Taiyo Little League's catcher stood up and drew a big circle for Luan Chuan, letting him pitch with confidence.
Nakajima, the third batter and first baseman, let out a breath. After a full count, he hit a fly ball. Yoshino took the opportunity to steal second, while the third batter was forced out at first.
"Two outs!"
Luan Chuan's condition was picking up. He caught the catcher's firm return throw, touched his cap, and thought, This is bad. My fingertips feel strangely numb today. Is it because I've been training my grip strength lately?
Whether he wanted to or not, he had arranged this game against Kinoshita Little League himself. He had chosen to learn the forkball himself, and grip training was necessary for it. His condition was not an excuse for losing the game.
The fourth batter, Hayakawa, stood in the batter's box. He pointed his bat at the pitcher, then relaxed again. This was the best chance to score; the pitcher was in poor form.
An outside corner slider was called a strike, followed immediately by a fastball in the same spot. Hayakawa did not even look at it. "Ball!"
An inside corner ball should be coming soon. Once a catcher stepped into the batter's box, it was easy to start guessing the pitching strategy. And an inside pitch did come—a slider on the inside. It fooled him, jammed his bat, and resulted in an outfield fly ball that ended the top half of the inning.
Kōshū's bat drooped. So I'm the leadoff batter next inning? I'm not good at baserunning.
As they passed by, his teammates patted their ace on the back. "It's fine. As long as you hit it out, you won't need to steal bases." Kōshū had incredible explosiveness, but his baserunning was awful. He