Ken performed his wind up, causing the batter in the box to flinch briefly. His Intimidating Wind up skill was at work once more, propelling his pitching to EX grade.
Funnily enough, this skill only worked against a batter, so this was the first time the Ligers organization was seeing it up close.
By the time the ball left Ken’s fingertips, the batter felt had barely recovered.
WHOOOOSH
PAH!
A blink of an eye later, the ball slammed into the catchers glove with force. The ball was so elusive that it seemed like it had a mind of its own, dodging the bat skillfully on its way past.
Silence.
Daichi ignored the stinging sensation in his hand and turned to the umpire, waiting for the official call.
“S-Strike.”
The umpires words broke the silence, causing those within both of the dugouts to suck in a cold breath of air. They didn’t need a speed gun to know that the pitch was fast, yet everyone’s eyes moved to screen anyway.
‘103mph.’
“This is that rookie we passed on?” One of the Pittsburgh players commented, raising an eyebrow.
“Dude shut up.” One of the others hissed softly, gesturing his head to a certain player nearby.
Peter Skenes, the pitcher who’d been taken 1st overall was within earshot on the bench. His eyes were locked onto Ken unmoving, but it was obvious at a glance that he felt threatened.
“It’s a pity Skenes isn’t playing this match. It would have been nice to have a duel between the two.” The first player commented.
The coach of the Raiders walked over and placed his hand upon Peter’s shoulder, tapping it lightly, “Don’t worry, you’ll get your chance once the season starts.” He said, consoling the guy.
This was a pre-season match, so therefore the results did not matter. However, that didn’t mean players wouldn’t get fired up.
“Yes coach.” Peter replied succinctly.
It wasn’t just the Pittsburgh bench that were thrown into disarray. Many of the Ligers players were stunned at Ken’s pitch. Since they had only seen him throw in practice, this was the first time they saw him throw seriously.
“Has this guy been holding back in practice?”
However, Rohan was the one to answer. “Ken always pitches better in games. He’s one of those guys who excels the harder the opponent…”
“I see…”
Oblivious to the stir he’d caused, Ken adjusted his shoulder and got ready for the next pitch. His arm felt light and he was full of confidence in closing out the game, especially against the Raiders’ 2nd team.
WHOOOOSH
PAH
“Strike.”
PAH
“Strikeout.”
Ken couldn’t help but smile as a sense of satisfaction crept in at striking out the first player. He retrieved the ball and waited for the next batter to make his way up to the plate.
However, when he looked up, he saw the coach of the Raiders walking from the dugout towards the umpire. Since he was so far away, he couldn’t hear what was being said.
“Substitution. Ben Reynolds will be replacing George Smith.” The umpire called out.
The moment he said this, the atmosphere thickened.
‘Reynolds? Isn’t he one of their best hitters?’ Ken thought, his eyes widening.
Judging by the reaction of those on the field, Ken believed this was true. From the beginning of this game, it seemed that only the 2nd team players would be competing, but Pittsburgh had now changed this dynamic by bringing in a starter.
Ken was in a mix of emotions seeing Ben Reynolds walk up to the batters box. On one hand he was excited to face a proper Major League player, but on the other hand there was part of him that was worried about giving up a hit.
He watched the guy walk into the left handed batters box and begin with some warm up swings. Each swing was crisp and looked like it had a lot of power behind.
When Ben gave the thumbs up to the umpire, Ken walked forward and spoke up. “I’m switching to my left arm.” He told the umpire.
He had played enough as a switch pitcher to know the rules surrounding switching his arm.
Ben raised his eyebrow in disbelief for a moment before he spoke to the umpire. He then moved over to the other side of the batters box and squared up.
At this, Ken frowned.
“I’m switching to my right arm.” He called out, moving his glove to the other hand.
However, Ben was having none of it. Without a word, he moved over to the left handed batters box once more, sending a glare back at Ken.
Ken raised his arms as if to ask what the hell was going on. He was waiting for the umpire to say something, but the guy didn’t look like he was going to intervene just yet.
Eventually, Ken decided to stick with his right arm. This would probably continue back and forth until the umpire called a delay of game. He didn’t want this, especially since it was meant to be a showcase of his abilities.
‘I’ll just destroy you with my right arm then.’ Ken muttered in his heart.
Ken pretended to adjust his shoulder while he opened up the system. With no Mika around, he needed to activate his skills by himself.
After locating showdown, he activated it.
The moment he did, he felt the familiar euphoria of his muscles filling up with power. A wave of confidence followed, as he felt the strength surge through his body.
Ben, who was wearing a small smile on the corner of his lips suddenly froze. His eyes widened as he saw Ken’s figure seemingly increase in size, a dangerous aura emanating from his body.
‘What the hell is this?’ He thought, gripping the bat a little tighter.
He had been brought up to knock the opposing rookie down a peg or two, but the atmosphere Ken was giving off was not like any rookie he’d ever seen before.