An hour later, Ken found himself on the bench watching Akira pitch. Thankfully, an active game of baseball seemed to take his mind off the Ai situation.
His brain began to breakdown Akira's pitching form, analyzing his release point and ball rotation.
'He's really improved a lot…' Ken remarked inwardly.
Akira had been training just as hard as all the others, increasing his leg and core strength and therefore his stability which in turn beefed up the power and accuracy of his pitches.
His now higher pitching speed paired with Yuta's leads were enough to get through the first 5 innings without giving up a run. However, it was not only these two who had improved their game.
Yokohama's fielding team was just as sharp, making impeccable decisions as a team while also showing their physical prowess.
Shonan Senior who was part of the Kanagawa big 4, also featured some up and coming players. If Ken didn't have the utmost confidence his team would win, he probably would have used Identify on their pitcher and clean-up hitter.
Despite their status, Shonan Senior were beginning to look like amateurs against the superior batting skills of Yokohama.
The score was currently 0-9 in favor of Yokohama at the bottom of the 5th innings.
Hiroki was up to bat after Makoto had sent a long drive past the right outfielder for an easy double. There were now 2 outs and 1 runner on base, a dangerous spot for Shonan Senior.
If they gave up a run here, the match would end thanks to the mercy rule. Yet if they could secure the out, it was possible to drag out the game and get the chance for the batting line up to face the pitcher a third time.
While this may sound improbable, batters were more likely to hit pitches after facing a pitcher for the third time since they were able to make adjustments.
However, judging by the expression on Hiroki's face, Ken believed that he was not going to leave the door open to such an opponent.
DOOOONG
Just as Ken had expected, Hiroki smashed the ball with the middle of his bat, sending it way over the pitchers head and heading out of the grounds.
The umpire checked his watch, getting ready to call the game once the last batter placed his foot on home plate.
However, Ken's eyes narrowed as he watched the center outfielder sprint towards the edge of the field. He was like a cheetah as he galloped over the grass at full speed towards the wall.
Instead of crashing into the wall, he jumped and used his feet to run up the wall. Time seemed to slow down as he leapt straight up, using the entire length of his body to reach out and yank the ball out of the air.
PAH
The sound of the ball hitting leather sounded out, causing everyone to turn their attention towards the direction it came from.
Silence.
"DAMN IT!"
The fielder cried out in despair as the momentum of the ball knocked the glove right off his outstretched hand, causing it to fall onto the ground on the other side of the wall.
Ken let out a small whistle of surprise, seeing such an athletic and acrobatic play from the outfielder. This was the same clean-up hitter that was so dangerous.
If it wasn't for Yuta's thorough research and razor sharp leads, this guy would have likely carved up Akira and done some serious damage.
"Game set."
Ken's eyes stayed on the athletic player for a while. It was scenes like this that reminded him just how brutal Japanese Baseball tournaments were in High School.
Unlike the professional league which can have up to 144 games in a regular season, all of the High school tournaments adopted a single elimination bracket. This meant that a teams campaign would be over after only losing once, leading to immense regret and frustration.
However, it was because of this reason that getting to Nationals in and of itself was already an amazing achievement.
For those who win the National title, they are crowned the best without a shadow of a doubt. For holding up the flag meant that the team was better than almost 4000 high schools across the 47 prefectures in Japan.
Ken congratulated Hiroki on grabbing another home run. Now that he thought about it, his chances of winning the player of the tournament system mission were all but over now.
This was especially the case if the coach planned on only letting him play every second game during the Prefectural Tournament.
However, it didn't matter too much to him. As long as he completed the other 4 missions, he would have enough Major points to be able to upgrade the system once more.
"Come on, we need to line up." Coach Hanada said to his players, ushering them onto the field.
They did as they were told and lined up from home plate towards the mound and faced the opposition team.
"Thank you for the game!"
All of the players bowed towards their opponents.
Ken could see that there were tears pouring out from most of the players, it was a sight he had seen often and even been a part of in his past life.
Baseball was a serious sport and it was treated with the highest level of respect by all those who played and watch it. There were some who believed if a player didn't cry after losing in a tournament, it meant they didn't care enough.
Of course Ken didn't exactly believe in these words, but it was a fact that some people did hold that belief.
"Alright let's head back to the bus."
Around 20 minutes later, the Yokohama High team departed from the location of their second round prefectural tournament against Shonan Senior. Once again they had become victorious, even with their Ace sitting on the bench.
"Well done everyone, you all played tremendously." Coach Hanada said with a smile.
"Since we only played 5 out of 9 innings, how about we do some additional training when we get back to the school?"
"EHHHHHH!?"
Everyone on the bus who was feeling proud just a moment ago, called out in despair.