WHOOOOOSH
PAH!
"Strikeout!"
"3 outs, changeover!"
Ken's 9th pitch was a fastball straight out of hell. It thundered into Daichi's glove, putting an emphatic exclamation point on an immaculate inning. 9 pitches, 3 strikeouts, but perhaps the most shocking part was the speed on the final pitch.
"108mph!? I can't believe it!"
"He broke his record again…"
"Ken just keeps getting faster. Just what is his limit?"
The murmurs and cheers intermixed, creating a bustling atmosphere. As Ken walked back to the dugout, he felt a surge of confidence from within.
This only increased upon seeing his grandfather wearing a proud smile. The older man didn't say any words, simply patting him on the back on his way past.
In the other dugout, the unfortunate lead-off batters who faced Ken were busy scratching their heads. They had faced Ken before in game 1, but something seemed to have changed.
"It's like he's a completely different pitcher…" John Berti, the first batter stated, shaking his head with some confusion.
"What's wrong? Why do you guys look so depressed?" Coach Mattingly approached the three members, checking up on his players.
Michael Rojas, the second batter and shortstop looked a little pained as he replied, "His pitches are nothing like the first game. All that research we did is essentially useless."
At this, the head coach frowned. Knowing that Ken would likely make another appearance in the final game of the series, Coach Mattingly had done extensive research into Ken's habits and quirks.
This information was relayed to the team in their film studies, and their batters were even given homework. But hearing Michael's words, it seemed that they had just wasted their time.
"It's only the first inning, we'll stick to the plan. There's no way he can change his pitching style in under a week. Eventually he'll revert back to how he usually pitches." Coach Mattingly stated, reassuring the players.
His words seemed to work. After all, these players were all professional athletes, many of them were filled with inherent confidence of their own abilities. Otherwise, they would have never reached this stage in their lives.
With that fire put out, the head coach turned to Ryan who was already sporting his glove and cap, ready to walk onto the field. Only a single glance at the man was enough to realize he was locked in.
Coach Mattingly swallowed whatever words he was going to say to motivate Ryan, instead choosing to silently nod at him. Ryan returned the gesture and confidently ascended the dugout stairs before heading onto the field.
There, under the eyes of everyone in attendance, Ryan slowly and calmly walked towards the mound. He had been waiting for this game ever since the conclusion of game 1.
Ryan had been confident he could win this time, at least this was the case up until 10 minutes ago. Upon seeing Ken on the mound, Ryan realized that it wasn't just his batting that had improved tremendously.
Ken's pitching form had been even further refined, to the point where every single movement of his blended together perfectly. It was almost like a work of art.
From what he remembered, Ken had been working with Tom House, the legendary pitching coach for majority of the season. But it was quite surprising to see a breakthrough this late in the season.
As he stepped onto the mound, Ryan threw all of these thoughts to the back of his mind. He could not control how Ken played in this game, he could only focus on how he performed right now.
'I will prevent them from scoring and trust my teammates to score…' Ryan said in his heart, collecting the rosin bag from the ground and rolling it around in his hand.
After going through everything that he had, Ryan had matured tremendously. He had learned that there were many things he couldn't control, one of which being how his teammates played.
But after reaching the Major League, his teammates became some of the best in the world. If he couldn't trust these players, then baseball probably wasn't the right sport for him.
Tossing the rosin bag down, he turned to Nigel Fortes the catcher and nodded, signaling he was ready to begin the warm-up throws. Throughout the past two years of working with Nigel, they had built up a good rapport.
The guy was truly a professional.
PAH
PAH
PAH
As Ryan warmed his arm up, he could feel how light his shoulder was. The feeling caused a small grin to creep onto his lips. He was in great shape, better than he had ever felt since becoming part of the Blue Marlins.
With this, Ryan's confidence skyrocketed into the stratosphere.
At the end of 8 warm-up throws, he nodded towards the plate umpire who then gestured to the home dugout.
"Batting first, playing out of central field… Ryan Greene!" the announcer called, his voice booming over the speakers.
With their turn for offense, the crowd gave a roaring cheer. It was one thing for a brilliant pitcher to go to work, but many fans still preferred seeing jaw-dropping hits.
As the two Ryan's faced off against each other, everyone watched on with interest. The first game with these two pitchers had been a low scoring pitchers duel, but would history repeat itself?
The fans were keen to find out.
"Let's go Detroit!"
"Hit it over the fence Ryan!"
Even before the first pitch was thrown, the crowd were fully engaged in the game.
Ryan grasped the ball in his hand, hiding it inside the glove as he adjusted his grip. He waited for the first lead from Nigel and nodded shortly after.
He glanced towards third base briefly before turning back towards home plate. Ryan lifted his leg and kicked off the pitchers plate, striding forward with intent.
Once his arm whipped past his face, he raked down on the ball, sending it spinning wildly through the air. Thanks to the unorthodox grip, the ball seemed to be stumbling.