"Bro you did it!" Steve cried in elation.
Before Ken had a chance to ask what the guy was talking about, the rest of his teammates flooded him. He felt hands slap every part of his body and his head got ruffled so many times that his hat fell off.
A rising sense of annoyance was creeping up within him, but this dissipated when he saw the Coach run onto the field with glee. He had never seen Coach Brown so pleased before.
It wasn't just him, even the assistant coach's and bench players took the field, joining in on the celebration.
'Damn, do they get this excited for every home game win?' Ken thought. But he decided to go with the flow, finally giving a smile.
He turned to Ai in the crowd, only to see she had her hands on her face and looked quite emotional. Ken felt that it was odd, but still waved to her.
When things finally calmed down, they returned to the dugout in great spirits. The coach hadn't been able to put away his grin since the game had ended, a sign that he was indeed pleased with the result.
"Feels nice to get a win at home." Ken remarked while placing his things away in his bag.
"Ken, you've got an interview." Coach Brown said, patting him on the back.
Ken rolled his eyes but he didn't argue. He knew that not only could he gain more exposure by doing interviews, but that it was also his obligation as an athlete.
He grabbed his cap out from his bag and placed it on before leaving the dugout and heading onto the field. It didn't take long to find the spot where the interview would take place, after all, it was hard to miss the giant camera and well dressed reporter.
Upon seeing him, the woman waved, getting his attention.
"Hey Ken, Patricia Matthews for ESPN+, it's nice to meet you." She said, holding out her hand.
Ken grabbed the offered hand and spoke some pleasantries. The woman was in her mid 30's with brown hair that went past her shoulders. She wore light makeup and had the air of a professional who had been in the industry for a while.
"We're going live in 5, 4…" The camera man spoke, counting down the rest of the numbers with his hand. Once they were live, the bright light atop the camera lit up, almost blinding Ken.
"Yes that's right Phil. I'm here with Ken Takagi who has just come off a stellar performance in the Bobcats first win of the conference. Tell me Ken, how are you feeling after throwing a perfect game?"
Whatever Ken was going to answer with was suddenly stuck in his throat. All of his media training went out the window as he heard her words.
"Eh? Perfect game?" He queried.
"Yes… You threw a perfect game tonight, didn't you know?" Patricia asked, trying to understand if he was joking or not.
"Ah, right. I guess that's why everyone was so happy after we won." Ken replied sheepishly. Things started to make sense now. He was so absorbed in the game that he hadn't realized.
"Honestly, I was just focused on trying to get each batter out. Whether I have a perfect game or not, I'm just happy to get the win at the end of the day, after all, personal accolades mean nothing if we can't win as a team." Ken stated.
His words were honest and obviously so. They painted him as a selfless player who just wanted to succeed, which wasn't far from the truth.
"That's great to hear. It's very rare for a young prospect with so much potential to be so team oriented at this stage of their career." Patricia spoke words of praise, happy with the response.
"There's quite a debate online about your decision to come to Columbia despite being the number 1 High School prospect. Would you like to comment on why you chose this college instead of other high profile programs?"
Ken resisted the urge to frown as he heard the question. There were many fans who weren't happy with his decision, highlighted by the comments on some of his social media posts.
He didn't know why people were so obsessed with his choice.
"I'll say this: The coaching staff and team dynamic were a great fit for my personality and I have no regrets. We'll see just how well the high profile programs compare to us in the post season."
Ken's words thundered in the ears of Patricia who could already feel this interview would get a lot of attention. She hid her smile and said a few more pleasantries before ending the interview.
Once the camera light turned off, she turned to Ken with a brilliant smile.
"Wonderfully done Ken, I think there'll be a lot of talk online about this interview."
Ken was rather indifferent, but he still kept his manners and thanked Patricia for her time. All he wanted to do now was go shower and meet up with Ai and maybe grab some dinner.
He walked back to the dugout and pulled out his phone, sending Ai a message to meet him out the front in around 30 minutes.
"Way to steal the spotlight when my girl is watching." Steve said with a grin.
Ken laughed, "Hey, I wouldn't have had a perfect game without you behind the plate." He said matter-of-factly.
"Damn right!"
The two laughed, clearly in a good mood.
Since there were no showers at Robertson field, the team moved over to the Chrystie Field House and got changed. A while later, both Steve and Ken left their belongings with the staff and headed out to meet their women.
Ken saw Ai chatting with Tara in the sea of people thanks to his height. The problem was, many of the crowd could also see him from a mile away.
"Ken! Great game out there man."
"Go Bobcats!"