Yuta crouched down before giving the signal for a high fastball, hoping that their opponent would tip it into the air for an easy catch.
Ken nodded, feeling a sense of anticipation as to how fast his fastball would be now.
He adjusted his cap and let out a deep breath. In the next moment his eyes narrowed as he began his wind up, lifting his left knee high before stepping forward in a single fluid motion.
Daichi held his breath as Ken began his pitch. He had only seen Ken pitch with his left, which lacked power, so he was feeling a little anxious.
However, the dugout looked on with expectation. Since becoming the Ace, Ken had been nothing but consistent, becoming their guardian deity and keeping their scorecard clean.
“Hup!”
Ken subconsciously let out a noise as he put all of his strength into his body and let his arm whip the ball out. He could feel his muscles working diligently, rippling underneath his skin.
‘So fast!’
Yuta’s eyes widened as he saw the pitch coming towards his glove. He braced for impact, only to hear the wind roaring in his ears.
WHOOOOOSH
A dreadful sound of the bat swinging through the air sounded, blocking everything else out. It was as if a hurricane had suddenly descended, feeling as if it would destroy everything in its path.
However…
PAH
Yuta felt the sudden impact of the ball in his glove and instantly felt his hand go numb. Yet instead of wincing, he let out a sigh of relief and turned his attention to Tatsuo in the batters box.
“Hmm? That felt a little off.” Tatsuo mumbled, taking a look at his bat as if it was going to confirm something.
“W-WHAT!?”
Shiro heard the coach exclaim loudly next to him and couldn’t understand why. He saw his slack jaw as the coach stared at something in the distance.
Curious, Shiro followed the line of sight all the way to the jumbo screen, only to seemingly have the exact same reaction.
“159km/h!?”
“M-Monster…”
The Shinjuku dugout suddenly paled after seeing the dreadful pitch of Ken fly straight past Tatsuo’s bat. There was a mixture of awe and disbelief as they tried to understand what had happened.
To this day, they had never seen Tatsuo miss a pitch that he had swung at. Granted he’d only been in the club for 6 months and never came to practice, but they had already elevated his status to one of their top players.
All through the Tokyo Prefecture Tournament he had never missed a swing, yet their first match at Nationals had overturned their expectations.
“N-Nice pitch!” Yuta said eventually, standing up and throwing the ball back to Ken on the mound.
Ken felt good after the pitch, but he felt like he could still improve.
“So fast…” Daichi stared at Ken on the mound in wonder, feeling his heart beating wildly in his chest.
‘I want to catch it…’ He suddenly felt a burning desire to catch Ken’s pitches. Just thinking about what kind of leads he could do with such pitches made him excited.
“He’s improved so much.” Chris stated, feeling pride well up from inside.
Once again Yuta asked for another fastball, this time calling for an inside ball. With how monstrous the last swing had sounded, he was worried about it making contact.
Tatsuo stepped back into the batters box and took the same stance as earlier, this time making a few adjustments so that it felt more natural.
“W-What?” Chris’s eyes widened in shock.
“What is it dad?”
“That kid… Who is he?”
Daichi looked at Tatsuo and answered as best he could.
“Tatsuo Shiraki, he seemed to appear out of nowhere at this years Tokyo Prefecture Tournament. Even the Osaka Toin scouts don’t know much about him. Why?”
Chris frowned for a moment before shaking his head in exasperation.
“It looks like he has a distinct feel for the mechanics of baseball.” He said, not explaining any further.
However inwardly he was shocked. If his guess was correct, then the kid was a genius who instinctively knew how to manipulate his body to get the greatest effect.
There were professionals in the field of biomechanics who had spent years trying to perfect even the smallest of actions to increase a players strength and longevity. It was a whole science dedicated to improving performance at the highest level.
Yet this kid after only a single swing was able to tell that the stance and form was not suitable for him. The minor adjustments were similar to what he did for his son Daichi, due to him lacking the height to make the most out of the form.
The difference was, Chris had plenty of research to back up his decisions, whereas Tatsuo purely did it by instinct.
‘What a monster.’
Chris couldn’t help but feel nervous for his son on the mound in that moment, yet he was thankful they were able to amass 3 runs in the first innings.
Unaware of the thoughts of his father, Ken sent a nod to Yuta and got into position. He noticed the slight changes in the form of Tatsuo, but could not understand the intricacies like his dad.
He performed his wind up and whipped the ball out, using his flexible fingers as a spring to create the maximum spin possible. The action felt a lot more natural than before, putting less strain on his body in the process.
The ball seemingly danced through the air with the additional spin, yet it’s destination was true. It seemed even faster than the previous pitch as it spun at high velocity, intent on blasting through the strike zone.
‘Mmm good.’
Tatsuo planted his left foot and swung the bat, using the energy from his twisting body to generate as much power as possible. It felt a lot easier than before and lacked the awkwardness he had experienced.
Once again, Yuta felt the roaring wind enter his ears and couldn’t help but flinch.