"Tony! It's good to see you again man." A burly man exclaimed, opening his arms wide to embrace the new arrival.
"Lorenzo, it's been too long" The one named Tony replied, trying to wrap his arms around the large width of the burly man.
After embracing, Tony moved back and held the man at arms length. "Lorenzo my dear cousin, if Nonna see's you like this she'll have a heart attack." He said with concern, looking up and down at the guy's figure.
"Ayy, at least she'll know that I'm well fed. If Nonna saw you she'd think you were wasting away." He said, letting out a hearty laugh.
Tony looked down at his flat stomach briefly before letting out a grin. He wasn't as large as his cousins, mainly because he'd inherited his mother's genes who happened to be rather skinny.
"How ya been man? Are they treating you alright here?" Tony asked, his voice carrying concern.
"Eh, I can't complain. Georgia Tech isn't exactly where I thought I'd end up, but its got some perks. Plus, the wife really loves it here." Lorenzo replied, grinning.
"Mmm, well we miss ya back in Boston."
The two caught up for a while, as they walked to a black sedan in the parking lot of the airport. It wasn't long before their talks moved to baseball.
"Man, I wish I could have made it back home for the parade last year. I still can't believe our team won the World Series." Lorenzo said, letting out a sigh.
"Mmm, the team is still celebrating even though the season just started. Management even put more into our scouting budget, wanting to find the next best thing." He replied with a small chuckle.
Lorenzo laughed, "To think the Red Socks would be scouting High School students at the WWBA tournament… Some might think you were scraping the bottom of the barrel."
Tony shrugged, "More budget means we can afford to look anywhere and everywhere. Who knows where we'll find the next prodigy?"
The two were silent for a while as Lorenzo cruised along the highway.
"So? You seen any decent prospects yet?" Tony queried with a small grin.
"Heh. We're competitors, do you think I'll do the legwork for you?" Lorenzo quipped, flashing him a smug look.
The two laughed lightheartedly.
"There's a few decent players, but most have committed do D1 Colleges already. But there's a couple of juniors who you might like."
"Juniors?" Tony's expression turned up into a frown. What would be the point in going after a junior in High School?
"Haha, don't give me that look. You'll know what I mean when you see them a little later."
Feeling a little skeptical, Tony merely nodded. Since the draft combine had already happened and the draft was taking place in a couple of months, he didn't have much hope for this trip to Georgia.
The only reason Tony accepted the scouting trip in the first place was so he could catch up with his cousin who worked as a scout for Georgia Tech. What better excuse than work, to visit family?
Around 20 minutes later, the duo arrived at East Cobb fields. Upon finding a parking space, both Lorenzo and Tony hopped out of the car and leisurely made their way to the fields.
"There's 2 games on at the moment, Austin Gladiators vs Trosky National and Elite Squad vs Dulins Dodgers." Lorenzo said, pointing to each of the fields.
"Which one is that one?" Tony asked, pointing to the field which had far more spectators in attendance than the other.
Lorenzo's face turned up into a knowing smile, "Gladiators vs Trosky…"
Seeing that his cousin was wearing a weird expression, Tony raised his eyebrow in question. "What is it?"
"Oh, that's just the team with the two Juniors I was talking about." He replied smugly.
"Mmm, I see. It looks like they've got quite the fan base then."
"So? Wanna go check it out?" Lorenzo asked, nudging Tony with his elbow.
"Alright let's go then."
As the two walked towards the field, Lorenzo exclaimed "Ah, also don't even think about taking the clean up hitter. We already decided to extend him a scholarship."
"Hmm? You can't offer a Junior a scholarship yet…" He replied, frowning.
Lorenzo shook his head, "No this guy is a Senior. The Junior's are a pitcher and catcher duo."
"Ahhh." Tony finally understood. Despite his cousin's enthusiasm, it would take a lot for him to be impressed, especially since he was used to seeing all sorts of talent from college and minor league players.
They soon arrived, looking for an open spot where they could watch the field. Tony's gaze moved to the scoreboard instinctively and saw that it was close.
Gladiators were leading 2 runs to nothing in the 8th inning.
"That's the pitcher on the mound now." Lorenzo said, pointing to the tall figure preparing to pitch.
Tony's critical eye moved up the guys body, taking in all his information. 'He's got some good height, but he looks a little scrawny. If he can't put on some more mass, he won't be able to fully utilize his power.' He thought to himself.
He saw the guy enter his pitching stance before lifting his leg and taking a large stride forward. The ball flew out like a cannonball, heading straight for the catchers glove.
WHOOOSH
PAH
"What the f—"
"Strikeout!"
"3 outs, changeover."
Tony cursed out loud unexpectedly, not even realizing until he felt a nudge from Lorenzo.
"How'd ya like that one?" He asked, grinning ear to ear.
Tony couldn't respond right away, his gaze locked onto the Asian pitcher who had just completely subverted his initial impression. He didn't need a speed gun to know that the pitch that was just thrown had some serious speed.
"That guy is a Junior?" He asked solemnly, as if the notion was just too absurd.
"Yeah, he's actually got quite a back story. He even competed in the U18 World Cup for Japan, the team who beat us in the finals."