|11| Debut on the Mound
Hoshiko stood on the mound.
She wasn't going to lie in saying that she wasn't nervous.
She was terrified.
Hoshiko normally throws to female players, she's thrown pitches to her brother before.
But, that's her brother.
She's never thrown to a fully competitive all-boys team.
As much as she hated to admit it, men were better hitters than women.
She looked to the plate. A third-year stood in the box. A first-year behind the plate and the Coach behind the catcher.
A bead of sweat dripped down her forehead.
The catcher gave Hoshiko the sign.
Curveball
Hoshiko nodded her head. She stood to her full height and set herself up. She took one more breath before she began her action.
She released the pitch.
The batter smiled.
He began his swing. The ball began to move.
The ball began to fall as the bat reached its full swing.
The eyes of the batter widened.
"Strike!"
The ball was thrown back.
The catcher called the next pitch. Hoshiko nodded her head.
Slider
She began her windup and pitched the ball.
The ball was aimed at the top inside corner of the zone. The batter began to swing, this time he was determined.
Like last time as the batter swung, that was when the pitch moved. As it did this, he tried to adjust his swing but ended up popping up the ball.
The first-year catcher called the ball and easily caught the pop-up.
The batter stood there shocked before he looked to the girl.
'What the hell?'
The batter thought to himself as he made his way back to the dugout.
"What the hell was that?" the batter asked.
"What do you expect? She's a girl, she'd be the slowest pitcher here." A teammate told the batter.
"No, it wasn't that." The boy said.
"Huh?"
"Her pitch, it was like...I don't know how to explain it."
"It moved after you swung at the ball." Someone else spoke up in the dugout.
The batter looked at his teammate.
"Y-yeah, it was like, it only moved after you began your swing." He continued.
"That makes no sense." The first guy said.
"Don't underestimate her." The batter warned his teammate.
The teammate merely rolled his eyes at the warning.
"Whatever."
The boy went to go and get ready to bat as he was up next.
The second batter managed to get a hit off the girl and made it to first on a missed throw by the third basemen.
The boy stepped up to the box.
'Heh, I'll show you how to really hit. She has nothing on me.'
The girl nodded her head and set up.
The boy smirked as he moved forward in the box.
He knew that the girl was going to be slower.
Hell, everyone knew that, even Hoshiko herself.
But it was her movement that was her weapon.
She pitched the ball, it started in the inside corner and stayed on that line. The boy smirked and began to swing as he was supposed to make contact the ball began to drop.
The boy's eyes widened as he completely missed the ball.
"Strike!"
The boy stood there in shock. He then became angry. He ground his teeth as he set up again.
As Hoshiko stood on the mound, a thought came to her.
She stuck her hands in the air.
"Time!" she called.
"Time!" Coach called.
Hoshiko motioned for her catcher to come to her. The boy stood up and ran towards the girl. She stuck her glove up to cover her mouth.
"I want to try something. Just set up for an inside low pitch." She said. The boy nodded his head and went back to the plate.
Hoshiko turned around.
"Ready to turn the play!" She called out to her team to encourage them.
The girl set up at the mound. She began her action.
She let go of the pitch, it started on the outside of the plate, the batter began to swing expecting an outside pitch but as he began to swing the ball began to curve back into the plate.
The boy's eyes widened.
'What the hell?'
The boy tried to adjust his swing and ended up miss hitting the pitch. The ball ran down the line towards third base.
"Turn the double!" Hoshiko called out. The batter took off trying to make it to first base.
The third basemen picked up the ball and threw it to second.
"OUT!" the second basemen then threw to first base. The boy stretched to his fullest.
"OUT!" The first years erupted into cheers.
"Hell yeah! Double play!" they all high fived each other as they entered the dugout.
The first-year catcher came up to Hoshiko.
"Hey Hoshiko, do you mind me asking? But what the hell was that last pitch you threw?" He asked.
"Oh, it's something called a screwball." She explained.
"A screwball?" The boy asked.
"Basically, it's like a slider but instead of moving away from the batter, it moves back into the batter. I typically only use it on right-handers though." Hoshiko explained further.
The boy nodded his head.
"Do you have any other pitches like that?" The boy asked.
The girl nodded.
"I have a couple that I'm still working on." She said honestly.
"Hey, Hoshiko!" The assistant coach called out. The girl turned around.
"Yes Coach?" she asked.
"Great job on the mound, you have the rest of the game off." Coach said. The girl nodded her head.
There were really only three innings left.
"Yes sir!" She said.
"Hoshiko!" The girl turned around again. This time is was the Head Coach – her uncle – that called out to her this time.
The girl ran towards the coach.
"Yes sir?" she asked once she reached the man.
"Good job today. You pass, you can start practice with the first-string tomorrow." Coach told.
The girl looked up wide-eyed.
"R-really?" The girl stuttered out.
"Yes, really." He repeated.
"Thank you so much!" Hoshiko bowed deeply to the man. "I won't let you down sir!"
"Good, now pack up your gear, go warm down and rest up. It will be a big day tomorrow."
"Yes sir!" the girl replied happily.
She ran back to the dugout. Everyone was making their way out to go and field.
Hoshiko began to pack all her things.
"Congratulations Hoshiko on making the first-string." The Assistant Coach congratulated the girl.
Hoshiko turned around and slightly bowed.
"Thank you, sir!" Hoshiko beamed.
After doing so, Hoshiko continued to pack up her gear. Once she did, she headed out of the dugout and made her way to the second field so she could warm down.
"I can't believe I did it!" the girl squealed excitedly.
Who knows, she might actually get to play some games during her final years.
Only time would tell.