The Hitting Zone

Chapter 1144  V3 ch378 Banquet (1)

"I'm not late if I beat Mom and Dad." Kyle defended himself, rolling his eyes as he did so.

"You know, I think it's good you're staying home tomorrow." Noah said. "I could use a break from your face."

Kyle rolled his eyes again. "I'll see you at breakfast and then at the end of the night when you get back. Stop acting like I'm never around. I spend nearly all my time with you guys."

Noah wasn't impressed.

Kyle glanced to me.

I shifted my attention to my dress shoes, spending some extra time to make sure they were shiny.

"Dave, you know don't you?" Kyle pushed.

Dave was tucking in his shirt. "Bro, I don't have a girlfriend. I can't relate. This is the only life I know. School, baseball, family. Some kind of combo of the three."

"What about friends?"

"All my friends come from school and baseball. It's fine though. You do you. Just make sure you don't push it, like missing the important stuff."

"Like Zeke's conference tournament." Noah said as he walked out, already dressed and ready. "I'm going downstairs to wait for Mom to do my hair."

Kyle looked at the door after Noah left. "I really don't get him sometimes." He sighed.

I stood up and grabbed my phone. "I think Noah's just sad." I gave a small shrug as the twins looked to me. "You guys are leaving him behind. It's hard to get used to change. I didn't want to come here at first when Mr. Duncan took me out of the hospital. Give him some time to relish in the last of the moments."

"We will never be like this again." Dave added. "The four of us…sharing a room. It ends in just a few weeks after you get drafted. You pack up and hit the road, leaving us behind." Dave got up too, heading for the door. "I think I want Mom to do my hair one more time too."

I followed Dave out, not wanting to be left alone with Kyle. In the end, Kyle joined us downstairs within a minute. When Mom came home, he was the first one to hand her the comb.

Mom brightened up immediately and took the comb like it might disappear. Kyle willing bent down a little bit so she could have a better view. After Kyle was Dave. Noah. Then me.

She grinned and held my shoulders afterwards. I still had to look up to her. She was the tallest woman I knew.

"Let's have some fun tonight."

I nodded in agreement.

Mom and Dad were already in professional clothes from doing the open house so they just took a couple minutes to gather themselves. Then we all left together in the family car, including Grampa. He made sure to grumble the whole way, but it was all for show.

We arrived at the very same country club from last year. And just like before, a lot of the players were still gathered outside, taking selfies and group shots. Mom, Dad, and Grampa went in first to go find seats while we went to join the guys we knew best: the varsity team.

"Hey, Noah!" Joey started striding our way.

Noah's whole face twitch. "Am I really gonna have to hear from him all night? Are the weekends no longer safe for me?"

I laughed.

Dave held up his hand to stop Joey. "Before you start, just know, if you mention an unrelated sport, we won't be inviting you to any training sessions with us this next month."

That stopped Joey in his tracks. "What kind of training?"

"The kind that made me and Kyle the kind of pitchers that we are today." Dave said with a smirk.

Joey put his hands in his pockets. "Okay. I can hold back. When's the first session?"

"Not sure yet." Dave answered. Before Joey could complain, he continued. "Next weekend we're going up to Stanford to watch Zeke play. Hopefully they can win his conference tournament."

"Of course he will." Noah stated. "Their team hasn't looked this good in decades. They're going to Omaha."

"Wouldn't that be something." Joey said. "Would you guys all go if they really did make it to the end?"

"Heck yes." Noah said excitedly. "I might just follow them every playoff game they do. Go along for the ride."

"You don't plan to play travel ball this summer again?" Joey asked, eyes shining. I think I could tell what he was thinking.

"Other baseball plans like camps and stuff." Noah shot him down. "Completely busy until school starts late August."

Guys like Jason and Sean showed up, wanting to get some pictures in beforehand. Joey really didn't get much of an opportunity to even bring up football with everyone showing up. Over seventy high school baseball players all gathered around, talking about the banquet, school, and summer plans.

Things really livened up when Andy showed up with a surprise guest: his brother. Julian, a former starter for the varsity team, had plenty of guys to say hi to and catch up with.

"Feeling left out, were you?" Jason laughed, clapping him on the back.

"I had a free weekend." Julian grinned, greeting everyone he knew. Even me. "Dang Jake. What are they feeding you in that Atkins house? You're starting to grow like them too." He put his hand on the top of my head. "You grew nearly half a foot, I swear."

"Nothing that dramatic." I gave a shy smile, feeling a little embarrassed, but also pleased.

"I'm growing too!" Noah straightened up and tilted his chin up, just a couple inches shorter than Julian.

"Yea, you'll break that six foot threshold within a year for sure." Julian complimented.

"It's not that impressive when you come from giant parents." Andy quipped. He straightened up too, showing off that he was still taller than me. "I'll be taller than everyone in my family by the time I graduate high school."

"I still have a chance to be the tallest in my family too." Noah said. "Which should be considered more of an accomplishment than yours. After all, I come from a giant family. Hey, even my grampa is here today. When you see him, you'll see how well height runs in our family."

"Any thoughts on being the shortest forever, Jake?" Garret asked me.

I shrugged. "Not like you can really help it. It's mostly genetics. I also used to be malnourished so it would be hard to compete."

We all started talking about height and what we expected to be. What we hoped to be. What other family members were. We also took a few more pictures of our reunion with Julian, wanting to send it to other former seniors like Zeke and Mahki.

Closer to start time, the coaches started to urge us to come in and find our seats. Once again, we were divided by our team levels. Some of the guys close to Julian wanted him to just sneak in the varsity table, but he declined and went to find a spot among the families. Guess he was the only one to come for Andy tonight. I wonder if Andy got the opportunity to tryout and make the travel team this year. I told myself to not forget to ask at the end of the night.

Coach gave a small speech to start the night, wanting us to eat first before the awards portion of the banquet. Soon waiters came around with starter salads and glasses of water.

"Still feels wrong that we can't even get lemonade." Noah muttered.

"Don't be picky." I advised.

"Okay, Zeke." He called me sarcastically.

"You can have lemonade at home." I pointed out. "Same with dessert."

"It just doesn't feel very festive." Noah pointed out.

"But it does make me think back to the team meals we have done together." I shot back. "Even with Jeremy paying, all we got was water."

"Because water is good for you. Duh." Garret leaned over to say.

Soon the topic shifted to drinks that had electrolytes and whether they should be offered during moments like this. But without a game to recover from or to prepare for, it felt worthless.

After the salads were done and cleaned out of our way, the main courses were severed, looked like chicken or salmon were the only options. Everyone, players and their families, had to select their choices long ago so it could be prepared beforehand. It was just a matter of making sure everyone got their proper plate.

"Grampa does it better." Noah said between bites.

I couldn't argue this time. The twins didn't either.

"I've heard some real horror stories of what minor leaguers eat." Garret sighed. "I think that's my biggest hurdle coming up."

"You're going to spend your whole signing bonus on treating your tastebuds better." Dave laughed.

"Hey, I think I can handle eating sandwiches day after day." Garret defended. "I'm just afraid it might be week after week."

"Well you won't spend too much time at the bottom." Noah consoled him. "The higher you go, the better the food should be. And the accommodations. And the pay. And just the overall treatment." He glanced at Kyle. "Some people might have to spend a year or two eating plain turkey sandwiches before getting their foot in."

"Just getting drafted is getting your foot in the door." Garret corrected him. "But even that can't guarantee you much." He sighed. "Anything can happen. Opportunities granted, chances wasted. Injuries. Setbacks. I just want to make it to the big stage just once at the very least."

granted, chances wasted. Injuries. Setbacks. I just want to make it to the big stage just once at the very least."