Chapter 28: Last practice game

Stephen Rose P.O.V

The week had passed and it was now Saturday morning Terry had confirmed that I would be the pitcher today. When we all learned that Antony had quit the team we were quite shocked then Jalen learned where Antony had gone and he was beyond angry calling him a fucking traitor a coward and every imaginable insult you could tell someone he said it

I wasn't there last year when they lost in the state championship but apparently, it was Arlington who had beaten them, well honestly I don't think it was a big lost Antony had always been lazy and sat on his talent without working his ass off compare to Caden who was always asking advice and try to get better heck he was getting so much better that he even stroke me out multiple time this week

Starting this week we started practicing with the pitcher throwing instead of the machine and I realized that I wouldn't be perfect in every game the pitcher at Rockvale was just ... not bad but his balls lacked life in them there was no movement to fool me I could see the trajectory of the ball as early as when the ball was exiting his hand. Caden on the other hand had a nasty spin on his slider and his fastball a 2-seam with a lot of movement in it was hard to hit in the sweet spot I wasn't having difficulty with hitting it but the bat always seemed to elude the center of my bat, it was honestly frustrating

Facing a good pitcher was another world altogether of course I was still a threat in the batter box and it wouldn't be easier as I faced better and better pitchers but every day I would get better even if it was not visible and the results were almost the same I could feel it 

After a good breakfast, my Dad and Mom drove me to my game, of course, my Mom was wearing that abomination of a t-shirt again when my Dad saw that he looked at my mother weirdly before tapping my shoulder and wishing me good luck

Once we arrived at the field Dad left to talk with Terry of course I just let him be and made my way toward the locker room

''Hey our Ace is here what took you so look you're the last to arrive are we developing hero syndrome here?'' asked Caden teasing me once I entered the locker room

''Sorry guys I will come even earlier next time heck I'm 45 minutes in advance and I'm still the last did you guys sleep here?'' I asked back really puzzled that I was the last one to arrive

''Hahaha no you're not the last don't worry I'm just messing with you but Jalen did come really early ...sigh' Antony really was dirty he didn't even tell Jalen anything before leaving I think that he still is affected by this do you think we should talk to him?'' ask Caden 

''Not now I don't think it's the time but we definitely should later'' I said after thinking for a bit

As we were preparing ourselves and talking more and more players came in until 30 minutes before the game we were all there since yesterday was the last day for the tryout only me and the little guy I thought had a lot of potential was left in the team, Mathew Williams was his name and he played the centerfield position he wasn't the tallest guy but he was running fast and had good eyes to determine where the ball would land probably because of this that he could make contact with almost every ball in practice

The more we were close to playing the more nervous I was I didn't feel that way last time probably because I was only a DH but now I was the pitcher and after Antony left I was the Ace Coach didn't even name me himself no.. he asked the team to vote and I won I don't know if it was unanimous or not but to know that some of my teammates trust me that much motivated me even more if it was even possible

After warming up and lining up for the anthem it was time for the game the line up was vastly different since it was the starting team playing right now

-Catcher: Jalen Brown

-Pitcher: Stephen Rose, Caden Cobb, Tanner Davis, James Thomas

-1st base: Griffin Newel

-2nd base: Tristen Riggs

-3rd base: Bo cooper

Shortstop: Landon Riddle

-Left fielder: Parker Lugo

-Center fielder: Juan Hernendez

-Right Fielder: James Cole

-Pinch hitter: Mark Strout

Since we were the home team we could choose where to start so of course we chose to defend first to have the advantage if something was happening in the 7

Taking my place on the mount I finally felt all the pressure this place was bringing me what is weird is that I spent all last week standing at the very spot I'm standing right now but I never felt like I did right now even feeling all this I was smiling haha this was the kind of feeling I wanted to feel I will strive in this it thought looking at Jalen who was telling me to start things out with a fastball on the top left corner of the plate

I was so excited that when the ball left my hand after my motion I knew I had too much force on it this ball would be way outside well since that was the very first pitch of the game that wouldn't be a big problem but still, I can't get careless like this again I thought

And just like I had expected my ball was far on the left, what stunned me wasn't my pitch but the fact that Jalen didn't catch it he tried but his reaction speed was at least half of what he was capable of... Oh don't tell me that he is that affected I thought waiting for his next signal he asked for a cutter, I knew what I was about to do might irk him even more but I had to test him so I intentionally put the ball in the dirt he tried to block it but the ball still passed him, seeing this I called a time out. Coach Terry was about to come out of the dugout but I gestured for him to stay put I didn't want him to hear what I was about to say to Jalen

''Jalen first, sorry for the first pitch that was on me I was too excited and put more strength than I should have as for the second one I did this on purpose, I don't know what you are thinking about right now but your mind isn't in the game I know you're the captain and maybe I shouldn't say this because that totally sounds like a jealous girlfriend but I will, this is my first fucking game as a pitcher I don't want my catcher to think about another pitcher while I'm on the mount, I know you think you lost your best friend I don't know if you guys can still be friends after this I never had a best friend before but what I know is that right now the team is your friend we need you... I need you to be the guy I can trust if my pitch goes wild'' I said not stopping for even a second 

''I am sorry you're right ...sigh but let me tell you if you do this again even for my sake I won't forgive you, throwing a bad pitch on purpose what kind of pitcher does this humph'' he said grumbling while going back to his position

After this things got into a rhythm I knew that Coach was planning to make me stop if my pitch count was about to pass the hundred mark so I tried to keep my pitch count down but our battery was having a hard time with this umpire everything close to the edge was called ball the ref could follow the speed of my pitch so we just played to make them swing for the first 5 innings I might have thrown no more than 4 fastballs the rest were cutter and curveball which made the number of balls I threw out of the strike zone go up luckily there wasn't a big hitter on the other team so after giving up a run in the 4 I didn't allow another it, Coach took me out of the mount after the 5th innings after 97 throws and Caden took my place once I knew I would go back on the mount I looked in the stand to check on my father I was so focused on the game that I didn't look toward the stands even once since the start of the game and what I saw made me laugh out loud startling my teammates around me

''Haha don't mind me let's win the game guys we are already leading 6-1 that's not the time to slack off'' I said focusing back on the game

Dan Rose P.O.V

When I saw my son climbing on the mount I was stunned and speechless, wasn't he supposed to be a reserve player I thought but then I remembered that when I talked about this last Sunday at dinner the only response I got was a smile from my son and a snicker from my wife while Layla Stephen's girlfriend was looking down at her food no saying a word so they all knew and just choose to keep silent I thought

The first two pitches of Stpehen were impressive if we talk about speed and movement but it was all over the place I knew that Terry wouldn't let this get out of hand this soon into the game and sure enough my son took a timeout Terry was about to walk toward the mount but Stephen gestured him to stay put after a talk with Jalen they went at it the 1st inning was really frustrating if I was still the coach I might have started yelling at the umpire right there

The speed of Stephen's fastball was really surprising for a high schooler but every two pitches the ref would call a strike a ball it was so bad that Jalen and my son just switched to throw off-speed pitch for the rest of the game. The more I looked at my son the more shocked I was this wasn't the level a high school student should have he was closer to the college level and his fastball was already there only consistency and another type of pitch or two was missing from his arsenal 

What was even more impressive was the fact that even after more than 70 pitches the speed of Stephen's balls weren't going down at all I knew he had trained himself all summer but even with that I had to admit that he was a stamina monster I don't think I could have done that even in my prime 

''I can't believe you guys hid that from me for so long'' I said looking at my wife

''Stephen wanted to surprise you, I respected his wish'' she said with a smile

''For a surprise, it sure is a big one, how can he be so good that doesn't make any sense'' I said shaking my head with disbelief written all over my face 

''Hehe I don't know but I know how hard he trains so that's not really surprising also he is our son of course he would be this good humph'' said my wife with pride

''Haha well I can't find another explanation so maybe we did give birth to a genius'' I said looking at my wife and then lovingly taking her hand in mine 'Go get them' I thought looking at my son on the mount

Mark Smith P.O.V

I heard Layla talk with her mother last night about Stephen's games today I always hated baseball especially since I was getting bullied at school mostly by baseball team members but more so because of what that jerk had done to Linda of course I was glad that this made us become closer and the fact that I was there for her in that though time made her develop feeling for me I still couldn't forgive that guy

But curiosity got the better of me and here I was looking at the guy I was sure was dating my daughter she hadn't said anything but I would see her looking at her phone with a foolish smile on her face more often than not who was she talking to with a face like that if it wasn't that Stephen boy

So I decided to check on him, I wanted to catch him flirting with other girls or something like that when Layla wasn't around of course deep down somewhere really well hidden I didn't wish for that to happen to my daughter but I also didn't want her to be with this guy even if I hadn't said anything I knew she was aware of my feelings about this

This all led to me being here looking at a baseball game, a fucking sport I hate, at first I was really getting bored but the more I looked at him the more I could see things I hadn't taken the time to look at before. I could see how serious he was even from the stand I could see his eyes being focused without a ripple even when the opposite team would try to disrupt him he was standing there without getting affected his aura was screaming ' I take pride in what I am doing it wasn't enough to make me like the boy but I could at least respect his psyche 

After the game I lost sight of him when he went to the locker room and when I spotted him getting out he left with his parents I assumed right away he never interact with another girl except the manager girl but even then he would only tell her something at the end of each innings then take his place on the bench without looking back at her again unlike the other boys of the team

''That was a waste of time'' I said to myself outloud