WHOOOOSH
THWACK!
"ORYAHHHH!"
Ken jumped to his feet, unconsciously screaming out an old catch phrase that his former captain used to shout all the time. He had been so wound up that he didn't even notice his outburst until after the fact.
Following his shout, the rest of the bench whooped and cheered as the ball made its way into the outfield. It didn't take long for it to reach the back fence, clearing it by at least 15 feet.
With the home run now secured, Max couldn't hide his grin as he ran around the bases. He pumped his fist, the adulation evident in his figure.
"Damn, he smacked that thing…" Steve said, giving a whistle of approval. But he turned to Ken in the next moment with a weird look, "What the hell did you shout out just then?"
Ken shrugged, "Just a war cry."
Steve blinked a few times, suddenly imagining a bunch of Samurai Warriors wielding their Katana's and screaming the phrase "ORYAHHH" before running into battle.
"Mmm, truly terrifying." He mumbled, scratching his chin.
Unaware of his friend's weird fantasy, Ken grinned as Max made his way back to the bench. Though it was only the first step towards his goal, the home run would leave a lasting impression on the scouts.
His teammates were ecstatic as Max returned, dishing out high fives like they were on sale. Ken let them go first, sitting back and watching with a smile.
Many of the players in the team had played with Max for many years now, so he didn't want to get in the middle of their celebration. But when he moved past them, Ken stuck out his fist.
"Just a few more of those and you won't have to worry about not receiving any offers." He said, flashing him a grin.
"Heh, no problem." Max replied, completing the fist bump.
With Max's home run, the Gladiators were now ahead by 4 runs in the bottom of the first. To no ones surprise, the game quickly became a rout.
The pitcher who was a good prospect, crumbled under the pressure from the batting line up. It was rather sad to see, but he was taken off in the 2nd inning after giving up even more runs.
Eventually, the game was brought to a close in the bottom of the 4th inning with a score of 11-1.
Happy that the game came to a close early, Ken stretched his muscles and let out a satisfied sigh. Even though he was walked in his 2nd at-bat, Dion had sent him and Max home with a stellar home run.
'Now I can finally start pitching.' Ken mused inwardly, his gaze falling upon the mustachioed coach.
As if feeling someone looking at him, Coach Wyatt froze and slowly turned around. He saw Ken smiling weirdly at him, causing a sense of unease to creep up into his psyche.
Ken approached, the odd smile still gracing his lips, "I'm pitching next game right?" He asked sweetly.
"Y—Yes. Of course…" The coach said, placing his hand on the guy's shoulder. It felt a little weird to do so since Ken was around half a head taller than him.
"Okay great. For a moment there I thought you were going to exile me into the outfield again next game. Haha…" Ken's laugh was haunting, causing a shiver to run up the coach's back.
"Ha-Haha, don't be ridiculous." Coach Wyatt replied, trying to smile back. However, a cold sweat began to form on his back.
After seeing Ken walk away, the coach let out a sigh of relief. He had been considering putting Ken into the outfield next game and saving him for the tougher matches, but thankfully he hadn't announced it.
'I guess I can always switch him to outfield mid-game if needed.' He thought, however just imagining Ken's expression made him feel goosebumps.
Coach Wyatt quickly shook his head, discarding the idea. It was better off if he just let Ken play the entire game, then he wouldn't have to deal with any annoyed scouts that might annoy him after the fact.
"Alright guys, pack your things up, we're going to go look at our potential opponents." He said, hurrying the players off the field.
Thanks to the game finishing in the 4th inning, they had plenty of time till their next match. This also meant that they would be able to go watch the game which would decide their next opponent.
Everyone left the field after about 5 minutes, following the coach along the pathway and over to field number 2.
Ken moved his eyes to the scoreboard and felt a little odd. The two teams playing were the Home Plate Chili Dogs and SBA Bolts National, such odd names for a baseball team.
However, he soon moved past it. The Chili Dogs were ahead by 1 run in the bottom of the 5th, which meant the game would likely go the full 9 innings, not that he was too eager to begin right away.
Ken got settled in, taking a seat on the grass as he watched the game casually.
"So we're facing the winner of these guys?" Steve asked, plopping himself down next to Ken.
"Apparently."
"So? What do you think?"
Ken turned his gaze to Steve, an incredulous expression painted on his features. "I've been here for 30 seconds, what do you expect me to say?"
"Mmm, you're right. But I think Chili Dogs are going to win." He said confidently, turning his attention back to the game seriously.
'Hmm? Does he know something that I don't?' Ken thought, looking at his friend curiously.
"Care to elaborate?" He asked.
"Well, Chili Dogs are delicious. Any team who is named after something so good can't be bad right?"
Ken felt his eye twitch after hearing the absurd reasoning, resisting the urge to deliver a gut punch to the guy beside him. Only someone stupid would base their decision off of something like the name of the team.
"Haaahh. Sometimes I worry about you man…"