"Out! Game Set."
The field was silent for a few moments before it suddenly erupted with cheers. The Seiko players came running at full speed to Daichi to celebrate, their joyful emotions evident on their faces.
The Itakura squad was crestfallen. Despite being held scoreless, there had been a few opportunities for them to reverse the lead in a single swoop. If Hayato had been in the starting line up, the end result could have been a lot different.
Ken saw Hayato grit his teeth and bow his head in frustration before leaving the field. He contemplated talking to the young teen, however eventually decided not to.
Losing was a big part of baseball, he believed that Hayato would grow stronger from this experience. After all, such things would have shaped him into the professional player he was in Ken's previous life. Who was he to meddle in such affairs that could change the youths trajectory?
Once the celebrations died down a little, Ken was finally able to approach Daichi. Yet instead of saying anything, he held out his fist and grinned widely.
Daichi returned the smile, fist bumping his brother. Some things did not require words to be verbalized since they were so close.
Seiko returned to the bus after some time, still jubilant from their win. Even Coach Yoshida seemed to be in a great mood after how the team had played.
Ken and Daichi returned home and broke the news to Yuki, the excitement of making it to the semi-finals of the Kanto tournament did not disappear even after a few days.
A few days later, Yuki could see a significant shift in her son. She noticed that he was no longer frowning or looking deep in thought, it was as if his worries had disappeared overnight.
Although she may not have verbalized it, she had been worried about Ken's behavior for a while now. Ever since he had that episode at the start of the school year, she felt as if there was something he wasn't telling her.
Almost like there was a burden hanging over his head that he was keeping to himself.
Yet now it was as if her son had returned to his former self. His face was carefree, lacking any stress or worries that he was carrying before.
She could now breathe a sigh of relief.
Ken was laying in bed staring at the ceiling of his room. He had been unable to remove the smile from his face for the past few days, still riding high from the victory over Itakura.
It was currently the beginning of July which meant that summer break was coming up. If they could defeat their next opponent Fujimi Junior High then they would be headed straight to the finals.
Just thinking about this filled him with excitement which made it difficult to fall asleep. However, persistence was key in such situations. After about 30 minutes of tossing and turning he finally entered a slumber, dreaming about playing on the big stage with his brother.
Having his mind focused solely on baseball, Ken had completely forgotten that finals exams were the following week. Therefore the next 4 days were a blur as he tried his best to cram and review the lessons from the past month and a half.
Thanks to his B+ Mental grade, his memory and cognitive abilities had been strengthened considerably, allowing him to study efficiently compared to before.
Then came Saturday, the day of the Semi-Final against Fujimi Junior High. They had been crowned champions in last years Kanto Tournament and still retained a solid player base despite losing some of their 3rd years.
This was the team that Seiko had lost to in his previous life. Not because of 1 player, but because the whole team was solid in both fielding and batting.
Fujimi's coach was also a large factor for their success, relying on small ball tactics in order to get runs on the board. Using such a tactic in middle school baseball helped drill efficient plays into the players at the cost of limiting their freedom.
Every play was designed to get the most of the innings, whether it was sacrifice bunts or pop-fly's into the outfield to secure runs on the board.
Despite Ken's best effort in his previous life, he still gave up 5 runs against their suffocating tactics.
'Things will be different this time.' Ken said inwardly, eyeing the opposition coach.
He was a man in his early sixties, garbed in the same uniform as the players and wore thick gold rimmed glasses. Everything about him screamed old school.
Even though he was wearing a smile during the handshake, Ken knew that the old man was a stern and steadfast coach that was similar to his own coach. He demanded perfection from his players, despite their young ages.
Coach Yoshida differed in his opinions while carrying a similar disposition. He still understood that his players were kids and therefore leaned towards guiding them rather than demanding what they would do.
This is why Ken liked their coach. This became even more apparent in this life now that he had already experienced the world as an adult for some time. Things that were lost or went unnoticed while he was a teenager became glaringly obvious.
He could see the joy on his Coach's face when the kids performed well, yet he never scolded someone when they made a simple mistake. His tough exterior and soft interior was perfect for nurturing a junior baseball team.
Ken felt the drive to beat Fujimi even more. He couldn't let the team that Coach Yoshida built be bested by such tactics.
Seiko lost the toss and was forced to bat first.
"Alright, this is the semi-final of the Kanto Tournament. We only need to win this game and then we're in the finals. I don't have much else to tell you other than do your best and have fun." The Coach gave a simple address to the team while the pitcher was warming up his arm on the field.