Chapter 57: 2nd Round (1)

The team alighted from the bus at the home ground for the Kanto tournament. After resting for almost 2 weeks, they were raring to get on the pitch and play some baseball today. Their opponent was Joto Middle School, which had blitzed through the first round against Nogi Choritsu, even keeping them scoreless in the proceedings. This was a surprise as Joto was never really known for their baseball program. Ken sat next to Daichi in the locker room as the Coach went over the game plan and reiterated the starting lineup. He tried hard to keep a neutral expression; however, seeing that he had been left out once again, it was tough. Perhaps sensing his frustrations, the coach moved his gaze to him and gave him a reassuring look. Ken's spirits lifted a little seeing this, hoping that it would translate to playing time. After a small pep talk, the team walked onto the field and greeted the opposition, bowing respectfully. Kenta and their opponent's captain stayed for the toss, which fell in favor of Joto, who chose to field first. Their team retreated to the dugout, and the starting batters got ready, taking practice swings while they could. Keisuke walked up to the batter's box and did his usual shenanigans, pointing his bat towards the pitcher and squaring up. The pitcher was a stocky teenager who seemed a little short to play at the position. However, when Ken saw him, a flood of memories came rushing into his mind. 'Ah damn it, this might be tough.' He said inwardly. In his previous li,fe during his 3rd year of middle school, this pitcher had given them the biggest headache of the Kanto tournament. He had a shameless pitching style, not afraid to hit a batter to send a message. 'Kotaro Ishikawa…' They were in for a tough battle. He quickly walked over to the coach and gave his evaluation of the pitcher, all the while, the game had already started. Just as the coach was about to question where he learned these things from. "Dead ball!" Keisuke yelled out in pain as the ball struck his hip. He winced and hopped around while trying to deal with the initial pain of the pitch. The coach's eyes widened and he swallowed his next words, y Ken's worries were true. Unfortunately, there was nothing that he could do about it, considering it was just the first time. The umpire gave a warning to Kotaro, who apologized profusely. Yet when he turned to walk back to the mound, an imperceptible grin formed on his face, showing his true colors. Next, the batter's box was Jin, the first baseman. The next few balls from Kotaro were nothing out of the ordinary, just fastballs with decent pace behind them. Before knowing, it was Jin behind in the count, sitting at 1-2 (1 ball, 2 strikes). The next pitch thrown was slow, causing Jin's eyes to light up. He put strength behind his swing like he wanted to hit it out of the park. Pah "3 strikes, out!" "Huh?" Jin was mystified. How could he miss a ball that was traveling so slowly? Feeling a wave of confusion overcome him, Jin walked back to the dugout like he was lost. While others may not have seen it, the pitch that Kotaro threw was a knuckleball. The knuckleball was one of, if not the hardest, breaking balls to master in baseball. It required the pitcher to throw the ball with no spin, which would cause an erratic and unpredictable course as it flew through the air. Not only did the pitcher have to be skillful, but the catcher would also need to have their wits about them. Ken frowned. This was the real reason why they had struggled so much in the Kanto tournament of that year: the unknown pitcher with a knuckleball. Kenta was next up. He had seen the slower ball, yet he wasn't sure what it was either. Yet instead of worrying about it, he would let his bat do the talking. Unfortunately, he was struck out in the same way. Fastballs, which were just on the edge of the strike zone, we would bait the swings, and then the knuckleball to finish the count. "Out!" Despite the situation, Ken almost laughed out loud thanks to the exaggerated look of disappointment on the captain's face. He didn't know what it was, but Kenta's expressions always seemed to make him laugh. "Daichi, you're going to have to swing early in the count. The moment you hit 2 strikes, he'll hit you with that slower ball." Ken got his brother's attention and gave him some advice. Daichi nodded, a look of determination creeping onto his face as he made his way up to bat. When he was ready, Kotaro wound up and sent the ball flying towards the outside. The course looked to be just scraping the edge of the strike zone, something that could get called either way. "Hmph." Daichi let out a grunt and swung wide with his large shoulders. He had decided to take Ken's advice and swing at the earlier pitches, sinking his all into it. DONG The sound was a little crisper than usual, meaning Daichi had probably hit it closer to the end of the bat instead of the middle. Yet with his gargantuan strength, the ball rocketed to the outfield high over the first baseman's head. DING! An eruption of cheers rang out from the dugout as the ball crashed into the foul pole. Daichi's face lit up as he threw the bat to the ground and began his victory lap around the bases. Ken breathed a sigh of relief as Daichi ran around all of the bases and arrived home. As long as they had some runs on the board, he wouldn't be worried about losing the game. The next two batters, Tatsuya and Takesh, fell prey to the same tactics that Kenta had faced in his first at-bat, promptly being struck out by the knuckleball.