Lucas hit the alarm button on his clock, the time showing 6 A.M. exactly. He got up, and headed to Jordan's room.
"Hey, you up, Mr. Star Player?" Lucas popped his head into his brother's room, but surprisingly, he wasn't there.
Heading downstairs, he grinned a bit, seeing Jordan already quite awake as their mother made them a nice, filling breakfast.
"How do you feel today, little guy?" Lucas chuckled a bit, and while Jordan had finally hit his teenage years, it was hard to want to stop treating him like a kid after all. But considering how much he'd already grown, Lucas might have to change lest he soon be the 'little brother'.
Jordan gave Lucas a light punch in the arm, "Well, this not-so-little 'guy' is feeling pumped for the game today, that's how I feel!"
The feeling was mutual for the whole family really, Lucas didn't want to admit it, but he did feel a little jealousy at his brother's success, even compared to himself. He'd never managed a chance at the LLWS the entire time he played when he was younger, but that was the past, this was now.
They finished breakfast, the two of them got ready, and soon enough, there they stood at the baseball park, practicing first, since they were home team, plus the other team hadn't arrived yet. That soon changed though, and everyone on the field was shocked at seeing this other team, who'd pretty much beaten every team they went against hard and fast, with skill unseen before in just boys.
But while they were boys, they sounded, acted, and such like boys would, their bodies were a good deal larger. Beneath those uniforms stood muscle, strong and hard muscles from head to toe for every member of the team. Even Lucas felt a bit doubtful at seeing the other team, wondering if even his own high school team could stand up to them.
Yet despite this shock, morale was high, a surprise like that wasn't gonna change anything for Jordan and his teammates. They felt good, they had teamwork, they had many games together, they were NOT gonna lose so easily just because the other team was bigger and such.
The game began, and while all those things were true, the other team was no pushover. The entire game was long, grueling, and difficult. Jordan and his teammates were not totally outclassed, but the other boys were certainly a big step above them.
In the third inning, the other team's pitcher threw a fast ball so quick, the umpire had to take a few moments to realize that the whistling in his ears was from the ball slamming into the catcher's glove, and he finally realized he had to say, 'STRIKE!'
At the bottom of the seventh inning, Jordan's team, their first-baseman took a bad step trying to catch a runner, twisting his ankle quite badly, and leaving them down by one person.
Unfortunately though, despite their truly best efforts, Jordan's team did lose, at a score of 15 to 9. Needless to say, feelings were down, bodies were sore after such a long game, but regardless, Lucas couldn't have been prouder of his brother for all their efforts, he just hoped that whoever that team had to go against was as tough or tougher than Jordan's team was.
That night, as he finally settled into bed, Lucas slowly began to drift into a quiet sleep, and in the morning, he hit his alarm clock, right at 6 A.M. But something felt...off to him.