Ken sat up, his attention focused on the game. It was the bottom of the 3rd and Miami was down by 2 runs already with the bases loaded and a single out. The pitcher was someone that he didn't recognize and he looked to be sweating up a storm.
"They're in a pinch…" Ken mumbled. He would certainly not like to be on the mound in this situation.
"It looks like Miami are making a pitching substitution to get them out of this hole. Yep, it's Ryan Smith, the undrafted sophomore coming in for Julio Rodriguez." The commentator announced.
Ken's ears perked up at the commentators words and sure enough, Ryan appeared on the screen, heading towards the mound. His sandy blond hair was barely visible beneath the blue cap.
"Ryan has been even better in his second season in the big leagues, but he has got a lot of work to do this inning. He looks focused, let's hope that he can stem the bleeding for Miami."
Seeing the figure of Ryan take the mound, Ken felt a rush of emotions. In his previous life, this guy had been a prominent figure in the Majors and was well on his way to becoming one of the greats.
This was why when they had met in the U18 World Cup, Ken had made him his rival. But it seemed like their meeting had drastically changed the future of Ryan's life.
Instead of attending a Junior College for a year and entering the league, he had not gone to college at all, instead working his way up through the minor leagues. Ken wasn't sure of the impact of this change, but he was at least glad to see that the guy had still made it.
Ken leaned forward and watched the guy roll the rosin bag around in his hand before throwing some warm up throws to get ready. After 8, he took up his position and nodded to the umpire.
He saw Ryan roll the ball around in his glove, close to his chest so that no one could see his grip. He raised his left leg and strode forward sending a whipping throw down the lane.
With the great camera angle, the trajectory of the ball was on full display as it snaked through the air like a serpent and landed flush in the glove of the catcher.
"There it is, the moving fastball. It still baffles me how he's able to retain so much accuracy despite how much the ball is moving. It truly is a difficult ball to hit." The commentator spoke, saying his praises.
Ken couldn't help but agree. Ryan had shown flashes of his unorthodox grips in the U18 World Cup, but it was clear that he had improved drastically over these past 4 years. Ken tried to imagine himself hitting the previous ball, but it was hard to tell if he would succeed.
This was especially so if he only saw it for the first time.
The next pitch came, this time a slider. With the unorthodox grip it acted almost like a slurve, but it broke late.
WHACK
The batter managed to clip the top of the ball, sending it straight into the dirt in front of him and on the way to Ryan at the mound. Not wasting this opportunity, Ryan ran forward to collect the ball and threw it to 2nd base in a single motion.
From there it was like clockwork.
"Out!"
"Out!"
"A masterful play by Ryan puts an end to the inning, stopping Pittsburgh from increasing their lead. The young guy will be happy with that."
"Yeah he sure looks happy." The other commentator joked as the camera panned to Ryan's face. The only thing evident in his expression was a calm determination, not even a whisper of celebration.
Ken felt chills in his body after watching the play. While it might not have seemed that impressive on the surface, to do so while under so much pressure with thousands of fans in the stands and watching at home, it truly was remarkable.
"If that had been a regular slider, it would have been a deep hit…" Ken mumbled, watching the replay of the play.
Watching it in slow motion, one could see how the spin of the ball was affecting the trajectory, causing the ball to drop faster than usual by the end of its journey. Were it not for this fact, the batter wouldn't have hit the top of the ball for an easy grounder.
Ken continued to watch the match which ended up going into extra innings. The Miami Blue Marlins performed a squeeze play to end the match in the bottom of the 11th, causing quite the celebration on the field.
He laid back on the bed and stared at the ceiling for a while, finally letting out a deep breath. Ryan had pitched for 4 innings and had kept the Pittsburgh Raiders scoreless, allowing for their team to crawl back on the scoreboard.
While he might not be the player of the game, it was true that his actions had turned the tide.
Ken's loneliness had long retreated, replaced by a yearning. Seeing someone who he thought as his rival doing so well in the big league only fanned the flames within him, overcoming everything else.
While his feelings hadn't changed, the drive to make it to the next level had overtaken them, burning brighter than ever.
BUZZ BUZZ
Ken turned to his phone which had somehow found its way onto the floor of his hotel room. He leaned over and picked it up, seeing a bunch of messages from Steve.
"DUDE! Are you watching this?"
"Oh crap, I forgot about the game." Ken mumbled, quickly changing the channel.
But he was not prepared for what he saw. It was currently in a replay, the pitcher threw a beanball, hitting a player high on the shoulder and sending him to the ground. After this, the VT player got up and charged the mound, starting a brawl.
Both dugouts emptied and soon punches were being thrown from both teams.
"What the hell?"