'What is this pressure!?' He exclaimed in his heart, almost not believing what he was seeing.
Even sitting in his spot in the dugout, Ryan could feel an intense pressure assault him. It felt like he was staring at a being that surpassed him in every way possible.
He instinctively knew that nothing he did would be missed by this man.
The worst part was, he was not even standing upon the mound. If he was pitching to Ken, wouldn't the pressure he felt be even more intense?
Ryan turned and looked at Jose Luzardo, their starting pitcher for today. He wanted to tell the guy to be careful, but he couldn't shout it out from the dugout.
Just as things were about to kick off, Ryan felt a pair of eyes on him. He turned and saw that Ken was staring at him, a small smile pulling at the corner of his lips.
'This guy…'
Before he could react, Ken turned back to the pitcher and the first pitch was moments away. All Ryan could do was watch on helplessly as Ken's large frame faced the pitcher.
Time seemed to slow down as Ryan witnessed something out of this world. The swing was smooth and deliberate, accelerating up to unbelievable speeds in a matter of moments.
WHOOOOOOSH
As if they were destined by fate, the bat and the ball collided.
THWACKK!
The echo of the collision was boosted by the acoustics of the field, causing it to linger. But it was quickly drowned out by the incessant cheers of the crowd who had just witnessed a stellar hit.
Ryan watched the ball fly at the perfect angle, easily clearing the wall.
The lights dimmed and a horn mixed with the roar of a Liger sounded over the speakers.
"HOMEEEE RUN!"
"UNI CORN"
"UNI CORN"
Ken had already tossed the bat aside and begun his jog around the bases, but not before he sent a quick glance towards the Miami dugout. Ryan felt his face heat up, awakening something within him.
He had been confident of defeating Ken if they tied up the series, in fact he had been sure of it. But after seeing Ken's clean hit just now, Ryan felt like he was second guessing himself.
Just what kind of improvement did Ken have during the 1 day break? It almost felt like the guy had completely transformed.
'I don't understand…' Ryan said in his heart, watching Daichi and Ken cross over home plate.
There was no way of justifying what Ken had done.
While others might see it as just performing well under pressure, Ryan saw it for what it was. A complete metamorphosis.
Ken was like a completely different beast now, like a caterpillar turning into a butterfly.
'Or a horse turning into a unicorn…'
Ryan caught himself laughing inwardly, something he rarely did. Despite the obvious increase in skills from Ken, Ryan felt relieved.
'Victory won't be as sweet if my opponent isn't this strong…' He thought, leaning back onto the bench. He now didn't have to worry that there wouldn't be a game 7, Ken had given him complete confidence.
Now relaxed, Ryan focused on his training. He pulled out a grip trainer from his bag and started to pump it. This training had helped his pitches tremendously, mostly because he was using unorthodox grips when throwing.
The game quickly turned into a rout.
Ken's hit was just the beginning in a Detroit whitewash. If not for Jake giving up a run, the Ligers would have shutout the game.
When the leadoff batters began to get on base, Miami was forced to face Daichi without walking him. Unfortunately for them, Daichi had been feeling stifled ever since returning and quickly made an example, hitting 2 home runs.
Ken too punished the Blue Marlins while in the batters box, though nothing was more beautiful than his first home run.
Once the end of the game was called, Ryan casually got up from the bench, trying to hide his excitement. It had only been a week since they dueled last, but it felt like an eternity.
But now with the date set for tomorrow, Ryan was able to truly look forward to it.
'I can't wait…'
***
"Well done guys, we stuck to our game plan and executed. This is what happens when we all work as a team, do not lose this feeling." Mark spoke in the locker room, addressing the team.
His face was full of smiles, causing his wrinkles to be more prominent.
"Oh also, congratulations Ken for hitting your personal best." Mark added.
"Hmm?" Ken raised an eyebrow in question.
"480 feet, that's how far your first home run went." He explained.
A few whistles of appreciation sounded within the locker room while Ken nodded in understanding. The most he had hit in the Image Training was 452 feet, so hearing that he hit 480 was quite surprising.
"Most importantly, by winning this game we have forced a game 7 tomorrow night. Out of all the games we've had this season, this will be our biggest. I'm sure I don't need to tell you this, but we need to go all out tomorrow night." Mark stated, his eyes shining.
"I'm talking about putting your body on the line, doing whatever it takes to get the win. For some of you this will be a once in a lifetime opportunity. So let's give it our all, so that when we're all old and wrinkly, we won't look back with regrets." He continued.
"Coach, some of us are already old and wrinkly." Miguel Cabrera put his hand up and announced.
The locker room erupted into laughter. Miguel was the oldest player in the club at 39, he had even done the ceremonial first pitch at the beginning of the World Series.
Mark chuckled, "You're not the only one Miguel," he said, pointing to his own face. "But just because we're old, doesn't mean we can't contribute right?"
"Yes coach!"