A few mutterings came out from the players in the dugout as they thought about his words. But before they could respond, Ken approached Blake.
"Hey man, we need to talk about your pitching…"
Steve suddenly paled, waiting for the inevitable harsh words to come out of Ken's mouth.
"I don't know what you're doing out there, but you need to trust in Steve's leads as a catcher. He and I played together for over a year and a half and won both the State Championship and WWBA National Tournaments together." Ken stated, pointing to Steve's unassuming figure.
'Eh?' Not expecting such a line, Steve felt a little embarrassed. If this was any other time, he'd likely crack a joke to subvert the warm fuzzy feeling he felt on the inside.
Blake however, was silent. He turned to Steve with an obvious dislike, but in the next moment his features softened. "Look, I guess you're right Ken. I'll stop making things hard for him."
He held out his hand towards Steve, as a peace offering, "Truce?"
Steve was taken aback, 'This bastard was messing with me? Here I thought he just sucked.' However, he accepted the offered hand, keeping his commentary to himself.
With that settled, Ken felt a lot more confidence going into the next inning.
"Strikeout!"
"3 outs, changeover."
"Good timing." Ken muttered, grabbing his glove and cap. Out of habit, he walked over to the mound, only to freeze in place in the next moment.
'Ah damn it…' His earlier motivation taking a critical hit, Ken changed his course and headed out to right field.
Thankfully no one had seen his actions earlier, otherwise he might never live it down.
It was currently the top of the 2nd innings, with the score all tied up at 1-1. The first to come up to the plate was the tallest guy on the team, but also one of the quietest. Ezekial, or Zeke as he was referred to.
At 6'7, he was only slightly taller than Ken, but he had a huge wingspan. This was why his position at first base was unshakable.
As for the guy himself… Ken hadn't quite got a read on him just yet. The guy often muttered when he talked, making it difficult to understand what he was saying. It was quite odd for someone so big to be so timid.
Ken shook his head, turning his attention back to the game. He looked at Blake who was just about to begin his wind up and hoped that the guy would actually heed his words.
He wasn't surprised that there might have been some bad feelings from the 2nd string towards the freshman players, especially with Steve's status as a walk-on. This was the same with every team, even in Japan.
But when players felt a sense of entitlement, that's when teams would begin to crumble apart.
WHOOOSH
PAH
"Strike."
Ken let out a small whistle of appreciation as the pitch entered the glove and made a crisp sound. 'I guess he's not too bad after all.' He thought.
PAH
"Strike."
The next ball was just as potent. Now that Blake had truly started to trust and truly follow Steve's leads, things were beginning to look up.
WHOOOSH
CLICK
"Damn it!"
The ball was smacked along the ground and straight towards the short stop. He easily scooped it up and sent a throw back to 1st base for a quick out, making light work of the tall Zeke.
"Nice fielding."
The whole team seemed to have turned a corner. No longer were they quite or nervous, but everyone was very vocal, shouting out praises to one another and communicating effectively.
Coach Brown was extremely satisfied with the shift, causing his whole mood to brighten. His eyes moved out to Ken in the outfield, his eyes showing appreciation, but also something beneath.
'Just having him on the field is such a huge boost to morale…' He thought silently. Unconsciously, Coach Brown began to tap his foot, deep in thought.
Having Ken as a starting pitcher was fine, but what would happen when he was ultimately taken off the mound? Would the team's morale plummet?
What about the games where he couldn't pitch due to the NCAA regulations?
From the coach's perspective, Ken was almost like a double-edged sword.
'But can I move him to the outfield after pitching?' He thought. Coach Brown had originally thought of using Ken as a Designated Hitter. With his batting skills, there was no doubt that he'd fit right in.
However, seeing that Ken's skill in the outfield was also great, it would make more sense to put him out there. There was also the flexibility of having him start pitching, then moving to the outfield during the game. Since he wouldn't have been substituted, Ken could pitch again in the same game if needed.
"You've given me a lot to think about…" Coach Brown muttered.
The game continued on with no one else scoring until the 3rd inning. Blake and Steve managed to get both Ayden and Tristan with grounders thanks to the latter's leads.
However, they were not so lucky against DJ. The guy made up for the home run that Ken robbed him of and sent it into center outfield this time, making sure that no one would be able to reach the ball.
With that, the score was 2-1 in favor of the main squad.
When it was finally time for the top of the 4th, Coach brown stopped Blake at the top of the stairs. "You've played well."
He didn't need to say anymore for Blake to understand what he meant. His expression shifted for a moment before he nodded his head, turning around to go back to the bench.
Before he could sit down, Coach Brown spoke up. "You're moving up to relief pitcher this season, make sure you keep up the good work."
Blake froze, not expecting the sudden news. He quickly turned around, his face showing his excitement.
"Thank you coach! I won't let you down."