Training Camp Entering the second half of the journey, every time I set off to another venue, the surrounding scenery changes slightly. The renovated tender green occupies an increasingly larger part of the field of vision. In the past few days, the wind was extra strong in the evening, but now it is much softer.
Kinoshita Little League's Training Camp also came to the 10th day. The continuous competition brought accumulated fatigue. The physical fatigue was not bad. After all, he had experienced daily training and Winter Training during the summer vacation. In addition, there was also mental tension, including the tiredness of the game.
Kōshū For several days in a row, he would dream about the game when sleeping, which made him question whether he paid too much attention to the details and victory of the game. In the end, it was just a series of practice matches.
"What's wrong? Get up quickly."
In a blink of an eye, the ground around him was empty, and he was the only one left sitting on the quilt. "Right now, help me fold the quilt."
Lang Zhi looked around and found that everyone had gone to wash up, so he could only accept his fate and help Kōshū clean up.
Kōshū took the toothpaste and toothbrush and met his teammates who were returning from the shower along the way.
"Good morning, Ace."
"I'm going to ask you for help today too."
"Today we have to decide the outcome."
Kōshū nodded in response, and the fresh air in the morning took away the fatigue from dreaming all night.
The current record of Kinoshita Little League is 6 wins, 2 losses and one tie. With three pitchers, Kōshū is responsible for one draw, Shibasaki and Sato each swallowed one loss. The team that will compete today is the same team last time. Eimei Little League tied with Kinoshita Little League. This team has a very similar style to Kinoshita Little League. The defense is very tight and Pitcher Lineup is substantial. The only difference is that Yongmei is better in attack.
In the last tie, neither team scored a point and it was extended to the 7th inning. In the end, the two coaches discussed and decided to fight again one day.
Today is the time for another battle. Kōshū feels the pressure of facing off against a strong team for the first time since he became the ace.
Calculating the time, since the seniors left in the autumn, there have been games about once every two weeks, mostly Intra-squad Practice Match. Occasionally there are games from other teams, and Kinoshita Little League will always be better than the opponent in some aspects, such as defense or Pitcher Lineup.
But this time Training Camp has a different team. Half of them are familiar Tokyo teams, and the other half are teams from outside Tokyo.
Eimei Little League is from Kyoto, which made everyone in Kinoshita Little League feel the pressure of playing against themselves. Kōshū, as a four-sticker, failed to crack the opponent's Curveball. Although in the end as a pitcher, he suppressed without losing points, the momentum was still in the hands of the opponent.
'In the final analysis, a baseball game, for pitchers, is about wearing each other out, to see who can't run out and give up runs first, or to see who gives up more runs. ' That's why Coach Ninomiya will rotate starters in games. One is to train other pitchers, and the other is to give pitchers enough rest. In a game, pitchers have the heaviest defensive tasks and the greatest mental pressure.
'As long as I can still hold on to the score this time, that's fine. '
After washing up and returning to the house, Lang Zhi had already gone to eat first. He only put a new pair of socks on Kōshū's bed roll. The previous idea of changing new socks every day and piling up the dirty socks and taking them home for washing didn't seem to work. Ten people, the consequence of everyone doing this was that on the third day, as soon as a few people opened the door, they were smelled by the sour smell.
"It didn't stink so much yesterday!"
"Maybe it's because we have been staying in the house and our noses have adapted..."
Then several people agreed to wash the socks for that day before going to bed every day.
Hurrying to catch up with the team, everyone at Kinoshita Little League warmed up as usual and waited for the arrival of Eimei Little League. Today was Elementary School Playground's home game.
After a while, in Dugout on the third base side, Kōshū picked up his baseball bat and stared at the pitcher on Pitcher's Mound. He was also about 1.8 meters tall, and with that Curveball - he could only aim at the point where the base was entered, so it was particularly difficult to hit.
The first one was Yoshino. I watched the entire defensive warm-up process of Eimei Little League and said, 'It's smooth and flowing. It seems like those opponents in the past always said they felt pressure after watching our defense. This is how it feels.'
The chief referee cleaned up all the sand and soil on Home Plate, and the game began.
The first pitch the catcher wanted was a ball in the outside corner, and the pitcher missed the first pitch, which was a "bad ball."
He then threw two bad balls in a row, and Yoshino chose them carefully. If the start was so unstable, it would be better to watch another ball.
But this mentality is often taken advantage of by the catchers. In order to stabilize the mentality of the pitchers, they will let the pitchers throw good balls.
Sure enough, the next time, "Good shot!" It was a good shot from the center. Yoshino glanced at Dugout. Coach Ninomiya didn't give any instructions. He just asked him to play according to his own mentality.
Therefore, Yoshino looked at the pitcher, thought of his experience in the last game, and decided to bet on a bad one.
"Four bad!" A shaky start seems to be a problem for many pitchers, and Yoshino easily got to first base.
After that, Fly Ball hit the second ball, allowing Yoshino to advance to second base. The third bat was Hayakawa. At this time, the opposing pitcher began to add Changeup to his pitches. Hayakawa was tricked into swinging by a Curveball, Strikeout.
"Damn it, this Curveball is too hard to hit." The reason why the exquisite Curveball is so difficult to hit is that compared with a straight ball, a pure straight ball can predict the rhythm of one's own swing through the previous trajectory.
But Curveball is like a peanut falling from the second floor. Not only do you need to look at its previous trajectory, but you also need to estimate the changes that gravity acceleration will bring to the ball when it reaches home plate. The most eccentric Curveball is called a piss ball. The pitcher throws the ball four or five meters high and it falls straight down on Home Plate. The ball will only coincide with one intersection point on the hitter's swing trajectory. Although the speed is slow, there are very few people who can hit it.
'His Curveball is far from reaching that level, so he can hit it', Kōshū tried his best to stop his heartbeat from being so fast.
Now it's two out and there's a man on second base. It's the fourth bat's turn to hit Kōshū.
The first ball was a tentative high straight ball at the outside corner. Kōshū didn't swing the bat, and it was a "bad ball".
Kōshū recalled the last game, Curveball, which impressed him deeply. The game ended too early, otherwise he would have played well.
The catcher is thinking about how to make the winning ball more powerful. Before Curveball, the hitter must have an impression of the straight ball. In the last game, just a slightly red straight ball hit a super long Foul Ball. The power of this hitter cannot be underestimated.
So the next ball, Outside Low Corner, was a straight ball. If it was a little bit wide, it didn't matter if it was a bad ball.
Kōshū didn't hit the ball again, "good ball".
'You don't hit two straight balls, are you waiting for Curveball? 'The catcher immediately recognized an opportunity to score a strike.
The pitcher nodded, and the high inside angle ball came in, "Strike."
"Two good balls!" Kinoshita Little League Dugout. Everyone looked at the four bats that didn't swing, and then looked at the coach, "Kōshū didn't look at Dugout at all!".
'So he told us blatantly that he wanted Curveball? How arrogant! 'The catcher was very rational and hit a Outside Low Corner straight ball Signals, but the pitcher shook his head, 'Tsk, the pitcher is such an emotional guy, then let's Decisive Ball! '
The pitcher was finally satisfied. He glanced at the man who was watching him intently from the corner of his eye and made the best shot of the day.
That Curveball was very exaggerated. Kōshū faced the curve of Home Plate that was more than two meters high and said, 'No, this is a bad ball! '
The bat has been swung out with great force, "Wha--" The sound of the swing is very exaggerated, but it is empty.
"Strikeout!"
"Okay -" Eimei Little League's defenders quickly ran off the field.
Kōshū stared at his bat, "This bat doesn't feel right. I'll change it to Lang Zhi's next time!" '
I thought to myself, and lowered my head and passed by Coach Ninomiya.
"What were you thinking about just now?" The coach's tone was very calm, but Kōshū turned around and said, "I have seen that Curveball many times in the last game. I can play well."
"So you're going to keep trying, then when can you play well and put your teammates back at home plate."
"..." Dugout was very quiet, Lang Zhi turned around, not looking at the embarrassed man.
"Let's go on defense first." One sentence made the quiet Dugout move. Everyone prepared things faster than before and returned to the court as if they were running away.
I went home this week and I made a mistake, I brought my computer but not the charging cable and mouse?? Is it okay to just bring a computer?? Today is the first time I use my mobile phone to code, and it feels okay
Finally, I would like to thank everyone for supporting me all the time. Whether it is comments, recommendations, monthly tickets or rewards, they have given me a lot of psychological strength as an old man in a lonely nest. Thank you again ~ (I just suddenly remembered that I have never thanked everyone, hehe)
After two months of writing, I feel like I can persevere!! (Unless there is any major accident, haha)