Ken squared up in the batters box, turning his attention to Kazuhiro on the mound. The boy had an arrogant expression on his face, likely built up from being told he was a genius since a young age.
The problem with these players was that they always had a shock when realizing that there was always a bigger mountain to climb, or an even better genius waiting around the corner.
'Carlos is the only one who can hit my pitches. So hurry up and head back to the bench.'
Kazuhiro loaded up and sent the ball rocketing towards the strike zone once again, a victorious expression already nestled upon his features.
Ken felt as if time had slowed down, noticing the effects of his skill crunch time activate on its own. The system seemed to think that this was a turning point in the game, of which it was not wrong.
A smirk appeared on Ken's lips as he could clearly see the trajectory of the ball, feeling his strength and coordination increase thanks to the skill.
DOOOONG!
Ken sent all of his power into the swing, making contact in the center of the bat and creating a wonderful sound that reverberated through the field. He seemed to be the only one to react as he slowly dropped the bat and began to jog over to first base.
He almost felt a little bad for the little genius on the mound. This defeat could have a positive or negative impact on him, the rest would be up to how he handled it.
"Yes!" Coach Hanada pumped his fist in celebration, watching the ball seemingly disappear on the horizon.
"ORYAA! Nice guts Junior!" Makoto called out, flexing in his direction.
The rest of the Yokohama dugout broke into celebration, hooting and hollering as Ken made his victory lap around the bases.
Shuei's bench was dead silent, still unable to process the whole series of events. To them, this was the first time they'd seen their Ace be hit for a home run by anyone but Carlos.
Carlos who had been disinterested just moments before, was now standing at attention with his eyes focused on Ken's figure.
'That hit…'
His mind replayed the entire scene over and over again. Right from the beginning, Ken's form was perfect with no unnecessary movements, allowing him to use all of his strength without any loss of power.
If it was just this it wouldn't have been as impressive. Yet the perfect accuracy and control to hit Kazuhiro's ball in the dead center of his bat was purely masterful.
It was very possible that it could have been a fluke, however Carlos did not believe that was the case. He could instinctively tell that this person was a monster.
Carlos felt his apathy vanish, finally feeling his heart beat in anticipation.
"He's strong."
Ken didn't even need to watch the ball to know it was already out of the park. He could tell just by how the ball felt coming off his bat in addition to the sound. Now that he thought about it, that was probably the best hit of his life.
He finally made it back to home plate where Tatsuya was waiting with his hand held out for a celebratory high five.
"Nice homer Ace." Tatsuya said with a grin.
"Heh."
Ken let out a chuckle and headed back to the dugout. While pitching was still his number 1 love in baseball, he couldn't help but admit that there was a certain satisfaction that came with knocking a ball out of the park.
The catcher who was already despairing, overheard Tatsuya call the monster batter Ace and almost cried out in shock.
He squatted down and asked "Why did you call him Ace? Is that his name?"
Tatsuya looked over at the catcher and couldn't help but grin.
"No no, he's our rookie Ace pitcher."
Seeing the look of shock painted on the catchers face as he said those words brought a vengeful grin onto his face. They had been led by the nose by this battery, so it felt good to be able to hit back in such fashion.
Coach Hanada couldn't help but send a vicious smirk towards Coach Goto who was still doing his best to keep the plain smile on his face. However, he could see some faults which were brought to the surface after Ken's play.
"Nice hit Ken."
The coach seemed pleased as Ken walked back to the bench, even holding out his fist for a fist bump to which Ken obliged.
"Warm up your shoulder, I'll have you pitch in the final innings."
"Hmm?" Ken suddenly felt a bout of excitement.
'I never expected him to let me pitch in the very first friendly game…' He thought inwardly. However, he definitely wouldn't complain about getting onto the mound, no matter the circumstances.
"No worries coach, I'll be ready."
He got back to the dugout only to receive a round of praise from the rest of the team. Ai and the other managers too gave him words of encouragement.
The only person who seemed a little out of sorts was Akira who was currently wearing an ice compress on his shoulder. It seemed he was already told he'd be sitting out the final innings, giving his spot over to Ken.
However, he still nodded in Ken's direction.
"Shiro, come help me warm up."
Shiro was unresponsive, looking as if his soul had already left his body and returned to the underworld.
'Maybe I should let him have a break.' Ken thought, feeling a little bad for the boy.
"Yasuki-senpai, would you mind helping me out?" Ken asked politely.
"Ah sure."
With that, the two disappeared to go warm up Ken's shoulder.
On the field, Kazuhiro still seemed to be frazzled thanks to Ken's amazing home run. His pitches were beginning to lose their sharpness, allowing Tatsuya to finally put bat on ball.
Unfortunately, the ball was sent straight to the right outfield and caught on the fly.
"Tch, I gave up a good opportunity."