"Ken is hurt." Leo said, strapping on his chest protector.
"What do you mean hurt? He's still pitching above 100mph, how can he be hurt?" Coach Rodgers asked.
"The broken bat that he stopped with his foot, it probably created a stress fracture. I've studied his form for hours, I can tell that he's injured." Leo replied without emotion.
The coach glanced at the opposition dugout and saw them talking amongst each other. He felt a touch of sadness for both Leo and Ken. He had never seen Leo get so fired up to play against someone before, yet it seemed that it would be cut short.
Ivor let out a sigh. "I guess that's the end of the game then. Once Ken gets replaced, they won't be able to hold back our line up."
Leo merely nodded, yet inwardly he felt pity. "How regrettable."
In the bottom of the 2nd, the Bobcats were quickly taken care of in quick succession, unable to find the same success they had in the 1st. At the changeover, both Leo and Coach Rodgers were surprised to see Ken walking onto the field.
"They're still letting him play?" Ivor said with a frown. "I thought the coach would have been smart enough to take him out. There is no point in getting your star player hurt even more."
Leo too felt indignant. Sure he wanted to face Ken, but only at his best. Even now he could detect a faint hobble while the guy was walking to the field.
Ken walked over to the umpire and said something, to which the man looked a little surprised. But he later nodded and gestured for him to go to the mound.
"Batting 7th for the Crocs, Myles Landon."
Myles was about to walk up to the batters box but was stopped by the umpire.
"Huh?" He stood in place, not knowing what to do.
On the mound, Ken began to roll his left shoulder and get it warm. He took his first warm up throw and saw it almost rise above Steve's head. Thankfully the guy had quick reflexes or he might have hit Myles with his first throw.
'Ah crap, I'm a little rusty.'
He turned to the coach who was looking at him suspiciously. It was clear that if he proved to be terrible that the guy wouldn't hesitate to take him off the mound.
Ken cleared his throat and tried again. He had not thrown properly with his left since the last year of middle school, though he was truly ambidextrous thanks to his fine motor control skill.
The next throw was much better, though it lacked a bit of speed. Every throw that he took it got better. After 8 balls the umpire called a stop to it and allowed Myles to come up to the batters box.
Meanwhile in the Crocs dugout, all of the players had their jaws dropped. Even the usually calm and unfathomable Leo could hardly believe what was happening in front of him.
"He's pitching lefty!?"
"Is that legal?"
"W—Wait, if he was a switch pitcher we would have known by now right? None of our scouting reports show this info."
"We will just have to wait and see if he's any good with his left…" Coach Rodgers said, swallowing his saliva.
"EHHHH!?" Latrell almost fell off his chair, his eyes staring at the field. "Since when could this guy throw with his left?"
"He never showed you?" Michael asked, equally as confused.
"No… Never."
Back on the field, Ken took a deep breath and adjusted his mind. Things still felt a little sketchy after switching, but his foot was no longer suffering as much. With the switch in arms, he now only needed to push off the mound with his left. While it was still a little raw, it wasn't nearly as bad as when he used it as the lead leg.
Steve called for a fastball on the outside to which Ken nodded in agreement. It was better if he tried to mitigate risk of either hitting the batter or giving up a meatball on the first pitch.
There was also the fact that he had never really practiced throwing breaking balls with his left, something that he had forgotten to tell Steve earlier.
'Let's just get through this inning first.' Ken thought, breathing out slowly.
He got into his position, taking a brief glance at first base before lifting his right leg and kicking off the mound. His foot planted on the ground before his arm came whipping past like lightning.
The ball spun in the air and shot towards the outside of the strike zone.
WHOOOOSH
PAH
"Strike."
"What in the actual f—"
"Oi, language."
"Sorry coach… but seriously. How can he do that?"
Seemingly everyone in the ballpark including Ken looked over to the big screen, waiting to see the speed of the pitch. It took a little time, but when it appeared, the place seemed to burst into chatter.
"93mph!? How can he pitch that fast with his left?"
Ken let out a small sigh of relief. He had purely guessed how fast his left pitches were since the last time he actually pitched lefty, the speed was closer to 84mph. Since he'd gotten a lot stronger, his gamble had paid off.
"Is this guy another Venditte?" Coach Rodgers said with awe.
Leo shook his head, "Venditte only pitched in the mid 80's with both arms… Ken is a lot faster."
"Y—Yeah, you're right."
Ken collected the throw from Steve, almost catching it with his bare left hand out of habit. Thankfully he realized halfway through and brought his right glove up.
He let out a chuckle, "This still feels weird..."
Once he got into position again, Steve called for a slider. For a moment, Ken considered shaking his head, but he suddenly felt confident.
'I should be able to do it, I think.'
With that he began his wind up and sent out the pitch.