Kōshū nervously set down his gear. Fortunately, Coach Ninomiya still wanted to win this game, so although he was angry, he still let Kōshū take the mound.
Someone from Eimei Little League had been watching the opposing dugout.
"Hey, hey, it looks like their cleanup hitter got chewed out by his coach!"
"I remember that guy is their ace too, right?"
"Ah, they still let him play. With that atmosphere, I thought they'd take him off the mound."
"What wishful thinking..."
Standing on the familiar Pitcher's Mound, Kōshū could not help breaking out in a cold sweat. What had happened when he was batting just now? How had he gotten so foolishly confident? Of course, the other side had thrown the Curveball he wanted, yet he still had not hit it well. He had lost their first matchup of the game.
Hayakawa spread his arms at home plate, drawing his ace's attention over.
Their pitcher had been a little slow to warm up at the start of this game. This was the perfect time for you to shine. Use your always-precise pitching to put pressure on them!
Eimei's leadoff batter faced this "burly man" of a pitcher again, and the thought still rose in his mind: Is this guy really a middle schooler? His face looks so mature too. I heard he's Chinese. Are people from the mainland really just built differently...?
Before he could finish grumbling to himself, the first pitch came. It was still Kōshū's specialty, an Inside Corner Ball that shot down from high up toward his knees.
Eimei's leadoff batter straightened his bent legs with a sharp push and stepped back. "Ball!"
The second pitch followed immediately. Kōshū's pitching rhythm was extremely fast right now. As long as he immersed himself in the right feeling, he