The Gift of a Coach: A Novel of Baseball and Friendship

Chapter Two: Where Do We Begin?

Jake threw up the ball with his right hand and swung the bat, the soft crack of the bat sounding when the ball made contact. It was Jake's favorite sound in the whole world.

And he got to hear it all the time now.

He watched the ball glide into a tall, slim kid's glove and watched him graze the second base bag and fire to first. To say the least, Jake was impressed. His stuff was picture-perfect.

"Hey! Uh, you," he yelled to the kid. He turned around and looked at Jake. Jake waved at him and the kid jogged over.

He was almost as tall as Jake with shaggy brown hair and brown eyes. His eyebrows framed his face perfectly and his smile was big and shining when he came closer to Jake.

"What's your name, kid?"

"I'm Parker. Parker Fox," he said, shaking Jake's hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Coach Wolff"

Jake's heart fluttered a little bit and he felt dizzy. He was really gonna have to get used to being called that.

"Nice to meet you too, Parker. And Coach Jake is okay. No need to be too formal," Jake smiled at the kid as he jogged back in line. Jake continued hitting fly balls and pop-ups but no one caught his eyes just like Parker Fox did. He liked #23 who he then found out to be Hunter Tulp, a sophomore. He was pretty good. But Jake knew he just had to get Parker for his team.

Jim called out to everyone to rotate stations so Jake had everyone pick up the balls and give them to him.

"Alright, thanks, guys. Go get your bats and meet me at the cage. We'll do some hitting"

The kids obliged and Jake walked over to talk with Nick who was at the table looking at some papers and jotting things down with a pencil. He looked up and smiled when Jake walked over.

"Hey! How's it going?"

Jake nodded calmly but Nick gave him a look and Jake just exploded.

"Okay, it's amazing! Nick, these kids are all so awesome? We can only pick like 13 or 14?"

Nick laughed as Jake continued. He was so ecstatic to see his best guy for life so incredibly happy.

"But I will say, whatever we do, we have to get number #22. His name is Parker Fox and he's such an incredible shortstop. Nick, the way he transitions from here to here," Jake said, demonstrating the crouched, glove on the dirt position to gliding through bringing his arm up to his head, shuffling his feet, and imitating a throw. "It's unreal. He's so smooth. I'm gonna write his number down so I don't forget"

Jake passed by Nick and jotted down Parker's number on his list.

"So," Jake breathed out. "How are you doing?"

Nick looked up and gave Jake a smile and nod. "Pretty good"

"Anyone catch your eye?"

"Uh, #43," Nick said, gesturing his head to the outfield. Jake turned his head and looked at who Nick was talking about. He watched #43, a tall, skinny, brownish-haired kid sprint to catch a fly ball, snowconing it in his glove. Jake watched a few more kids as he nodded.

"I like him too. And the kid next to him," Jake said.

#21 was a short, thin kid who moved so gracefully and smoothly. The transition from his glove to his hand was instantaneous and Jake could definitely help him make it even better. Jake and Nick jumped when they heard Jim's voice through a megaphone.

"Okay, everyone. Grab all your stuff and set it against the dugout. It's picking time," he said in his booming voice.

Jake's heart sped up in excitement. This was the moment he had been waiting for forever. He looked up at the sky and thought about his dad and took a deep breath.