"Strikeout!"
"Game set, Gladiators."
Ken pumped his fist and was about to get down from the mound, however he was soon bombarded by his teammates who seemed far more excited than him.
"We did it! 4 wins in the group stage!"
"You're crazy man."
Ken could feel the excitement from his teammates after securing back to back victories on day 2 of the tournament. Unlike the pitchers duel against the Elite Squad, their matches today were both not even close.
While he didn't share the same level of enthusiasm as these guys, he still felt a level of accomplishment. The only issue was, it seemed a little too easy.
Steve was one of the last to arrive, leaping towards Ken like an overexcited puppy. Ken had no room to move, so he was forced to catch the guy, leading to quite an embarrassing posture.
Seeing Steve in a princess carry with his arms wrapped around Ken's neck caused some people in the crowd to reveal weird expressions. If those at McCallum High were present, the scene would only confirm the rumor that had been spreading just before prom.
Ken and Steve locked eyes with the latter smiling sweetly, as if reveling in their victory. The sound of the surroundings seemed to drown out as it seemed the two were having a moment.
Yet Ken's face morphed, turning dark.
"GET THE HELL OFF ME~" He shouted, bending his knees as if they were a spring. With a surge of strength, Ken hoisted with all of his might, catapulting the figure of Steve into the air and over his head.
He was thrown like a ragdoll, despite weighing 180 pounds.
The coach appeared just as Steve flew through the air, narrowly dodging him as his body hit the floor beside him. Completely ignoring the guy, he called out excitedly, "Well done everyone!"
Everyone turned their attention to the coach, marveling at his dancing mustache.
"Let's quickly get off the field, there's another match left for the day." He said, ushering everybody to get moving.
There was also the fact that this was only the group stages, so excessive celebration might seem disrespectful at this point. He could already imagine the things people would say if they had an early departure from the single-elimination tournament that started tomorrow.
Ken didn't have to be told twice, quickly leaving the field and his friend in the dirt.
The team were abuzz, chattering away excitedly amongst each other. Out of all of them, Ken was probably the one who seemed the most calm, making him stand out among the players.
Moving over to the bench, Ken began to pack his things into his bag and hoisted it over his shoulder. He was about to leave before seeing a limping figure look at him with puppy dog eyes.
"That was mean." Steve said, rubbing his backside.
"You deserved it."
"What!? I was just celebrating with you." He exclaimed, looking as if he'd been wronged.
Ken leaned forward, "Half the school already thinks we swing that way, do you want the entire nation to think so as well? What will Steph think if she sees you in a man's arms?"
Only now did Steve's face morph into one of horror. His relationship was still brand new, he didn't want anything to jeopardize it at all.
He nodded like a pecking chicken, "I understand."
With that now cleared up, Ken joined the rest of the team and headed back towards the bus which would take them to their hotel.
"How long does it take the site to update the games?"
Ken overheard Latrell ask Nico, as they were heading back to the bus.
"It's usually pretty quick, especially for their national tournaments."
"Hey, what site are you talking about?" Ken asked, feeling his curiosity piqued.
The two stopped in place and sent him a weird look. "The Perfect Game website. You know, the one where scouts can look at your player profile?"
"Hmm? Let me see."
The two happened to have Latrell's player profile open, showing his previous games and his averages. Ken had never been into statistics, so he quickly skimmed past them.
"Ah, they have videos too?" He asked, surprised.
On the right hand side of the site was some videos of Latrell's batting, as well as some others which looked a little bit older.
"Yeah, there's one from a showcase I attended earlier in the year."
"And what's this grade thing?" Ken asked, pointing to a spot on the site. It said Latrell had a PG Grade of 7
"Oh, that's your PG Grade. Basically it's a score from 1 to 10, with 10 being the highest. But you won't get one of those if you don't attend a showcase." He replied.
"Mmm, I see. Did you make your own profile?"
Latrell raised an eyebrow, "We made one when we first joined the Travel Team way back then. It's pretty much essential if you want to attract any college scouts."
"Eh!? I never made one…" This time Ken was a little panicked, feeling like he'd missed out on some opportunity.
He didn't remember anyone telling him to make a profile, probably because he had joined the team after the official tryouts had already finished.
This time, Nico spoke up. "I could have sworn I saw your profile earlier when I looked at our team."
"Eh? Really?" Ken said, sounding excited.
"Let's see." Latrell replied, going back to the team's home page. After scrolling down a little, they saw Ken's name.
While everyone else had a portrait, Ken's face was blank, seemingly missing a lot of information on the profile. He opened the page and was met with the most plain looking profile they'd seen.
Seeing that Ken was trying to peer over his shoulder, Latrell handed him the phone.
Ken accepted it, looking through his profile information. He could see the games that he'd played at the Texas tournament a month ago, as well as yesterday's games.
Other than that, it was pretty bland.