"Play ball!"
The match against SC High School had begun. Lucas took the mound in the top of the first inning.
'Shit.'
His thoughts kept wandering. Unlike the Santa Monica practice game, his attitude towards this game was different.
Lucas frowned and tried to keep his mentality in check, but it wasn't easy. As time went by, he began to question every single one of his actions.
'Would the result be different if there was a shutout in this game?'
A shutout: a pitcher who holds the game from the first inning to the end without allowing a single run.
Of course, Lucas would only pitch three innings in today's game, so he couldn't even dream of a shutout.
At that point, Lucas's mentality was not ready to play the game. But the game had already started, so the ball had to be thrown.
Lucas finally gritted his teeth and wound up.
WOOOSH—!
THUMP—!.
Lucas's ball completely missed the catcher's mitt.
"Ball!"
The ball went wide of the mitt.
He was planning to throw it into the middle of the field, but it turned out to be a wild pitch that hit the back netting, not to mention the catcher.
'What is this?'
Lucas scolded himself.
He knew he had to do his best, even if it was an unwanted situation. He steeled himself and tried his best to throw the ball into the strike zone.
But Lucas had never gone up to the mound with an unorganized mind.
He didn't know how to rebuild his completely broken mentality, so the more he threw the ball, the more his mind began to go blank like a blank sheet of paper.
'How did I throw the ball?'
In an instant, Lucas completely forgot how to throw a ball.
The catcher, the infielders, and the outfielders all cheered him on. Lucas, who was struggling in the swamp of panic, heard only the murmur of their cheers.
"Base on balls!"
When he came to his senses, he had given walks to three consecutive batters, and the bases were loaded with no outs. Then someone came towards him.
"As expected. You weren't ready to throw the ball."
The voice of the manager on the mound. Lucas looked at him and gave him eyes of salvation.
'I can't throw it. Please let me throw it.'
The director read Lucas's expression like that. "Are you thinking of giving up like this?"
Lucas nodded his head with difficulty at the director's words.
Do you enjoy playing baseball? If not, are you doing your best?
The very thought of this meant that he was not worthy of standing on the mound.
Lucas eventually handed the ball he was holding to the coach. It meant that he would come down from the mound on his own.
But instead of catching the ball Lucas threw, the manager put his hand on his shoulder and nodded toward the outfield.
"Do you see that man over there?"
Lucas slowly raised his head and turned it in the direction the director pointed.
'Huh? Huh?'
Why?
Lucas's vision began to shake.
Because a completely unexpected person came into view. The distance was considerable and all he could see his silhouettes.
Lucas knew who he was
How could one not know one's own father? His father were watching him from the outfield stands, their hands clasped together.
Only then did Lucas's voice flow out through his tightly shut mouth.
"What the heck is going on?"
"I'm sure you're not asking because you don't know how.. Are you asking how he came here?"
Lucas nodded.
"The school sent a letter asking if he would like to come watch a baseball game scheduled for you. Your father readily agreed and here he is. That's why the school even sent a car to bring your father over."
"To this extent…?"
The director nodded.
"This is also to somehow get you to play baseball. If it means you can play baseball, the school will do anything to help you. Your talent is so real that this level of investment is not a big deal."
The time was up, so the director had to come down. At the referee's voice, the coach nodded once and turned his back on Lucas.
"How is it? Are you feeling like you can throw the ball properly now?"
The manager returned to the dugout without even listening to Lucas's answer. Lucas was left alone on the mound. But Lucas's eyes were filled with enthusiasm, unlike a little while ago.
'The fact that my father came in person means...'
It's not that he was against him playing baseball.
Rather, he was cheering for him from the stands right now. As he looked at his father again, his mind, which had been blank as a sheet of paper, began to fill up one by one.
And Lucas smiled with relief as if he had gotten rid of all the ten years of stress.
'First, let's overcome this crisis.'