Coach Brown watched as the players began their warm-ups on the field, his expression unreadable. His eyes scanned over the team, paying attention to each and every movement, assessing them silently.
He felt the presence of someone stop beside him, he didn't need to look to know who it was. The dark and bulky figure in his peripherals was enough to recognize Coach Coleman.
"How is everyone's conditioning this year?" Coach Brown asked, his eyes not leaving the field.
"Great. I don't think I've ever seen a more capable squad, since I've been here at least." Coach Coleman stated, his deep voice full of praise.
"Mmm." The head coach nodded. Hearing such high praise from the man beside him was something that could be considered extremely rare.
"This years team seems to be different. Everyone seems a lot more focused…" He mused.
"I honestly don't think I've ever had such a productive off season." He added.
"What do you think is the main reason?" Coach Coleman asked, his lips turned up in a small smile.
"Obviously its because of my great coaching."
"…"
"Hahaha."
The two laughed together, showcasing what kind of close relationship they had.
"In all seriousness though, the dynamic of the team seemed to have shifted ever since we got our last batch of freshman. Perhaps securing the number 1 High School prospect has had an impact on our guys?" Coach Coleman stated.
The Head Coach didn't deny this, but he felt there was a little more to it than that. "In the past week or so, I've seen the players gravitate towards Ken. There's something about him that stands out and draws others in. I'm not sure if it's his desire to win or something else…"
This wasn't the first time Coach Brown had recognized Ken's impact on the team. During the intersquad game, he could feel that just a few words from the teen was enough to uplift the morale of the squad. It was as if he was a born leader.
"Mmm, that kid has a ridiculous work ethic. Even I couldn't break him." Coach Coleman admitted ruefully.
"Well, it's finally time to put it to the test in a real match."
With that, the Head Coach walked onto the field and inspected the drills closely, ensuring that everyone was doing as they were supposed. The more he walked around, the more he was satisfied with their conduct.
His eyes drifted to Ken who was in the middle of some outfield drills and nodded in satisfaction. He had been a little skeptical about putting the kid in the outfield, but it was undeniable that he had the skill and a canon of an arm.
Around 20 minutes later, the coach pulled everyone off the field and into the dugout. By now the stadium was already close to its 1500 spectator capacity and the floodlights had already been turned on.
The team waited as both Coaches met with the umpire, exchanging the lineup cards. Ken felt his heart beating loudly in his chest as he was filled with excitement. His earlier shaking had disappeared, replaced by a calm determination.
Once the coach returned, he reiterated his points from the previous meeting and led everyone into a chant.
"Win on 3!"
1
2
3
"WIN"
The whole team filtered out onto the field, wearing their trademark blue away uniforms and lined up for the national anthem. Ken's eyes peered over to the opposing team and saw a few key figures dressed in the white and green uniforms.
Devonte Miller and Jose Chavez, these were the two clean-up hitters that the coach had pointed out to them earlier in the day. Both were senior's and set to declare for the draft this year.
Ken's eyes sparkled with curiosity, quickly using his Identify function on them.
NAME: Jose Chavez
AGE: 21
TALENT ASSESSMENT: SS+
POTENTIAL: SSS+
USER STATS:
>Physical Fitness: SS+
>Pitching: D
>Fielding: SSS-
>Game Intelligence: S+
>Mental: SS
NAME: Devonte Miller
AGE: 21
TALENT ASSESSMENT: SSS-
POTENTIAL: EX-
USER STATS:
>Physical Fitness: SSS
>Pitching: B
>Fielding: SS
>Game Intelligence: A+
>Mental: SSS-
Ken perused the grades and nodded. These two were towards the top end of college players, at least from what he'd discovered using Identify on his own teammates.
However, at this point his expression froze, suddenly realizing he'd made a huge mistake.
'ARGH! Why didn't I use Identify on the Yanks players!?'
Ken resisted the urge to pull his hair out in frustration. He had the perfect opportunity to check out their ratings and would have even paid a huge sum of Major Points in order to get his hands on such information.
"Please stand for the National Anthem." The announcer spoke over the speakers, causing everyone to stand up straight. Ken was forced to swallow his regret and turn his attention to remembering the words of the Anthem.
The Japanese National anthem was simple, particularly since it was quite short. But even after being in the States for almost 2 years, he was still not used to this one.
"Oh say, can you see. By the dawn's early light~"
Ken cringed, his eyes locking onto the horrible sound produced by one of his teammates singing. Those around him seemed to be immune to the foghorn-like tone produced from Tristan, one of the shortest on the team.
Ken resisted the urge to cover his ears, but it made it extremely difficult to remember the words and sing along to the anthem. He eventually decided to lip sync, doing his best to hold on until the end.
Only after the music stopped playing did Ken let out a sigh of relief. He shot the captain a glare who seemed utterly oblivious to his terrible vocals.
"Captains, to me." The umpire said, wielding a coin.
"Heads." Tristan called before the coin was tossed into the air. It bounced a few times on the ground before ultimately revealing that they won.
"We'll bat first." He said with a dazzling grin. He then ushered the team back to the dugout.