will approach you with evil intentions so it's best to avoid them unless your with someone you trust." He gave the man a side eye glance. "We'll be moving on now. Please don't cause us trouble. Jake, follow me."

I did what I was told and obediently followed him to the 75 mph cage. The twins did so as well, not daring to piss Zeke off more than he already is. The old man gave us one last glance before going back inside.

"Are you all brainless?" Zeke asked out of nowhere all of the sudden. No one replied. The twins hung their head and I avoided eye contact. "Mr. Porter isn't just a friend of the boss anymore. He took the head coach position at Sunset Preparatory over Christmas break. That'll be a seeded school in this upcoming tournament. Did you guys want to give all our secrets away?"

Dave shrugged. "We didn't know. We can't fix it now."

"Not in the way you think." Zeke replied, regaining his calm. He rested his eyes on me. "In this cage, I want you to mix in a few fouls and at least one miss for each token."

What a waste. I pouted at the idea of wasting good pitches.

"Don't make that face. You dug this grave. I'm fairly certain that he can watch the video cams in the boss's office so we have to start putting on a show." He thought a bit. "It's also not a bad plan to keep going throughout the season."

I sighed, slowly making my way to the cage. I tried to perform the best I could to please Zeke. I started with a miss, swinging too fast. Then I mixed some fouls with hits all over the place, not even trying very hard. Then I followed through and did the same thing with my left.

"I know this has been said before, but Jake you really have great bat control." Kyle exclaimed after I stepped out. "It really looked like you were struggling." That's because I was. I was struggling to do such sloppy hits and fouls.

"Jake, you'll be our sandbagger." I tilted my head at Zeke's command. "Basically it means, you should fake being awful. And then when we need you, we can use you in clutch situations without anyone being on guard against you."

So he wants me to hustle like Noah does to others? I don't know about this. Where was Noah to ask for help? I started to look around frantically.