The Hitting Zone

Chapter 1189  V4 ch37 Super Regionals (2)

The anthem was sang and the lineups were announced. Surprisingly, it was Auburn to take the field first.

"Stanford was the home team last night." Noah explained. "To make it fair, they switch. Tomorrow, they'll go back to being the home team again."

I looked around the stadium full of  Stanford fans with very few Auburn navy blue and orange shirts. I just very much doubt that it mattered if they got to bat in the bottom half of the inning.

Especially when Stanford came out blazing hot. The leadoff batter got on with a single, and Zeke followed that up with a home run. As we were still talking about his blast to left field, the third batter got on with a double and then Bradley Thompson drove him home with his own two-run homer.

Noah, me, and the twins all stood up and cheered happily. The Auburn pitching coach wasted no time to go out for his first mound visit. They left the pitcher in, but we could already see the Auburn bullpen becoming active as two different players got up and moving. Good thing, because this starter continued to get beat. Back to back singles then finally a pop out. Only to give up another single to the eighth batter. The ninth batter was up with bases loaded. We all stayed up on our feet, cheering him on. Zeke was in the hole, hoping for another at bat this inning I'm sure.

The Auburn head coach came out this time, taking the ball from his pitcher and patting him on the back. The pitcher hung his head and went back to his own dugout. A new pitcher came jogging in from the bullpen, slowing up as he hit the infield dirt. The coach spoke to him and the other infielders before handing the ball over and leaving. The pitcher got his two minutes to throw a few warmup pitches before the batter was allowed back in the box.

Everyone was on their feet, clapping and cheering him on. I winced when he came up short, hitting into a routine 6-4-3 double play. I was about to plop back into my seat when I noticed that the other three was staying up.

Rhys and a spare catcher came out of the dugout.

"Let's go, Rhys!"

"Start strong and don't let up!"

"We better not see anything under 90!"

Noah laughed at Dave's comment. "Bro. 90 plus all the time? You want him to throw out his arm again?"

"A good changeup for him will be under 90." Kyle added.

"Rhys knows how to use a changeup?" I asked.

"What?" I asked, not getting what was funny.

"Any great pitcher will know how to use a changeup." Kyle explained. "I just don't know how willing Rhys is. He likes speed. He throws hard. His slider is even fast. But a changeup is a valuable tool. Especially if the other team knows you like to throw fast." n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

The three of them chuckled or smiled.

"What?" I asked, not getting what was funny.

"Any great pitcher will know how to use a changeup." Kyle explained. "I just don't know how willing Rhys is. He likes speed. He throws hard. His slider is even fast. But a changeup is a valuable tool. Especially if the other team knows you like to throw fast."

Okay. That I understood. It was definitely much easier to hit a fast pitcher if he was consistent. Then you just have to speed up your swing. That's why it made it so hard to face Danny from Servite sometimes. But as long as I could guess right, I would have the advantage.

Rhys finished his warmup and the starting catcher came out with his gear on. He took a minute since he was one of the base runners that were left on. With the main pair ready, the first Auburn batter stepped up.

Rhys kept it fast and on frame, getting the first guy to strike out, looking. The second batter grounded out to short. And the third popped out foul to the first baseman. Three up, three down, and back to Stanford offense. The top of their offense.

Leadoff stepped up to the plate and Zeke was on deck. The guy before him didn't get on this time, lining out to short instead. That didn't slow Zeke down. He hit a line drive of his own, but split the gap in left-center field. He slid into second as the ball got thrown back in.

We all stood up and clapped for him.

The third batter got a hit to the outfield, pushing Zeke to third, and bringing up Bradley Thompson. The big guy knocked his bat on home plate and pulled it back, set and ready.

The Auburn pitching coach called for time and went to the mound for the second time this game.

Noah laughed and elbowed me. "They're going to walk him. They have to. He's just too good."

Noah was right a lot when it came to baseball. And it didn't stop tonight. After the coach spoke with his pitcher and catcher, they sent Bradley to first, pushing the previous guy to second. Bases loaded, one out for the fifth batter. The first pitch was low for a ball. They wanted a ground ball to try and turn the double play. They tried again, another ball.

"This guy has a good eye." Noah murmured, focused on the action at the plate.

On a 2-0 count, the pitcher finally threw in the zone and the batter took a swing at it, connecting and hitting the ball to the corner of left field, driving in two more runs.

Stanford was just racking up the runs. And with Rhys steady on the mound, the distance between the two teams only grew. After the fifth inning, there was a big discussion in the Stanford dugout. We couldn't see much, but could tell that everyone seemed to have gathered in a spot.

I looked to Noah, who was casually cracking peanuts open and snacking on them. "What do you think is happening?"

He shrugged, unbothered. "Hard to tell with our view."

I looked to the twins, who were in a heated discussion about how Auburn should give up on this game or not.

The game continued to be stretched apart. Zeke and Bradley were both a triple shy of a cycle, but had a combined 15 RBI's, setting a school record according to Noah's research. Rhys wasn't outdone, shining on the mound, having thrown a complete game with 12 strikeouts. The three of them were busy doing postgame interviews on the field and in the clubhouse. We didn't get to see it until the end of the night, watching the highlights.

The one that interested me most, was when an interviewer asked Rhys about the dugout get-together.

["Now Rhys, walk us through what you and your coaches talked about during the game after that fifth inning."

Rhys shrugged. "Not much was said. Coach Leroy wanted to know if I wanted to go all the way or save something in the tank for tomorrow." He smirked. "I said I wouldn't be needed tomorrow. Look how hot our offense was today. Auburn had no answers coming out of their bullpen. I'd be surprised if they had any relief pitchers for tomorrow."]

Noah laughed. "That's what I'm thinking too. No way Auburn can come back from a butt-kicking like that. Their morale is shot."

I nodded in agreement. I don't think I could pick myself up after a game like that. At least not so quickly. Tomorrow's game would start at 1pm. That's barely 16 hours from now. I don't think I could have a good night's sleep if I was any of their pitchers.