Ken and the Gladiators team arrived at East Cobb fields once again for day 3 of the tournament. Since it was now the single elimination brackets, there were a lot less teams competing, but now they would be playing up to 3 games today.
The team found their field and immediately began to warm up. Things were on a tight schedule, so the organizers were constantly checking in with the teams on a regular basis.
Their first match of the day was against Chicago Scouts Association, one of the wild cards who were selected out of the group stages. Since the Gladiators were seeded at #2, the Chicago team was ranked 2nd to last.
"I heard that this team has a decent pitcher." Steve said, nudging Ken while they waited for their turn in the grounders drill.
Ken merely grunted, clearly not in the best of moods.
Steve caught this, but he didn't respond since he expected the guy to be sulking. A wry smile crept onto his lips before he tried to comfort his friend.
"Bro, you can't pitch to start every game. The coach is just worried you might injure yourself if you throw too much." He said, placing a hand on the guy's shoulder.
Ken glared at Steve, making his annoyance known. "I used to pitch 200 or more times back in Japan without an issue, you think I can't handle it?"
Steve stepped back, holding his hands up in submission, "Hey man, don't lash out at me. I didn't choose to exile—Ahem, move you to the outfield."
His slip of the tongue only caused Ken to let out another groan of annoyance.
"Ken!"
WHACK
Ken quickly reacted to the call from one of the assistants, leaping in and pouncing onto a ground ball. In one fluid motion, he sent a rocket-like throw to the unfortunate Nico who was acting as the first baseman.
Thankfully, the throw was pinpoint accurate, landing directly into the outstretched glove of the guy. Yet that didn't stop the cold sweat that suddenly formed on Nico's back.
'H—He's trying to kill me…' Nico thought, thanking his lucky stars he had survived.
Coach Wyatt watched on with a hint of amusement in his eyes. He didn't blame Ken for throwing a little tantrum, in fact, he was young once and had acted similar in the past.
However, he was not as reserved as Ken. Despite being unhappy with the decision, Ken quickly accepted it with a respectful attitude before excusing himself.
As a coach, he couldn't fault the kid. From his perspective, it was fine to be upset about a decision, as long as he didn't disrespect or lash out at the coach. This would make him appear professional and coachable, which in turn would make him even more appealing to professional teams.
'I probably should let him pitch in the next game though…' Coach Wyatt thought, not wanting to test Ken's patience.
Not only that, if he were to not let Ken play as a pitcher in this bracket, he would likely be bombarded with complaints from all the College scouts and coaches who were in attendance.
He let out a sigh, 'Being a coach is hard…'
Soon enough, the game had kicked off with Chicago opting to bat first. With a sour expression, Ken trudged his way to the right outfield and took up his post, glaring at the mound.
Brett, who was the starting pitcher for the game, felt as if he was being watched like a hawk. He turned around, only to see Ken's death stare pointed directly at him.
Almost jumping in fright, he quickly turned around and let out a sigh. He was feeling even more pressure than usual thanks to Ken in the outfield.
'I better not mess up…' He thought to himself, trying to steady his wildly beating heart.
The first batter came up to the batters box, his body archetype revealing that he likely excelled in speed. The long and defined legs seemed as if they could cover some serious ground.
"Play ball!"
At the umpires shout, the crowd burst into cheers.
Brett sent the first ball roaring towards the plate on an outside course. Steve had called a fastball for the first pitch, switching up from the slider that he usually preferred.
Unfortunately, on the very first swing, the batter was able to make contact.
WHOOOOSH
WHACK
Brett's face dropped as he saw the ball get smacked over first base and bounce just inside the foul zone.
'Damn it!'
The batters legs kicked off, zooming towards first base with tremendous acceleration. He briefly glanced at the position of the fielder before making the decision to sneak in for a double.
Ken let out a huff, annoyed that the very first ball was hit. Inwardly he blamed both Steve and Brett, but he didn't lag on his defense.
By the time he got to the ball, he saw the batters body tilt towards 2nd base.
'He wants a double?' Ken was at first gobsmacked, but it soon turned to annoyance after being underestimated.
He bent down and scooped up the ball before pivoting his body. His eyes locked onto Ryan on 2nd base before taking a stride and throwing the ball with force towards him.
The trajectory was low and fast, but it was spot on. It bounced on the turf once, easily being collected around knee height by Ryan.
The batter who had just begun his slide, suddenly turned pale as he saw the ball enter the 2nd baseman's glove.
'W—What!? He got that?' He screamed inwardly, trying to move his foot away from the tag. Unfortunately for him, Ryan wasn't going to fall for such a move as he quickly tagged him with relative ease.
"Out!"
"Whoa! What an arm."
"Haaah, why didn't he take the single."
The crowd burst into excitement, some lamenting the runners actions, while the others praising Ken's fielding and pinpoint throw. All in all, it was a mixture of bad running and good fielding.