PAH
"Ball."
"Count is 3-1"
Graham rolled his shoulder and collected the rosin bag on the ground next to him. Perhaps it was the nerves, or the pressure that was getting to him, but he was having trouble controlling his pitches.
As he turned to Daichi once again, he saw the guy was jogging over towards him.
"Your pitches are sharp man, but your shoulders are too tense." Daichi said, his glove covering his mouth.
Graham blinked a few times and stared at him. Though he'd only played with Daichi for this season, he really enjoyed pitching to the guy. But he still wasn't used to how positive and accommodating Daichi was.
"S—Sorry. I guess I'm a little nervous." Graham admitted.
Daichi nodded, "Me too man, but we have to dig deep. Do me a favor and relax your shoulders, try not to throw too hard."
The two exchanged a few more words before Daichi returned to his position behind the plate. The young Japanese man thanked the umpire and the game resumed once more.
Daichi crouched down and called for a two-seam fastball. They needed another strike to get it to a full count against the clean up batter. Though it wouldn't be the worst case if the guy ended up being walked.
After nodding, Graham took a deep breath and slowly entered his wind up. As soon as he lifted his leg, the sound of footsteps entered his ears, almost causing him to lose focus.
Gary Cooper who had a small lead at second base suddenly shot off, sprinting towards the empty 3rd base.
WHOOOOOOSH
PAH
"Strike!"
The follow through swing by Bran was wide, but it did exactly what it was supposed to. Even with his quick reflexes, Daichi still lost time by having to avoid Bran's large figure before sending a throw to 3rd base.
Unfortunately, the delay was effective.
"Safe!"
Daichi let out a frustrated sigh, his eyes moving to the smug expression on Bran's face. The guy knew what he was doing, but nothing was outside of the rules since the guy was still in the act of swinging.
"Just a little late…" The guys said, flashing him a grin.
At this, Daichi couldn't help but smile. The guy seemed awfully confident despite being behind in the last inning. It was as if he believed without a shadow of a doubt that his team would win.
'We'll see who laugh's last.' He thought, turning his attention back to Graham on the mound.
"Count is 3-2." The umpire stated.
While the stolen base wasn't ideal, the last pitch was indeed controlled much better. As long as Graham kept pitching like this, Daichi had confidence that they could pull through this inning.
He crouched down and called for another fastball, this time a four-seam to the outside.
Graham nodded and got into position. With the runner now on 3rd, there was no reason not to take his time with the wind up.
The guy lifted his leg and strode forward, his arm whipping past his face with speed.
WHOOOOOSH
WHACKK!
The ball was struck completely, right back at Graham on the mound. At over 110mph, the line drive was headed straight for the man's head, looking as if it would completely crush him.
"LOOK OUT!"
Daichi managed to scream out in Japanese, but it seemed that it was too late.
Graham's figure toppled to the ground in an odd fashion, but no one stopped. Bran ran with pace towards first base while Gary who was on 3rd sprinted towards home plate to secure the run.
Daichi suddenly didn't know what to do. His eyes scanned the vicinity for the ball, someone needed to get their hands on it and prevent Bran from advancing the bases.
He was about to run forward when Gary cruised past him, stepping onto home plate while letting out a triumphant cheer. The guy pumped his fist in adulation after getting the tying run.
Graham gingerly got to his feet and threw a ball towards 3rd base to an utterly confused Nate Maton. The guy who was standing on 3rd base caught the ball and sent him an odd look.
'What is he doing?' Daichi exclaimed with shock.
Because he'd chosen to throw the ball to 3rd base, Bran was able to successfully round first and secure 2nd base. No Major Leaguer in their sane mind would have thrown it to 3rd base in such a scenario.
This only caused Daichi's worry to worsen.
'He must have been hit in the head…'
"YEAHHHHHH!!!"
Graham pumped his fist and screamed out with joy. Since the arena was rather quiet from the away team scoring another run, his voice echoed loudly.
"Graham, what are you doing!?" Daichi jogged over to check on the guy who had seemingly gone mad.
"He's out! HE'S OUT!" Graham shouted, pointing to Gary Cooper who was busy making his way back to his own dugout. The guy in question frowned in confusion.
Graham ignored Daichi and turned to Mark, "Coach! Review the play!"
Both the plate umpire and Mark seemed confused, but the latter quickly issued the review challenge. Thankfully, the umpire accepted the challenge and rounded up the other umpires to review the play.
A atmosphere of confusion and uncertainty gripped the arena. To them, the Miami Blue Marlin's had tied the game in the top of the 9th, wrestling open the door to try and steal the game from them.
At first, they were disappointed. But then the replay began to play on the jumbo screen.
"NO WAY!"
The slow motion replay showed Graham in those moments. Out of reflex, he'd lifted up his glove and placed it in front of his face to protect it. The ball somehow managed to strike the webbing before hitting him in the head.
The camera stuck to the ball which was securely gripped within the glove even after Graham fell down.
The crowd began to erupt in cheers and celebration.
"WE WON!?"