After a quick shower and some breakfast, the team left the motel and made their way back to the Academy. The mood was jolly, likely a result from their performances the day prior.
Ken and Steve got out of the red Silverado, heading towards the field they were playing on. Since it was the second day, only 6 teams with the best record had made it through to the single elimination round.
"You all good man?" Ken asked, his gaze moving to Steve's obviously fatigued figure.
Steve groaned in response, his knees buckling every now and then. Ken would have laughed if they didn't have to play a possible 3 games today.
"Steve, what's wrong with you?" Coach Wyatt's voice asked, prompting the two to look in his direction.
However, it was as if a switch was flipped. Steve suddenly stood up straight, puffing out his chest and letting out an awkward laugh. "Ha Haha, nothing coach! Just a little tired is all." He responded quickly.
Coach Wyatt raised his eyebrow, a suspicious look creeping onto his face. "Well you better wake up, we're against the Panthers first up. With the exception of Ken, their pitcher is the best in this tournament."
Ken's ears perked up, his curiosity piqued. Unlike the baseball he played in Japan where film study was a regular occurrence, it seemed like this team did not have such a practice.
"What's he like?" Ken asked.
"He can pitch around 93mph and has a wicked change up. I have a feeling it might be a pitchers duel." Coach Wyatt responded, however he didn't seem too worried. In fact, the guy was giving him an expectant look.
"It doesn't matter, as long as we can score one run, the game is ours." Max seemingly appeared out of nowhere, his confident tone surprising Ken.
It seemed that the guy had quite the opinion of Ken.
"He's right. We just need to keep playing like we have been and the tournament is ours." This time it was Steve who piped up, building on the confident words of his Captain.
Ken shook his head, letting out a small chuckle. He didn't mind the vote of confidence, but there was never a sure thing in baseball.
Eventually, they made their way to the 2nd field and placed their things on the bench. The game was starting at 8am which gave them around 20 minutes to warm up and begin their drills.
When it was time for the game to start, Ken felt a little odd. He was still not used to forgoing the bowing tradition that he was so used to in Japan.
"Gladiators will be batting first." The umpire announced.
Ken took a seat and watched as the pitcher for the Panthers came up to the mound. The guy had brown skin and large shoulders with a bit of a stomach. He kind of reminded Ken of Gustavo, the Cuban pitcher he met at the U18 World Cup.
As they went through the warm up throws, Steve spoke up beside him. "That's the guy, Alex Vega. I heard he's already got a few college offers."
Ken nodded, paying close attention to the guy's movements. His throwing action was rather quick, almost as if he was only sliding forward with his lead leg. Sometimes, timing like this could throw the batter off, giving him less time to react to the pitch.
"He seems decent." Ken replied. Though his words might sound a little arrogant, he had played against the best U18 players in the world.
"Good luck Nico."
"Get on base for us!"
Nico Daniels the lead-off batter for the Gladiators walked up to the batters box, his expression taciturn. His eyes scanned the pitcher, but there was no hint of hesitation in his gaze, only determination.
Ken nodded in approval. There was no point in being afraid of this pitcher, worry and dread would only weigh on a player and cause them to perform poorly.
"Play ball!"
With the umpires shout, a few cheers rang out from the spectators and the game was underway.
The atmosphere quickly turned tense as Alex's whole demeanor seemed to shift. His expression was fierce, as if he was about to enter a life or death bout against his opponent.
His large body skipped forward, sending the first ball rocketing towards the outstretched glove of the catcher.
PAH
The action was so quick that Nico didn't have a chance to react in time. This was the advantage of his short wind-up, disrupting the timing of the batter.
"Strike."
Like that, the first strike came quickly, causing a few murmurs to sound out in the crowd. There was no screen showing the speed of the pitch, but the spectators could easily see that it was fast.
"Nice pitch Alex!" The catcher called out, sending the ball back to him.
A small grin crept onto the pitchers face as he received the ball. If Ken was close enough to see it, he would have felt the disdain painted on the guys face.
PAH
The next pitch arrived just as quick as the last one, once again finding the open glove of the catcher with no interruptions on its path.
"Strike."
This time, Nico's face morphed slightly. It was the second time that he'd allowed the ball to pass without swinging, giving up another easy strike. Nothing made him more annoyed than this, after all, it was his job as the lead-off batter to get onto base.
He gripped the bat tightly and took up his position once more, a fire dancing in his eyes.
Alex scoffed inwardly at the display, his arrogance barely hidden beneath the surface. In his mind, a sub-par player in a regional tournament had no way of hitting his pitches, it was just absurd thinking about it.
The only reason he was playing in this tournament was to attract more offers from College programs, otherwise he wouldn't have bothered attending.
With his confidence sky high, Alex shot forward and threw another fastball, aiming for the outside of the strike zone.