With Ryan now on base, Adrian Baddoo was up to bat next. After facing 4 pitches, he hit a grounder towards 3rd, almost resulting in a double play. If it wasn't for Ryan's quick thinking, it could have been disastrous.
Jose Baez had much more success, hitting a double and putting the Ligers into a scoring position in the top of the 1st inning. This was somewhere the Ligers had been many times this season.
And they knew how to capitalize.
WHOOOOSH
THWACK!
Samuel Torkelson got hold of a cutter, sending it soaring into the stands with a wild crack. The hang time was impressive, and Ken knew that the hit was pretty close to 450 feet.
A 3 run home run in the first inning turned the crowd silent, save for a few Ligers fan's in the audience. No one would be happy giving up so many runs in the first inning, especially a post season match.
Unfortunately for the Arrow's, their pain didn't stop there. Daichi was called out to the batters box next and he wasted no time putting pressure on the defending team.
WHACK
The first pitch was struck in the middle of the bat, flying over the home dugout alongside 3rd base for a foul.
"Foul."
The power behind Daichi's swing seemed to spook the pitcher, who avoided throwing strikes for the remainder of the at-bat. This resulted in a free walk for Daichi, who seemed a little disappointed in the result.
"Batting 6th for the Ligers, Ken Takagi."
"UNI CORN!"
Ken flinched as he heard the lone voice in the crowd call out his cursed nickname. His head snapped to the spot, only to see Steve waving his arms and cheering loud and proud.
Ken felt his eye twitch in annoyance before he managed to regain his composure. Letting out a deep breath, he turned to the pitcher Louis Garcia and evaluated him.
'He still seems composed after leaking runs in the first inning… I guess that's because he has a lot of experience.' Ken thought, narrowing his eyes.
But just because the guy was composed, didn't mean that Ken would go easy on him. He intended to smack the first pitch as hard and as far as he could.
Garcia raised his leg and strode forward, delivering his pitch.
Suddenly, time seemed to slow down for Ken as he stood in the batters box, surprising him greatly.
'Crunch time is activating now?'
It had been quite a while since his Crunch Time skill had activated, to the point where he had almost forgotten about it. With Ken's mental capacity, he was able to effectively gauge the velocity and rotation of pitches rather accurately.
This made Crunch Time less effective than it might have been when he was back in High School.
However, that didn't mean it wasn't useful.
Ken's confidence surged as he easily picked the slider. He waited till the right moment before twisting his body and planting his foot, sending the bat flying past the catchers head.
WHOOOOOOOSH
THWACK!
The bat connected with the ball in the middle of the barrel, the sound crisp as it echoed within the ballpark. Apart from a few solitary cheers, the entire arena was silent as they watched the ball fly into the stands.
Ken couldn't help but grin as he tossed the bat aside, feeling his heart soar. While he had enjoyed throwing a perfect game, there was something different about hitting a home run, especially in a post season game.
It was a pity that they were on enemy turf, but it didn't diminish the accomplishment.
"UNI CORN!"
Ken rounded first base and heard Steve shouting once more. He resisted the urge to throw up the middle finger in the guy's direction, instead focusing on completing his lap of the bases.
As he rounded 3rd, he saw Daichi waiting for him at home plate with a big smile on his face. He casually stepped onto the plate and fist bumped his brother before almost skipping back to the dugout.
Seeing the giant smile on his Grandfather's lips made Ken very happy, almost more than getting the home run itself.
"Yes! That's what I'm talkin' about!" Samuel shouted. He was the first to greet him in the dugout.
The rest of the dugout was also hyped up. The moment Ken stepped in he was almost attacked by his teammates. High fives, bum slaps and head pats were dished as he walked into the trenches.
With his home run, the Ligers were now up 5-0 and there was only 1 out. This was almost the worst case scenario for the Arrows who hadn't even had a chance to go on the offensive yet.
There were even some people in the crowd who had had enough and began to leave the ballpark. Unfortunately, this trend would continue as the game went on.
By the 6th inning, the score was already unthinkable in a post season match.
Michael and his girlfriend Rachel were in attendance amongst the Houston fan's. Unfortunately this meant that Michael had to keep his cheering to a minimum, otherwise he might get some unwanted attention.
Already he could see some die hard and angry Arrow's fans who had helped themselves to the bar for most of the afternoon start to get rowdy. Security was forced to intervene and kick out the drunk hooligans.
"I never thought the game would be this blown out." Rachel stated.
Michael nodded, "Ken's brother really is special…"
Rachel raised an eyebrow, "Isn't Ken playing better? He's hit a home run and 2 doubles so far this game."
"Well of course Ken is amazing." Michael said simply, "But Daichi has been keeping Houston's batters at bay. Only giving up 3 hits in 6 innings is really impressive."
"Yeah I guess." Rachel replied, "But isn't that because of the pitcher? Not the catcher?"
"Er, yes and no. Without a good catcher, a pitcher is a lot less effective, even at this level." He explained.