That night, Kōshū came to Indoor Training Field as agreed. He had already done a lot of strength training in the afternoon, and the muscles wrapping his bones gave him the most peace of mind.
"Yo~Kōshū."
The pitcher looked up and saw the catcher coming especially cheerfully, and even the way he greeted him became jumpy.
"Is there anything good? Senior Miyuki."
Senior Miyuki's good mood probably comes from cheating his peers and mocking his juniors, so who is suffering?
"No." Miyuki squatted down and immediately entered the state, "How do you want to practice today?"
"Just practice straight shots."
Because the straight ball is his lifeline, the speed brings the power of the ball, and the accuracy brings a sense of pressure. If he only has such a little time to prepare, he chooses to practice the straight ball.
Lifting his legs to step forward and release the ball, he remembered the feeling of each ball when it was thrown, and observed the final performance of each ball to calibrate the ruler in his mind.
"Nice!" Miyuki received one ball after another, and it was obvious that Kōshū was constantly improving, "The speed of the last ball is already close to the previous level!"
"Huh——" But Kōshū was already tired at this time, "Continue tomorrow!"
On the last day, Bullpen was still surrounded by a circle of people taking pictures or watching the fun, but it was much less than when Koshien just ended.
"It's the final again." Kōshū's heart was filled with the sound of a baseball being thrown into his glove, but it was very peaceful.
In late October, Tokyo Autumn Tournament came to an end.
"There seem to be a lot more people today than in the last game." Eijun looked around restlessly. He was active because he might play today, while Furuya next to him looked sluggish.
"Senior Chris said that he wants to come to our game, so you have to behave well." Kōshū took the opportunity to suppress the opponent's excitement.
"Hi!!" In the end, he got even more excited? Just like a puppy without a leash.
And after he complained about Eijun's excitement, he slowly walked towards the Pitcher's Mound with No. 1 on his back, watching the mound gradually approaching, waves of electricity continued to flow on his back, and adrenaline surged in every blood vessel.
'Starting again. '
Kōshū said to himself in his heart, 'I have experienced both the good and the bad. Starting this time, don't panic like a newbie. '
"Play ball!"
After the referee gave the order, the pitcher immediately prepared and threw his first ball.
When the white ball comes, it goes straight into the inside corner. The illusion of floating upward makes the batter intuitively choose to avoid it.
"Pop--" The ball entered the glove, just grazing the high inside corner.
"Good shot!"
"Nice!" The ball was thrown very well, exactly where Miyuki's glove was. This long-lost accuracy gave the catcher goosebumps again, "One or two, they are all amazing!" '
The Ichidai Third hitter finally realized it firsthand at this time. The so-called "Strike Zone is four lines" means that the pitcher can only throw the ball to the four lines of Strike Zone. The other areas, especially the area near the red center, are completely cold areas for him to pitch.
'No, that's a pitch... '
The second ball came and reached the far outside corner, and the batter missed it again.
"Good shot!"
'It's so unique, the way this pitcher pitches.. '
While many pitchers don't understand Inside Corner Ball, this pitcher has been able to completely control his Strike Zone range. This kind of contrast is like a modern man who is particularly delicate in using chopsticks among a group of stone people who cultivated slash-and-burn farming.
'Why does this kind of pitcher appear in high school games? '
The next second, the white ball came to the inside corner again, the batter froze, and the result was known.
"Good shot!"
"Batter's out!"
Three balls, none extra, sent Ichidai Third's stick back.
"Wow - that pitcher is so awesome." Amakuhisa then watched helplessly as the opponent slaughtered everyone.
"Three out, switch sides!"
As for Amakuhisa's own side, it was in the second half of the game.
"Bump--" An uncontrolled straight ball floated high and was directly caught by Kuramochi, hitting the infield.
"Oh, no, why is this runner so fast?" Because of the gap of more than half a year, Amakuhisa was left with an unstable start, and his control of the ball was inconsistent.
The first inning went quite unevenly, with one run lost, two outs, and someone on second and third base. It was Kōshū's turn to hit.
Amakuhisa looked at the batter standing Batter's Box, and couldn't help but start complaining in his heart.
'Compared to the catcher and the referee, don't you think it's too big? I heard that it is 1.9 meters tall, and it seems to be true. The nutrition is really good. Is it because of foreign genes? ' His hands were not idle either, the first ball in the game was the signature Slider.
The batter originally wanted to catch the pitcher's instability and hit the first ball, but unexpectedly he waited for a ball that seemed to fly towards his face, 'Danger! ' His body trembled and he immediately moved away, but the ball slipped out of a trajectory in front of his eyes and flew into the catcher's glove.
"Good shot!"
"Hey, That Slider is too foul!"
"I feel like I only see it in professional baseball. I didn't expect anyone from high school to be able to throw it!"
This Slider with a foul trajectory is Decisive Ball, the ace of Ichidai Third. Even Kōshū sighed in his heart, and at the same time, he was more surprised, "When I just learned Slider, I seemed to have thrown a similar trajectory once, but then never again!"! '
That kind of trajectory is as magical as baseball coming to life.
Thinking of this, Kōshū's eyes became a little more fanatical. He had to observe the trajectory of the ball and the way the pitcher threw the ball from a close distance, 'Maybe I can use it! '
After another ball, the batter's eyes were focused on the changes in the path of the ball. At the end, he found that it was not Slider and immediately destroyed it with a swing of the bat.
Originally, Ichidai Third was intended to be pitched with a Slider to leave an impression on the hitter's mind, and then use this impression to make the hitter hesitate to release the bat. But after a few balls passed, they found that the batter was waiting for That Slider. All the balls that entered Strike Zone were destroyed, and what about the Curveball used to lure?
"Bad ball!"
The hitter didn't even look.
'No, this guy has a great ability with the ball, and he swings the bat very fast. ' It's absolutely possible to do it. Follow the ball until the end and see all the changes before taking action.
The ball count was full and there was nothing more that could be done, so the catcher gave instructions for the next ball.
'Let's have a bad ball from the outside corner! ' The arm strength trained as a pitcher can also be used in hitting, so Kōshū can be ranked sixth among Seido. In fact, in recent times, his hitting strength has improved by leaps and bounds after not pitching.
Anyway, first base is still empty, so just to be on the safe side, just submit it.
Amakuhisa The sweat on his forehead flowed down his cheeks, and he shook his head firmly.
'You are really good at provoking people, then I want to see if you can hit my Slider! '
If you stay in a conference room for too long, you will feel like vomiting.
During the switching time between heating and air conditioning, the air conditioning was not turned on in the building. As the meeting progressed, the entire space was slowly heated by the human body, making it sweltering and feeling like an electric radiator.