Justin held his follow through for a few moments, the feeling of failure sinking in. Slightly embarrassed, he straightened up and turned towards the dugout before making his way back.
'I don't understand…' His mind was preoccupied as he made the walk back.
"Pretty rare for you not to swing on the first two pitches." Theo said, snapping him out of his reverie.
Justin nodded, "It's hard to explain… You'll understand when you face him."
"Alright, I'll keep an eye out."
"Batting 2nd, our very own… Theo Vinn!"
The man walked up to the plate, the end of his long mullet peeping out the back of his helmet. He took a few casual swings and loosened up his body before getting into position, facing Ken upon the mound.
Ken waited for the first lead from Steve and nodded, entering his wind up before whipping his arm out and sending out his slider. Once again, the batter was frozen, allowing the ball through to Steve's glove without a swing.
PAH
"Strike."
This time, Ken knew something was up. He collected the throw back from Steve and began to think deeply. His stats had not been upgraded recently, so it did not make sense for his pitching to improve this much.
It wasn't until he threw his next pitch that he suddenly remembered something.
WHOOOSH
PAH
"Strike."
'It's my new skill!' Ken exclaimed inwardly. He had spent 150,000 Major Points to upgrade the wind up skill to Domineering Wind up, but with everything that had happened he had completely forgotten.
What was most shocking about the skill was that it not only increased his pitching ability, but it also seemed to make batters hesitate. A small amount of hesitation was all it took to mess up a batters rhythm.
All of a sudden, Ken's confidence level skyrocketed. He had always been confident in his pitching, but having this edge made it even more so. At no point did he believe that anyone could get a hit on him, not anymore.
PAH
"Strikeout!"
Like this, he struck out 2 players in a row with only 3 consecutive pitches each. Unfortunately for UF, this trend continued and Trayshaun was soon sent back to the dugout after a brief spell.
The Bobcats were pumped. After being smashed around the park all last game, they felt a sense of vindication after Ken put them in their place emphatically. Going into the dugout, they were all smiles.
"Nice pitching as always Ken." Coach Brown said, wearing a smile.
"Thanks coach. I'll keep them scoreless, we just need runs on the board." Ken replied confidently.
"That's easier said than done." He replied with a hollow chuckle. The two turned to Leo who was making his way out of the dugout with his catchers gear on. Ken locked eyes with the guy for a brief moment and sparks flew once more.
"He looks fired up." Ken said with a smile.
"Really? He's always wearing the same expression so I can't tell." The coach said shrugging his shoulders. "But I guess you'd be right."
"Batting first for the Bobcats, Ayden Carney."
As the unenthusiastic announcer called out their first batter, Ken retreated back into the dugout and prepared for his turn at bat. He didn't want to miss out on the opportunity for some warm up swings like last game.
If they could get a run on the board early, he would feel much better. Of course that would be difficult with Leo behind the plate, but even a single run would make the difference.
Unfortunately for Ayden, he was quickly put into a corner, receiving 2 strikes in quick succession. The first was a slider that he let go and the next was a fastball to the inside that he missed.
Ken could see that the guy was frustrated with himself.
WHOOOSH
DING
"Ah damn it." Steve said, watching the ball skid along the ground towards the short stop.
The player collected the ball and sent an easy throw back to first, beating Ayden easily.
"Out."
Ken was already walking onto the field at that time and could see Ayden once again frustrated as he made his way back to the dugout.
"Hey man, you need to calm down a little. Don't get so irritated over things you can't control." Ken said, stopping the guy.
Ayden shook his head with annoyance, "It just feels like I can never hit the ball properly against that guy."
"Be calm and patient. As long as you're focused, you'll get a hit this game don't worry." Ken reassured him, patting Ayden on the shoulder. It was pretty rare for the guy to get so worked up, but he appreciated the passion.
"Batting 2nd for Columbia, Brian Sweeney."
He watched Brian head into the batters box before beginning his practice swings. Last match had been a struggle, he did not want to repeat his mistakes.
Even though he had the Legendary Zone Mastery skill, Leo's leads seemed to counteract it somehow in a way that he could not put into words. His ability to frame balls as strikes and increase the size of the strike zone was probably one of the factors, but it felt like something more.
When thinking about the guys stats, he wasn't all that surprised. Leo was already probably better than many of the Major League players right now. Of course this was from a purely stats point of view.
The system did not have a grade for experience, but it was a definite factor when it came to how a person performed on the field. This was why some players were still able to play at the age of 40.
One such example was Ichiro, the legendary Japanese player and another one of Ken's idols.
Removing the thought from his mind, Ken watched the pitcher and got into position with his bat. He wanted to try and get the timing down before it was his turn to step up to the plate.
WHOOOOOSH
DOONG
Ken's eyes lit up as Brian hit the ball out into center field.