"Wow that kid got lucky." Tony exclaimed after seeing the misfield.
"Mmm, it's rare that Caleb makes a mistake like that." Lorenzo added, "He was another player that we had our eye on, but the guy didn't want to leave Texas."
Tony nodded, since the professional leagues were so competitive, it wasn't uncommon for a player to be highly sought after by many teams. Unless one could offer a ridiculous contract, no one could guarantee that the player would choose their team.
This was why Tony had learned from early on to never get too attached to anyone. Even if he were to pull in favors from everywhere, the final say would come from the organization itself.
Thinking about this, his gaze moved to the freakish Junior celebrating with his teammates on the field. 'He has the potential… But will the organization see it that way?' He mused inwardly.
On the Dodgers bench, Coach Roberts let out a sigh. He could feel the mood on the field drop instantly after giving up the grand slam.
His eyes moved to Cade who seemed to be his usual stoic self on the mound and felt a little better. But upon seeing Brady with his head lowered, Coach Roberts could tell that he was affected by the play.
Without a word, he walked up onto the field and addressed the umpire, "Timeout please."
With a quick glance, the umpire nodded and made the gesture, allowing for the timeout. Since the Gladiators players were still leaving the field, it wouldn't disrupt the game play too much.
"Brady, lift your head." Coach Roberts said, placing his hand on the teen's shoulder. "It was a lucky hit, there's no use in beating yourself up about it."
Brady flinched, lifting his head slowly. He looked a little confused to see the coach out here, but he slowly understood. "I'll take the blame." He replied resolutely.
The coach shook his head, "You made the right decision walking the 4th batter. 9 times out of 10 it would have worked in our favor," he said matter-of-factly, "Now you need to move past it, we'll get the runs back somehow."
"Mmm. Don't worry coach, I won't let them score again this game…" Brady replied eventually.
Seeing the resolute expression on his catcher's face, Coach Roberts nodded in satisfaction. "Good. Leave everything out here on the field, I don't want us to have any regrets after this game ends."
With that, he walked away, thanking the umpire on his way back to the bench.
Brady watched his retreating figure, feeling a surge of determination flow through him. He turned to Cade on the mound, only to see the guy staring back at him. Letting out a small chuckle, he sent the guy a thumbs up.
'That damn Cade, does he ever feel any emotion?' He mused inwardly.
While the Dodgers were overcoming their crisis, the Gladiators had only just begun to calm down after the unexpected grand slam from Steve. The man of the moment was currently rubbing his backside, his face turned up in a pained scowl.
"You heartless bastards, why did you attack my poor derrière" He complained bitterly.
Ken let out an amused chuckle, his mood great. "What do you mean man? We're just showing our appreciation for your amazing play."
"Yeah," Latrell added, "We had so much appreciation that we just needed to let it all out."
"Hahaha!"
The group were feeling jolly as they settled on the bench together. The coach was probably the most animated out of all of them, his grin almost a permanent fixture on his lips.
"I'm gonna need some ice tonight…" Steve muttered, feeling his backside throbbing from all the slaps.
"Ah, yeah you should probably grab some extra for when you use the toilet too." Ken replied, stifling an evil laugh.
"Eh? What do you mea—" Before he could finish his question, Steve's face paled, remembering the copious amount of hot sauce he was forced to eat at lunch today. Even now he could still feel the remnant sting on his lips.
Seeing this, Ken's lips turned up into a mischievous smile, "Let's just hope you don't need to go before we get back to the hotel. There's still the award ceremony after the game finishes as well."
This time, Steve turned to his friend, grabbing the front of his uniform, "N—No way man! We need to end this quick!" He exclaimed, almost pleadingly.
Ken shrugged, "Unless we're up by at least 8 runs by the 5th inning, we'll have to play the whole 9."
"Strikeout!"
"3 outs, changeover."
The sound of the umpire calling an end to the inning sounded, prompting Ken to pry Steve's hands from him and stand up. He casually fixed his uniform and grabbed his glove and hat, ready to take the field once more.
On the opposite bench, Coach Roberts began rounding up his players. While he had already had a chat to Brady in order to put out the immediate fire, he still needed to speak to the team as a whole.
"First of all, great effort in the outfield Caleb. If anyone else tried to grab that ball, they wouldn't have even been close." He said, nodding towards the tall outfielder.
At his words the team let out a resounding agreement. Though it sucked that they weren't able to prevent the Grand Slam, it was a fact that if any of them had tried, they would also fail.
Caleb felt a little better after the words of his coach, his head rising a little in response.
"Let's move past this inning and really focus. You've all had a chance to face the pitcher now, so like I said earlier, I want to see you making contact with the fastballs this time around." He said, his eyes scanning the players.
"Yes coach!"
"Mmm. Very good, it seems like you all haven't given up just yet. Bring it in." A small smile crept onto the man's face as he held his hand out.
"3, 2, 1"
"DODGERS!"