Falling into Hope [GxG]

Chapter 9

"Thanks, Tim; I truly appreciate you letting us in," I say as I shake his hand.

"Anything for you, you know that. You've played ball with my daughter Liz since you both were little. You both did." He said with a sad smile. Zoning out but reeling it back in just as quickly as he went out.

"I'll be back in a couple of hours to close up. Be ready by then, okay?" I give him a small smile.

"Will do. Alright, Hope, let's go. The pitching machine is all set up for us." I say, grabbing my bag and leading her to the batter's box.

"Okay, so this is your batter's box. This is where you will stand, wait for the ball to be pitched, then hit it. I have it set on five-minute intervals. So it'll pitch a ball, then five minutes later it'll pitch another one. It'll give us enough time in between each hit to adjust you and fix your form." She looked at me, completely lost. I smiled and chuckled.

"Okay, want me to show you first?" She gave a quick nod.

"Okay, so everyone has a stance that feels good to them. Don't worry too much about it being different from mine. I just want to mainly focus on your form when you swing." She nodded again.

I went through explaining an open vs. closed stance and the pros and cons of both of them. I talked to her about getting the timing of the pitch down. I showed her how to hold the bat and where to line her hands up. I taught her how to do A to B contact, keeping her eye on the ball the whole time, putting her hips into it, and following all the way through the hit. She observed me intently, mirrored me, and when it seemed like she got it, we moved on. I turned on the pitching machine and hit the ball exactly how I explained she should. I looked over at her to see her staring in awe.

"And that's how it's done, Hope. Are you ready to try?" I held the bat out towards her. She looked back out to where the ball went, then back to me. She timidly grabbed the bat.

"I just want to let you know now that there is no way I can hit it that far." I shook my head with a smile.

"First off, you can do whatever you put your mind to. Secondly, I'm not going to judge you; you don't have to hit the ball that far at all, just have fun." I said reassuringly with a smile. She smiled at me back and got in the box, just how I showed her.

The first pitch comes in, and she swings, horribly missing. I went up to her, gave her reassurance that she could do it, pointed out what she did well, and went over what she needed to improve on. I stepped back and watched her attempt again. Her form started to look a little bit better. She looked at me, saying what she did wrong. I confirmed, told her how she's getting better, and gave some more pointers. The next pitch, she swings so hard, spinning herself around to fall on her ass. I let out a loud laugh and went over to help her up.

"Hey, don't look so down, and yes, that's a pun. You've got this. You don't have to swing that hard, okay? Here let me help you. I'll stand behind you and help you go through the motions, and then the next one, you'll do it by yourself." I help her up, and she looks at me determined.

Once she was in the batter's box, I got behind her and put my hands over hers.

"Okay, now move your hips just a little bit. Yes, right there. Now keep your eye on the ball, swing all the way through, rotate, and put your hips into it. That's where most of your power should come from. Okay, now get ready." I felt we both focus on the machine, waiting for the pitch. I hear the ball get spit out, and I take Hope through the motions. She was starting her swing off too slowly, but I pulled her to speed just in time to get a piece of the ball. We hit it towards where the second baseman would be positioned. She jumped out of my arms, cheering. Jumping up and down with a huge smile on her face. I'm glad she doesn't know I have the camera set up recording this all. She looked back at me, running towards me, and jumped on me, hugging me. I'm glad I was somewhat prepared and caught her.