After a shaky start, Nakata calmed down in left field for two innings and threw every pitch he threw with extra care.
The last game should have been the pinnacle of his high school career. Unexpectedly, he was extra cautious in the first game and couldn't find his usual pitching state.
"Play ball!"
The game continued in the fourth inning, and only one strike was needed to put the batter out. I don't know if Nitta Manager's interruption of his state was useful. The catcher made a gesture of Signals in the outside corner, "Let's test his state first with Outside Corner Ball." '
Nakata nodded and threw out the first pitch he faced in two innings.
"Foul Ball!" Yuki allowed his eyes to readjust to another pitcher's pitch, but there was still too little room left in this game.
"Out!"
As a result, he still couldn't find the rhythm and hit the direction of the shortstop.
"Yuki Captain, don't mind!"
Kōshū heard the explosive shouting in his ears. It turned out that Eijun, who was sitting next to him, had always been there with an attitude of air. If it weren't for this uncontrollable shouting, Kōshū really wouldn't know that he was here.
"Ah, brother is still sleeping!" Eijun remembered after shouting and quickly shut his mouth. No one was too lazy to remind him.
'Hey,' in Kōshū's heart, he sighed for the Nth time today. Sometimes he would forget that he was only a first-year student, so it was normal to act like Eijun and Furuya.
In Bullpen in the distance, Miyauchi is confirming the status of Furuya, Changeup, and Changeup again. After throwing more than a dozen Changeups in a row, Furuya's ball seems to be able to be suppressed.
"Furuya, do you remember the feeling of relaxing your arms?" Miyauchi saw the opposing pitcher nodding obediently, but it was not easy either. Who knows whether this guy's arms and shoulders will start to exert force again when it comes to pitching.
But it was too late to do more.
"Three out, switch sides!"
In the fourth game, by changing pitchers, Nitta Manager successfully made up for the immediate loopholes of Kyoma University.
On Seido's side, Kataoka crossed over to Furuya who came back to Dugout, and asked Miyauchi behind him, "How is it?"
"Hmph——" Two puffs of air came out of his nose, and Miyauchi replied, "The state is fine, as long as he can remember this feeling of relaxation."
"Well," Kataoka then said to Furuya, "Did you hear that? Can you do it in the next game?"
Furuya was obviously taken aback. It was only then that he was sure that he could still vote again, so he nodded firmly. "Yes!"
"Then -" Kataoka stood up and raised his hand.
Kōshū came out of Dugout and instead of running to Pitcher's Mound, went straight to left field.
"Hey, isn't that the pitcher with the number on his back? Why is he going to left field again?"
"Ah, it's true."
There was a lot of discussion in the court, and Nitta Manager also glanced at the other side in surprise, "You are so brave, you still don't want to give up this pitcher?"
Then came the broadcast that answered everyone's doubts, "Notice of player change for Seido High School. Pitcher, Furuya-kun, left fielder, Kōshū."
From Nitta Manager's perspective, he is actually not optimistic about this approach.
Seido's first-year ace is indeed surprisingly stable, but no one knows where the pitcher is on the verge of collapse. To reintroduce the pitcher who exploded in the last inning, if he leaves a lot of debt again, is to shorten his lifespan.
"It seems that Seido really wants to win this year."
Nitta Manager, called his five bats back, "Tangle with a few more balls in a while, and use up that pitcher as soon as possible."
"Hi!"
Miyuki watched the five sticks go and come back, and understood that the old fox supervisor on the opposite side was probably going to start targeting Furuya.
"How many innings do you think Kōshū can pitch at most?" This is what Kataoka Manager asked during the exchange just now. He was probably already thinking about the thorny issue of pitcher replacement at that time.
"His physical strength is up to 7 innings. Taking into account early entry and base running issues, the number of innings pitched may be further reduced." As a First Year of High School student who has just been out of junior high school for a few months, it is already very impressive to be able to support 7 innings independently. This is all due to his ace experience in the Little League team.
But the 7 games in junior high school are fundamentally different from the 7 games in high school. Kōshū In the 7 games in junior high school, most of the students he encountered were junior high students, who were the same age as him, while in the 7 games in high school, most of them were high school students, and they had two years more training time than him.
"I know," Kataoka took stock of the players on his team. The level of Kyoma University was not something Eijun and Kawakami could deal with.
So from the beginning, I didn't want them to play, Tanba 2-3 innings, and then Kōshū pitched completely, or Tanba 2-3 innings, Kōshū and Furuya pitched alternately until the end, this was Kataoka Manager's original idea.
'I didn't expect Tanba and Furuya to be in such a bad state when facing Kyoma University. 'Miyuki probably understands Kataoka Manager's heart, but now he must make a decision. If Kōshū continues to pitch, he will definitely not be able to last until the end, and may even lead to the collapse of the pitcher.
'Tsk, that guy is only a first grader. ' For Kōshū, it's too cruel.
"Play ball!"
The game started in the fourth inning. Miyuki put all his thoughts aside and concentrated on dealing with the batter in front of him.
'Keep it down, keep it down! ' The catcher's glove hit the ground twice, and Furuya nodded hurriedly.
The intense competition started the moment Furuya raised his foot. After several months of training at Seido, he had gained a thin layer of muscles on his body to match his original strength.
The ball roared toward the batter.
'It will hit you! ' The five-hitter immediately stopped his movements, but the pain from the 150-kilometer pitch hit his body did not come. Amidst the panic, the sound of wind stopped in the catcher's mitt behind Home Plate.
"Bad ball!" Yes, although the ball was thrown very powerfully, it was still a bad ball with a high inside angle. Of course, it was under the instruction of Miyuki.
'Hehe, you should be scared, this is a ball over 150 kilometers away. ' No matter how clever Nitta Manager's instructions are, he still can't come up to hit for the hitter, so Miyuki doesn't care about anything else and just concentrates on letting the hitter feel the power and get out.
At the same time, he felt the force of the ball when it entered the base, and said, "It's very good. It seems that the adjustments in the middle are still useful.". Or with Kōshū behind him, he can relax and shoot? '
No matter what the reason is, it is very good news for Seido.
"Good shot!" The inside angle is also high, but this time it is pressed to the extreme position, and it will be judged as a good shot.
"Good shot!" Outside Low Corner's ball was pressed beautifully.
"Foul Ball!" The batter, who was being chased by two strikes, had to take action.
Finally, "Out!"
Even if the ball was hit, it couldn't hit the ball very far, and five bats were blocked at first base.
In this way, as soon as Furuya is out, Furuya's status in this game has been greatly improved.