Ken was brought up next, however, Mark directed him to one of the first 2 mounds to test his left arm first. He wasn’t bothered, in fact now that he had seen Edward’s results, he wanted to beat them.
Edwards was the Ace. If Ken could overshadow his results with just his left arm, wouldn’t that give him the best shot to make the team? Even if he was made a reliever instead of a starter, as long as he made the team, he didn’t care.
The catcher he was throwing to was someone he didn’t recognize, but that didn’t matter.
“Start with some warm up throws.” His grandfather announced.
Like that, everyone threw around 10 warm up throws before waiting patiently for the next orders. Ken’s arm felt light, he was raring to go.
“Fastball first.”
Ken grinned, gripping the ball in his hand tightly before getting into position. He took a deep breath before lifting his right leg and striding forward.
His arm whipped past his head and the ball shot from his fingertips towards the open glove of the catcher. While it was not as pronounced as his right arm, their was indeed movement in the ball.
PAH
PAH
PAH
Ken’s was the first to strike the glove and he turned his head, looking at the closest monitor.
’94mph and 2310rpm… Nice!’
Ken’s heart soared. With just his first pitch he had already beaten out Edward’s velocity and spin rate with his left arm. However, those taking down the results had no reaction.
He wasn’t sure if these people were told to remain neutral, or if his results weren’t actually that impressive.
‘Well, if that’s not enough then how about this…’
Then next pitch, Ken put all of his strength into it.
’95mph and 2350rpm… This is probably the limit of my left arm.’ Ken thought, feeling a little annoyed.
After a few more pitches, Ken switched to the slider, the only other pitch he could properly do with his left. This had more spin than his fastball and stayed around the 84mph range.
Once he was done, he took a step back and the next group of pitchers stepped up. Rohan was included in this group this time.
Ken eagerly watched as Rohan took up position on the mound. It had been a tough decision to give him the Recovery Elixir back then, but seeing how much he had changed after, Ken did not regret it.
Not only this, if he was as good as the others had said, then he would be instrumental in helping the Ligers win the World Series this year.
Rohan sent his fastball out soon after and Ken’s eyes shined. His gaze quickly snapped to the screen and waited patiently.
’97mph!’
Ken had to prevent himself from jumping with joy. This was a pleasant surprise.
‘2400rpm too. He’s definitely gotta be at the top for fastballs.’ Ken thought with glee.
Another surprise was that Rohan had quite a a large arsenal of pitches including his change up. Ken also believed that he would get better as time went on since it had only been around 6 months since he was healed from the Recovery Elixir.
After another round, everyone had finished their rounds of pitching.
“Ken, step up.” Mark said, directing him to the 3rd mound.
‘Eh? Just me?’ Ken thought in confusion.
Now he would have the added pressure of the entire squad watching him pitch with his right arm. Of course Ken wouldn’t let this effect him, he had played in front of thousands of people before and these were his potential teammates.
Ken nodded and walked up to the mound. Daichi happened to be the catcher for the 3rd mound, bringing a small grin to his face.
‘Let’s make it a show then…’
After 10 warm up pitches, he turned to his grandfather and nodded, signaling that he was ready.
“Fastball.” Mark said, wearing a knowing grin.
“Yes sir.”
Ken looked to Daichi and gave him a smile. It was time to make a statement.
Taking a deep breath, Ken took his time and adjusted his posture. He took one look towards where 3rd base would be if he was on the field before lifting his left leg up.
He kicked off the pitchers plate and took a long stride forward, cocking his arm back. Ken had done this thousands of times in his life, so much so that he could do it in his sleep.
His arm whipped past his head and he raked down on the ball, causing it to spin wildly. The ball snaked through the air as if it were alive, eventually landing perfectly into Daichi’s glove.
PAH!
The moment it struck the glove, murmurs began in the watching crowd. Ken kept his composure and turned to the screen to see his results.
‘102mph and… 2700rpm!?’
This score was a full 300rpm higher than the other pitchers and a clear stand out. Even the other staff members recording the results seemed to be taken aback.
“Again.” Mark called out, his tone neutral.
And so Ken did it again, achieving a similar result. This continued for another 5 more pitches, showing everyone present that the first time was not a fluke.
“Curveball.”
In front of the others, Ken went through his full array of pitches, perfectly executing everything that he was ordered to do. Each pitch, Daichi would call out the ball, of which all of them were strikes.
This in itself was almost freakish. Not only was Ken’s speed and spin rate ridiculous, his accuracy was also amazing.
By the time he stepped off the mound, everyone looked at him differently. Even Edward, the ace of the team seemed to show some interest.
The guy came over and held out his hand. “I’m Edward, but you can call me Ed.” He said.
He had a bit of an accent, but Ken could still understand him easily.
“Ken, nice to meet you.” He said gripping the outstretched hand.