As he made his way over to the Head Coach, Hiroki was fighting for his life in the batters box. The first ball he faced was a scorching 95mph two-seam fastball that broke at the last moment.
It was merely a few millimeters from grazing his glove, causing him to let out a sigh of relief. Being hit by a fastball on the fingers would have sucked big time.
'What the hell happened to this guy?' Hiroki thought, gripping his bat tightly.
Even without the telegraphing of his fastball, Hiroki believed that he'd be able to hit the ball. Yet something seemed to have completely shifted, turning Ryan into an entirely different pitcher.
His eyes widened as the next ball approached.
'A fastball!'
WHOOOOOSH
PAH
Despite getting his timing perfect, Hiroki's bat sailed over the ball which seemed to have dipped at the last moment.
"Strike!"
Hiroki began to get a little frustrated. It almost felt as if the ball was magnetized against his bat. No matter where he swung, the ball would go the opposite direction.
Suddenly, it was 0-2 and nothing was looking good for him.
'I've got to do something…' He thought.
Ryan seemed unfazed atop the mound, still wearing his cold expression. Yet inwardly he was rejoicing.
'It's working! I can't believe it.'
He received the ball back from Leo and took it into his glove. After a quick glance at the ball, he adjusted his grip slightly and stared back at the Japanese batter.
'I just need to throw a shutout this game and wipe that performance from my memory.'
Ryan glanced at the sign from his catcher and nodded, lifting his left knee close to his chest. He stepped forward and sent his arm flying like a whip.
'Crap!'
The ball's velocity was high, yet its spin was lacking.
Leo's eyes widened in shock as he saw the sluggish fastball creep towards the outside of the strike zone. While it wasn't a meatball, it certainly wasn't sharp like the others he'd pitched so far.
Hiroki planted his foot and twisted his body, aiming for the spot just under the ball.
'It's going to break like last time…' He thought.
WHOOOOSH
DING
The ball skyrocketed into the air above home plate, spinning like crazy. Hiroki was frozen in place after realizing that the ball had not moved like before and was merely a straight fastball.
'Damn it!'
He had missed such a perfect opportunity to get a big hit, all because he predicted incorrectly.
Leo flung his face mask off and quickly got underneath the ball. Aside from the spin, the ball went straight up into the air with what should be an easy catch.
With no surprises, Leo safely collected the ball into his glove, quickly showing the umpire.
"Out! 3 outs, changeover!"
A look of disappointment crept onto Hiroki's face as he made his way off the field.
He was too distracted to notice the look of relief on both Leo and Ryan's face. Both of them instinctively knew that it was an easy pitch.
However, 2 sets of sharp eyes saw everything.
"If what you say is true, then I think we just found a path back in the game." Coach Takashi said as he stroked his goatee.
A smile crept onto Ken's features as he seemed to realize it too.
"There's a reason why there is certain grips for each type of pitch… Without experience, meatballs like those are bound to appear in time." The coach continued.
Ken nodded. While it seemed that Ryan had evolved earlier than he did because of Ken, it may have been too premature.
As the coach had eluded to before, Ryan lacked the adequate baseball experience in order to properly make use of such a technique.
'If he pitched 9 times with only 1 meatball, then we might only have 1 chance per inning to actually get a hit…' Ken thought inwardly.
Of course their odds would increase if they could foul off some balls and waste pitches.
While Ken was deep in thought, Coach Takashi placed his hand on his shoulder, snapping him out of his reverie.
"For now, place your focus on the mound. We'll have no chance if you can't keep the heavy hitters at bay." He said with a grin.
Ken could feel the trust from the Head Coach and suddenly felt warm inside. There was a part of him that felt a little guilty for being discontent with his position as a closing pitcher, but he quickly threw that to the back of his mind.
He grabbed his glove, shooting his father a brief smile before heading onto the field.
For the first time in a long time, he felt butterflies in his stomach as he made his way up to the mound. Despite the crowd having less people in attendance than Koshien, it felt like the stakes were higher.
Of course they were, this was the finals of the U18 World Cup.
Ken slowed down his approach to the mound, taking in the atmosphere.
"YAY! GO KEN!! GO DAICHI!!"
He felt a smile pull at the corner of his lips as he heard his mother's voice echo out. Despite being in such a large stadium, she was still audible.
"It looks like they've brought out Ken Takagi as a starting pitcher for this game. Apparently the Japanese U18 coach is taking your advice Mr. Tanaka."
"Mmm, it seemed like the most logical choice to make after his past performances in the World Cup." Yu Tanaka responded simply.
"Ah! There he is!" Rie shouted, pointing at the TV.
"What!? W-Wait for me." Ai shouted from the bathroom, her FOMO on full display.
She quickly burst into the lounge, fixing up her shorts along the way.
Ai stood in front of the TV, looking at the close up of Ken now standing atop the mound. His face had a carefree smile on it, making her smile subconsciously.
Her heart was filled with pride as she watched him intently.
'I miss you Ken…'