@okmangeez , I noticed that bunting isn't mentioned in the "How Does Batting Work?" post. So, how does it happen? Is it a decision we ourselves can make by picking an option during our time at bat? Or will it only happen if/when the coaches will signal/tell us to attempt it? Or some other process?
Adhoc vote count started by okmangeez on Oct 30, 2020 at 11:54 PM, finished with 11 posts and 6 votes.
[X] Plan "That's Who We Are"
-[X] Lift some weights at home. Sure, your house's gym isn't as good as the school's gym, but it's definitely good enough to help with your training. You have a treadmill, a bench press set, and a few other gizmos to help you out.
-[X] I'm going to do a bit of everything (that is not locked)! That way, I'm rounding out my overall skills as a whole!
-[X] Off to the batting cages we go! Practicing hitting is important regardless of your position.
-[X] Let's try out that breathing exercise Coach Harris mentioned. I'll go into my room and close my eyes for a bit.
-[X] Ooh, the girl's softball team is practicing! Maybe I should watch to see how different softball is compared to baseball?
[X] I'm going to make sure that I stay injury-free by doing stretches at home everyday! It doesn't matter if I'm a great player if I'm injured all the time!
[X] Lift some weights at home. Sure, your house's gym isn't as good as the school's gym, but it's definitely good enough to help with your training. You have a treadmill, a bench press set, and a few other gizmos to help you out.
Adhoc vote count started by okmangeez on Nov 2, 2020 at 8:33 PM, finished with 17 posts and 6 votes.
[X] Plan "That's Who We Are"
-[X] Lift some weights at home. Sure, your house's gym isn't as good as the school's gym, but it's definitely good enough to help with your training. You have a treadmill, a bench press set, and a few other gizmos to help you out.
-[X] I'm going to do a bit of everything (that is not locked)! That way, I'm rounding out my overall skills as a whole!
-[X] Off to the batting cages we go! Practicing hitting is important regardless of your position.
-[X] Let's try out that breathing exercise Coach Harris mentioned. I'll go into my room and close my eyes for a bit.
-[X] Ooh, the girl's softball team is practicing! Maybe I should watch to see how different softball is compared to baseball?
[X] I'm going to make sure that I stay injury-free by doing stretches at home everyday! It doesn't matter if I'm a great player if I'm injured all the time!
[X] Lift some weights at home. Sure, your house's gym isn't as good as the school's gym, but it's definitely good enough to help with your training. You have a treadmill, a bench press set, and a few other gizmos to help you out.
You worked out consistently over the first two weeks of September. Thankfully, your teachers assigned you little homework (since it was the beginning of Freshman year in high school), so you were able to practice for hours per day to improve your skills. Every day after school, you attended baseball camp with dozens of other players and utilized the coaches to improve your abilities. You dabbled in a little bit of everything, from lifting weights to practicing bunting. Focusing on well... everything made you improve only a little bit in each area. But it has also rounded out your baseball abilities as a whole. Even though you have focused on improving all your skills, you heavily focused on hitting (by going to the batting cages consistently after baseball camp ended for the day). As a result, your Contact skills have improved more than any other area.
(All Ratings except Contact and Clutch +1, Contact +3)
And if people imagined you as a baseball freak from all the time you spent on the baseball field... They had no idea that you also spent your time at home improving your baseball abilities and building up your body. Your house's personal gym was hardly something to boast about, but it was definitely enough to give you a good workout. After you returned home from school (and baseball practice), you spent a few hours resting before going through a 'cool down' workout to get some extra exercise in. Your training regimen at home was simple yet somewhat rewarding: running on the treadmill, lifting weights on the bench, using dumbells to improve your shoulder strength, etc. Of course, there was always a danger of injury, but you had already planned out everything to make sure you never entered the 'danger' zone (i.e., not enough sleep, food, rest, etc.).
(Since it is the first two weeks of school, your GPA average has only dropped by 0.1. Your GPA average is now 2.4. Remember, if it drops below 2.0, you will be kicked off the baseball team, regardless of your abilities).
+++++
It was time to try the exercise that Coach Harris recommended. After locking the door to your room and sitting quietly on your bed, you closed your eyes and relaxed. It was late at night, well after baseball practice and your personal workout. Your body was sore from the exercise, and you were a bit cranky since you were tired and wanted to sleep, which meant that it was the perfect time for the breathing exercise. After all, Coach Harris mentioned that you needed to learn how to 'master' your anger, which meant that the exercise was more challenging and fulfilling when you were already a bit on edge.
Five minutes, you just needed to control yourself for five minutes.
Whooop
You calmly filled your lungs with air as you recalled the moment you tripped on your own feet while you were at baseball practice.
Hooooo
You felt a prickle of anger rippling through your mind as you remembered how you had to admit your own shortcomings out loud. It was in front of Coach Harris, but that moment still embarrassed you. While Coach Harris had open and friendly, admitting your weakness in front of the coach was not exactly a comforting moment. For a moment, you were afraid that you would open your eyes and curse out loud, like always. However, you remembered the coach's words and released your anger into your own mind. All your curses and your frustrations were released into your mental void, and you even kicked an imaginary dirt pile in your mind for good measures. Your expressions greatly changed depending on your emotions, but your body hardly moved as you went through the exercise.
Each minute felt like an hour, and when you opened your eyes to see what time it was, you realized it was midnight.
Wait, was your eyes deceiving you? You were certain that you started the exercise at eleven o'clock! There was no way that an hour had passed!
After your mind ran through a few scenarios, you quickly realized what had happened; you had fallen asleep while doing the exercise, which wasn't too surprising since you were pretty tired. You sighed in frustration and tried again, this time focusing on your mind and your consciousness.
You continued the exercise and managed to get through the ordeal without breaking your concentration. Reflecting on your own anger was an odd experience, but it was somewhat liberating. And while you were still lashing out in anger, at least you weren't lashing out in the physical 'realm' anymore. Though, you still had a long way to go to 'master' this skill, especially since you fell asleep halfway through.
(+3 Handling Failures, 1/3 of 'Breathing Exercises' questline complete. Rewards for completing 'Breathing Exercises' questline: ???).
+++++
Ah, softball. It wasn't baseball, but it was still interesting to watch. Well, of course, it helped that the people that were playing softball were... girls. However, you would never admit that out loud in front of anyone.
You watched as a group of girls played a scrimmage game on the softball field, trying not to directly gaze at anything inappropriate (which was much more difficult than you imagined). In all honesty, you were walking by the softball field to get to baseball practice when you noticed the softball team playing a practice match. However, due to various reasons, you decided to stop for a few minutes to watch and stood by a fence behind home plate. As you watched, you quickly recognized the differences between baseball and softball. In softball, the pitchers were only allowed to throw under-hand, which made sense since softballs were twice the size of baseballs (and baseballs were already a bit tricky to throw, not to mention pitch). The softball bats seemed a bit bigger but also slightly lighter and thinner than a regular baseball bat. The softball players also wore... leggings, for some odd reason. Maybe there was some protective padding underneath, but you almost wished that they were wearing baggy baseball pants instead of skintight pieces of fabric...
Right as you saw the pitcher throw an underhanded curveball at the catcher, someone crashed into you and knocked you down like a bowling pin. You literally felt yourself fly for a few moments before managing to stop your fall with both of your hands. Thankfully, nothing exploded in pain, and you felt fine as you slowly pushed yourself up. The person that hit you wasn't heavy, but the unexpected hit and the fact that they pummeled you at high speeds led to your sudden (and embarrassing) fall. You were about to lash out and curse, turning your head towards your 'aggressor.' Only to realize that the person that hit you was a girl, and she was on the ground next to you as well.
The girl was Asian, with shoulder-length black hair and brown eyes. She was wearing black leggings and a grey practice uniform while carrying a large black sports bag. The bag had a bat sticking out of it, and it was only due to a stroke of luck that you avoided the metal stick as you fell. The softball player rubbed the back of her head and caught your stare with a sheepish grin, "Sorry about that! I'm late for practice, and I'm in a bit of a rush."
"It's not a problem," You said as you helped her up. Maybe your grip on her hand was a bit too tight (from your nervousness and your annoyance) because you saw her wince from your grip. "Are you a player on the softball team?"
"Not yet, but I hope I will after tryouts in a few months!" The girl replied cheerfully, "I'm Haga Tomoko! I'll apologize to you properly if I ever see you again! So, sorry!"
Before you could say anything, she ran off towards the softball field's Home dugout and stumbled on a step before falling. You snorted and shook your head before walking away. Haga running into you completely broke your immersion of the softball play... game. But maybe she did you a favor because you realized that baseball practice was set to start in a few minutes. As you jogged towards the baseball field, you looked back to witness Haga slapping a scorching double down the left-field foul line with a silly grin on her face.
Now that you thought about it, she was pretty cute. And a good softball player too, from the looks of it.
[Social choice unlocked: Haga Tomoko]
+++++
"Newcomers and members of the FreshSoph Team!" Coach Burke's voice boomed throughout the baseball field as he strutted in front of the younger players, "Tomorrow is your big game against the JV Team! Remember, if you manage to beat the JV Team, then you will face the Varsity Team as a reward. And if you somehow manage to beat the Varsity Team, then well... Looks like I'll have a new Varsity Team for next season!"
You noticed that many of the Varsity players, who were standing near the dugout instead of on the field, stiffened at Coach Burke's remark. Isaac, who was standing next to you, leaned in and whispered gently into your left ear, "Three years ago, the newbies and the FreshSoph Team somehow managed to beat the Varsity team. I heard that Aidan pitched back to back shutouts to lead them to victory, and about half the Varsity Team was kicked off to make space for the younger players that beat them."
"Wait, seriously?"
"Yep, I'm dead serious."
"Do I hear chatter?" Coach Burke shouted.
You and Isaac zipped your lips and stood straight while the Head Coach inspected the group. After a short while, he continued his speech, "I will let you off practice early today. Since all of you are baseball players, I expect you to prepare yourself for the game tomorrow properly. Dismissed."
So... What now?
[] Try to prepare by yourself. After all, there are recordings of past Mitty games online through the Mitty Baseball Youtube channel and you might be able to discover a few things about the JV players from your research. Add that in with some last-minute practice, and you should be set for tomorrow!
[] Isaac is a good guy and he seems just as nervous as you are. Maybe he and you can research and practice together?
[] Coach Harris might be willing to help me if I ask him! Maybe I can use the clubhouse and ask him questions about the JV Team?
[] Instead of research or anything of the sorts, you decide to spend every minute practicing up until the game. You have faith that your abilities will carry you through!
(Remember, the JV game roll will be out of 200. Varsity game roll, if it happens, will be out of 300).
[X] Coach Harris might be willing to help if we ask him! Maybe we can use the clubhouse and ask him questions about the JV Team?
Question about this option, @okmangeez : is the "we" referring to Lucian and Isaac (edit: or maybe all newcomers and members of the FreshSoph Team?), or was it supposed to be "you", instead?
Loved the update, by the way!
[X] Coach Harris might be willing to help if we ask him! Maybe we can use the clubhouse and ask him questions about the JV Team?
Question about this option, @okmangeez : is the "we" referring to Lucian and Isaac (edit: or maybe all newcomers and members of the FreshSoph Team?), or was it supposed to be "you", instead?
Loved the update, by the way!
Thanks! I like this option, though, so I'll stick with it. Preparation help from a coach sounds better than preparation help from a fellow player. Especially when the coach has a trait like this:
[X] Try to prepare by yourself. After all, there are recordings of past Mitty games online through the Mitty Baseball Youtube channel and you might be able to discover a few things about the JV players from your research. Add that in with some last-minute practice, and you should be set for tomorrow!
