Shohei Ohtani faced Mike Trout with two outs in the ninth inning of the World Baseball Classic final. Team Japan was up by one. It was the matchup everyone wanted. Ohtani started Trout with a slider just below the zone. Trout didn’t bite. Then Ohtani went fastball, dialing up 100 mph heat. He followed with another fastball that cut a bit more, just off the plate. Then came a third, 100 again, right over the plate. Trout swung hard and missed it. Ohtani wasn’t done. He cranked it up to 102 on the next pitch but missed high.
With the count full, Ohtani went off-speed. He threw a nasty 87 mph slider that tracked perfectly over the plate, catching Trout way out front. Strike three. Game over. Ohtani let out a roar, tossed his glove and hat, and sprinted to celebrate with his teammates. But before the full dogpile began, he made sure to find his catcher for a quick hug. That moment froze like a movie ending. Classic celebration, full of emotion and precision, just like the pitch that closed it.