The Hitting Zone

Chapter 1217: V4 ch66 Preparing for the NTIS

We got home after dropping the girls off after the game for the nth time this week. Usually the house would be mostly dark, with just one adult waiting up for us. Unexpectedly Mom, Dad, and Grampa were sitting at the kitchen table like they had sat down for a meeting.

Dave immediately slowed up and held his hands up. "Whatever happened, it wasn’t me." He quickly reached for Noah and pulled him by his collar. "Has to be him."

Noah slapped his hand away. "I’ve been on my best behavior all week."

"How much cotton candy did you have tonight?" Dave asked, knowing that would put Noah in a hot spot with Mom.

Sure enough, Mom squinted at Noah.

"I was sharing!" Noah quickly defended himself. He elbowed me.

I nodded. He did share. The first bag. Definitely not the two that followed but he said he was hungry.

"We’ll talk about your food and spending choices tomorrow." Dad sighed with a shake of his head. "Tonight, I want to talk about a couple of calls that I’ve got."

"Is everything okay? Is it Kyle?" Dave asked, stepping up to the table and taking a seat. "If not Kyle, it’s Zeke. You said calls, as in plural. Was it the both of them?"

"No, no. Nothing like that." Dad waved him off. "The younger two are both headed to North Carolina." He grinned directly at Noah. "You made the team."

Noah pumped his fist and smoothly sat down at the table. "What was said? Are Jake and I on the same team? Do we have to start packing? Is there any kind of extra training schedule to follow? Do we know about other players that made the team?"

"You’re not expecting your dad to answer all that in order, are you?" Grampa grumbled. "Just sit there and listen up. Your parents have a lot of planning and booking arrangements to do these next couple of days."

"I can tell you boys that you’ll be on the same team." Dad smiled. "I didn’t hear about any extra training schedule so just keep doing what you’re doing." He looked to Dave. "You’re the one who really has to start packing. Whatever you want to bring to college has to fit in your car. I’m not telling you to pack up the car just yet. Let us use it as a family for a few more days."

"Besides clothes and some other essentials, what else do I need?" Dave shrugged.

"And do you have these so called essentials?" Mom asked. "Or do you plan to just raid your bathroom and leave Noah and Jake empty-handed?"

"Ok so I’ll pack some travel stuff." Dave said. "And then make a list for purchases when you guys help me move into my dorm. Like a mini fridge and microwave."

"I want this list to include prices." Mom gave him a look. "We aren’t just going into this blindly and buying whatever you want. I want to see some kind of budgeting. You should also get an idea of what you’ll have to buy yourself every month like shampoo, shaving cream, toothpaste, etc."

"You two also need to finish your online class." Dad look at me then Dave. "You’ll need to look up how to transfer that class credit too. Show some preparedness when we’re registering you and getting you settled in your dorm."

"You guys didn’t nag Kyle this much." Dave rolled his eyes.

"Don’t worry. He’ll see it in the offseason while you’re away at school." Dad chuckled. "We’re just hoping you two can be half as responsible as Zeke when you’re away from home."

Mom and Dad talked to us for another twenty minutes about our upcoming plans before sending us upstairs for bed.

"I’m gonna call Kyle." Dave said when we got into the room. "I want to tell him what’s happening. Make sure he knows I’ll be going through Arizona so we can meet up."

"Why don’t you plan a full stop to catch a game?" Noah asked.

"Nah. Not worth it in that heat." Dave laughed. "Maybe if Kyle could guarantee that he would be the starter. But I don’t think it’s going to line up like that."

"I’ll call Zeke." Noah pulled out his phone. "With all of us gone and Grampa staying home alone, he should see if he can be back by then. Or at least do a drop in visit to make sure Grampa’s doing ok."

"So we’re going to drive from North Carolina to Dave’s school after the tournament?" I asked, pulling out my phone.

"Yep."

"Does this mean we’re missing the camp for high school..?" I checked the email.

"What?" Noah reached me in two strides and looked over my shoulder.

Sure enough, we would miss the Stanford camp with Zeke...and then our own high school camp.

"Well it’s not like you’re missing it because you’re lazy or gone on vacation." Dave shrugged.

"It’s kind of like vacation." I pointed out. We would only be playing baseball for a couple days. We were going to get Dave settled in his dorm and probably do fun things around Nashville again.

"Missing the camp won’t be a big deal. You guys do the fall practices. You’ll get to know the incoming freshmen then." Dave didn’t see it as a big deal.

Noah frowned.

Dave started calling Kyle.

I switched apps so I could make a call too. I glanced at Noah. "I’m going to let Jeremy know. After tomorrow’s game, we probably won’t see him for a while." He’ll go away for a couple of road series and we’ll be out of town when he gets back. Then when we get back, he’ll be out of town again.

Noah nodded. "Yea. Right. Let’s all make our calls." He started calling Zeke.

I made my call to Jeremy and told him the good news of Noah making the Northwest regional team with me. And he would be on the same team.

"That’s awesome!" Jeremy said, showing his excitement despite being tired from just playing a game. "If I can make it for a day, I’ll do it. I’ve never been out there."

"Cary, North Carolina isn’t exactly near any MLB stadiums." I told him. "Plus, you’ll be playing a series here at home. I’ll just tell you how each game goes. Feels weird that I’m just going to join a team without much practice with them."

"It happens." Jeremy told me. "I’ve done it quite a few times after high school. Especially as you move through the minors. Sometimes you’re with a team for a season, others they move you around. Just a couple years ago, I played with three different teams in one season. Look at Zeke, he joined a summer team that was put together without practice too."

"Right. Yea. Ok. That makes sense I guess." We talked only for a couple more minutes, but then I let him go so he could get some sleep. He was in the thick of his season just barely passing the halfway point. Honestly, I probably should’ve just sent a text.

I glanced at Noah and Dave and saw them both still in the thick of their calls. So I opted to shower and get ready for bed first.