The next morning, the three amigos woke up after their impromptu sleep over. Thankfully, the alarm was set for early enough that they had time to get everything ready.
Coach Takashi had called for an early meeting today since they would be playing at 9am. Therefore, other than Hiroki who had to creep back to his own room to get changed, Ken and Daichi made their way to the meeting spot.
It was the same room they’d had their film session in yesterday, but this time breakfast had been brought in to feed everyone. Since they only had around an hour and a half before they needed to head to the arena, the meeting had to be quick.
“Alright you lot, hurry up and grab some food we don’t have a lot of time before we need to head to the stadium.” Chris clapped his hands and relayed the urgency they were in.
Once everyone was settled with some food, the film session began.
“Like we had already talked about, Cuba is one of the biggest threats in this years World Cup. They have a couple of the best sluggers under the age of 18 in the world.”
The screen flickered, showing two player profiles. Side by side, it was clear that the two were brothers, twins for that matter.
They both had wide shoulders and a large waist and looked rather intimidating, at least in the photos.
“These are the Lopez twins, both ranked in the top 10 in US high schools. They’ve already received multiple offers from prestigious colleges, so that should tell you how dangerous they are.”
The screen began to play a few clips of their highlights against the Dominican Republic whom they played yesterday. Each of them scored a home run and multiple base hits.
“Yet even though they played phenomenally, the score was still close. DR managed to keep it competitive until the final inning where the match ended 7-6 with Cuba coming out on top.”
Coach Takashi spoke up next, his arms crossed in front of him.
“We’ll need to put pressure on the twins this match, since they’re left-handed batters, we’ll be starting Kei on the mound. You should have the advantage in the match up.”
Everyone seemed to agree with what he said since left handed batters struggled more against left handed pitchers.
“Daichi, I’m counting on you to make the correct calls. If we’re even a little complacent, it will cost us dearly.” He added, singling the teen out.
“Yes sir!” Daichi quickly swallowed his pastry before yelling out.
Miho saw this and couldn’t help but let out a silent giggle.
“Alright, let’s go over our performance yesterday. I believe there are some avenues in which we can improve.” Chris said, sending a signal to the person on the laptop.
He then went into an in depth analysis of the game.
“Masayuki, I know you were sitting closer to Ken’s side of the field for most of the match yesterday, but I think he’s got it covered for now.”
“I agree. We’ll be taking off the training wheels today Kenny~” Masayuki chimed, eliciting a few chuckles in the room.
Ken cringed after hearing the nickname his parents called him all the time. Apparently Masayuki had overheard Chris call him this recently, which led to the current situation.
He could only laugh it off, after all, tears were useless in such a situation.
Speaking of tears, he had gotten in trouble for not reaching out to his mother yesterday. She called him while upset, saying that he had not even acknowledged her while on the field.
So regardless if they won or lost today’s match, both Daichi and Ken had promised to meet their mother and spend some time with her.
The film session lasted until 7:45am, after which the players quickly headed up to their rooms to grab their things.
“How do you think Kei will go today?” Ken asked his brother as they packed their things.
“I’m not sure. I haven’t had too much time to train with him.” He admitted, feeling a little nervous.
With the additional comment from the Head Coach in the meeting, Ken could understand what pressure Daichi would be feeling in this moment. There was also the fact that he didn’t want to make a bad impression on Miho’s Grandfather…
Ken felt a grin pull at the corner of his lips as he placed his hand on the poor guy’s shoulder.
“You’ll do fine bro, just play how you always play and things will work out.” He said simply, before leaving the room.
Daichi stood silently for a little while after Ken had left.
“I wonder when I’ll get to catch your pitches.” He mumbled.
He felt for his brother who had been relegated to the outfield, despite being one of the best pitchers in the country. With the addition of the slider to his arsenal, there was no doubt in Daichi’s mind that he could excel in the World Cup.
The problem was, why didn’t the coach want to put him on the mound?
Unfortunately for Daichi, there would be no way of knowing unless he asked the Head Coach himself. Of course, he could probably ask his father, but he could already imagine the kind of response he’d receive.
Letting out a small sigh, he grabbed his gear and left the room, throwing the issue to the back of his mind.
As he left the room, he saw Hiroki coming out of a door on the same floor with a pale look on his face.
“Ah, Hiroki. I was meant to ask you earlier, what’s so bad about Aki as a roommate? I know he’s a bit brash and mean sometimes, but he can’t be that bad right.” Diachi asked, his face full of curiosity.
Hiroki let out a harrumph, clearly not happy with his assessment.
“You’re welcome to swap with me if that’s what you think.” He said gruffly.
He leaned closer and whispered to Daichi.
Oh oh, looks like the nickname Kenny has been spread…
Mass Release: 11/16
Thank you very much for getting us to #5 Golden Ticket ranking for the month of July. I will likely be doing something similar this month, so keep on sending the GT’s!
