'That bastard…' Brady thought, gnashing his teeth.
With only 1 out for the inning, Ken had taken a risk by stealing 2nd base. If it had been any other pitch apart from the curveball, Brady was confident in reacting to the steal in time, netting them an easy out.
He was even confident that Landon on 2nd base would be able to throw back to him in time to prevent the runner on 3rd from stealing home.
Unfortunately, this series of events just happened to not go in their favor. Now the Dodgers were behind in the count with both runners in scoring position.
Brady thought for a while, his eyes moving to Max in the batters box.
'First base is open, we may as well walk this guy.' He thought, throwing the ball back to Cade on the mound. In the next moment he stood up and held his glove out to the right, indicating for an intentional walk.
"Eh? He's walking Max?" Ken muttered, feeling a little surprised by the action. He knitted his brows, trying to figure out a reason why he would want to load the bases, before remembering his neglected Game Intelligence grade.
However, a few of the scouts nodded with appreciation in the audience.
"It's a good decision, especially since this number 4 batter for the Gladiators has been hitting well lately." Tony remarked, jotting down some notes in his notepad.
"Mmm, it seems like that catcher is a smart one. If he continued, Max would have sent one over the fence." Lorenzo commented, a small grin on his face.
"I take it he's the one you've got your eye on?" Tony replied, not even sparing his cousin a glance.
Lorenzo let out a chuckle, "What gave it away?"
Not even responding, Tony turned his attention back to the game.
"Ball four, take your base."
Max was a little disappointed, but he threw his bat to the side and leisurely made his way over to first base.
With the bases now loaded, a simple grounder would likely result in a double play, putting the pressure back on the Gladiators. It was a brilliant decision by Brady who seemed to possess great game intelligence for his age.
"Eh? This isn't good…" Steve said, feeling a sense of foreboding creeping up.
"Go get ready to bat." Coach Wyatt said, slapping him on the back.
Steve flinched, but he quickly did as he was told. Part of him hoped that he wouldn't have to go up in this situation, but it didn't seem like he had a choice.
"Batting 5th, Left outfield, Dion."
As Dion approached the batters box, he looked a little nervous. He had struck out in succession in his last at-bat, but now the pressure was amplified. One slip up and they could lose the opportunity that the others had worked so hard to create.
He gripped his bat tightly, staring at the pitcher who had already begun his wind-up. In a flash, he threw a fastball to the outside.
PAH
"Strike."
Feeling sweat run down his back from the pressure, Dion didn't even get a chance to swing at the first pitch.
"You can do it Dion! Swing big!" Steve called out from the side of the field. He tried his best to sound confident, but inwardly he just wanted the guy to at least secure a sacrifice fly so he wouldn't have as much pressure.
Dion was like a drowning man who'd been thrown a life jacket. He turned to Steve and nodded, determination appearing on his features. Perhaps it was because it was the final game of the tournament, but he felt much more nervous than usual.
'It's my job to send the runners home…' He thought, gripping his bat tightly.
He turned to the pitcher once more, this time with a fire in his eyes.
WHOOOSH
CLICK
"Foul."
"Ah, crap." Steve muttered under his breath.
Now that the count was 0-2, things were not looking good. The worst case scenario for the team was for Dion to hit a grounder and put an end to the inning with a double play.
Yet for Steve, the worst case would be if Dion were to strike out. This would mean that all of the pressure would be on him.
'Please hit the ball… please hit it.'
Steve crossed his fingers, not even wanting to watch the play unfold.
CLICK
PAH
"Strikeout!"
Dion held his follow through for a few moments before his shoulders drooped. He had failed to convert, putting their team in an even more precarious position.
As he walked over to the bench he placed his hand on Steve's shoulder, "Sorry man, it's all up to you."
Steve was wearing an unreadable expression on his face, but Dion felt that it looked determined. As he went past, he felt confident that the guy would be able to convert at least one run for them.
'It's over…'
Steve on the other hand was having a crisis. He felt all of the eyes on and off the field turn to him, creating a looming pressure that threatened to crush him.
"Batting 6th, Catcher, Stephen."
Hearing his name called, Steve flinched before quickly coming up to the batters box. He briefly looked at the pitcher before seeing his teammates on each of the bases.
His eyes turned to Ken who looked to be trying to get his attention.
However, he was too distracted by the pressure to properly pay attention to what he wanted to communicate. As he turned his gaze back to the pitcher, the guy began his powerful wind-up, striding forward with intent.
The ball snaked through the air, ending up towards the outside of the strike zone.
PAH
"Strike."
Steve sucked in a cold breath of air. There was no way that he could hit the wicked slider from this pitcher, not without seeing it a few more times.
He looked up once more, only to see Ken's dark gaze locked onto him.