The Yokohama team walked out onto the field and began their usual warm ups. The game was due to start in 20 minutes so they made sure to use the time effectively.
Some assistant coaches were sending ground balls towards the infielders, while the pitchers and catchers threw some balls on the other side of the field.
Since Yuta and Akira were starting, they were paired up. This left Ken with Shiro, his short and hardworking friend.
Looking at his friend, Ken couldn't help but feel a little bad.
Shiro had worked real hard alongside everyone throughout the year, yet he had not even had a single minute of game time to show for it. Having been on the bench for the entire tournament, he could only watch on as his teammates fought.
Of course he was not the only one who had been working hard. There were over 30 students who continued to train day in and day out in order to make it onto the bench for the first squad, yet they could never make it.
Ken even knew that there were some 3rd years who hadn't even sat on the Yokohama bench for their entire High School career, yet they were in attendance, cheering them on.
That being said, none of those players had the same kind of potential that the teen in front of him had. As long as he could hold on, he could turn into a great professional player in due time.
He placed his hand on the shorter kid's shoulder and smiled.
"I'm proud of you man."
"Huh?"
Shiro who had just been scrunching his nose up from the smell of the face guard was suddenly dumbfounded.
"What are you my father?" He complained, shooing his lanky friend away.
"Aw come on man, don't be like that." Ken stated with a grin.
He pulled the guy close and ruffled his hair, displaying his camaraderie.
"D-Damn it. Stop!"
Shiro was like a child compared to Ken's gargantuan height of 183cm now, which made the current scene look even more comical. He began to throw punches towards Ken who held onto his head at arms length.
Due to Shiro's short arms, the punches were not even close to landing.
"Alright you two, let's get some pitches in." Yuta said, trying to hide the look of amusement on his face.
Finally, Ken let go of Shiro who was mumbling profanities under his breath.
He sent a wink to Shiro and headed over to where the other pitchers were about to pitch from. At least that was until an errant ball came flying and hit him on the backside.
There was not too much power, yet that didn't stop the stinging sensation of being hit by a baseball in the fleshiest part of one's body.
Ken stopped suddenly and bent down to pick up the ball. He slowly turned his head, a stiff smile on his face.
Shiro who had thrown the ball in anger earlier, suddenly felt his body stiffen.
"A-Ah, it was an a-a-accident. Sorry Ken!"
He tried to cover for his error, fearing that he would be punished for such a slip up. However, Ken let out a small chuckle and waved him off.
"Don't worry about it… Accident's happen after all." He replied, emphasizing weirdly.
"Y-Yeah. It won't happen again." Shiro had a bad feeling, but he was currently in a bad spot. He needed to help Ken warm up after all.
He squatted down and felt his legs shaking from fear. Even though he'd been able to catch Ken's pitches recently, it was still tough trying to catch such bombs that could reach aroudn 150km/h.
Shiro watched Ken wind up as he braced for impact.
Pah
'Ah…'
He breathed out a sigh of relief once the ball landed. It seemed that he had been too hasty in assuming Ken would take his anger out on him.
"Nice pitch." He said, sending the ball back to Ken.
The next 20 or so pitches were the same with perfect control, allowing Shiro to feel more at ease. Now that he thought about it, there was no way his friend would be so petty In such a situation.
"Alright guys, last pitch and then let's wrap it up."
One of the assistant coaches came over and called for them to finish up.
Shiro squatted down and held his glove out, ready to receive the last pitch.
Ken's eyes suddenly sparkled as he began his wind up. A small grin formed on his face before he whipped his arm out, sending the ball at great speeds towards Shiro.
Shiro's eyes widened, seeing the ball flying towards his face mask.
'D-Damn it! He's trying to kill me.'
He quickly brought his glove up in front of his face, only to regret it moments later.
THUD
Falling onto his knees, Shiro clutched his stomach and felt the air forcefully removed from his lungs.
"Oh crap. Are you okay Shiro?" Ken ran over, showing concern.
He knelt down and placed his hand on Shiro's shoulder, checking up on him.
Shiro looked up from his position on the ground and couldn't help but look at his friend who was donning a scary grin.
"I'm sorry, accidents happen ya know."
He paled, still not able to speak any words since he was winded. It looked like Ken had purposefully thrown a forkball towards his mask which had dropped and hit him in the stomach.
"Hurry up you two." Yuta remarked an amused smile on his face.
He wasn't worried about Shiro and he also didn't buy into the fake concern Ken was showing for his friend. Still, that didn't mean it wasn't hilarious.
Even Akira couldn't help but let out a few laughs because of the situation.
Ken picked up his friend and dusted him off, slapping the dust off his back.
"Hehe. You'll be fine buddy."
Draping his arm over Shiro's shoulder, Ken consoled him. Soon enough they went back to their chummy ways, a smile blossoming on both their faces.