"You guy, where did you shoot? Where's the accuracy you're so proud of?!" Miyuki put on his mask again.
"Sorry." Kōshū apologized without sincerity. He put his gloves on his chest and turned his palms toward home plate with an expression of "throw the ball back quickly."
"It looks like another big project." Miyuki complained.
"Sorry, shall I find Miyauchi Senior?" After the two first-years joined the team, Tanba's sense of crisis worsened and he became more and more inclined to close himself off. Under such a sense of crisis, human instinct will drive them to choose people they trust more, so now Tanba and Miyauchi have more exchanges.
"Okay, okay, let's throw the ball."
As a result, it was already very late that day when the two of them polished the Slider to some extent. Generally speaking, it was still not ideal. The power of Slider suddenly changes when mixed with a straight ball. The greater the horizontal and vertical changes, the more threatening it is.
"The change is too early, you are using too much force." Kōshū's Slider is far from usable.
"Forget it, let's go, continue tomorrow."
As soon as the two people stood up, two voices came from the door.
"Ah, you guys are secretly training here!" Eijun jumped at the door with a look of betrayal on his face, "Then I want to throw the ball too!"
"Yes." Furuya agreed.
Kōshū looked at the situation and picked it out very quickly. "Then Senior Miyuki I'll leave it to you, I'll leave first."
"You guy -" Miyuki just stood up and was blocked by two pitchers. He could only watch the other pitcher run away quickly.
Turning out of Indoor Training Field, under the cover of night, all the scenery was blurry. Kōshū felt that during this time, he could focus more on his own things. On the one hand, the time at night was free, and on the other hand, because there were too many scenery that caught the eye during the day, and the human brain had to process a lot of things unconsciously, which would cause interference. However, at night, there were not so many scenery, and people's attention would be directed to themselves.
'Slider is very important, but looking at the current situation, it will take time to really hone a ball that can be used in actual combat, so at this stage, what can be done is physical training and increasing ball speed. '
He thought about it and started running unconsciously. When he looked up again, he was already at the playground. "It's terrible to get used to it. It's only been three months. Even in the dark, my subconscious could already find Seido's playground." '
But he only ran half a circle when he realized that there was another person on the playground.
"Kataoka Manager." Anyway, it has been a month since the last chat. Kōshū decided to stick to the habit of regular communication developed in Kinoshita Little League.
"Why don't you go and rest." Kataoka Manager was actually wearing sunglasses.
"Just practicing Slider."
This was in Kōshū's six-month plan, so Kataoka Manager was not too surprised.
"Don't overtrain. Currently Seido's Pitcher Lineup does not lack your ball."
"Hi -" Kōshū reflected for a moment. It was indeed a bit late today. After training for so long, my body became excited. I guess I won't be able to fall asleep again after a while. If I go for a normal morning run tomorrow, my sleep time will be further reduced.
"I'll go back right away, but before I leave, can I ask a little about Sawamura's Promotion to First String?"
Kataoka Manager wiped his sweat and said, "As for the candidate to join First String, it was my arbitrary decision. I think the current Kominato and Sawamura are the best candidates. Their strength is needed for the team reorganization in the fall. As for your brother Sasaki, although it is not good to say such things as a supervisor, First String has no place for him now, that's all."
"I understand." Kōshū understood that Kataoka Manager could only say this at most, so he didn't hesitate and just saluted and left.
'Is there no place for him? It's pretty much what I thought. ' And it's not necessarily a bad thing. Judging from the current situation, he and Sawamura have gradually become assimilated. In the morning, they competed for the first place and couldn't eat.
A week like this passed quickly, and Slider of Kōshū gradually began to pitch somewhat, but how much he could perform in the game was still a question. He pulled Lang Zhi over as a hitter, and let Lang Zhi, a person with good eyesight, see how Slider and the straight ball were on the same track in the early stage.
"Well, judging from the early trajectory, it is still a bit difficult to distinguish, but from the way the ball rotates, isn't it very clear? One has four seams, and the other has a center point of rotation." He felt a little proud after talking about it. From the perspective of Dynamic Vision who was watching the ball, he was much better than Kōshū.
"Oh, then shut up and stand Batter's Box as a stake." Kōshū I have seen many excellent Sliders. They can turn from the batter's inside corner of the bad ball or even the contact position to Strike Zone or the outside corner, which can scare the batter very well, "Lang Zhi, don't move, I'm going to pitch."
"Huh? What are you going to throw - ah! You are shooting after me!" Fortunately, he wore relatively complete protective gear and could dodge quickly.
"Don't be afraid, Lang Zhi, it won't hurt very much." Strangely enough, the main reason why Kōshū is not throwing well at present is that he wants to get it right at once. The ball speed, rotation speed, displacement, and common rail with the straight ball all have to be taken in one go. Of course, it is hard to practice.
"I still don't want it anymore..."
"Anyway, Training Camp has started, and Second String has no training missions. You can have a good rest -"
After coaxing his younger brother for a long time, Kōshū finally failed to achieve the Slider he wanted. Time being impartial, in mid-June, Training Camp started.
A senior who was a day student came to Room 4 to lay the floor. Everything else, such as class time and training time, remained unchanged. Kōshū was still muttering to himself, could it be that Kataoka Manager was about to change his gender?
In training, Kōshū is in a state of being freed. When the pitcher is on fielding, he is also the first to finish practice, and then goes to practice Fly Ball and return passes in the outfield.
"Brother, you can go your own way." Eijun and Furuya have recently been surrounded by Chris, who only lets them practice basic skills, so this is the first time since coming to First String to see Kōshū's practice status up close.
Chris followed Eijun's gaze towards the outfield, where a figure was handling each Fly Ball skillfully and seriously. "Well, unlike you, Kōshū will have a heavy defensive task in the outfield, so he needs to take care of both sides."
"It's completely different from you. When you can be so reliable, we will feel relieved." Maezono, who was watching over Eijun on the side, couldn't stand it anymore, this guy reasoned He has learned everything, but he is always slow in his actions. He turned around and complained to Chris, "Really, why did you choose this guy to enter First String? Can he really be sent on the field?"
Maezono understands that his striking ability is not as good as First String, but there are many people in Second String who are more capable than this guy. Is it because he is a first-year student?
"Well, don't forget, this guy has never played hardball in middle school. It's pretty good that he has grown up to this point in such a short period of time. More importantly, Eijun's climbing spirit, if you keep it next to you, won't you feel a chill in your back?"
Maezono thought for a while and nodded. Just as he was about to change his attitude towards the guy, as he was talking, the guy's first base replacement was wrong again.
"Ze-mura-!"
The first working week of the official double update, I managed to get through it so well, I feel a little more confident.