A Tool

After pitching practice ended, Su Qing wanted to drag Narumiya Mei, who was getting angry again, off to train and blow off some steam. Instead, Coach Kunimoto called him over and took him to his office.

"I wanted to talk to you yesterday, but you'd just finished a game and were tired, so I didn't want to disturb you."

"What did you want to talk to me about?" Su Qing could tell from his tone that Coach Kunimoto was being very polite, but he was still a little scared. Had he been caught slacking off before?

"During this game, I noticed that your batting is also excellent. So I want to put you directly into the starting lineup. Is there a position you'd like to play?"

So that was all. Su Qing breathed a sigh of relief. But he quickly fell into a dilemma. What position should he play? He had been conflicted about that ever since he first came to Inashiro.

Coach Kunimoto saw Su Qing's hesitation and took the initiative to say,

"How about the outfield? Left field is relatively easy."

The moment Su Qing heard that, he hurriedly shook his head. There was no way he wanted to play outfield. In summer, outfielders had it hottest and got the most sun, and they had to tilt their heads up into the sunlight to catch balls. There was also a good chance he would get toyed with by the ball and fail to pick it up no matter what, which would be incredibly embarrassing.

Most importantly, Su Qing did not have much experience as an outfielder. In high school and college, he had mostly played infield. After turning pro, he switched to pitching, so he had even fewer chances to play the outfield.

"I can play infield. I used to be a shortstop before I switched to pitcher."

"Oh?" That piqued Coach Kunimoto's interest. With how polished Su Qing's pitching was, he did not look like someone who had played another position before.

"Then why did you switch to pitching?"

Su Qing looked embarrassed.

"Because I was too tall. My coach thought I'd be better off as a pitcher."

Su Qing was not lying. It was the truth. By the time he entered professional baseball, he had grown to 198 centimeters. The team would never have agreed to let him keep playing shortstop!

Coach Kunimoto sized up Su Qing's height. He was only a little taller than Narumiya Mei. For a middle school pitcher, that was only slightly tall.

But then he remembered that Su Qing had played overseas before. Maybe that really did count as tall over there. Besides, he had to thank the coach who had persuaded Su Qing to change positions! If he had not switched, where would they have found such an outstanding pitcher?

"You really won't play outfield?"

"I won't."

"Fine. Go train."

A few days later, at a ballpark somewhere in Saitama.

A handsome guy wearing sunglasses had appeared at third base.

Su Qing picked up a baseball from the ground and casually threw it to first. He had originally thought Coach Kunimoto would disregard his preference and put him in the outfield. After all, Coach Kunimoto had no idea how good his defense was, and putting him in the infield recklessly could easily cause major problems.

But he had still underestimated Coach Kunimoto's nerve. Not only had Coach Kunimoto put him in the infield, he had placed him at the crucial position of third base!

Yoshizawa Hideaki, who had originally played third, replaced Fujikawa in right field.

Today's starting pitcher for Inashiro was Maruse Ichitaro, while Kuwahara Shuto was the relief pitcher. From what had been discussed in yesterday's pregame meeting, Su Qing knew that unless those two truly could not keep pitching, neither he nor Narumiya Mei would be sent in.

In Su Qing's view, Coach Kunimoto had clearly strategically given up on this game. His main goal was not to win, but to test three people: Maruse, Kuwahara, and Su Qing himself.

This game would determine Maruse and Kuwahara's futures. Inashiro now had Su Qing, which meant they were not short on pitchers for the moment. In that case, why not save more roster spots for newcomers? Inashiro's catcher position was facing a generational gap. Both catchers on the First String would graduate this year. If they did not start developing catchers now, Inashiro would not have a starting catcher this fall!

Maruse and Kuwahara knew that as well. Today, they would definitely give it everything they had.

As for Su Qing, the final test subject, if he made any mistake in this game, Coach Kunimoto would absolutely move him to the outfield without hesitation and put Yoshizawa back at third base.

Coach Kunimoto would not have another opportunity to test Su Qing at other infield positions, either. If Inashiro won this game, they would advance to the semifinals. Once they reached the semifinals, they could not afford not to play seriously.

In other words, this game would decide whether Su Qing played outfield or infield for the rest of the summer.

For Su Qing, Maruse, and Kuwahara, all three had reasons they could not afford to make mistakes today!

"Wooo!"

"Please take care of us!"

This time, Inashiro's opponent was Yamamori Academy from Yamanashi. Su Qing felt that name sounded familiar, but he could not remember where he had seen it. He could only guess it was a school that had appeared in Ace of Diamond.

This time, Inashiro was the home team and took the field first, while Yamamori batted first.

Maruse was a right-handed pitcher, and Su Qing, standing at third base, could clearly see the nervous expression on his face.

Maruse took a deep breath and threw his first pitch, a fastball on the outside. The batter swung and missed, greatly boosting Maruse's confidence.

Maruse was nervous, but Su Qing was nervous too. It had been a long time since he had played infield. Standing in the infield again truly felt like a lifetime ago. Well, it actually had been a lifetime ago.

Yamamori's leadoff batter was right-handed, so he was more likely to hit toward the third-shortstop side. Su Qing therefore did not stray too far from third base.

But Su Qing's preparation ended up being unnecessary. The batter hit a fly ball to left field, and Van Masami caught it easily for the out.

The second batter was left-handed. According to the scouting report, he preferred inside pitches.

And right on cue, the batter swung at the first pitch. But Su Qing could clearly see that he had not squared it up. The bat hit above center, sending the ball left—toward Su Qing.

Su Qing immediately moved, running forward to pick up the weak grounder that could not even roll to third base. He scooped it up and threw to first.

Yamaoka Riku, standing at first base, felt a little worried when he saw the ball go toward third. Su Qing was a newcomer, and having him defend the infield right away was truly nerve-racking.

But Su Qing's reaction exceeded his expectations. The instant the ball was hit, Su Qing moved. He quickly picked up the baseball rolling toward the foul line and sent it directly into Yamaoka's glove.

The entire sequence was smooth and effortless, leaving Yamaoka stunned. If Su Qing had not worn those flashy sunglasses today, he would have thought Yoshizawa was still playing third.

"Two outs!"

Su Qing held up his index and ring fingers as he called out to Maruse. He looked calm on the surface, but inwardly he was thrilled.

It was good that he had not forgotten how to play infield. Just now, Su Qing had moved entirely on instinct, from predicting where the ball would be hit to delivering it to first. The whole sequence had felt fluid.

The only flaw was that he had overestimated a high school batter's running speed. He could have taken a little more time to adjust. Fortunately, he had not made a wild throw, or he probably would have been taken out in the first inning.