Makoto felt considerable pressure on his shoulders to succeed. Since he was the Captain, he felt it was his duty to lead their team to the win. He couldn't do so if he continued to let the pitcher walk all over him.
He seemed like a dragon on his way off the field as he blew smoke from his nose.
"Ken, are you feeling fatigued?" Coach Hanada stopped Ken before he walked into the dugout, his expression carrying some worry.
"I'm fine coach, sorry for worrying you." He said with a small smile.
It wasn't like he could tell the coach about his penalty from using the Limit Break skill.
Coach Hanada seemed to be a little skeptical, but he could tell that Ken didn't want to talk about it in this moment.
"If I see you struggling again on the mound, I won't hesitate to sub you out." He stated, sending Ken a glance.
Ken's eyes widened in shock, yet he still nodded.
"Y-Yes coach."
As he made his way into the dugout, he felt some drops of cold sweat run down his back.
'Mika, is there any way that I can prevent Limit Break from happening again this match?'
[Limit Break can only be used once per match. User does not need to worry about it activating again]
Ken let out a sigh of relief. As long as he wasn't affected by the penalty, he should be able to pitch as normal.
'Thanks Mika.'
Despite not hearing a reply, he felt that his AI friend enjoyed being thanked.
"Batting 8th, Catcher, Yuta"
Ken turned his attention back to the match, with Yuta now batting. Ever since he and Yusuke had been added to the roster, Yuta had been moved from 6th to 8th in the batting line up.
This just showed the strength of their batters in this team. They had been feeling a little stifled lately, but in the Urawa and Sendai matches, they had performed really well.
Unfortunately though, with the strength of Yatsuo and leads of Daichi, there would not be many opportunities for them to score in this match.
"Strikeout!"
Yuta returned to the dugout with a wry smile on his face. Despite doing his best, every pitch just seemed to go where he didn't want to hit, showing just how much research the opposing catcher had done on him.
"Haaaaah, your brother is a real monster." Yuta remarked, plonking himself down next to Ken.
Ken couldn't help but smile at those words. Despite being opponents today, he seemed to be happy that someone was complimenting Daichi.
"Yeah, he's really annoying to play against." Ken remarked.
"Man, didn't you steal a home run from him? How can you say that." Yuta said, some annoyance in his tone.
"Well, he decided to throw a curveball. Something I've been researching non-stop for the past 4 days."
Yuta stared blankly for a moment before letting out a chuckle.
"Well that was just his bad luck then."
Ken nodded, "Yeah, I doubt he'll call for another curveball against me."
"Strikeout!"
The two heard the umpire shout, only a minute or so after Yuta had returned to the bench.
"Ah man, looks like we won't get much of a rest." Yuta commented, already grabbing his catching gear in order to get changed in time.
As Yuta said those words, Ken felt all of his fatigue rush out of his body in a tidal wave. The heavy muscles and pressure on his bones disappeared in an instant, filling him with fresh strength.
"It's alright, I'm plenty rested now." He said with a grin, stretching in satisfaction.
Yuta turned his head, "So no more meatballs?"
"…"
"I'll give you a damn meatball." Ken said, sending a small jab to his Senpai's stomach.
Thankfully for Yuta, he had fastened his chest protector in time, mitigating the damage considerably.
"Hehe."
"Strikeout! Changeover."
The umpires words drifted into their ears, prompting them to get up and head out of the dugout.
In the stands, Chris was watching on as Ken headed back to the mound. His face was filled with some worry after seeing how his son had pitched in the last innings.
It was as if he'd used up all of his energy against Daichi, going all out. Because the next two batters he pitched to had a significant drop in quality.
While it may have all worked out fine, it was likely only because they had been expecting faster balls from Ken. Which meant that if he continued to send sub par pitches their way, he would eventually get punished.
'Come on buddy, it's only the 3rd innings.' He said in his heart, unconsciously fidgeting in his nervousness.
"Batting 7th, 2nd Base, Akihiko"
After hearing the announcers voice, Chris focused on Ken. He was worried that something was wrong with his boy, but currently felt helpless to do anything.
PAH
"Strike!"
'Huh?'
Chris's eyes widened as he saw the fastball fly into the glove of the catcher. He couldn't help but turn his attention to the jumbo screen, letting out a big sigh of relief after seeing the numbers.
'157km/h'
A smile crept onto his lips in the next moment.
"I guess I was worried for nothing."
Yuta received the fastball and nodded. This was the kind of pitching he wanted to see from Ken, not the sluggish type before.
"Nice pitch!" He yelled, sending the ball back to his pitcher.
Akihiko in the batters box was wearing a confused expression. He turned his attention to Coach Narukami, as if asking what now?
The coach himself seemed puzzled. From what his players told him earlier, Ken's pitching had slowed down after pitching to Daichi in the 2nd innings.
Yet not even 5 minutes later, the kid had reverted back to his domineering speed.
He subconsciously turned to Daichi on the bench, but the kid was too busy grinning from ear to ear as he stared at his brother with sparkling eyes.
Coach Narukami could only let out a sigh, and give the signal to hit the ball when he could.