After Garret's practice pitches, he easily shut down the ninth batter, getting him to strike out to end the second inning. We jogged back to the dugout.
"That was brutal."
"Not a good start."
"Already in the hole."
I heard depressing mumbles as I followed Noah to our bags.
"Heads up!" Zeke's command made me jump. He stood at the dugout entrance, just coming back from the outfield. "I don't want to hear anyone giving up. There's still some baseball left to play."
"Just gotta bounce back." Noah added, bouncing in place.
"Kelvin. Jason. Mahki." Coach called out. "You three must be feeling pressured to getting on base, correct?"
Kelvin, who just took off his catchers gear, nodded.
"I want you to use that pressure." Coach told them, then looked around at all of us. "Use this pressure to push yourselves. Prove to me, to them, to everyone, that you want this more. You have to want to win more than they do, but you also have to prove it."
