Ichiro's jaw dropped as he saw the ball rocket into the right outfield. He had thought Aki had been talking out of his rear like usual, yet unlike him, the guy had actually managed to make contact with the ball.
"GO GO!"
The Japanese bench screamed and hollered, urging Aki on as he rounded first base. He wasn't the fastest on the team, but he was still part of the National squad.
He pumped his short legs, glancing into the outfield for a moment before sliding onto 2nd base safely.
Aki slowly got to his feet, getting his breath under control. Upon hearing the cheers from the dugout, a wide grin crept onto his features.
"ORYAHHH! See that Ichiro? That's how you hit a ball!" He shouted, pumping his fist in triumph.
Ichiro picked up his jaw, feeling his body shake in annoyance. He could understand Aki being happy for hitting the ball, but why did he have to shout such things from the field?
'That was a lucky hit…'
Ken had seen the whole thing happen from his vantage point and felt incredulous. There was no doubt that Aki's double was lucky. He had managed to recreate the scenario that Ken had just pulled off by accident.
An outside fastball, the pitch that Ken, Daichi and Hiroki had all aimed for.
Throughout all of the games that he'd watched, he noticed a certain quirk of Leo's that no one else had. He tended to call balls that would more or less be on the fringe of the strike zone.
Leo knew that with his abilities that he'd be able to frame the balls as strikes, therefore instilling fear into the batters he faced. He would then make them swing at balls that they had no hope of hitting.
Perhaps it was arrogance, or some kind of personality disorder, but Ken could tell that the guy got a kick out of making batters despair.
Due to this, he would often use the same pattern unconsciously in the earlier innings.
Increase the perceived size of the strike zone with the proper framing, before toying with the batters until they get struck out.
Of course once it was well established, he wouldn't need to do so in the latter innings. This was why Ken needed to capitalize on this fact before Leo moved onto his next phase of leads.
In addition to Leo's quirk, the main contributor to his game plan was the teen who looked as if he'd swallowed a lemon on the mound. Ryan Smith, the prodigy.
He had a certain habit that Ken had picked up during his study session. Whenever he was about to throw a fastball, he'd glance at 3rd base for a couple of seconds before entering his wind up directly.
If that was all, then the coach's would easily be able to fix this tell. However, it was also his lead leg that gave it away.
In all the times he threw a fastball, he would step out further. While one might argue that it would be tough to make the distinction in that fraction of a second based on where his foot landed, Ken had another way.
When performing an action like stepping forward, there were other muscles that were activated to facilitate this movement. Since Ryan needed to thrust himself forward more with a fastball, he needed to generate more lateral movement.
Therefore he would almost kick his lead leg forward in doing so. The difference was almost imperceptible, but with Ken's Academic trait, he could see it.
So with the quirks of these two players, Ken had figured out a way to get through the US team's stalwart defense. The problem was, it could only last for a short while.
'This is a chance…'
Ken hadn't expected Aki to hit the ball originally, but it opened a window of opportunity for the Japanese team that wasn't present beforehand.
Originally it was just Hiroki, Daichi and Ken who could be the attacking force with their knowledge. But with only 1 out, Aki had managed to get onto 2nd base.
Ken debated inwardly for a few moments, trying to decide on his next moves.
In the end, he threw caution to the wind.
"Atsushi, Riku, Captain. Come here for a moment." Ken called out, gesturing for the three to join him.
"Hmm? Finally willing to spill the beans eh?" Masayuki tried to act calm, but inwardly he was curious.
He leaned in close and began to speak up about his game plan. As long as these guys could capitalize on the situation, they may be able to break out into an even bigger lead.
"Huh? No way."
All three were stunned when Ken laid out his knowledge. They had studied film for over 2 hours last night with the team, and even the coach's had not been able to find out such information.
From their questions earlier, it was also safe to assume that they had no idea about this tactic either.
Ken gestured for them to turn to the field and keep an eye on Ryan while he pitched against Kuro.
"Batting 8th, 3rd Base, Kuro."
Kuro's gloomy figure appeared in the batters box, looking as if he did not want to be there in that moment. He could feel the burning gaze of both the US players digging into him, only serving to increase his own gloomy aura.
Leo's eyes widened in surprise as he felt his fighting spirit to begin to wither in the presence of that aura. It wasn't just him, Ryan shivered subconsciously on the mound as he saw the anomaly in the batters box.
'What's with this guy?' He thought, feeling creeped out.
Earlier he was livid after giving up another hit. He had never been so humiliated in his life. Since they were going up against the latter half of the Japanese batting line up, he was going to take out all of his frustrations on them.
But then this mushroom headed guy came out.