After getting his gear on, Ken walked up the stairs and began to warm up with his bat. One of the 2nd team players was up to bat first against a new relief pitcher.
It was the bottom of the 7th and the game was 0-1 in favor of Pittsburgh. While the result of the game didn't really matter since it was a friendly, Ken was the type of person who wanted to win.
There was no way he wouldn't try to win in such a situation.
Ken turned and saw that Daichi was also wearing his helmet, ready to come on the field after him.
'As long as I at least get onto base, Daichi will send me home.' He thought with confidence.
WHACK!
Ken's head snapped back to the field and he saw the ball shoot through the gap between 1st and 2nd base for an easy base run.
'Very good. We can turn the game around with me and Daichi.'
Now that it was his turn, Ken slowly walked up to the batters box and rolled his shoulders, pumping himself up. He went through his usual ritual, tapping home plate and the top of his cleats with his bat.
He turned and faced the pitcher who despite giving up a base seemed composed. Ken didn't recognize the guy, but then again he didn't know every Major League player in existence.
Also, who knew what kind of differences this universe shared with his previous one.
"Fighto!"
Ken heard his brother call from behind him, causing a smile to creep onto his face. It had been so long since he'd played in Japan that he almost forgot what it felt like.
Hearing the words of encouragement that used to be shouted back home made him feel a little nostalgic. But this was not the time to dwell on such things.
'This might be my only shot at hitting this game, I'll need to go all out.' Ken thought.
So with practiced ease, Ken opened up his mental capacity. Instantly a stream of information came into his mind, threatening to overwhelm it.
But he quickly discarded the information he didn't need, focusing his attention on the important pieces. The pitch angle, speed, distance, trajectory.
As the pitcher wound up and threw the pitch, Ken's eyes never left the ball.
'1900rpm, two-seam, sinking towards the inside of the plate.'
In an instant, Ken was able to assess the pitch before his mind ached. Now knowing what he was facing, he just needed to execute properly.
Ken leaned his lead leg forward, and struck like a viper as he planted his foot. The accuracy and torque generated from this batting form he learned in Columbia was incomparable to his old one.
WHOOOOSH
THWACKK
Ken crushed the inside ball, slamming it towards the 3rd base foul line. Its course was parallel to the foul line the whole way, never straying from its path all the way over the back wall.
Ken couldn't help but smile widely before placing his bat down and beginning his victory lap around the bases. With his home run, the score was now 2-1 in their favor.
After stepping onto home plate, Ken walked past his brother and pat him on the back. "Your turn now little bro." He said with a grin.
"Just wait for me."
Ken chuckled.
On his way back to the dugout he saw that his grandfather was elated, however he managed to control himself.
"Ahem… Nice hit Ken. You'll be closing the pitching for us. Try and keep your lead." Mark said, trying to sound professional.
"Yes sir." Ken replied.
As he returned to the dugout, the players showered him with praise.
"Damn Ken, I didn't know you were like that." Jose Baez exclaimed, giving him an exaggerated look. "You sure you're a pitcher?"
"Sam, you might have to watch out for Kenny boy taking your clean up spot."
Samuel Torkelson the cleanup hitter for the Ligers simply smiled and pat Ken on the back. "You keep hitting like that, I'll give you the spot myself." He said playfully.
Ken laughed, feeling a little closer to his teammates. Sam was only a few years older than him, but he was already the cleanup hitter and first baseman for the Ligers. It felt good to be acknowledged by such people.
THWACKK!
An almighty sound came from the field, grabbing everyone's attention.
While everyone was focused on Ken, Daichi had gone and hit a monster home run into center field. It was hard to tell whose home run went further, but no one seemed to care at this point.
"Holy crap… You said that guy is your brother right?" Sam asked, his eyes following the ball in the air.
"Yeah, that's Daichi. He played professionally in Japan for a few years before coming here." Ken replied with pride.
"Damn. They make them different in Japan…"
Ken resisted the urge to pump his fist in triumph. Just from these last couple of plays, himself and Daichi had already left an impression on the team.
Once Daichi returned to the dugout, he was met with the same treatment as Ken. Thankfully the guy was much better at English than he used to be. Either that or he did a good job of reading the social queues.
With Daichi's home run, the game was now 3-1 in favor of the Ligers. Now that they were ahead, it would be Ken's turn to close out the last 2 innings.
The 2nd team members who were playing could not keep up the same momentum that Ken and Daichi created and it was soon time to changeover.
Mark told the umpire about the substitution and Ken was on his way to the mound to pitch. He had been in plenty of closing situations before, but he was more fired up than ever.
As he stepped on the mound, he took in the moment. Even though there were no fans, his excitement was palpable.
Ken turned and saw Daichi setting up behind home plate. A wave of euphoria swept through him.
'Just 2 innings before our pact is finally fulfilled…' Ken thought.