A wide grin was painted on Coach Brown's face as he witnessed the play from Ken in the outfield. From start to finish, the guy had been calm and calculated, pulling off such an athletic stunt with relative ease.
While the coach was 100% sold on Ken's pitching abilities, he wanted to see just what the kid could do in the outfield. His results from the showcase were good—great even, but numbers only told half the story.
After all, what was the point in throwing fast from the outfield if they couldn't field a ball properly?
But upon seeing a play like this, Coach Brown could tell that Ken was capable. Not only did he have great intuition, his athleticism was good, even for college standards.
"3 outs, changeover!"
With the double play from earlier, and Ken's catch, it brought an end to the main squad's attack with only Ayden's scored run. All in all, it could have gone a lot worse if it wasn't for the two freshman's plays.
Ken jogged in from right field and met up with Steve on the way back to the dugout. The latter had hung back, obviously wanting to talk about something privately.
"Nice catch man." Steve said, though he was wearing a wry smile.
"Alright, tell me what's up." Ken replied rolling his eyes, though he felt like he knew the answer.
Steve let out a small groan before lowering his voice, "Man, that guy just isn't throwing to where I'm calling…" He complained bitterly.
Ken scoffed, "Why are you telling me that? Talk to your pitcher…"
"…"
Steve didn't reply right away, as if considering the words. He didn't know why he came and complained to Ken in the first place, when he should have gone directly to the source of his frustrations.
The problem was, he was still a freshman—a walk-on at that. He had literally been at Columbia for a week, so it was rather daunting talking to someone who had been there much longer.
As if seeing through his dilemma, Ken let out a chuckle, "I could always tell him for you?" He suggested, trying to hide his smirk.
"N—No… Thank you…" Steve shuddered, just imagining what Ken would do. He could already picture the guy bluntly telling Blake that he can't throw worth crap.
"Suit yourself." Ken said, shrugging his shoulders. Things would change when he was put in the game, Ken just hoped that they wouldn't be too far behind by then.
Swallowing down his nervousness, Steve approached Blake who had already taken a spot on the bench. Unlike Ken who was a freak, Blake wasn't a two-way player and used a DH like a normal pitcher.
"Hey Blake… Got a moment?" Steve asked, feeling a sense of trepidation.
Blake turned and saw it was Steve before his expression shifted to one of disdain. "What do you want, walk-on?" He asked, turning his attention away from him, as if just looking at Steve was not worth his time.
'Ohhhhh so that's how it is?' Steve instantly felt his chest tighten in annoyance. It took a considerable amount of restraint to keep his temper in check.
"I just wanted to talk about our signs." He stated politely.
"What's there to talk about? They're pretty straight forward." Blake said rudely, dismissing Steve as if he were an annoying fly.
"Are they? Then why can't you ever throw to where I'm leading?"
Blake froze on the spot, his head turning towards Steve slowly. The guy wore a frosty expression, showing that he had been offended by the words.
"What did you just say?" He asked coldly.
"Holy crap…" Steve uttered, his expression turning pensive. "It's no wonder you're on the 2nd string team. Not only are you vision impaired, you're also hard of hearing…"
"PFFFT… HAHAHA!"
Ken who was staying at a small distance away had heard the interaction and was taken off guard by Steve's sharp response. It was clear that he had failed in his mission to iron things out between them.
Ken's loud laughter drew the eyes of everyone in the dugout, including the coach.
"Something funny Ken?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.
Singled out, Ken shrugged, "I guess that depends on your sense of humor coach."
Not expecting such a casual response, Coach Brown was slightly taken aback. However, a small grin formed on his face in the next moment as he approached.
"I'm partial to a good joke." He said, "How about you tell me what's so funny that you would interrupt such an important game."
His words echoed in the dugout. Though he was smiling and the words were rather soft spoken, no one believed that he was in a good mood.
Ken frowned, not expecting things to escalate to such a degree. To call this an important game was a bit of a stretch, which meant that the Coach was likely intentionally making things difficult for him.
This, in addition to the issue on the field with Zachary earlier, made Ken begin to doubt the coach's values. Perhaps he had been lucky with coach's in his lifetime, but he had never felt this kind of stifling sensation when facing a coach.
The coach didn't stop until he was right in Ken's face, which looked rather comical from an outsider's perspective. Since Ken was 6'5 and the coach was at least a head shorter, it was tough to see who was intimidating who.
Ken didn't answer the coach's question, feeling as if it was a trap of some kind. Instead, he shot straight for the heart of the issue.
"Is laughing not allowed at Columbia?" Ken asked, wearing a deadpan expression.
"Not when it disrupts the flow of the game." Coach Brown retorted, his gaze still locked onto Ken's.
'What a ridiculous answer.' Ken thought. They were currently in the 1st innings, the game had barely started.
The freshman and 2nd string players in the dugout watched on in silence, not daring to utter a sound. Steve had paled considerably, worrying that he had gotten his friend in trouble with his antics.