"T-The ball slipped. It must have been because I was sweating so much." The big guy answered before picking up the rosin bag and juggling it.
The coach looked at Daichi briefly before returning his gaze.
"Be careful. If you send another one of those I'll be forced to take you out of the game."
"Yes Coach!"
"Tell me if it happens again." Coach Narukami told Daichi as the two walked back to their respective positions.
"Kouichi, go and warm up."
"Y-Yes Coach!"
Kouichi's eyes lit up, not expecting to play in such a situation. However, with all of his tough training throughout the year, he was ready to step up.
"Batting 4th, 1st base, Hiroki"
The announcer called out the next batter turning everyone's attention back to the field of play. With the free walk to 1st base, they now had to deal with the clean up batters of Yokohama.
'This isn't ideal.' Daichi said inwardly.
If he couldn't trust the pitches to go where he wanted, then there was little to no point in trying to lead Yatsuo. If it was up to him, Daichi would have brought Kouichi in now despite the difference in abilities.
At least he knew that Kouichi would pitch where he asked.
Daichi shook his head, he could only go with the coach's decision.
He moved the glove to the middle of the strike zone and called for a cutter. He wanted to test a few things before deciding whether or not Yatsuo could still pitch like he needed him to.
The ball came flying towards home plate before veering away from Hiroki's bat.
WHOOOSH
PAH
"Strike"
Daichi almost breathed out a sigh of relief. The pitch was crisp and still held the proper speed, despite the earlier mishap. He began to think that it was likely only a slip as Yatsuo had mentioned before.
'Good, I can work with this.' He thought, calling for the next pitch.
PAH
"Strike"
DING
"Foul"
DING
"Foul"
Hiroki frowned. He was having a tough time reaching the balls at the right moment. They all had a tricky course, or were in places that he was not comfortable in hitting.
Since they had a runner on base and no outs, he would be kicking himself if he missed an opportunity this late into the game. The worst case scenario would be if he hit a grounder which resulted in a double play, so he was trying to play around that.
However, with the annoying catcher behind him making things difficult, it was easier said than done.
Yet just when he thought he would be in for a tough haul, a curveball came roaring into his striking zone.
'This one!'
Hiroki planted his foot and twisted his body, getting the bat underneath the ball and pulling through with all of his might.
DONG!
The bat made contact, causing the crowd to erupt with cheers. Hiroki threw his bat down and ran with all his might, following the trajectory of the ball.
He breathed a sigh of relief as it stopped just short of the right outfielder and was sent back to 2nd base.
Makoto stood proudly upon 3rd base and shouted his praises.
"ORYAAAHH, Nice work Hiroki!"
This was the best position he'd gotten since the game started, and he was in the perfect spot to score. Especially when he saw who was on their way to the batters box now.
"Batting 5th, Pitcher, Ken"
He stretched his muscles briefly before stepping into the batters box. Doing his usual tapping of home plate and his cleats with his bat.
Instead of acknowledging Daichi, he turned to the coach who sent some signals his way.
Ken's eyes widened for a moment before he let out a soft smile.
In the next moment he turned his attention to the mound and leaned forward, crowding home plate.
Daichi frowned, feeling confused.
'Why is he crowding the plate? Even if he gets hit by a pitch, it will only load the bases.'
From his understanding, the play didn't make sense, yet it was still happening in front of him. His thoughts moved to how Yatsuo had hit Makoto earlier and didn't want to repeat the same thing, but Ken was not giving him much of a choice.
'Let's just try a cutter then.' He thought, sending the signal to Yatsuo.
The big guy nodded and quickly sent the ball flying towards the strike zone.
The moment the ball left his hands, Makoto began his run from 3rd base towards home, shocking the Osaka players on the field.
Even more shocking was that Ken adjusted his posture backwards and held out his bat horizontally, intending to bunt.
"B-Bunt!?"
The play had taken Osaka off guard completely, who were scrambling to adjust.
Ken gracefully sent a push bunt towards first base, his strength and accuracy used to perfection, placing it equal distance from the pitcher and 1st base.
"AKIHIKO, FIRST!"
Takuya seemed to be the first player to react as he directed Akihiko the 2nd baseman to cover first base. Takashi was already chasing down the bunt which was coming to a stop half way towards 1st base.
His eyes glanced at Daichi who was pointing to first. It seemed that he had already judged Makoto would convert the run.
In a great maneuver, Takashi managed to scoop the ball up and twist his body before sending the ball back to Takuya who had arrived in time.
Pah
"Out"
Ken ran past first base a fraction of a second later, yet despite getting called out he had a wide grin on his face.
"ORYAAAAH!"
Makoto bellowed in celebration after stepping onto home plate and completing the run for Yokohama.
Due to Ken's masterful bunt, they had secured another run to their total, bringing the game to a 2-0 score.
Daichi was at a loss for words at the moment. He hadn't expected Ken to bunt at all, let alone on the very first pitch to catch them off guard.
'Touche' bro.' He thought, staring at the back of the tall retreating figure.