“Batting 5th, 2nd base, Ichiro.”
The stoic and serious Ichiro stepped into the batters box, no hint of emotion on his features. He turned his gaze to Daichi on 3rd base briefly before turning his attention to Gustavo on the mound.
While it might not seem like it, Ichiro was evaluating his options. He wasn’t fast like Riku or Masayuki so a squeeze was likely out of the equation.
Since there was no outs, there was another way to secure an easy run.
Cuba seemed to have come to the same conclusion as the outfielders slowly made their way closer to the infield.
‘I won’t make it easy for you.’ Gustavo said in his heart as he wound up for the pitch.
Ichiro kept his stance as he coldly surveyed the pitch.
WHOOOSH
DONG
The ball soared high into the center outfield, much higher than anything that had been hit today. It slowly floated in the air, giving the fielder plenty of time to get under the ball.
Daichi looked at the ball briefly before setting his feet on the bag, ready to rush towards home base at the right moment.
His peripherals were on the 3rd base coach who was ready to give the signal.
After what seemed like far too long, the ball finally dropped into the hands of Noel in the outfield.
“Go Go Go!!”
The 3rd base coach yelled, prompting Daichi to kick off the bag and enter a sprint towards home plate. His eyes honed in on his destination, phasing out any distractions.
Noel caught the ball in rhythm, taking a few steps forward before delivering a rocket-like throw back to home plate, hoping to beat the runner.
Guillermo the catcher moved in front of home plate, waiting for the perfect time to try and make the tag out. As he assessed Daichi’s speed and the velocity of the ball coming his way, he knew that it would be close.
Daichi spotted the ball coming into his peripheral vision as he quickly approached the plate and his mind started to work overtime.
Since he was a catcher, he knew what he would do in such a situation if he needed to cut off a runner heading towards home plate.
As he thought this, the scene unfolded in front of him. Guillermo leaned his body into the running lane with his arm still held out in order to catch the ball.
Since he had a wide frame, his body was taking up the real estate that Daichi needed to pass through.
It was a slippery slope at the business end of home plate when it came to defending the base. Oftentimes catchers would toe the line, bending the rules in order to prevent the run.
Daichi was now at a crossroads. If he were to go around the catcher, there was a large chance that it would buy enough time for him to get tagged, stopping Japan’s momentum.
However, if the guy was in possession of the ball and he hit him, he was as good as out. Of course, that was only if the catcher could keep hold of the ball.
These thoughts happened in the span of a single second and soon it was the time to act.
“MOVE!”
Daichi screamed out as if to give a final warning to the catcher who was in his way. Yet even if Guillermo could understand Japanese, he wouldn’t have listened anyway.
THUD
Daichi lowered his left shoulder, bumping straight into the center of the catchers chest. Since the guy had his arm raised in order to catch the ball, his body was wide open for the frontal collision.
Guillermo let out a grunt, feeling the air within his lungs get forcefully removed from his body in one swift moment. The ball which had almost reached his glove was swatted away as a result from the collision.
Another thud sounded and dirt particles were kicked up as his large frame fell upon the ground. The secondary impact caused his vision to swim, followed by the pain of getting laid out.
Daichi shook off the impact using his broad shoulders, trucking his way through to home plate like he was delivering a touch down. The moment he stepped on the plate, his body reacted on its own.
“YEEEEAHHH!”
Daichi felt a sudden primal urge to yell out rush over him, one which he didn’t suppress. He raised his arms in triumph, feeling a dump of adrenaline enter his body from the stellar play.
The Japanese dugout were stunned, not even able to react until a cheer from the bench sounded out.
“YAY DAICHI!”
The Japanese players and coaching staff all turned their head at once to see Miho jumping up and down in excitement as she cheered his name.
‘Eh?’
Coach Takashi seemed the most bewildered as he stared at his beloved Granddaughter. However, he was quickly distracted once the cheering ensued from the rest of the players.
“Holy crap! What is this the NFL?”
“That dude got bulldozed”
“Nice work Daichi!”
Ken couldn’t believe his eyes. He had never seen Daichi act so violently, particularly yelling and screaming like that after the play.
However, his shock was quickly overwhelmed by the pure joy he felt afterwards.
Since he was already on the field waiting to bat next, he had seen the entire play up close. He rushed forward and celebrated, slapping his brother on the back a few times with joy.
“Dude that was sick! How are you even standing after that hit?” Ken asked in wonder.
Daichi grinned widely before leaning closer to his brother.
“That really hurt… Don’t tell Miho I said that.”
Ken was taken aback for a moment before letting out a peel of laughter.
Before he could usher Daichi back to the dugout, Guillermo managed to get to his feet, his expression livid.
“What the hell was that!? He clearly stopped me from catching the ball!”
The umpire watched on coldly as the Cuban catcher approached him and began to protest the play.