"101mph huh?" Ken muttered, feeling impressed.
While he enjoyed matching up with Ryan, he wouldn't shortchange him when it came to giving his respect. For a 17 year old to pitch at 100mph, it was immensely impressive.
The only reason he could pitch like that was due to the system. So for someone to reach this point at his age through hard work and talent alone, they deserved respect.
'I wonder what grade his pitching is?' He thought for a moment.
He'd been holding off on analyzing Ryan, mainly because of pride. Ken felt that it was borderline cheating to do such a thing, so he refrained.
At least for this game.
Knowing his potential, Ken would be silly not to use Identify and bring him into his Image Training. He had done the same thing to Yatsuo, the 3rd year Osaka Toin pitcher, yet he hadn't had the chance to make use of it.
'Mika, copy Ryan Smith for use in the Image Training.' Ken called out to his AI friend, ensuring to use proper etiquette.
[Understood. Copying Ryan Smith will cost 5,000 Major points. Will you proceed?]
Ken sucked in a cold breath at the price. Even when he copied Yatsuo during Koshien it had cost him only 1000 Major points. Did that mean Ryan was 5 times as good as that guy?
However, there was no point being stingy. He had plenty of points after all.
'Please proceed.'
[Affirmative. Copying Ryan Smith…]
[92% Accuracy achieved.]
'Excellent…'
Ken would need to find time to use the Image Training since he had picked up such a big fish. As long as he could get some hours against this guy, he was confident that he'd be ready whenever they'd meet again.
Next time he wouldn't need to rely on some quirks and could face him at his best.
While Ken was thinking, Atsushi had already faced another 2 balls, bringing the count up to 1-2. If he hadn't caught hold of the outside ball earlier, he would have been struck out.
The guy in question was sweating hard in the batters box and it had nothing to do with the midday sun. Just the sheer pressure of facing Ryan's fastballs were enough to make him anxious, let alone in combination with the catcher's leads.
Even though he knew when the fastball was coming thanks to Ken's insights earlier, that didn't mean he was able to hit them.
He saw the guy wind up again after looking towards 3rd base briefly. This time, Atsushi gripped his bat tightly, his face flashing with determination.
'I'm gonna hit it!'
The ball came blitzing towards him, at the top of the strike zone. He didn't have time to pull back the swing, so he did his best to adjust, pulling the bat towards him.
DOOOONG
Somehow, some way, the bat connected firmly despite how ugly the swing looked. It was sent rocketing into the left outfield, prompting the runners on the base to sprint from their marks.
The ball floated for a long time, giving the illusion that it wasn't going very far.
Yet as the outfielder made it to the wall, he stopped in place, his face painted with shock as it sailed over the wall for a home run.
"EH!?"
Atsushi who had just made it to first base, suddenly cried out in shock as the ball made it for a home run.
"WHOOOAA! Nice hit Atsushi!"
He almost didn't know what to do in that moment, like he'd forgotten how to play baseball.
"Oi! Go run." The first base coach yelled at him, resisting the urge to kick him in the behind and send him on his way.
"A-Ah yes sir!"
Atsushi bolted towards 2nd base, acting like the ball was still in play. This caused the remaining players in the dugout to laugh out loud from his antics.
"What a weirdo! Hahaha."
Both Kuro and Aki were waiting on the field for Atsushi to touch home plate, their faces filled with happiness. Even Kuro sported a genuine smile, lighting up his gloomy features.
"Nice hit Bowl-kun." Aki said with a grin.
Atsushi didn't even react to the comment as he accepted the high five from his two teammates.
As he walked back to the dugout, everyone sent him words of congratulations and encouragement, filling him with happiness.
Once Aki reentered the dugout, he looked for Ichiro.
"Ah there he is. See what I told you my man? You just need to swing and everything will work out. You better shape up or I'll be taking your #6 spot in the batting line up." He said, lecturing the guy.
Ichiro wanted nothing more than to dig a hole and hide in it. After receiving such advice from Aki of all people, there was no turning back for him.
'Damn him.' He cursed, retreating to the bench.
"Nice work Atsushi." Ken said, approaching the guy.
"T-Thanks. I never thought I'd be able to hit that pitch that far.
Ken smiled, "You'd be surprised. The faster the pitch, the faster the exit velocity. If you hadn't have hit that ball with the center of the bat, you definitely would have gotten caught in the outfield."
Atushi was quiet for a moment, but he soon nodded. He hadn't expected his last moment decision to yield a home run, but he sure wasn't complaining.
If anything, he wished he could do the same every time. But he knew that he was lucky in this instance.
With his 3-run home run, Japan were now sitting comfortably ahead in the 2nd inning at 5-0. Unexpectedly, this was against the supposed best High School pitcher in the country, something that no one would have expected in a million years.
Yet this was just the beginning of Japan's attack. Now that Atsushi had batted, their batting lineup was back to the beginning, ready to perform another assault on the frazzled US battery.
However, it seemed that someone had had enough.