Ken slowly walked up to the mound, his eyes moving towards the Dodgers bench. His gaze locked onto the catcher who was talking trash earlier, a small grin forming on his face.
'I wonder when that guy is batting. Hopefully he's one of the clean-up batters so I can use showdown on him…' Ken thought excitedly.
But he quickly shook his head, now wasn't the time to be hyper focused on one individual. After receiving the ball from Steve, Ken began to warm up his arm.
After his usual 10 or so warm-up throws, Ken nodded towards the umpire to let him know that he was ready.
The umpire nodded, gesturing towards the player waiting not far away.
"Batting first, Center outfield, Michael."
The announcer called for the first batter. Despite his average height, the guy looked like one of those athletic types that one saw in the track and field events. Though Ken didn't like to judge a book by its cover, it was clear that this guy would have some speed.
Ken looked to Steve who was calling for a two-seam fastball. He nodded, getting into position a moment later. Ken paused, taking a deep breath as he gathered his focus. This would be his 9th game after only 4 days of the tournament.
Even though this was more games than the U18 World Cup, the matches had felt rather easy-going. Perhaps it was because the level of competition was lower, or maybe the stakes weren't the same.
Either way, his arm felt light and he felt a sense of excitement that he hadn't felt in a very long time. 'Please don't disappoint me…' Ken thought, turning his gaze to the batter.
He raised his front leg, bringing both his hands up to his chest. Kicking off with his back leg, he strode forward, opening his hips and generating a ton of torque.
Everything flowed naturally from his legs to his arms, creating a beautiful display for those watching. Before they knew it, the ball had already left Ken's fingertips.
WHOOOOSH
CLICK
"Eh?"
Ken was surprised when he saw that the batter had managed to make contact with the ball. He stared as the ball flew up into the air, directly above him.
"Catch it!" Steve called, seeing as how Ken was unmoving, merely staring at the ball headed towards him.
'Hmm… I didn't expect him to hit the very first pitch.' Ken thought, frowning.
In the midst of his deep thought, he nonchalantly swiped his glove out, easily securing the ball that had floated towards him.
"Out."
Steve let out a sigh of relief after seeing Ken secure the out. At first he thought that the guy was daydreaming and would miss out on the easy catch, but thankfully that didn't happen.
It still didn't stop him from calling for a timeout though.
While the batter was leaving, Steve jogged up to the mound and confronted Ken. "Dude, we're in the finals, you can't be daydreaming like that." He stated.
Ken raised an eyebrow, "I'm not daydreaming… I was just thinking about something."
"Isn't that the same thing?" Steve replied incredulously.
Ken shook his head in response. "I think they're aiming for my fastball…"
This time, Steve looked completely dumbfounded. "You've literally thrown a single pitch… How can you make such an assumption?"
"Intuition." He responded simply.
Seeing that his friend was having a hard time believing him, Ken chuckled. "Mix up some fastballs outside the strike zone and we'll see."
"Hmm? But you hate wasting pitches…"
"It won't be a wasted pitch if they swing… Now go back before they think something is up." Ken said, waving him off.
Although he was a little skeptical, Steve still did as he was told, though he mumbled some things on the way back to home plate. He turned to the umpire and thanked him before getting into position.
"Batting 2nd, Short stop, Kyle."
Steve briefly glanced at the next batter and thought for a few moments. Eventually, he called for a fastball just above the strike zone, in order to test Ken's theory. Of course he thought it was far too early to make such an assumption, but there was no harm in trying.
'It's his arm that will get tired anyway…' Steve reasoned.
Ken nodded, flashing him a grin. In the next moment he entered his wind up and sent the ball flying towards the outstretched catchers glove. Due to the spin, the ball felt like it was rising gradually the closer it got to the plate.
WHOOOOOSH
PAH
"Strike."
The batter almost lost his balance, having thrown everything into the swing. He looked a little confused, but quickly recovered.
Ken's eyes lit up, tipping his hat towards Steve as if to say "I told you so."
But Steve shook his head in response. Just because the guy had swung on one of his fastballs, didn't mean that his theory was true.
Thinking this, Steve called for another fastball, this time on the outside, intending to disprove Ken's words.
Ken merely smiled and nodded, getting into position.
WHOOOOSH
PAH
"Strike."
'Eh? Are they really only swinging at fastballs?' Steve thought, his expression filled with incredulity. He didn't know who had given them this tactic, but it could easily be countered once they learned about it.
To make matters even worse for the Dodgers, Steve had just learned that Ken also had an additional 2 pitches in his repertoire, making their tactics even more useless.
Steve grinned, feeling as if they now had an edge. Not wanting to give up their advantage and have the Dodgers suspect something, Steve called for a changeup towards the inside of the strike zone.
Ken couldn't help but let out a small chuckle, seeing the dastardly lead. At this point they were just playing with the batters emotions.
But he wasn't complaining. If anything there was a small sense of vindication when he thought back to how hard he'd failed in his previous at-bat.
He wound up, sending his killer changeup directly towards Steve's outstretched glove.
WHOOOOSH
PAH
"Strikeout!"