Chapter 17: batterymates

Stephen Rose P.O.V

Following behind Layla I stepped out of the classroom, her reaction before leaving was really cute which made me laugh a little and she might have heard it because immediately after she started walking faster, not long after students began pouring out of their respective classrooms filling the corridor with banter and laughter. As to not lose her in this crowd I also picked up my pace and stood beside her we continued walking in silence a bit more before I decided to break the silence

''Thank you'' I said softly still looking ahead making sure nobody would bump into us 

'' You won't have problems right I can't believe what he said to you a teacher like this should never be allowed to teach again did what you said in class the truth, he won't be able to teach here anymore I really hope he won't teach us anymore. The mood in the class got really awkward after you left he was snapping at people left and right this man is scary'' started talking Layla saying out loud whatever thoughts were passing through her mind

''Again thank you, yes what I said is true he got called to the Principal's office exactly because of this also well rumors will start circulating soon enough so I can tell you the truth right now, the OIG is now investigating the board members of the school and The old Principal McGrath got fired and a new interim Principal has been hired for the rest of the year. The new Principal is a good person so no I won't have any problem'' I said with a smile

'' That's good, why are you thanking me again I did nothing to get your thanks?'' said Layla finally looking toward me 

''I don't think so I could see your concern when I was thrown out of the class and again just now the first thing you asked was if I would have problems so, thank you for your concern i appreciate it'' I said genuinely grateful 

''Humph I'm sure I wasn't the only one concerned about you'' said Layla looking back ahead with her head lowered a bit but I could still see the blush on her cheeks 

''Haha if you say so I'll believe you, do you have plans with your friends on lunch break?'' I asked changing the subject so as to not embarrass her more than she already was

''Yes, what about you do you eat with your friends?'' she asked back

''No, I plan to eat and read a book near the baseball field there is a pretty quiet spot where I always spend my time, right behind the fence of the left outfield'' I said 

''Eh? But isn't there only woods behind the baseball field'' asked Layla

''well beside the little slope of grass, yes there's only woods that's how I made a pretty unusual friend last year I hope he will come to see me this year too'' I said while thinking about the fox who would beg for food almost every lunch break after I throw a piece of pork once last year 

''What kind of friend?'' asked Layla excited, she really does love animals

''A fox'' I said 

''OMG you're so lucky they don't get close to humans often you know'' she said getting serious and telling me all she knew about foxes 

The rest of the day passed by really quickly of course rumors about what happened in our first class soon spread around the school and got more and more ridiculous I even heard one of such rumors saying that I had punched the professor leading to him being sent to the hospital and that was why he was nowhere to be seen in school after the first class in the morning 

As a result of those rumors people who didn't know the truth started looking at me weirdly and even some of them were looking at me with fear which made me laugh but Layla didn't think it was funny, asking me why it didn't seem to bother me at all to which I responded with a shrug and a smile before saying

''Do you know who Walt Whitman is?'' I asked

''No who is it, Is he famous?'' she asked back

''Yes, he is haha, do you know the TV show Ted Lasso then?

''I dont know either'' she said a little embarrassed 

''Well I really recommend it anyway in one of the episodes of the show, Ted Lasso the main actor of the show is talking with someone and is asking him a lot of questions before talking about Walt Whitman and one of the famous quotes that he wrote, it goes like this... Be curious, not judgmental. That's why I don't care about what those people think about me''

''I dont understand what this mean'' she said pouting at me 

''Well I think we all understand something different when we hear those kinds of profound thoughts, what the show maybe you'll understand what I understood I said sticking out my tongue to her which made her pout and ignore me for the rest of the class

Soon the classes ended I bade farewell to Layla not forgetting to tell her that I would be at the baseball field if she needed help then made my way outside toward my car to get changed and grab my gears

As I approached my car I could see Aria, Leslie and Mary already waiting there talking to each other

''First day of school and you are already the talk of the school I must say you didn't waste your time cousin hahaha'' said Aria laughing at me

''Not like I care, I'll change myself and we can get going I said before entering my car and changing into my baseball clothes I then stepped out of my car opened the trunk took my bag with my baseball gear in it out, and then put my clothes bag in the trunk before closing it 

''So how much of the rumors are true?'' asked Aria once I was done and started walking toward the baseball field

''I don't know what you heard but I can tell you what happened later also you better not slack off this year my Mom is now the interim Principal of the school hehe'' I said looking at her with amusement

''What since when is Aunty our Principal what the fuck happen today?'' shout Aria asking for an explanation

''I'll tell you girls later but now I need to go'' I said pointing toward the side of the field where there were already 30 people waiting with Coach Terry in front of them 

After I joined the pack we waited for 5 minutes once Terry judged that no more people would be coming he started talking explaining how things would unfold for the next 2 weeks after this he asked the seniors to go about their routine and warm up. As for us, we were asked to carry the pitching machine the buckets of balls the multiple baseball bat bags water dispenser and everything that was on the heavy side 

After doing this Terry made us run around the field to warm ourselves up next we started doing grounder drills Terry would hit the ball close to the ground and ask us to defend and pitch first second or third base I had never played on defense before so my fielding wasn't good starting the drill but I soon start making less and fewer mistakes, my baseball IQ was always good, to begin with probably from all those games I watched and all the time I would watch my Dad's team play

Then came the time for the batting practice we each had 30 balls to hit while the senior team except the pitcher were playing defense, instead of the pitcher Terry was there with the pitching machine and a net in front of him he would change the settings of the machine without telling us so as to make it feel like a real pitcher, I wasn't scared of the machine I got so use to it for the last 2 month that I would miss only 1 or 2 ball every 10 balls but I knew that going against a real pitcher was a totally another story but it was still useful to train with the machine

I placed myself at the end of the line I wanted to watch what the people in front of me were capable of. the first 3 in lines were people who usually were confident in their skills so I wasn't surprised when they hit 17/30 19/30 and 19/30 against a real pitcher the rate would drop a little but not by much. Besides the first 3 hitters, only the guy right before my turn left an impression on me he only hit 7/30 but he was able to make contact with all 30 pitches which was honestly impressive if he was putting less strength into his swing and was only aiming for the contact maybe he would have got 30/30 

Once it was my turn I could see Terry looking at me with a sly smile on his face 'Here we go, you want to test me bring it on Old man' I thought while smiling back and taking place at the right side of the plate, I took my time to set my feet then bend my knees a little keeping my back straight I found out that I was having a better swing and the ball was making a more pleasant sound when I was putting my hands with the bat in my hand almost at the back of my head the bat pointing upward, once I was making my swing my body was acting like a whip which made me hit harder of course at first aiming my bat at the ball was a lot harder but practice makes perfect as they say and now I got so used to this position that I was doing it unconsciously 

The first 3 balls were all line hit along the baseline of the first bag then I moved my left foot a little bit back and hit 3 line drive toward the middle of the field right above the second base I then again moved my left foot back again and send the next 3 pitch over the third base, unfortunately, one of the balls end up being foul I then put my left foot back in his original place lining it perfectly with my right foot just this time the gap between my left and right foot got larger for the next 6 pitches I swung as hard as I could 3 balls were homer 2 ended up near the fence and one ended up being caught by the right outfielder

Terry was ready to put another ball into the machine when I stopped him by lifting my hand in a stop sign before going to the baseline and changing helmets coming back to the plate I took the left side of the plates this time which made the senior team whispered to each other and Terry making a serious face I set myself then nod my head signaling him that I was ready

This time I only missed one ball, which ended up being caught by the center outfielder and it was because the outfielders all took a couple of steps back after my fifth homerun, batting right-handed was my natural side. Being able to hit the ball left-handed was the result of me doing batting practice sessions of 4 hours every day 2 hours for each side as a result I became a pretty solid switch hitter 

After my at-bat, the field fell into silence until Jalen behind me start laughing his ass off

''HAHAHHAHAHA see that Coach we found our 4th hitter, those arrogant pricks at Arlington are not ready HAHAHAHAHA'' said Jalen which provoked a chain reaction among all the seniors, they started talking getting excited and laughing among each other while Terry was shaking his head with a wry smile 

Everyone assembled around Terry for the next drill this time it was position drills outfielders would practice together 1, 2, and 3 bases would practice together and the pitcher and catcher would go to the bullpen to practice, I was about to head to the bullpen when Terry called me and Jalen for a talk

Jalen Brown P.O.V (Catcher of Nolensville Knights baseball team)

I don't like tryouts but I know they are needed it's 2 weeks where we could practice but we instead babysit a bunch of new kid who thinks they can make the team, more often than not there's 0 people from the tryout who would make the team, most of the player get recruited from different highschool all over Tennesse then come here to study for the last 2 years we had to come studying here because our school in Nolensville got hit by a hurricane the damage was too big to just repair the building so they tore it down and start building a brand new one from what I heard we will be able to go back there next year I really hope so because the facility here is outdated 

For the last 3 years, Coach Rose has done a great job with this team even with the subpar resources and facilities he had access to. When we learned he was leaving I thought that we wouldn't see Stephen again but how surprised I was when I saw him step into the field not as a helper but as a player.

Like everyone I had heard the rumors circulating in school about him today but I was having a hard time believing any of them well I'm pretty sure all the guys on the baseball team were thinking like me we interacted and saw this guy helping everyone he could from bandaging a hurt player to wash the ball one by one a guy like that would never provoke a fight with a teacher and send him to the hospital. So even if he indeed looked like a different person I chose to ask him the truth later 

As the practice going I got more and more impressed with him and his attitude a guy so serious about baseball wouldn't risk getting expelled and missing the chance to play because even if we were from Nolensville High School our school was merged until the new school is built so having a problem here would make a stain on his record and he wouldn't be able to play even back in Nolensville next year, of course, If we talk about skills there was nothing special to see until now I could see that his fielding was lacking but I could also see he was adapting fast so he had potential I wonder what position he is playing I thought at some point but then BOOM the shock of the year Stephen... lanky Stephen well we can't call him that anymore, is a fucking hitting machine and a freaking switch hitter to boot

I couldn't help myself and start laughing out loud what if his fielding isn't up to par yet this can be trained but batting talent isn't something you can teach of course you can become better with training but the ceiling will always be lower than someone with pure talent Stephen had talent heck I could see his him moving his feet throughout the at-bat choosing was he was hitting the ball, that's some scary control 

The next drill was position by position drill I was eager to know what group Stephen would join but then I was surprised that Coach Terry called both of us for a talk, he walked toward our dugout telling us to follow him once inside the dugout he sat down then look at me

''Jalen you remember Stephen right, I do not want you to tell this to anybody yet but I already decided that Stephen will be part of the team this year also as the captain of the team I want you to pay close attention to Antony once he witnesses Stephen pitches.

''Why watching Antony'' I asked puzzled by such a task

''Sigh, you will understand once you see Stephen pitch if he can't take it I might need to change our Ace this year'' said Coach Terry with a sigh... 'What kind of pitcher is Stephen for Coach to say something like this' I thought really looking forward to Stephen pitching now

''As for you Stephen I do not want you to throw more than 40 pitches today, after that I want you both to talk about what signs you will use in-game and start deepening your batterymates relationship

''60'' said Stephen looking at Coach Terry with a gaze that said I won't back down 

''40'' said Coach 

''60'' said Stephen not backing down one bit

''YOU.. don't you realize I do this because I'm concerned about you. You already threw 50 pitches this morning'' said Coach now I understand why he was limiting his pitches 

''60, I can't show Jalen what I can do with only 40 pitches and you know damn well how many pitches I usually do in a day... so 60, and if you don't agree I'll pitch some more balls as soon as I arrive home'' said Stephen with a sly smile on his face

''You fucking brat... alright 60 pitch 20 for each type and you better not throw a single fucking ball at home am I clear'' said Coach Terry his face getting redder as he spoke

''I knew you were a good Coach hahaha'' said Stephen before walking toward the bullpen

''Eh.. Coach...'' not knowing what to say

''What are you still doing here go with him, just like his father let me warn you you will have as much fun as headache catching for him hehe, Good luck!'' said Coach with an ominous good luck at the end

When I arrived at the bullpen Stephen was already stretching himself on the side. 2 lanes were occupied by our pitchers and tryout pitchers, catcher and tryout catcher, our pitchers were pitching for the new catcher one at a time while my backup catcher was catching the pitches of the new pitchers. While one lane was empty for now, Anthony was leaning against the fence looking at the new pitchers until he heard my steps and turned around

''You finally here what took you so long, let's go I want to pitch'' said Antony about to walk into the bullpen

'' Sorry Tony, Coach asked me to catch the pitches of Stephen here and how many times do I need to tell you to stretch before pitching even Stephen is doing it right now'' I said while pointing at Stephen 

'' I...I stretched'' said Antony

''Doing the windmill for 10 seconds isn't fucking stretching'' I said to him facepalming myself which made our 3 other pitchers and Jason our backup catcher laugh at him

''Hehehe'' x4