Practice Match

Practice Match

Kōshū didn't participate in the afternoon training session; Coach Yoshioka took him through a series of detailed tests.

"Kōshū, the bone density test results from this morning are out. It's 0.2, which is quite low. I've already sent the detailed report to your parents; I'm sure they'll understand it. Based on the bone structure, we predict your height will be around 1.9 meters when the growth plates close."

Kōshū finished the lower body strength test, then gritted his teeth and squeezed the grip strength meter, panting as he watched Coach Yoshioka record the values. "As expected, the previous sprint training has been great for your lower body and core muscles, but your upper body strength might be relatively weak."

Coach Yoshioka put down the folder. "Come on, let's test your bench press strength while you're not too tired."

In the weight training room, which was about the size of two classrooms, only Coach Yoshioka, Kōshū, and Shibasaki were present. Shibasaki was focused on muscle recovery exercises, and only Kōshū's deep breaths echoed in the empty room.

The upper body strength tests included grip strength, bench press, lat pulldown, push-ups, pull-ups, etc. Flexibility tests included sit-and-reach and static stretching. After a series of exercises, Coach Yoshioka came over to measure muscle dimensions after a full strength workout.

"Next, we'll measure your heart rate recovery speed. Simply put, we'll see how many seconds it takes for your heart rate to return to normal after reaching its peak."

This involved a simple box jump exercise. As soon as Kōshū came down, panting, Coach Yoshioka dragged him over for measurements.

After completing all the tests, Coach Yoshioka began organizing the data. The sounds of live practice started outside. Kōshū stood at the door, looking at his tense peers. "Coach Yoshioka, do we have to do these tests every week?"

"Once a month, mainly to see if the training effect for the month has been achieved."

"How much do I need to achieve in each metric to complete the monthly goal?" Kōshū thought of the monthly weight goals Coach Ninomiya had written for him.

"No, Kōshū. As a pitching coach, our work goals are only outcome-based. For you right now, the outcome goal we track each month is your pitch speed. All other strength metrics are process indicators. If your strength improves but your pitch speed doesn't reach the final result, we need to see if there are other issues."

"What's my pitch speed goal for this month?"

"For this month, there's only one week left, so your goal is just to increase by 1 kg by the end of the month. Our goal for your pitch speed is to increase it to around 130 km/h within 4 months. Your weight goal for these 4 months is to gain 7 kg."

"Haa..." Kōshū leaned against the doorframe, feeling that the next 4 months might be very busy. The new semester was about to start, and he needed to adapt to schoolwork while also adapting to team practice. But being busy like this was good.

After training that day, they gathered as usual to announce some important notices.

One was that the draw for the autumn Kanto Tournament would be next month, and the other was that Kinoshita Little League would have a practice match with Edogawa Little League on the weekend of the last week of August to prepare for the tournament.

Although Kōshū understood that this Kanto Tournament had nothing to do with him, he couldn't help but ask Hayakawa about the situation.

"In the summer tournament, our team represented West Tokyo and was eliminated in the third round. The next level of reorganization is also relatively early. Marugame Little League from East Tokyo won the national championship last time."

"I haven't seen the seniors come over much."

"Of course not, the club already has a lot of people."

"Is this Kanto Tournament only a competition for the Kanto region?"

"Yes, Little League competitions are relatively fewer, usually only within the league or branch. We are the Little Senior LEAGUE's Kanto League, and within the Kanto League, we belong to the West Tokyo branch. Edogawa Little League, which the coach just mentioned, belongs to the East Tokyo branch."

Hayakawa bumped Kōshū's shoulder. "Don't slack off. Before the tournament, the first and second teams will have a lot of practice matches. Maybe you can play too."

Shaking his head, Kōshū didn't say anything. With his skills, he'd just be feeding the opponents.

He had a very fulfilling week. Every day, he would collapse onto the bed, sore all over, after eating. Lang Zhi was even more listless than him, even dragging himself to take a shower, unable to eat, sleeping until eleven at night before getting up for a late-night snack.

Occasionally, Kōshū would be woken up by the short guy, who would place a bowl of chicken soup on the table, saying it was a late-night snack from his mom. He would vaguely respond, close his eyes, and wake up to a new morning, with a layer of oil floating on the forgotten chicken soup.

Sometimes Kōshū would wake up groggily, look at the clock and see that it was already twelve, but there were voices downstairs, as if they were coming from another world or across the river, giving him an unreal feeling.

If the new semester wasn't about to start and he didn't need to prepare some things, Kōshū wouldn't have turned on his computer, and he wouldn't have seen the email from his former classmate. Because his old phone number was canceled, and he hadn't used QQ for a long time, only this email was his tool for receiving emails, which he would occasionally check.

That email was very long, sent by a senior classmate from the track and field team. It was all about the paths taken by the graduates of the track team or people Kōshū knew. The former leader and captain had both entered City First High School as special sports students, so-and-so went to Sixth High School. Kōshū's classmates are now in the third year of junior high, but some have repeated a year due to fighting. A big thing happened in the class next to Kōshū's; it was said that a couple was expelled for dating, kissing in the school's back garden at noon, and the director of education caught them red-handed. A certain teacher finally got married, crying tears of joy at the wedding in front of the students. But in short, everyone had their own stories for the year.

Finally, the senior classmate mentioned how he got out of the pyramid scheme and never came back, wondering where he went. She heard it from someone drunk and then reported it, saying she was careful before graduation and didn't dare admit she was the one who called 110.

Kōshū looked at the sending time, which was the end of June. Thinking about it, it was probably right after the junior high school entrance exam. Kōshū took a while to process the City First High School and Sixth High School mentioned by the senior classmate before his mind switched back. Oh, City First High School is the best high school, and Sixth High School is the second best. He once wanted to go to First High School as a special sports student, but how did it all become so unfamiliar?

Kōshū thought about it and didn't ask Shen Qing if this was true. He thought about the senior classmate's name and slowly remembered her face, the senior classmate with wheat-colored skin from the sun. Why didn't she say where she went herself, but instead was inquiring about the people around Kōshū? He vaguely sensed something, replied to the email, saying that he had come to Japan with his mother and probably wouldn't go back to school, and thanked her in passing.

Closing the computer, maybe he wouldn't reply to the senior classmate's emails anymore, just pretend he didn't receive them. After all, across the sea, the emails might fall into it.

The next afternoon, the Kinoshita Club, which was undergoing its final training camp, finally welcomed the weekend game against the Edogawa Little League. Kōshū, wearing a team uniform embroidered with his name, looked at the unfamiliar teenagers crowded on the third base side.

Hayakawa was explaining the other team's several strong members next to him.

Kōshū listened beside him, his heart itching, "Anyway, we're not playing, do you want to catch my balls?"

"Eh? But you've already thrown enough pitches today."

"But I still want to practice a few high-rotation Straight Balls."

"No pitching allowed, wait, where are you going?"

"I'm a little hungry, going to the supermarket at the entrance to buy something to eat."

"I'll go with you..." Kōshū was speechless at this.

"Hayakawa, please warm up Nozawa-senpai." Hayakawa Aki just turned back to answer, and Kōshū had already slipped away.

The slipped-away Kōshū wandered around the entrance. Because the first-string team was playing today, everyone else was watching on the edge of the field, and it was crowded. Kōshū took the ball, dodged the people at the entrance, walked out of the club, and at the corner of the street next to the club, there was a small park. The terrain was slightly higher, and he could still see the field through the trees and the fence, so he wouldn't miss the gathering.

He used the fence to practice pitching. His pitching posture had just been corrected, and his release point had also been changed. Originally, Kōshū's arm angle was about 90 degrees at the release, but after correction, it was now about 130 degrees. His arm was flatter at the release, and with his slower lower body movements that fully utilized the body's rotational force, the ball speed had reached about 123.

At the same time, this release gave him room to flick the ball. The Straight Balls with different rotations, after training, showed no difference in the pitching action, but he still needed more practice. The limit of 80 pitches per day, Hayakawa Aki was watching him at the club, and Lang Zhi was watching him at home. Only when they were both busy could he secretly practice a little more.

First, a normal Straight Ball, Kōshū made a mark at the point of impact on the fence.

Then a high-speed Straight Ball, the same release point, the aiming feeling was still the original position, but through the final finger flicking action, the ball landed half a ball above the mark.

To consolidate the impression, he threw five or six more normal Straight Balls to fix the aiming feeling, and then five or six more high-speed Straight Balls. Very good, basically able to stabilize in one position.

'Then a low-speed Straight Ball', just as Kōshū was planning in his mind, a voice came from the other side of the trees not far away.

"Can you control the landing points of these two different Straight Balls?"

Interrupted, Kōshū initially thought he had been caught by someone from the team when he heard the voice, but upon closer inspection, it was a kid in plain clothes with glasses. He repeated the question with a grin.

Kōshū didn't answer and continued to concentrate on the low-speed Straight Ball. The ball was thrown and landed below the normal Straight Ball by one ball, 'Very good', it dropped beautifully at the end.

"Changeup?" The kid with glasses over there didn't receive a reply, didn't feel embarrassed, and instead walked closer to watch.

"No, still a Straight Ball." As Kōshū threw another ball, the other party answered himself.

Kōshū originally just had itchy hands and wanted to consolidate the pitching from the morning. Now that he encountered a inexplicable person, he didn't want to stay here anymore. He picked up the ball to leave, but the kid with glasses stopped him.

"My name is Miyuki Kazuya, and I'm a catcher, can I catch your ball?" he asked with a grin.

"Which team are you from?" Kōshū asked vigilantly.

"Ah, in short, a second-rate team. The team is full of pitchers who won't listen to advice, so there's no way to avoid losing." Miyuki Kazuya on the opposite side put on a bitter smile, "I'm a fan of Kinoshita Little League, as a spectator, I've always wanted to catch your pitches in person."

"Oh, really? But I've already thrown enough pitches. I'm sneaking out to pitch right now. If I'm out for too long, the coach will definitely find out. Sorry." Kōshū looked at the person of similar age, speaking cautiously and politely.

"Then, can I add your email?"

Kōshū reflexively touched his pocket and replied, "Sorry, my phone is in the training room. I'll go first."

Under Coach Ninomiya's gaze, Kōshū realized that everyone in the second team was sitting neatly on the lawn near first base watching the game. Sweating, he squeezed in.

At this time, the game had reached the second inning. Kinoshita Little League was on defense. Nozawa-senpai was on the field, and he was in great shape. Before Kōshū could calm down, there was already a strikeout on the field. Next was the seventh batter. Kōshū's gaze followed the batter's box and saw the opposing team's bench. Then he saw someone standing outside the bench, noticing Kōshū's gaze, and grinning and waving in this direction.

Kōshū quickly lowered his head. Oh my god, that guy in casual clothes and glasses from just now is on the opposing team. Why isn't he wearing a uniform? He also wondered if he had leaked any information just now... right?

Finally, Miyuki is coming up to bat. Hooray, hooray!