The ball flew through the air, its spin exactly what he was hoping for. However, for some reason, it broke a lot farther than he had expected. It missed the plate and rocketed straight into the leg of Myles.
"Ah sorry!" Ken called out, his hands on his head. He had truly not expected his pitch to break that far. Either his aim was off, or he held the ball wrong, either way, it was not a good look.
"Hit by pitch, take your base." The umpire said, making the call. Since he did not issue a warning to Ken, it meant that he felt like it was accidental.
Myles sent a glare to Ken before huffing as he made his way to first base.
Coach Brown on the other hand was frowning deeply on the side of the field. At first he had been surprised that Ken was able to throw so fast with his left, but now he was doubting his decision.
'If I take him off the mound now, I probably won't hear the end of it.' He thought, but then he turned to the team and saw their shining eyes staring at their captain on the mound.
He let out a sigh, 'Those guys probably won't forgive me either.'
"Oi, Captain. You're meant to aim for the glove, not the batter." Brian called out, eliciting a laugh from the field.
Ken laughed in response, feeling the tension ease from him. He shot Brian a cheeky middle finger before getting back into position and waiting for the next batter to come up to the plate.
"Batting 8th, Quentin Ellis." The announcer called.
Quentin stepped up the the batters box and stared at Ken with fire in his eyes. It wasn't hard to tell that he was annoyed by Ken hitting his teammate with a pitch, even though it had been a complete accident.
Ken ignored the guy and waited for the next lead from Steve. Once again it was a slider, but this time Ken shook his head. He didn't trust his breaking balls, not right now. Perhaps if he trained in the future he could rely on them.
They settled on another fastball to the outside.
Ken entered his wind up and strode forward, sending his arm whipping past his face. His fingers raked down on the ball, producing a slightly slower version of his lively fastball.
WHOOOOSH
DONG
The very first pitch was struck, heading straight for Thomas in the right outfield. It bounced once before he was able to collect it, but the runners had already advanced to the next base.
Just like that it was no outs and runners on 1st and 2nd. This was not a great position for Ken and the Bobcats, especially when they were only up 2 runs, but he was determined to get them out of it.
"Batting 9th, Brayden White."
By the time the next batter came up, Ken felt that he had begun to get the hang of his left handed pitches. He threw 2 balls and 2 strikes and Brayden fouled 2 more pitches. The more he pitched, the more confident Ken grew.
He threw the next ball, this time to the inside.
WHOOOOSH
PAH
"Strikeout."
Ken pumped his fist, the most emotion he'd shown for a strikeout in many years. It seemed rather comical since they were still in a tough spot, but Ken didn't care. This was his first strikeout with his left arm in college, he would take those kinds of victories any day.
With the 9th batter out, they would return to the start of the batting line up. Justin walked up to the batters box wearing an odd expression. This cause Ken to almost let out a laugh in response.
He too thought that the situation was ridiculous. If it was him on the other end, he might just have to pinch himself to believe what he was seeing.
Ken was beginning to run out of time. Besides the slider that had hit Myles, he had only thrown fastballs. It was only a matter of time before they realized this.
This might not have been an issue if he was able to fire off the 100+ mph pitches like he could with his right, but unfortunately that seemed impossible.
'I might just have to start pitching to contact. I'll tell Steve after this.' He thought. But for now, he needed to get them out of this situation.
Letting out a deep breath, Ken adjusted himself and waited for the next lead. Steve was motionless for a moment before calling for a fastball inside and low.
Ken nodded and quickly got into his windup, sending the ball expertly towards the glove. Out of all his pitches, this was probably the best so far in both speed and control.
WHOOOSH
DING
Ken watched as the ball skipped along the ground straight to 3rd base. The big Levi was standing off the bag but with surprising speed, he dashed forward and collected the ball with his left hand, launching himself off the base with his right foot and turning his body in mid air.
In one smooth action, he threw the ball towards Kaden on 2nd base. The throw was like a laser, accurately landing into the guys glove.
"Out."
"Out!"
"3 outs, Changeover."
Ken breathed a sigh of relief, a big grin creeping onto his face. The double play had brought an end to the inning. It had been a bit worrying there for a little while, especially since he was limited to only fastballs, but they had gotten through it as a team.
"Good job taking my advice." Brian said jumping up and tapping Ken on the head.
"Oi, why didn't you ever tell us that you could pitch lefty?" Kaden asked, his face full of suspicion. "Better yet, why did you switch in the first place?"
"He hurt his foot." Steve said, ratting him out completely.
"Huh? Why are you still on the mound then?"
"You know Ken, the guy would sleep on the mound if he could." Brian replied with a grin.