The whole stadium was so shocked at the acrobatic play that they didn’t even notice the lack of awareness from the fielder. Such flashy moves were not common on the baseball field, hence why it was such a shock.
Ken too couldn’t help but feel his pulse quicken at such an athletic play. Yet there was something that was bothering him in that moment.
While it wasn’t uncommon for mistakes to happen on the field, players would usually know to throw to first base after catching a ball, especially when there was a runner on base.
If it was in a later innings, Ken could have chalked it up to fatigue, but they had literally just started the game.
He narrowed his eyes and gazed at Tatsuo suspiciously. The guys face didn’t even show a hint of remorse or embarrassment, almost as if he didn’t care.
‘Mika, use Identify on Tatsuo.’
[…]
After not hearing anything for a few moments, Ken tried once more.
‘Use Identify on Tatsuo, please.’
[Understood]
Ken felt incredulous for a moment. Why did it seem like Mika had an attitude? Perhaps she actually had feelings and he had confused her monotonous and cold tone to mean the opposite.
He inwardly vowed to talk to her a little more politely.
*DING*
300 Major points deducted.
In the next moment a window appeared in front of him, detailing the status of Tatsuo.
NAME: Tatsuo Shiraki
AGE: 16
TALENT ASSESSMENT: ??
POTENTIAL: ??
USER STATS:
>Physical Fitness: SS-
>Pitching: B-
>Fielding: SSS-
>Game Intelligence: E+
>Mental: C
Additional Information: This player possesses unrivaled talent yet has never applied it to his game. Were it not for his friend in the baseball team, he would have already quit baseball out of boredom.
‘W-WHAT!?’
Ken almost fell off his chair as he read the system window of the mysterious youth. This was the first time he’d seen such ratings from someone. While it was crazy enough seeing SS and SSS grades, he was even more shocked to see an E rating.
Even when Ken had only the bare basics of the baseball rules memorized, his game intelligence was a C. So how would someone who made it to Nationals have such a glaring flaw in their repertoire?
‘How could one’s game intelligence be so low? Does he even know how to play baseball?’
[Answer: Player likely knows little to no baseball rules]
‘…’
Ken felt his mind go blank for a moment as if a bomb had been dropped in his psyche. The player he’d been most worried about all this time… was a newbie?
He tried to think back to the game where he faced Shinjuku in his previous life, however his memory was rather rough. Since it had been almost 8 years ago for him, it was understandable that he couldn’t remember much.
Even after combing his memories, there was nothing that stood out other than his extravagant defeat. He remembered the bored expression on the teens face as he stood upon the bases, as if taunting him.
No matter where he threw the ball, the kid would dash towards the next base with blinding speed. Even with Daichi’s arm, it was impossible to catch him out.
Ken shook his head, unable to remember anything substantial.
“Strikeout!”
During Ken’s revelation, Makoto had already faced a few pitches and was sent back to the dugout with a stiff expression on his face.
“I’ll leave the rest to you Hiroki.” He said, placing his hand on the teen’s shoulder on the way past.
The way he said it was as if he’d achieved something instead of swinging and missing 3 times in a row. Yet Hiroki ignored him and stepped into the batters box.
In the meeting, Coach Hanada had stressed how important it was to get off to a good start in this match. Since they’d won the toss and chosen to bat first, it was his job to ensure that they would get on the board.
Hiroki gripped his bat tightly and turned his attention to Kei on the mound.
“Batting Fourth, 1st Base, Hiroki”
Kenta could feel the aura of the batter in front of him and instinctively knew that any easy pitches would be sent flying. It was common practice to have the most powerful hitter on the team batting fourth.
They were called the clean-up hitters, whose job is to “Clean up the bases” by getting big hits. Since they currently only had one player on base and 2 outs, there were a few options for Shinjuku to play this.
‘Let’s throw a few just outside the strike zone and see how he reacts.’ Kenta said inwardly, calling for a ball to the outside.
Kei nodded before performing his unorthodox pitching action.
PAH
“Ball.”
Hiroki didn’t even flinch as he watched the fastball sail just outside and into the glove.
Kenta could only smile wryly as he threw the ball back to his pitcher. He had been hoping the guy would bite, or at least look like he was going to swing at the pitch, yet he was left disappointed.
However, he still had some breathing room. With Kei’s wide range of pitches, he felt confident in giving the cleanup batter some troubles.
He crouched down and called the for next pitch, a sinker towards the outside. As long as Kei continued his accuracy, the ball should paint the bottom of the strike zone.
‘Heh, even if you hit this it will only be a grounder.’
In one quick motion, the blond haired pitcher swept forward and threw his pitch right on target. The ball blitzed towards the strike zone, yet as it got closer, the ball dipped as a result from the heavy top spin.
Since it was being thrown from a southpaw, it was also breaking away from the right handed Hiroki.
Hiroki’s eye’s lit up as he saw the ball incoming. His body sprung into action as he planted his left foot and dug at the ball which was about to paint the bottom of the strike zone.