Akira was dead tired as he took his position on the mound.
He did his best to catch his breath as he rolled the rosin bag around in his hand and looked at the jumbo screen behind him. The count was currently 2-2 with 2 outs and 1 runner on base.
Unlike Ken, he was not able to limit his pitches by blowing through the strike zone. He needed to use every trick in the book in order to get outs, sometimes by wasting pitches.
He had already thrown 125 pitches by now and he was feeling his muscles fatigue, particularly in his thin legs.
However, the only thing driving him forward at this moment was his sheer willpower.
'I'm a member of this team too.' He thought inwardly, taking in deep breaths of air.
'I want to win…'
'Win with everyone.'
"You can do it Akira!"
"Just one more out!"
Seeing his current state, both the fielders and his teammates remaining in the dugout sent words of encouragement his way. They were so close to victory that they could almost taste it.
Akira felt the weight of his teammates hopes upon him, yet they did not drag him down. If anything they elevated him, filling him with energy that he thought was already spent.
His eyes narrowed as he entered his wind up and stepped through, sending his arm out like a whip and forcing the ball towards Yuta's open glove.
This ball was the fastest he'd thrown all afternoon, despite pitching more than 120 balls that day.
The batter had not expected such a change in pace and was caught lacking.
WHOOOSH
PAH
"Strikeout!"
"Game, Yokohama."
*DING*
"ALRIGHT!!!!"
"ORYAHAHAHA!"
The Yokohama players stormed the mound on the way to congratulate Akira on his pitching performance. Even the dugout was emptied as everyone made their way onto the field in the excitement.
Coach Hanada lost his composure and began to jump up and down in jubilation. The assistant coach was also drawn into the celebration, casting a happy atmosphere upon the field.
The crowd roared and cheered, congratulating Yokohama for their well fought victory.
"YOKO HAMA"
"YOKO HAMA"
"YOKO HAMA"
Ken too had joined the field, sprinting towards the middle of the pack along with Shiro. Unlike yesterday's dogpile, everyone was too busy celebrating to worry about their feet getting stepped on.
Not long after, the coach came over and broke up the celebration. He didn't want to appear rude in front of the losing squad and all of the fans.
Soon after, they lined up for the ceremonial bow amidst the cheers of the crowd.
"Thank you for the game!"
The Koryu team were emotional, yet they still held their heads up high. Making it to the finals of Koshien was still an amazing achievement, even if they didn't win in the end.
While the award ceremony was being set up, both teams were given black bags in order to collect some dirt from the ground. This was a common tradition for teams who were fortunate enough to attend Koshien.
The bag of dirt would become a memento that they would keep for their whole lives.
Of course the dirt was constantly replaced by the groundskeepers.
Ken received his bag and kept it. Even though he also had a bag in his previous life, it did not mean as much as this one right here. He was knocked out in the first round against Shinjuku back then after all.
After around 10 minutes, the stand was set up just behind home plate, facing the field. The two teams were directed to line up in front, about 20 meters away.
The players stood side by side as they waited for the award ceremony to begin.
Before long, the band began to play a tune as some people walked out from the tunnels to the side.
"Please welcome, the chairman of the High School Baseball Federation, Koji Kubota"
A person that Ken recognized from the opening ceremony walked up onto the podium after being introduced. He was wearing a suit and looked to be in his mid to late 50's.
'If his speech is anything like the one at the opening ceremony, we're gonna be here for a while.' He thought inwardly, letting out a small sigh.
However, he was pleasantly surprised as the man only said a few brief words before they were called to action.
"Congratulations Yokohama High for winning the 97th Annual Koshien Summer Tournament. Please come forward and receive the flag."
Makoto stood to attention before walking the 20 meters towards the podium. He bowed slightly before receiving the same flagpole they'd used for the opening ceremony.
However, instead of having the flag of 1 school, it contained all of the flags from the 49 teams who had competed in this years Koshien.
He walked back towards the team and stood beside Ken on the end. Though his face was serious, one could see glee within his eyes.
"Please come forward and receive the winners plaque."
This time, Ken received a nudge from Makoto as if he was telling him to go up.
'What!? Me?'
While Ken was in baseball uniform, he hadn't played the final game. He wasn't expecting to come forward and receive any awards on behalf of the team.
Only after receiving a glare from Makoto did he finally make his way up.
He bowed slightly before receiving an item. It was a wooden lacquered board around 70cm tall and 50cm wide and had a golden colored plaque which depicted a baseball player and the number 97.
The words beneath detailed the year and the competition.
It was surprisingly bulky which made for an awkward walk back to the line up. However, with Ken's tall frame it was easier than it would have been for someone like Shiro.
Once he returned to the group, the man on the podium spoke up once more.
"Congratulations to the runner-up, Koryu High School. Please come and collect your plaque"
A tall and athletic player from the opposing squad walked up and received their silver plaque before returning. It seemed that most of their players had adjusted their emotions after the loss.