"That's what I'm talkin' about!" Rohan was hyped as Ken came walking back into the dugout, even more so than Ken.
After a few vicious high five's, Ken had to try and calm him down. "It's only the first inning, why are you getting so excited?" He said with exasperation.
"What are you talking about? You just threw an immaculate first inning in your debut! Why aren't you excited?" Rohan exclaimed, "It's something that has only been done a handful of times in history."
"Eh? Really?" Ken asked in surprise.
At that moment he felt a hand upon his shoulder, "It's only happened two times in the history of the League. You should be proud."
Ken turned and saw his grandfather smiling at him. "But, don't let it get to your head. You've still got the clean up hitters to go next innings." Mark continued.
"Yes sir." Ken nodded.
By now his other teammates came over and began to show him some love. Ken experienced many slaps to the behind and ruffles of his hair that he almost started swinging his fists.
Even after playing in America for so long, he was still not used to being slapped on the backside. He knew that it was done endearingly, but it still didn't feel right.
"Nice leading out there little bro." Ken said, nudging his brother.
Daichi seemed cool as a cucumber as he shrugged, "The real test will be in the 2nd and 3rd at-bats. One thing that you'll realize is that these guys are pro's for a reason."
Ken grumbled something in response. He had just meant to compliment his brother, but the guy was already looking ahead at future problems.
'That's just the way he is I guess.' Ken thought in his heart.
WHACK
Ken's head turned and he saw that Ryan Greene had smacked the ball towards the gap between short stop and 3rd base. Just as it looked like it was going to speed away, the short stop dived and scooped the ball to the 3rd baseman in a single fluid motion.
The ball was then thrown to 1st base, easily beating Ryan's run.
"Ah, unlucky!"
A few groans of disappointment came out from the dugout.
Unfortunately for the Ligers, they failed to even get a hit in the first inning. After Ryan, Adrian hit another grounder and was easily run out at first base, whereas Jose Baez hit a fly ball into left field.
So after seemingly only a few minutes, Ken made his way back onto the field to start the second inning. He would be facing the clean up hitters this inning, something he was wary of.
'Major League clean up hitters are no joke, I need to be careful.' Ken told himself.
This game was his chance to make the most impact this year. With so many eyes on him thanks to the controversy he shook up, if Ken could capitalize, his fame would shoot through the roof.
"Batting 4th for the White Socks, Elroy Jiménez." The announcer called out in his usual bored tone for the opposition.
As Ken watched the large Dominican walk into the batters box, he could already tell that the guy had power. Even the few practice swings he took were enough to put Ken on guard.
Without a word, he brought up his system and activated his showdown skill.
In the next moment, Ken's body filled with power. His muscles sang out with joy, greedily absorbing the effects of showdown.
He stood upon the mound, feeling stronger than ever. At his current physical abilities, even an increase in a single grade was a huge boost, let alone 2. The only problem was, the longer that this skill stayed active, the more strain it put on his body.
So whenever he activated showdown, Ken never wanted to waste time.
In the batters box, Elroy's eyes widened in surprise momentarily as he felt a fierce pressure emanating from the mound. The tall figure of Ken was staring back at him, painting a fearsome sight.
For a moment he felt as if he was being dwarfed by something far bigger than himself.
But he was a seasoned player, he had faced many fearsome pitchers before. So apart from a little bit of surprise that a rookie would make him feel such a way, he wasn't worried.
Gripping the bat tightly, Elroy got into position and waited for the pitch.
As soon as Ken entered his wind up, Elroy felt his body seize for a moment before the ball came flying towards him.
WHOOOOOOSH
PAH
"Strike!"
'Huh? What was that?' Elroy blinked a couple of times before taking a step back from the batters box. He rolled his shoulders a few times and took another practice swing. After seeing that nothing was out of the ordinary, he shook his head and walked back to the box.
Ken started his wind up once more and the same thing happened.
WHOOOOOSH
PAH
"Strike."
At this point, Elroy was filled with questions. At the point of Ken winding up, he could feel his body flinching. Ever since joining the league 9 years ago, he'd never had this issue before.
Even as he faced the 3rd pitch, it was the very same.
PAH
"Strikeout!"
Elroy frowned and resisted the urge to launch his bat in frustration. Instead, he walked back towards the dugout, still trying to figure out what was happening to him.
"What's got you so pissed?" Yoab, the next batter commented on his way out.
"I don't know… I struggled to swing against his pitches." Elroy admitted, his frustration evident.
"Well, 103mph is pretty fast. Just get him next time when his arm is tired. If he lasts that long." Yoab added, patting his teammate on the shoulder.
On the mound, Ken felt the additional power in his muscles recede like the outgoing tide. He let out a sigh and quickly examined his body. Apart from a little fatigue, there were no real aftereffects.