Outfield Instruction and Training (Part 1)

That night, after buying drinks,

"Akila, what are you doing?" Fumino came to Sendou's room and saw him working on something on the computer, so she asked.

"These are videos those guys recorded over the past few days. I'm editing together the interesting parts to give them when they graduate from middle school."

"Why did you suddenly decide to work on it today?"

"I work on it every day! You just came early today!"

"Isn't this from when you pinched Sawamura-kun at noon?"

"What do you think? Funny, right? That guy!"

"He's just a little dumb."

"He may be a little dumb, but he's dependable!"

"I see. You talk so harshly about them every day, but what do you honestly think of how they've been doing?"

"To be honest, they surprised me! Especially after the defensive team drills!"

"Huh?" Fumino was surprised. Sendou usually did not act like this.

"Every one of them works hard. Even Wakaba—do they love baseball? Or do they simply love playing baseball with Sawamura? I don't know. But they never complain as they endure Tokyo's scorching summer, training until late every day and doing extra practice too." As he spoke, Sendou showed a contented smile.

"Everyone's improved noticeably, and after the team drills, I was genuinely shocked. Is this what it means to have grown up together since childhood? Aside from that idiot Eijun, everyone else has incredible coordination. Before, their individual defense was poor because of their training methods. But now that their individual defense has improved, when they work together, these guys are practically of one mind and body.

As long as their bodies instinctively learn what to do in every situation, this team's defensive ability will be very strong among middle schoolers. At the very least, no one should be able to match their teamwork. After all, not every team gets the chance for every member to grow up together, train together, and play games together from childhood. Usually, they drift apart. Even if they stay on the same team, it's rare for more than two of them to become regulars at the same time.

Only the Akagi Middle School Baseball Club has just these guys, which is why they can keep practicing and fighting together."

"So you think that highly of them?"

"No. Middle school will be this team's limit, so I want to take them as far as possible during these years. Sports rely on talent even more than academics do, though student baseball like this is a different matter. For some reason, I just hope everyone can stay like this forever without changing."

"Then don't change. All of you can work hard together. In middle school, aim for the national tournament, and in high school, aim for Koshien!" Fumino said.

Sadly, that's impossible, Sendou thought, but he could not tell anyone why.

"..."

"What are you thinking about?"

"Nothing. Come on! Study, study!"

"Are you done?"

"Yeah!"

The next day, Sendou called the three outfielders and Sawamura away separately. He left everyone else with A Shin and had him serve as their batting coach.

"You've practiced the basic defensive backup positions enough. Next comes direct throws from the outfield. A middle school outfield is at most eighty meters, but in an actual game, throws back to home are generally only around fifty meters. You don't need an especially strong arm to make a direct throw. You just need a few simple tricks!"

"Let's do it here! This Practice Field is about fifty meters, which fits the requirement." Sendou led them to one side of the Practice Field, a stretch about fifty meters long.

"First, for quick throws—especially throws back to home—you need to pay attention starting from your catching posture!"

"Catching posture?"

"That's right. The posture for catching a fly ball for a caught out and the posture for catching a fly ball that needs to be thrown back are different, especially when you need to throw directly back to home!"

"Wakaba!" He took out a ball and tossed it to her.

"Can you give me a fly ball in a moment? Everyone, watch my movements carefully!"

"A fly ball usually gives us enough time to prepare, as long as we can identify where it'll land! First, stand two or three steps behind the landing point, or get set two or three steps behind where it'll come down—it's up to you. You'll need to move forward to catch it afterward. Retreating makes the catch easier, while positioning yourself behind the landing point in advance based on prediction can lead to mistakes. But if your sense of space is good enough, the latter is easier. Wakaba! You can throw it now!"

"Here!" Wakaba threw a very high ball!

"Sprint!" Sendou used the latter method, getting into position behind the landing point in advance, then taking two quick little steps forward as he spoke!

Smack!

"Use your momentum to catch the ball toward your front right!" To make it easier for his teammates to follow, Sendou used a right-handed throwing motion to demonstrate, catching the ball while turning his body forward from the left, then explaining in slow motion.

"Then, the instant your left foot lands, use your body weight to throw directly! That solves the problem of insufficient arm strength. Even if your arm is strong enough, it'll make the ball reach the infield or home faster and complete the putout. I'm left-handed, so it's the opposite for me. But aside from Eijun and me, everyone is right-handed! So just follow what I said!"

"Next is the throw itself. There's a trick to throwing as well. In a game, you don't need to throw a Curveball like you do when playing catch. That's only for warming up during practice. The basics of throwing are to throw a ball with a low, powerful trajectory!" As he spoke, Sendou assumed his stance again and threw the ball directly with a complete, fluid motion.

The ball smashed into the wall, fast and fierce, landing only a few centimeters above the ground.

"You don't need to obsess over making it not bounce. Compared to a lobbed throw, this kind of ball can reach your teammates faster. If it's too far and you still can't reach the target this way, let your infield teammates relay it!"

"We don't need to obsess over making it not bounce?"

"That's right. And training with these low, fast throws can strengthen your arm, though it won't make it stronger in just a few days!"

"So that's why you called Ei-chan over!"

"That's right!"

What was I trying to say? Oh, right, a little self-exposure: yesterday's part where Sawamura spoke Japanese with his mouth covered was me pinching my own mouth and saying the same thing, then typing it out in pinyin with similar sounds. Didn't expect that, did you? (Laughs) I don't know whether the later part is enough for a whole chapter. I looked up a bit of follow-up material and accidentally went overboard.