Ace Pitcher's Experience

"Cough cough—" Former Ace Pitcher Nozawa cleared his throat, and Kōshū also became serious, which was rare for him. The two were currently huddled in a corner, trying to be discreet.

"First of all, the first thing, I ask you, what should you think about when you stand on the Pitcher's Mound?"

Kōshū thought about the previous times he stood on the Pitcher's Mound. Because it was just practice within the team, there was no sense of tension, so he almost forgot: "Probably the batter's preferred ball route."

"Wrong!" Nozawa knocked the junior's head in disappointment. "Think about nothing! The batter's preferred ball? That's what the catcher should consider. Let the catcher, who is closest to the batter, think about that problem!"

Before Kōshū was deafened, Nozawa lowered his voice and held up a finger: "So, this is the first thing, when standing on the Pitcher's Mound, just don't think about anything!"

"Nozawa-senpai... didn't you say you were going to impart the Ace's experience to me?"

"No, no, no," Nozawa interrupted, "Precisely because you're an Ace Pitcher, you need to pitch normally. Pitch when pitching, hit when hitting, this is the Ace's peace of mind."

"Okay..." It sounded somewhat reliable, so he decided to listen to him.

"Next, the second thing, when you pitch well but get hit, what should you think?" Nozawa-senpai held up his second finger, staring at Kōshū with bright eyes.

"Ask me what I think... to pitch better next time."

"No, no, no," Nozawa exclaimed, "Wrong again!"

"Where is it wrong?"

Nozawa looked around and lowered his voice: "Combining the previous point, analyzing the batter is the catcher's responsibility, and we also pitched well to the designated position according to the catcher's instructions, but we still got hit. Excluding our responsibility, the only person responsible is..."

He shook his finger emphatically: "It's the catcher! It's all his fault!"

"Um... Nozawa-senpai, would you dare to say that in front of Ido-senpai?"

"That's not important. What's important is that no matter how well you pitch, if you get hit, don't take it to heart, understand? This is the Ace's peace of mind!"

In the end, he forcibly twisted it back and even sublimated it. Kōshū was speechless.

"Third, when you perform very well, but a teammate makes a mistake, causing a runner to get to first base, what should you think?"

Kōshū was stunned when he heard this. He thought the third point would still be Nozawa-senpai's clowning, but he didn't expect it to be a serious topic. After thinking for two seconds, he decisively said: "You can't blame your teammates. Everyone makes mistakes. Next, we can all work together to prevent the opponent from scoring."

"That's right, no matter what mistakes your teammates make, don't take it to heart. This is the Ace's peace of mind." Nozawa-senpai held up his fourth finger: "Then fourth, we've been assuming your condition is good. If your condition is not good, causing the ball to have very little power, what should you do?"

"Then I have to ask myself why my condition is not good. Is it the weather that day? Or is my body not warmed up? Or is it the fatigue of continuous pitching? It's still necessary to avoid the poor condition that can be avoided."

"Haha," Nozawa-senpai ruffled Kōshū's hair, "Kid, don't be so serious. Condition is a very mysterious thing. There are many times when even if the situation is exactly the same, the condition will be good in one and bad in the other. But like you said, the reasons for the poor condition that can be avoided should be avoided as much as possible. If it can't be avoided, you need to try to adjust it when dealing with the first three batters. This is the Ace's ability to adjust."

Kōshū nodded obediently. He now believed that Nozawa-senpai had really summarized something.

"Of course, if you can't adjust no matter what, the coach will definitely replace you. In this case, what should you think?"

"Um... peace of mind?"

Nozawa slapped Kōshū's shoulder hard: "Correct answer! Generally, the Ace will be thrown to Left Field, and then the Ace will be allowed to play again depending on the situation. If the condition is not good, even the Ace will be replaced. For the victory of the team, you can't be temperamental. The Ace is not the naming sponsor of the Pitcher's Mound and can't occupy the Pitcher's Mound all the time."

"Yes—Nozawa-senpai, is there anything else?" Kōshū saw out of the corner of his eye that other seniors were helping to clean up the field.

"Fifth, what is the difference between an Ace Pitcher and other pitchers?"

Nozawa-senpai opened his palm and brought it to Kōshū's face, then shrunk it into a fist.

"Is this, a sense of solidity, a sense of stability, a sense of power, or like a rope that tightly fastens a pocket."

"The feeling of sealing the pocket, not letting the score leak away?"

"Yes, that's the feeling!" Senior Nozawa, in his call and response with Kōshū, was getting into his stride, moved beyond words, "It's the feeling that if even you lose points, then there's nothing to be done."

"Mmm-hmm—" Kōshū nodded obediently, seeing someone walking up behind Senior Nozawa, probably having heard Nozawa's last few words, the figure paused before approaching, "Nozawa, what strange things are you teaching your juniors? I've never felt anything like that from you."

"Huh? Ah—Ido... What are you doing here?" The flustered Senior Nozawa instantly became docile.

"Hey—look at the field, what is everyone doing? What are you doing? It's the last day at the club, why aren't you helping to tidy up?" Ido shook his head, seemingly helpless.

Senior Nozawa ignored the whispering juniors, greeted them, and immediately rushed off to tidy up the field, leaving Senior Ido and Kōshū facing each other.

Because Senior Ido was the captain, he was very busy, leading the team, organizing the pitching lineup, and rarely interacted with Kōshū. Usually, Senior Nozawa was the lubricant in between, but now that it was just the two of them, they really didn't know where to start.

"Haha, speaking of which, I haven't squatted to catch for you much since that time I tested your accuracy," Ido smiled and spoke first.

"Ah, after that, preparations started, right? The seniors all started getting very busy."

"But your pitching left a very deep impression on me. I'll have a lot of free time afterward, if you need it, you can let me take a look at your pitching."

"Ah, then thank you in advance, Senior. By the way, has Senior's high school been decided?" Kōshū was planning to ask Hayakawa, but now that the seniors were back, he might as well ask them directly.

"Oh! Nozawa and I still want to play baseball together, we've both been invited by a newly established private high school, Tachikawa Private High School in Tachikawa City."

"Oh, oh." Because Kōshū didn't know much about Japanese high schools, he didn't have much of a reaction, he just kept it in mind, but his reaction was misunderstood by Senior Ido, because he immediately started explaining.

"Although Tachikawa Private is a newly established high school, their Baseball Club coach is Okawa Kura, a retired former professional baseball player. You may not know much about him, but he was Nozawa's favorite professional baseball player when he was a kid."

"Ah, so Senior Nozawa wants to go and practice baseball with a respected player?"

"Yes, although we received invitations from other high schools, after going to see the facilities, we decided to go to Tachikawa Private."

"That's good too."

"Yeah, anyway, very few people can really enter professional baseball, so it's better to choose what makes you happy when playing baseball." Senior Ido said these words as if he was speaking to Kōshū, but also as if he was convincing himself. How could teenagers not be high-spirited? No matter what they said in front of others, when they thought about it themselves, they always had the idea that maybe they were the ones who were suitable for professional baseball.

"But, is this Senior Nozawa's idea to go to Tachikawa Private? What about Captain Ito?" Kōshū thought for a while, looking at Nozawa who was working hard on the field, and still said it. Anyway, they had already left the team, even if there was a suspicion of sowing discord, he wasn't afraid of anything.

Senior Ido was stunned for a moment, and after a long time, he said, "To play baseball well with Nozawa, that's probably my idea." At the end, Ido's hesitant tone was obviously no longer hesitant, he had made up his mind when he said this sentence.

"The future is created by the future self." In the end, Senior Ido was enthusiastic again, looking at the somewhat surprised Kōshū, he smiled embarrassedly.

"Well, then Senior, if I continue to play baseball in high school, then let's meet on the field."

"Okay."

After tidying up that day, the third-year seniors officially left, and the new First String began their grueling training. The pitchers' Bullpen practice time was greatly shortened. From Monday to Wednesday, they were basically doing intensive practice on the pitcher's fielding, including pickoffs, handling ground balls in front of the Pitcher's Mound, and dealing with stolen bases. To take care of Kōshū, the newcomer, they also added an explanation of balks.

Hayakawa Aki had a headache about this: "So, didn't I tell you to go home and watch Japanese professional baseball games?"

Kōshū was very confident: "I watched them, but they don't involve balks, so I don't know about this kind of knowledge." Then he looked at Sato, who was in the first year, "Besides, there's Sato."

"Senior, I'm very sorry to interrupt you, but I've been playing baseball since elementary school, and I'm actually quite clear about the knowledge of pitching." Because Kōshū joined the club later than him, and always came up with questions like a newbie, he often treated Kōshū like a peer.

"Ah, okay then, although I'm the only one who doesn't know, since I don't know, it's worth explaining."

Hayakawa Aki supported his forehead, and asked Sato, who was also a right-handed pitcher, to demonstrate how a right-handed pitcher picks off a runner on base. When Kōshū practiced until he was proficient, he was pulled to practice outfield defense.

Kōshū hadn't put much effort into outfield defense before, but fortunately, he hadn't eaten pork but had seen pigs run. After watching everyone's outfield defense, he quickly learned it.

As October moved into its latter half, the intense training suddenly eased up. Just as Kōshū had caught his breath, having slightly escaped from the double mountains of pitching and fielding, Coach Ninomiya announced new information.

"Next weekend, we will have a practice match with the Yoshinaga Club." Then, he looked at Kōshū, "Kōshū, you'll be the starter. Can we leave it to you?"

Kōshū's eyes lit up, and then he felt a pain in his body, but he still nodded, "Yes!"

I took exams for two days straight, and they're finally over.

These past few days have felt like going back to high school. If I enjoy myself even a little, I feel incredibly guilty, like I should be using that time to cram T-T.

And then today, I originally wanted to register for the national civil service exam, but! I didn't notice that the deadline was 6 PM; I thought it was 12 AM. When I went to register at 8 PM, it told me that registration was closed. Heavens, that's so tragic!

But it's okay, I just wanted to experience the atmosphere of the national exam. Now I'll study the essay and aptitude test first, and prepare for next year's provincial exam.

I'll also enrich my work skills and resume, start interviewing for other jobs in December, submit my resignation and hand over my work in January, and come back in February to seamlessly transition to the next job.

Speaking of which, I'm not sure whether to continue drifting in the internet industry, go to a state-owned enterprise, or take the civil service exam (as if I could pass it). Anyway, I'll prepare for it first.