Chapter 18:First time having a catcher and Potential managers

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

After a little bit more banter with Antony, he finally starts stretching seriously I look toward Stephen who is seriously stretching himself right now and then think maybe this could make Antony take things seriously. Antony was a good pitcher but he had 2 big flaws as a pitcher, he was lazy and easily triggered. Since I was already geared up we could start as soon as Stephen was done stretching

''Are you ready'' I asked Stephen 

''Yup let's do this'' said Stephen with a smile before walking into the empty pitching lane

''How do you want to do this?'' I asked him knowing that all pitchers have their preference

''Easy you put your glove where you want the ball and I'll try to hit the spot'' said Stephen with a big smile 

''Alright, good for me'' I said, it wasn't the kind of answer I was expecting but since we didn't knew each other (as a battery) yet, this might be the simplest and easiest way to do things I thought

I took my position behind the line acting as the plate and looked toward Stephen, as soon as I did I felt the change in Stephen as soon as he hoped onto the mount his demeanor changed, my body reacted to this and I felt a frisson of excitement running through my body I didn't know why but I could feel I would love this 

I place my glove right in the middle so that we start this practice with a little easy one and then 5 seconds later

-BANG

I could feel the sting through the glove, the impact was so hard I felt that if I took out my glove right now my palm would be red the ball that had come at me was roaring I was so stunned that I didn't even think about anything my body moved on his own catching the ball I was lucky that Stephen really my gloves because if I had taken that into the head even with my catcher helmet I would have been knocked out cold

''Hey .. hey... HEY Jalen common stop dreaming here and throw me back the ball already, I'm fucking pumped right now hahahaha who knew that having a catcher catching my pitch would feel so good HAHAHA'' said Stephen making me snap back to reality

''Oh yes, good ba... wait what did you just say?'' I asked 

''I said I'm fucking pumped right now'' said Stephen 

''No not that the last thing you said?'' I asked again 

''Oh, I said 'Who knew that having a catcher catching my pitch would feel so good' Why is it important? Stop the useless chatter I want to pitch'' said Stephen already in a set position

Without saying anything else I put this in the back of my mind and added it to the list of things I will need to ask him, then put my glove on the right upper corner of where would be the plate and again 5 seconds later

-BANG

This time I had to move my glove a little but the ball was still in the strike zone, I didn't know the speed of his pitch but I knew that his balls had life in them after 20 pitches I had a pretty good idea about his 4-seam, half of the time there was so much rotation in the ball that is 4 seam would turned into a rising 4-seam in 20 pitches he threw only 4 balls and 2 other who depending on the ref would have been either strike or balls so 14 sure strikes even with this speed he had really good control 

''Show me your next pitch'' I said getting so excited myself that I forgot the task the Coach had given me

''Alright the boring one first or the fun one'' asked Stephen smiling 

''Let's get the boring stuff out of the way first haha'' I said laughing 

So Stephen got back to his position and instantly became serious again I placed my glove on the middle of the plate again for his new pitch 5 seconds later

-THUD 

The ball crashed into my chest plate I wasn't ready for this the ball was looking slower but with more movement so I thought it was a 2-seam fastball that he missed place because the ball was coming more on the right almost out of the strike zone but 7 or 8 feet from the plate the ball sharply changed direction and cut to the middle, this will leave a mark I thought massaging my chest over my protection

''Are you alright?'' asked Stephen in concern

'' Yes sorry I wasn't expecting this that's a hell of a cutter man alright again'' I said throwing the ball back to him 

20 pitches later I was really impressed 15 strikes 4 balls 1 fifty/fifty and his cutter was slower than his 4-seam but not it was still faster than Antony's fastball I thought 

'' HAHAHA now to the fun part, now I'm warning you follow the ball with your eyes well partner'' said Stephen laughing looking happier than a kid opening his gifts on Christmas morning

This time I was ready and with his warning, I didn't take his next pitch lightly I put my glove in the middle of the plate again and waited for his pitch 5 seconds later

-SNAP 

The sounds coming from my glove weren't as loud as his other two pitches but this pitch was a lot harder to catch I almost stood up in reflex when I saw the ball leaving his hand this was way too high maybe at the level of my eyes if I was standing straight but I choose to just watch the ball and 6 feet from the plate the ball sharply dropped I had to lift my gloves a bit to catch it but that was a strike

''Tsk I missed the spot'' I could hear Stephen say to himself

20 pitches later I understood why he was a little frustrated about his first pitch the control over his 12-6 curveball was the worst of all his pitches but even then he wasn't bad 13 strikes 3 balls 3 fifty/fifty and his curveball was as nasty as it could get I don't think any of our opponents can throw a curveball like his and the speed was also a lot faster than any curveball that I had seen ever

''Fuck, tomorrow we do 25 4-seam 25 cutter and 50 12-6 curveball'' said Stephen getting out of the bullpen while taking off his compression shirt revealing his tattoos for the first time since practice started

''Hahaha you're already thinking about tomorrow you really like pitching, I know the coach asked us to start talking about sign and all but the practice is almost over just let's exchange numbers and we can talk about this later what do you say?'' I said laughing

''Good with me, men I didn't pitch enough you won't let me pitch are you?'' Asked Stephen in a joking manner

''Not a chance hehe, nice tattoos by the way must have hurt like hell'' I said looking at Stephen all left arm chest and right shoulder plus the tattoos on his right forearm, no wonder there are people scared of him now it does give some wilds vibes

Aria P.O.V

Since it was the first day of school we didn't have any homework so the only thing we could do was watch Stephen's baseball practice we were sitting behind 'the bullpens', as Stephen called them he said that if I wanted to watch him play it was the best spot I didn't understand why but I listened to him 

''There's a couple of handsome ones out there'' said Leslie watching everything with great attention

''Do you never think about anything else'' asked Mary to Leslie

''I can smell her juices from here hehe'' I said laughing at Leslie

''hahaha be careful Leslie if the wind direction changes those doges down there might all jump on you'' said Mary laughing

''You two stop teaming up to tease me humph anyway the most handsome is your cousin I won't mind if he jumps on me hehehe'' said Leslie looking at Stephen who was running around the field 

''I got to agree with Leslie here your cousin is indeed handsome'' said Mary with a small smile

''Hey not you too, one Leslie is enough'' I said looking at Mary in horror

''Hehe I'm just stating a fact I pity and envy you Aria, with a hunk like that in your family all guys who will chase you will have to stand beside this guy at family reunions you better find a man with good mental strength'' said Mary with a serious face as always

''What are you babbling about?'' I asked her wondering why would she pity and envy me at the same time

'' Sigh, your cousin is a looker we can all agree on that, when you start dating a man and bring him to see your family he will meet Stephen and since the two of you are close he will probably feel jealous and start comparing himself to Stephen and if he doesn't have enough self-confidence he will just leave you, honestly I envy you a bit for that at least you will know who really loves you'' said Mary 

''Hum, maybe you're right, so what about the pity part now?'' I asked still not knowing why she would say that

''With a hunk like you cousin by your side your sense of beauty may get distorted and you'll find all other men's average... maybe'' said Mary 

''It can't be .. well it doesn't matter I won't look for a man with just his physique anyway humph'' I said 

''Hey you two you should pay attention now Stephen said that batting practice can be dangerous for us if we don't pay attention'' said Leslie cutting our conversation short and making us focus back on the field 

Looking at Stephen practice was less boring than I thought it would be I could see he was enjoying himself which put a smile on my face I had only ever seen him like this once before when our Grandfather had taken us to see the Atlanta Braves, time passed quickly and soon it was Stephen turn to hit the ball and from the reaction the catcher had after Stephen finish his turn I knew he did really good

''That was impressive'' said Mary

''I don't understand baseball but I know that he was the only one sending the ball over the fences more than once this must be good right?'' asked Leslie

''Well yeah this was also impressive but what was impressive was that he touched all balls and put them almost all in play and even more impressive is the fact that he is a switch hitter which is pretty rare especially one who is hitting as good from the right then from the left'' I said looking at Stephen who was now making his way toward the dugout with the catcher, now I understand why he told us to sit here 'Stephen is a pitcher' I thought

''Now I understand why Stephen told us to sit here'' I said 

''Would you mind sharing'' asked Mary not liking that she wasn't the one finding this out first

''Because Stephen is a pitcher'' I said smugly

Seeing my cousin pitching was special, we could easily see him from here and his throw was fast also the sounds of his balls falling into the catcher's glove were the loudest of the bunch at some point midway through Stephen's pitches Mary spoke

''Your cousin is already starting to break people's confidence'' said Mary

''Hum, how so?'' I asked 

''Look at the guy there since Stephen started pitching he looked at him every single time Stephen would pitch and his pitches got worse and worse and for the last two pitches of Stephen his shoulder would shake a little when he heard the sound of the ball hitting the catcher glove'' said Mary 

''Damn maybe you should be the manager of the team'' I said Mary really had a gift for these kinds of things I thought

''They probably already have a manager but maybe I should ask, this could be fun'' said Mary and I knew she was seriously thinking about it if not she would just have straight said she wasn't interested 

''We could ask Stephen he should know'' I said 

I'm pretty sure Mary was about to say something but we suddenly heard a voice coming from the bottom of the stand

''Ex...excuse me, do you girl are talking about Stephen... Stephen Rose?'' asked a beautiful and tall girl a little taller than Mary probably 5'9 or 5'10 she had beautiful ginger hair, green eyes a little bit lighter than Stephen's eyes but just as beautiful and a pair of milkers that were even more impressive than Leslie she was wearing a beautiful green summer dress with flowers on it even as a girl I could honestly say that she was dead gorgeous (image of Layla here)

'' Yes do you have something to say to my cousin'' I asked a little on the defensive

''Ah... no no no he told me that he would be here and... and to wait for him here'' she said 

''Why if it's not to much to ask'' chimed Mary before I could say something

'' Oh he offered to take me back home after volleyball practice, say since you are his cousin you can tell me did he really live in Nolensville?'' asked the girl looking at me

'' Yes, he does why?'' I asked back

''So he told the truth sigh, I told him I was living in Nolensville and I was scared he was lying by saying he was too just as to not make me feel bad asking for his help, I'm glad that wasn't the case'' she said letting out a sigh of relief

After seeing her act like this and understanding the situation I let my guard down, she wasn't one of those I thought thinking about BrandBitch and her minions

''Why don't you come and sit with us Stephen is just there we can see him better from here'' I said pointing down toward the bullpen

''Oh okay sorry for the bother'' she said making her way toward us and sitting beside me

''What is your name and how did you meet my cousin?'' I asked curious about the fact that Stephen would talk to a girl this beautiful

''My name is Layla I met Stephen once last year but we only talked a little bit. But now we are classmates, wow he really looks different here than in class'' said Layla with a surprised expression

''How so?'' I asked getting more curious about this girl

''Well in class he always has a smile and seems lost in his thoughts but here look at how serious and focused he is hehe he really loves baseball that's for sure'' she said still looking at Stephen 

''Yes he does love Baseball, I would really like to see him in class, didn't know he had this side in him'' I said turning my head to look back at Stephen but halfway through Layla let out a scream which startled me, and made me look back at her. She was hiding her face with both of her hands and I could see her blushing from the base of her neck all the way to her forehead

'' What happened are you alright?'' I asked not knowing why she would react like that but then I heard Leslie hard breathing and I understood and sure enough, when I looked toward Stephen he had taken off his shirt

Stephen Rose P.O.V

After finishing pitching with Jalen we made our way toward Terry who had already started assembling everyone when we got close I got a couple of second glances but I didn't care anymore so I just brushed this off and concentrated on Terry

''Alright this was a great practice guys for the next two weeks we will evaluate you and decide who can make the team and who sadly won't make the cut. Today I was alone so I couldn't do much but starting tomorrow there will be 3 coaches watching you one for the defense one for the batters and me who will take care of the pitchers and catchers'' said Terry 

''Coach has the team found managers this year or not yet'' I asked Terry I knew that for the last 3 years finding managers had been though we only found 2 in 3 years and both had gone to college this year

''Sadly no we will post a notice on the school board but if you know someone who could be interested in this let me know'' answered Terry looking at everyone here 

'' If we don't make the team can we become manager'' asked the boy who had drawn my attention earlier at the batting drill

''Absolutely, now everyone is free to go practice is over. Jalen can you stay for a bit'' said Terry sending us all home

''Yes Coach, see you tomorrow man'' said Jalen giving me a pat on the shoulder before leaving toward the dugout following Terry

I took my bag and stuffed my things inside while putting my wet shirt over my right shoulder I looked at the stands where the girl should have been but there was no one there anymore should be waiting near my car I thought starting to walk toward the parking lot

I soon spotted my car and also a pretty red hair all talking to each other, so she did come I thought with a smile if I didn't know by now that I was interested in this girl I would be a fool but I wasn't in a hurry and I think that interacting with her things would develop if it was meant to be for the meantime I would enjoy her presence 

''I see that you came and met my cousin and her friends, how was the practice by the way?'' I asked Layla when I came behind her scarring her

''AAHHH, you scared me can't you ma... AAAHHHH'' screamed Layla a second time when she turned toward me

''UH, am I that ugly'' I asked my cousin pointing at my face

''Put on a t-shirt already, for god sake Leslie your saliva is about to touch the ground'' said Aria looking at me and rolling her eyes before looking a Leslie who I had to say was scarring me right now

''Give me 2 minutes'' I said entering my car, locking the doors(Just to be safe Leslie is really giving me the creeps) and changing myself back into my normal clothes

'' Alright girls hope in, Layla come sit in front since you'll be the last one in the car'' I said giving a random reason while Aria gain rolled her eyes at me 'Humph as if I'd care' I said communicating with my eyes with her