Once he was done, Ken walked back over to where the others were waiting. He turned his attention back to the drill, but it didn't take him long to get bored.
Thankfully, there wasn't too many people to get through after him, so around 15 minutes they were finished. Just when he thought that he'd get to rejoin the other players, the coach spoke up.
"Alright, now we'll test your arm strength." He turned to Randy and shooed him away, to which the guy picked up his makeshift base and jogged back to the next marker.
Ken was a little perplexed, but it was swiftly explained in the next moment. "Where Randy is approximately how far home plate is away from the outfield. I'm sure you don't need any more explanation."
Ken resisted the urge to roll his eyes since he thought that the outfield drills were already over. He hadn't really needed to throw back to home plate from the outfield before, so at least it would be something new for him.
'But now I gotta sit through everyone else's attempts…' He thought bitterly.
After 10 minutes, Ken's name was finally called up. He had managed to keep his shoulder warm for the duration, so he was already raring to go.
'Let's get this over with.'
Quite a few of the other players were able to get rather close to Randy with their throws, which led Ken to believe he had a shot. As for how accurate it would be, he wasn't exactly sure.
'I can probably do a one-hopper if I want to get it there accurately… Let's try that first.'
WHACK
The ball came towards him along the ground, slowing before it reached him. Ken casually collected the ball and took a few strides forward, his arm flying out like a whip as he threw.
Everyone's neck turned as they watched the ball sail through the air. Despite the obvious power of the throw, its flight path was rather low and compact. It bounced 20 feet in front of Randy before bouncing up and into his waiting glove.
No one spoke up or commented, merely watching on. Even Coach Bishop was wearing an unreadable expression as he watched the proceedings.
"Again." He said, getting Ken's attention.
'Alright, I'll try reach him on the full this time.' Ken thought, awaiting the next grounder.
WHACK
Once again, Ken collected the ball and took a few large strides towards Randy's direction. This time he aimed a little higher, putting around 90% of his power into the throw.
Since it was his first time doing something like this, he wasn't sure of what angle, nor how much strength to put into the throw. Having pitched for majority of his life, this was all new to him.
The ball was like a rocket as it flew towards Randy at his new post. Coach Bishop's eyes widened as he saw the course, not even daring to blink.
Randy who was still decked out in his protective gear, followed the ball with his eyes, watching it get closer and closer. He bent his knees, jumping into the air in order to try and catch the ball, but it flew right past his extended glove.
"Ah crap…" Ken muttered in annoyance.
But now that he had something to compare to, Ken believed that he'd be able to make the adjustments and throw accurately this time. This was the problem with doing things for the first time, it never usually went to plan.
He turned to Coach Bishop, waiting for the next ball, however the guy was just staring at him blankly for some reason.
"Coach? I still get 1 more attempt right?" He asked.
"Y—Yeah…" The coach replied, snapping out of his reverie.
He took a little time to come back to his senses, but the middle-aged man collected another ball and sent it along the ground to Ken.
WHACK
This time, Ken scooped up the ball and once again took a few strides towards the direction he would be throwing.
'If I just reduce the angle a bit, I should be able to keep around the same amount of power, if not more. Better keep it at 90% to reduce the variables.' He thought inwardly.
Just like that, he completed his throw, making the small adjustments. Thankfully, they seemed to work out, although it was still a little higher than what he would have liked.
'If there was a runner coming, the height of the ball could be the difference between safe and out.' Of course it wasn't often when one would be in this scenario, but it was good to treat they were in a game.
Now that he completed his third throw, Ken returned to the group of players. He received quite a few more looks this time, but he just ignored them.
'When can I pitch?' Ken complained inwardly.
Unfortunately for him, there was still a few things left on the agenda before the game this afternoon.
Once they finished with the outfield drills it was just after 10am. The infield drills seemed to have also been completed, which just left the catcher's drill, which apparently measured pop times.
"Pop times?" Ken asked Taylor who he had met back up with.
"It's interesting that you don't know the term since you're a top prospect…" Taylor replied, but he still explained it in the end.
"Pop time is the time it takes a catcher to throw the ball from home plate to second base to stop a stolen base attempt. Coach's and scouts look at this number to get a gauge of the catcher's efficiency." He stated.
"You need to have good footwork, a quick exchange from the glove to your throwing hand and a strong arm in order to get a good pop time. If you're lacking in any one of them, it really shows."
Ken was thoughtful for a moment before nodding. Now that he thought about it, Coach Takashi had done a similar drill when testing out the catchers for the U18 team.
'I wonder what Daichi's pop time is?' Ken mused inwardly.
"Alright, catchers, head over this way."