Ken was already motivated to improve at a fast pace thanks to his promise with his father. He planned to win at Nationals this year, which would require intense training both for himself and his teammates.
This mission meant that he would also receive a tangible award from the system for his hard work.
DONG
The sound of the metal bat rung in his ears, pulling Ken out of his daze.
His eyes caught the ball flying towards the center outfield, clearing the distance that Ken had hit with his earlier home run. Katsuya who had just stepped onto the mound seemed crestfallen that his very first pitch resulted in such an outcome.
Despite hitting a home run, Makoto did not look impressed. His eyes were drawn to Ken who was sitting in the dugout, his hands still grasped around the bat.
Ken couldn’t help but smile at the captains antics.
“Makoto… Why aren’t you running?” The coach’s annoyed voice rang out as he stepped in between the two.
“A-Ah, sorry!” Makoto must have forgotten that they were in the middle of a match, either that or he didn’t take the other team seriously. Ken was more inclined to believe the latter.
He quickly began his run around the bases, but he looked a bit bored.
The next few at bats weren’t much better than the last. Despite Ken already securing two outs, the innings did not end until Akira sent a fly ball out to left field.
The final score was 2 runs to 7 in favor of the 1st team.
“Okay okay, I think we’ve seen enough for today.” Coach Hanada stopped everyone as they were about to change over.
Ken wasn’t too surprised considering the disparity between the two teams. In his previous life, he had managed to keep the 1st squad to only 5 runs, however they never got any runs in return.
“We’ll be running some role specific drills to finish the rest of the day.” He explained.
“Coach Kano will take the fielders and I’ll take the pitchers and catchers. Dismissed.”
A large portion of the players including Yusuke headed over to the first squad dugout where the assistant coach was, while Akira, Yuto and another two players headed their way.
They were Shogo Morikawa the relief pitcher and Yasuki Hattori, the backup catcher. Shogo looked a little down, probably because he knew that his opportunities would dwindle thanks to Ken’s abilities.
Once everyone had arrived, Coach Hanada spoke up. “I’m going to pair you all up, let’s get some pitches in so I can check up on your forms. Once that’s done I’ll create a training menu for you all to complete at home.”
“I’ll be switching the match ups every 20 pitches. I want you to all be comfortable with each other in the coming weeks.”
The coach continued, “First off, Akira you’re with Shiro. Ken you’re paired up with Yuta, Shogo you’re with Yasuki.”
The players who were called walked over to the bullpen and took their positions.
“Um, coach what about me?” Katsuya stood around awkwardly. It turned out that there were only three catchers while there were 4 pitchers.
“Hmm. Head over to the fielding squad for now, we’ll chat about your options after practice today.”
Ken overheard the conversation and felt a little sorry for Katsuya. Even in his previous life, Katsuya had not been given an opportunity to pitch.
“Ah okay, I understand.”
Everyone could only watch as the first year left the vicinity. Of course while most felt bad for him, they couldn’t allow another persons situation affect their own, especially if they wanted to keep their place in the team.
Akira especially looked determined. Seeing that Ken had been paired up with Yuta, the starting catcher, told him just how much the coach valued Ken. This served to light a fire under him, forcing him to evaluate his behavior.
“I’ve been wanting to catch your pitches… To think I’d get an opportunity so soon.” Yuta said with a friendly smile, patting Ken on the back.
Ken smiled in response, feeling his excitement peak. Yuta was liked by everyone on the team thanks to his agreeable personality and friendly demeanor. However, Ken knew just how hard he worked, especially when it came to researching opponents.
“Let’s get some work in.” He replied.
Just like that, the training commenced.
After around 20 pitches the coach switched up the teams. This happened another 4 times, bringing the total number of pitches close to 130.
Both Akira and Shogo were showing visible signs of fatigue, their pitches becoming slower and less accurate. Ken on the other hand, felt as if he could pitch another 100 more.
“Ken, Akira, Shogo, go and ice your shoulders. Catchers go and join the tail end of the fielders drills.”
Before Yuta could leave Coach Hanada tapped him on the shoulder, telling him to stay back. They waited in silence until the rest of the players left before speaking.
“So what do you think?”
Yuta’s easygoing expression hardened a little before answering. “All I can say is he’s a monster… Not only was he fast, he was consistently so, even as the pitch count got higher and higher.”
“With both his stamina and speed, he is only lacking in control. If he were to master that, we might just have the best High School pitcher in Japan…”
The coach was a little shocked with Yuta’s high praise, especially since the guy was a research nut. He probably knew every notable pitcher that was still in high school right now thanks to his obsession with scouting potential problems for the team.
However, he had to agree with him for now. While there were some other 3rd year students who could pitch faster than Ken, they would generally run out of stamina rather quickly compared to others.
This was due to the physiology of teenagers. Their bodies were still growing, therefore they did not have the muscle mass to persist at the same level for 100+ pitches.
“Do you think he’ll be ready in 2 months for the prefecture tournament?” Coach Hanada asked seriously.
“I need to see if he is consistent enough first. If he’s not a hard worker then it will just be a waste of—”
Yuta’s words were cut off by the sound of a ball hitting the net. Both he and the coach looked over to see Ken just finishing up his pitching action before grabbing another ball from the bucket next to him.
“Just a few more to reach 150.” Ken mumbled, wanting to meet his mission goal for the day.
Silence stretched out between the two before they both looked at each other and smiled wryly.