Why do you have to work so hard? Didn't you agree that the ultimate goal is professional baseball? So why fear failure?
Probably people are such creatures. Once they think about what kind of person they are or what responsibilities they should bear, they will keep their face without others telling them.
And everyone only likes the state of improvement and does not like the occasional decline. If humans were allowed to design what the world would look like, the earth would probably become a flat plate. People would be born at the lowest point and would only need to keep climbing for the rest of their lives.
Now Kōshū is in this situation, 'It's a lie, I finally got out of Little Black Room, and now? '
In Dugout, he kept thinking about what went wrong.
Kōshū did hear a crisp sound after slipping during a base run in the last inning, and his ankle started to hurt at the same time. However, at that time, due to the effects of adrenaline and the disharmony throughout his body, the ankle problem was ignored.
When the tide goes out and the things on the beach are finally revealed, there is no escaping the ankle problem.
But Kōshū had no intention of speaking out because the worst pain had passed. While he was adjusting his shoes, he took a sneak peek and found that it was just a little swollen.
'It's the seventh game. If we continue now, this game can only be left to Kawakami Senior and Eijun. ' It's not that Kōshū looks down on our team's pitchers, it's because the opponent is Inashi and cannot be taken lightly.
But what's more troublesome next is, 'How to tell the supervisor? '
It is conceivable that if there is an explanation after the game, the first thing the supervisor will say will definitely be "When did you get injured?"
Then the fact that he concealed his injury and played on the field cannot be concealed. The supervisor will definitely think that he has not learned enough from the last injury, and he may not be allowed to play this fall.
'I've already concealed one inning, and I'm going to be punished anyway, so why not pitch another inning. ' In this round, it's Inami's Central Batting Lineup.
Based on this mentality, Kōshū stood on Pitcher's Mound. The injury was to the left ankle, which is the side of the pitcher's supporting foot.
The soil on Pitcher's Mound was very messy. Kōshū used his stiff left foot to sweep the soil in a scribble.
"Huh..." Taking a deep breath, the pitcher began to throw.
Lifting his feet and taking a step forward, his left leg was shaking. There was not much pain in his ankle, but the feeling of the socks stretching against his flesh became more obvious, and——
A ball missed Maternal Grandmother's Home, almost causing Miyuki who caught the ball to fall to the ground.
"Wild Pitch??!!"
"Kōshū can actually Wild Pitch?"
"So, it seems like this is the first time I've seen him Wild Pitch..."
"So, what's the problem?"
For other pitchers, they are in a bad mood and have a bad feel. Although it doesn't matter every now and then, there are always a few out of a hundred pitches that they cannot control well.
But everyone has no such impression of Kōshū. It seems that when they first met him, he was already in very good control of the ball.
The discussion quickly stopped, because with the second goal, that situation didn't happen again.
"Nervous, probably."
"After all, we are finally tied. If we can suppress Daomi's Central Batting Lineup here, the outcome in the future may be uncertain."
Dugout and everyone in the audience expressed their understanding. Of course, Kataoka Manager's brows furrowed, and a layer of doubt enveloped his heart.
Soon the trial pitch was over, and Inami's three bats came to Batter's Box.
"Play ball!"
The game started. Although Miyuki had the urge to step forward and ask, the "1:1" on the scoreboard occupied his mind more.
'Here, we must strike out this person cleanly. ' Then there are four and five bats. These two people have already seen Kōshū pitch in the last round, especially Narumiya Mei, who can keep up with the rhythm from the beginning.
'Are you still continuing your aggressive strategy? '
Then let's seduce it with a good shot from the outside corner.
Kōshū nodded, so the batter should behave more calmly when standing on Batter's Box, such as Captain Tetsu, so that others will not see what ball he is waiting for as soon as he steps on Batter's Box.
Lifting his legs and stepping out, he chose to focus all his attention on his upper body, leaving all the movements of his lower body to his subconscious.
I almost missed Wild Pitch just now, because my attention was unconsciously placed on the ankle area, and strict ball control requires full concentration at every moment when pitching.
The rotating body drives the elbow, and the baseball reveals its ferocious side, starting from Pitcher's Mound, leaving only a line of White Shadow on the batter's retina.
The batter swung the bat, but when he noticed the change in the trajectory of the ball, he immediately stopped his action.
The pitcher wanted to throw a ball that hit the outside corner, but the entire ball ran away more than half, so the referee's judgment was——
"Bad ball!"
"Nice!" Miyuki threw the ball to the opposite pitcher and frowned. In this game, not to mention Wild Pitch, there were also slight deviations in Kōshū's pitches at other times.
'Is it still the reason for not competing for a long time? ' This is the reason Miyuki can think of. 'Or are you injured? when? '
He didn't act rashly. If he took a timeout at this time, it could easily be interpreted by the opponent's supervisor as a problem with the pitcher.
The second ball is still in the outside corner direction.
"Huh-huh-" Kōshū felt as if a stone was weighing on his heart, and no matter how much he exhaled, his chest could not feel completely relieved.
'Think of something else.. ' For no reason, the pitcher thought of how when he first entered Seido, he and his seniors who were also from Kinoshita Little League chatted about senior Chris. At that time, he was blunt and couldn't understand why someone would be willing to ruin their future for an illusory team concept. 'Team, like the word collective, sounds very specific and flesh-and-blood at first. But if you take a closer look, you will see that there is no living thing called a collective anywhere. It is just a word floating in the air, not even as good as a playground. The playground at least has surrounding walls, which can clearly define what is called a playground and what is not called a playground. '
Therefore, when the senior at that time heard this, he could only smile bitterly and shake his head, saying that he still could not understand the collective in the eyes of the Japanese.
To the Chinese, collective is just an empty word. But for the Japanese, the collective is a living creature that rewards and punishes. Each Japanese is like a tentacle extending out of the collective, and their brains will gradually assimilate with the possessed collective.
'Stop talking nonsense, am I like the Japanese and have become part of the collective monster? 'Kōshū gritted his teeth and threw the ball, and decided to confess to the supervisor after the game.
"Bang -" Maybe the random thoughts really worked. This Outside Corner Ball accurately controlled the corner. Inami hit it with three sticks, but the hit was very uncomfortable, and the ball only touched the boundary.
In the direction of first base, Maezono picked up the ball, raised his hand to Kōshū who came up to fill the position, and stepped on the first base bag himself.
"Out!"
Something happened recently that made me almost say "Then I resign" during the battle with the director.