Major League System

"Holy crap!"

Everyone in the ballpark was silent after witnessing the scene. The sound of the bat breaking seemed to echo within the stadium, it was only when the umpire called out that people began to react.

"Out."

Steve felt elation, but it was quickly thrown to the back of his mind. He rushed towards the mound with a concerned expression on his face to check on Ken. He had seen the end of the bat fly towards him and later ricochet off.

"Dude are you okay? Where did it hit you?" He asked, inspecting him from head to toe.

"Bro, stop that. Coach is going to think I’m injured." Ken said back in a harsh whisper, placing his arm around the guys shoulder, "That was a nice catch." He added with a grin.

However, Steve would not let the subject be changed so quickly. "Tell me now where you were hit, otherwise I’ll tell the coach you really are injured."

Ken’s eyes widened slowly, he had never thought Steve would be this touchy, but he felt a warmth from within in response, "Relax, I managed to kick it away with the bottom of my cleats."

As if to convince his friend, he began jogging on the spot to show that he was fine. Steve gave him a suspicious look but seemed satisfied in the end. "Just be careful man, we can’t have you injured if we want to win the world series." He said eventually, nudging him with his elbow.

He watched his friend make his way back to home plate and felt a mix of emotions. Ken looked down at his left foot and let out a sigh, feeling it throb painfully. The end of the bat had hit the ball of his foot with force, now whenever he put weight on it he could feel the bruising.

’It shouldn’t affect my pitching.’ He said in his heart, returning back to his spot on the mound. With Leo now out, he had full confidence to strike out the remaining batters.

Ken saw the coach studying him intently from the sidelines, but he quickly activated his poker face skill. He could tell that if he showed any signs that he was hurt, he’d be taken off the field immediately.

Leo had already left the field and returned to the dugout, his eyes never leaving Ken upon the mound. He had seen everything and knew that Ken had to be hurting. However, he would not say anything.

Ken was an adult and could make his own decisions. If he wanted to play injured and risk everything for this game, then he must live with the consequences.

His eyes moved to the screen at the back of the stadium and stared at the 3 numbers.

"103… It felt even faster." Leo mumbled to himself before taking a seat on the bench.

"Batting 5th, Trent Waters!"

As the announcer called out, Trent made his way up to the batters box and got into position. He glanced to Ken on the mound and felt a mixture of emotions.

After meeting the guy and seeing him play at the WWBA Tournament, Trent knew that he was special. Yet finding out that he’d decided to play for Columbia, a team not even in the top 25 in the country, he could not understand it.

Why would someone choose such a lackluster school if their goal was to make it to the Majors? At some point he had written off the guy.

Yet seeing him here, now on the mound in the Super Regionals with his supposedly lackluster team, Trent realized that he had been wrong. The guy had continued to get better and dragged his team alongside him to this point.

The data that Coach Rodgers had given them was indication enough of Ken’s impact on the field. In two seasons, they’d only lost a single game where Ken had pitched more than 3 innings. It was simply unbelievable.

But Trent believed it. Just the fact that Leo who usually seemed so indifferent when facing other players had seemed so serious should have been enough reason to keep his guard up.

And now that he was standing against him on the field, he could feel a suffocating pressure. It was not because this was a post season game, but because of the man standing on the mound.

Ken was wearing an unreadable expression, but Trent could feel his fighting spirit. He gripped his bat tightly and got into position, trying to calm down his beating heart.

As soon as the guy went into his wind up, Trent felt something grip his heart tightly, almost freezing him on the spot.

PAH

"Strike."

His eyes widened in shock. ’What the hell was that?’

This was the first time that he had not been able to swing at a ball, but he still didn’t understand why. He tried to replay the scene in his head, but Ken was already getting ready to pitch the next ball.

Trent grit his teeth and poured all his focus into the next ball. Once again, when Ken stepped forward, he felt his body seize up for a brief moment before the pitch came screaming through the strike zone and into the outstretched glove of the catcher.

PAH

"Strike."

’Damn it!’ Trent cursed inwardly. This didn’t make sense.

It almost felt like he didn’t have control over his own body. He did not understand what was going on. Feeling desperate, he decided that he needed to swing no matter what.

This time when Ken was winding up, Trent committed.

WHOOOOOSH

PAH

The changeup sailed into the catchers glove, causing him to grossly mistime the swing. Trent was already in his follow through by the time the ball entered the strike zone.

"Strikeout!"

He let out a small sigh, filled with frustration. He took another glance at Ken who was wearing the same expression before making his way back to the dugout.

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