From the point where they thought Blake was going to get hit, to the dropped catch, the batter and two runners had stalled.
"HOME!"
Amongst all of the chaos, Ayden decided to sprint towards home plate, his small and lithe figure gaining some serious speed.
The freshman on 1st base wasn't slow to react, sending the ball back to Steve at home plate. It was a good throw, allowing him to step into the path of the runner, essentially blocking his route to the base.
Steve lowered his posture, clasping his glove close to his body. With his physique, he had some confidence that the smaller Ayden wouldn't be able to run through him.
As he got closer, Steve tensed his body and braced for the hit. However, it didn't come.
Ayden darted to his left prompting Steve to move forward in an attempt to tag him. But in the next moment, Steve's eyes widened in shock. He saw the small body of Ayden suddenly leave his vision, juking him completely.
Steve tried to correct his body, but he'd already committed. He could only turn his head and watch Ayden cruise past him to step on home plate with ease.
"Nice run Ayden!"
The main squad whooped and cheered for Ayden's flashy play, which put a damper on the otherwise awesome double play from earlier.
Steve managed to pick himself up off the ground and felt a little embarrassed. He had underestimated Ayden's agility and overcommitted on the tag. In hindsight, he should have stayed stationary since the plate was right behind him.
Clap Clap Clap
"Nice play." Coach Brown shouted, clapping his hands. Despite the fact that the main squad had scored a run, he seemed pleased with how the 2nd team had responded.
However, Steve still felt a sense of disappointment with his mistake. His gaze turned to Ayden who was walking back to the dugout and shook his head.
'I should have known he would be good. Ken said he played for the U18 American team back then.'
"Two outs! Let's keep it going!"
Steve's ears perked up as he heard a shout from the distance. He turned his head only to see Ken shouting from the outfield. Despite being so far away, he was heard clearly on the field.
For some reason, Steve felt a warm sensation inside. It was as if those simple words lit a fire within him, making him forget about his recent mess up.
It wasn't just him, everyone on the team seemed to be full of motivation after Ken's few simple words.
Coach Brown watched on with interest as he saw the team begin to rally. He brought his hand up to his chin and stroked it gently, as if deep in thought.
The next batter that came up was average height, but his shoulders were quite wide. From a glance, he looked like one of those typical guys who had been in the military for quite some time.
Steve remembered his name, only because it was two letters.
'DJ… I didn't think he was the clean up batter.' Steve mused.
While they'd been doing practices all week, it was mostly strength and conditioning, as well as some role specific regimens. Therefore, this was the first time where he was seeing just what the players were capable of.
With his mind back on track, Steve turned to Blake on the mound and called for a fastball on the outside.
PAH
"Strike."
PAH
"Strike."
PAH
"Ball."
WHOOOSH
CLICK
"Foul."
"Foul."
"Foul."
"Ball."
After 7 pitches, Steve felt stifled. Despite the guys status as a clean up batter, DJ felt cunning. His plate discipline was unlike Steve had ever seen before.
It was as if he knew if the ball was going to be a strike or a ball the moment it left the pitchers hand. For a batter at number 4, one would usually think of a heavy hitter who could hit a home run at nearly every at-bat.
Whereas when he saw DJ, he was calm and collected, methodically picking the pitches apart, like he was waiting for something.
And it turned out he wasn't wrong.
The 8th pitch came, a misthrow. Instead of a low inside ball, it turned out to be a meatball, right down the middle.
'Crap…'
WHOOOOSH
THWACK!
DJ didn't let the opportunity go, smashing the ball into right field high into the air. From the moment the sound of the ball and bat colliding happened, Ken had already taken off towards the back fence.
He didn't even need to see the ball to know that he'd be fighting for it above the fence.
However, he didn't panic. This was something that he'd managed to pull off quite a few times, despite not being a true outfielder. His long limbs and tall frame gave him an advantage when it came to these things.
As he continued towards the back fence, he glanced up at the ball and adjusted his course. Everything that happened next would rely on his calculations.
But with his mental capacity now sitting at an EX-, he was filled with confidence.
He once again turned towards the fence, jumping off his right leg and planting his left onto the fence. Ken launched his body skyward, pushing his left arm upwards and into the path of the ball.
His timing was impeccable, allowing him to reach his apex height, just as the ball came into his range. The arena seemed to hold its breath as the ball flew towards Ken's open glove.
PAH
Ken felt the weight of the ball enter his glove, but the momentum made it feel as if it was going to roll out. He squeezed the leather glove as hard as he could, willing for it to stay within its cage.
As he descended towards the ground, he was able to bring his right hand over and keep it contained.
His landing felt a little jarring, but he was able to successfully touch down without issue.
With a grin, he held his glove towards the umpire.
"Out!"