After school the next day, Shuji Kitahara followed Yuma Uchida to the school's baseball field.

Don't look at the fact that he has been studying here for more than half a year, this is the first time he has come here - his range of activities is quite small, mainly staying in the teaching building. he

I looked around curiously and found that the conditions were okay. The stadium is fan-shaped at right angles, surrounded by very high and fine barbed wire, but only on one side there is an open-air spectator seat, no seats, just concrete steps, and on the other side is a small gray two-story building, probably a storage room, a meeting room, a locker room and something like that.

After all, it's just a practice field, which is pretty good compared to many schools like a wasteland, and it can be seen that Daifuku Industrial Group is really wealthy - many school practice courts don't plant lawns for the field at all, not even football fields, at least the field here is grass, probably an imitation of Koshien.

Uchida Yuma took Kitahara Shuji directly into the two-story building, and introduced him along the way: "Upstairs is the office of the supervising teacher and the honor room, but the honor room is empty now. Ah, this is the tactics room, here is the video room, there is the equipment room, this is what Coach Suzuki asked for at the school......"

He introduced it very seriously, looking like Kitahara Shuji was going to be here for a long time in the future, but Kitahara Shuji patted him on the shoulder and smiled: "Don't talk about this, help me find a dress to change into first." ”

Yesterday Suzuki Noki agreed to use that request in exchange for him for a trial, and he said that counts, and today he really came, but he didn't plan to do it for a long time, and he was going to go back after disgusting Suzuki Noshi, and it was useless to listen to this.

Uchida Yuma immediately took him into the locker room, and there were already six or seven people in the locker room changing clothes, and they were all stunned when they saw Kitahara Shuji. Kitahara Shuji is a big celebrity in the school, and there are no second and third grade seniors here, so the first-year students present quickly weighed the status of both sides, and immediately found their own position, and began to greet each other first.

Kitahara knew one of his neighbors, but he politely greeted everyone and then changed into the baseball jersey suit that Uchida had brought him - a black long-sleeved tight, a white short-sleeved shirt, and white trousers and sneakers.

Baseball uniforms have only started to come in more colors in modern times, and traditionally they should all be white. In previous games, the home team wore white and the away team wore white with stripes, mainly because the baseball stadium was large, and the color contrast between wearing white and the gray ground was large, making it easy for the audience to see the movements of the athletes. In addition, from an engineering point of view, baseball games are concentrated in spring, summer and autumn, and they need to run or stand under the sun for a long time, and the white color is not easy to heat up, which helps to conserve physical strength.

But Kitahara Shuji didn't like it, this white was easy to get dirty, and he was upset when he saw it.

He was even more determined not to join the baseball team, and Yuma Uchida had already explained to his fellow clubmates that Kitahara had invited Noki Suzuki to try out as a pitcher.

Everyone was welcome, not even the original pitcher.

There are only twelve people in the whole team, there are not enough substitutes, and there is only one pitcher, and the average team has to have two or three pitchers, divided into starting pitchers, relay pitchers, and even find left pitchers to prepare for the confrontation of left hitters, so as not to hit the opponent with right and left to fight extremely easily, and be easily scored.

If Kitahara Shuji doesn't come and let him shoot hundreds of balls all the way by himself, he himself is afraid - there is a shortage of pitchers, and a team calls a pitcher to death, and it is not unheard of that the pitcher will be crippled before he is an adult.

Koshien in colleges and universities is actually a bloody forest, and in order to enter Koshien, a large number of people practice and waste every year......

Everyone expressed great kindness to the increase in manpower, but Uchida Yuma changed his protective gear and hesitated and asked Kitahara Shuji in a low voice, "Kitahara, don't you really want to stay?"

He hoped that Kitahara Shuji could stay, although Kitahara Shuji knew a little bit about baseball at most - this was what he and Shikijima Ritsu usually told Kitahara Shuji, but he had confidence in Kitahara Shuji, and felt that he was at least much better than the average person when he practiced casually.

If you have a strong partner, it is really not a dream to go to Koshien, and there have been countless times in the history of Koshien that he has led a team into Koshien alone.

If he can enter Koshien to play in college, even if he can't win the championship and win the banner, then he is willing to live three years less.

It's a holy place for high school boys all over Japan, and it can be blown for a lifetime.

But Kitahara shook his head lightly and replied in a low voice, "I don't have time to do this." "He's a butt now, how can he have that leisure to play ball, and he's now ranked first in his grade, and he doesn't need these things to add points to enter college, so he might as well take a look at the courses in the second and third years of high school, maybe he can take the entrance exam in advance, then it will save a year."

Uchida Yuma sighed in disappointment, but immediately laughed again: "I understand, I will cooperate with you." ”

Now the whole team is just one catcher, and Kitahara Shuji is doing pitcher tryout, so he can only be his partner, and as long as the two of them cooperate and prove that Kitahara Shuji has no pitching talent, then this matter will be pulled down.

Although he is afraid of Suzuki Noshi, but when it comes to friendship, he must still be towards Kitahara Shuji - he doesn't feel sorry for Suzuki Noki when he dies, maybe he will have to celebrate secretly!

Kitahara Shuji shook his head lightly and smiled: "No, Uchida, Suzuki is not a fool, she is not easy to deceive." You just play normally, it's just ...... Don't blame me when you look back, I really don't want to come. ”

Uchida Yuma was stunned, he didn't understand what Kitahara Shuji meant, and Kitahara Shuji helped him check the protective gear in case it really hurt him later-playing street ball in the snow and beating his little friend who was a catcher to a bone, this Kitahara Shuji knew.

Of course, that kind of street kid plays without protective gear, just a baseball glove, and he is also young and brittle, so he should be fine if he changes to Uchida Oma, but just in case, he still has to check it, and he can't really hurt Suzuki because he is messing around.

When everything was ready, Kitahara Shuji went out and entered the stadium and saw that Suzuki was already waiting on the baseball field, and Suzuki looked at Kitahara Shuji's tall posture and his eyes were high - the height matched himself, 1.76 meters with 1.65 meters was just right.

Kitahara Shuji didn't care what she thought, walked over and smiled directly: "Let's start, if the team is not suitable for me, you don't play a scoundrel anymore." ”

Although school ends early, it's not yet four o'clock, but don't delay me from going home to study and cooking.

Noki Suzuki saw that Kitahara Shuji was so urgent, and he didn't understand what tricks Kitahara Shuji planned to play. As for saying that Kitahara Shuji will not be able to work, then she is the first to not believe it - his character is not that kind of person, if he wanted to rely on the debt, he would have relied on it a long time ago, and he would not play this kind of careful trick.

He's definitely going to give it his all, but what about going all out?

She shrugged her shoulders and smiled, "Then let's start." Then she turned her head and beckoned, "Shimoda, come here!"

A short boy ran over, and Noki Suzuki directly ordered: "Kitahara-san, who has never played baseball, you can point him out." ”

Kitahara Shuji has no opinion, he really won't, and said politely: "I'm sorry for your trouble, Shimoda-san." "He didn't know this person, it seemed to be a student in Class J, and he was not in the same school building.

Shimoda took the initiative to stretch out his hand and said with a smile: "Kitahara-san, the first time we met, I am Shimoda Jinan, please give me more advice in the future." ”

He was very enthusiastic, afraid that Kitahara Shuji would run away and really end up throwing him alone, so he hurriedly took a baseball and handed it to Kitahara Shuji, and said easily: "It's not difficult to pitch, just aim and throw it over." ”

Shuji Kitahara didn't believe it, it was as easy as he said, so was it sick to look for good pitchers like crazy every year? Last year's Koshien best pitcher seemed to have been taken away by Todai, and instead of directly entering the professional team, he went to play in the college league at an advanced university.

The runner-up pitcher who lost to him entered the professional team directly after graduating from high school, and currently seems to be a relay pitcher, with an annual salary of 41 million yen and a signing fee of 80 million yen.

At the beginning, Uchida Yuma also fantasized about being like that guy in the future, earning more money a year than others for 20 years.

But then again, if it's just for the money, and if you have talent at the same time, playing baseball in Japan is really a good choice, after all, there are so many people. It's a pity that life can't be just for money, and it's too stupid to only pursue money - use money, but you can't be swayed by money, and it's the choice of smart people to live your own life.

He checked the baseball in his hand, about 150 grams, that is, three or two, it felt very hard and strong, and it was estimated that it was enough to drink a pot when smashed on his body.

Jio Shimoda took Kitahara Shuji to the pitcher's mound, that is, the middle of the diamond shape surrounded by the home plate, first base, second base, and third base in the Uchino slightly ahead, and then pointed to Uchida Yuma, who had squatted in the direction of the home plate, the temporary player who served as the referee, and a hitter standing in the right area, and said: "We use the green baseball field, which is not enough for 18 meters, should Kitahara throw one first...... So, what kind of pitching method does Kitahara use? Push-up, side-throw, or down-hook? Huh? Has Kitahara never ever pitched? Would you like me to explain the basic up-pressure pitching first?"

He didn't think it was right when he saw Kitahara Shuji standing on the pitcher's mound, and people with pitching experience would put their center of gravity and feet directly on the pitcher's board when they got on the pitcher's mound, but this one was good, both feet were on it...... That's not even a beginner, is it?

It's not as easy as you think to throw a ball into the good ball area from nearly 20 meters away, there is no long-term practice or natural ball control, it is really casually thrown away, after all, it is only the width of a person.

Usually throwing a rock from 20 meters away is not guaranteed to hit a person, let alone a spinning ball.

Kitahara Shuji really doesn't understand, he has only watched a baseball game once, and he still watched Uchida Ooma being pressed to the ground and rubbed, but he still politely refused - if he really plans to develop in this area, then he must study it carefully, but isn't it, isn't it, he left after throwing the ball, why do you care so much?

He laughed and said, "I'm just throwing ...... Well, can we start now?"

He wanted to finish shooting quickly and leave quickly, but he also had to ask, what else was there to pay attention to? After all, the last time I watched a baseball game, the pitchers were all grinding and chirping, and they were as cautious as if they would be shot if they didn't shoot well.

People who are in a hurry can really smash the TV when watching a baseball game - do you vote or not? Can you hurry? Can you?!

Jio Shimoda is fully confirmed, although Shuji Kitahara is a celebrity in high school kendo, he is a super novice in the baseball circle.

The way he holds the ball feels awkward, and the layman's is too obvious.

But even so, he didn't want Kitahara Shuji to run, so he thought about it and said, "The first ball, Kitahara-san can throw it in front of the pitcher's mound." ”

When you get off the pitcher's mound, you enter the field of wild ball in the open space on the street, or the category of coaxing girls to play - why do girls play baseball so rarely? Because the strength is not enough, they can't throw it that far, otherwise they use the strength of milk to finally throw it, but the ball speed is extremely slow, one batter is accurate, and it is all about sending points and hitting percentages.

Every year at the start of the professional baseball game, a female singer or a movie star will be invited to throw the opening ball, but nine out of ten must not be thrown to home plate, and only the hitter can only be considered a good ball by waving the bat - you can't help but give the girl face, and you can't throw it hard and be judged a bad ball, so you can only take the initiative to cooperate.

That's still an adult woman, it's even worse to change high school girls, there are girls on the baseball field in the school to play, and boys will let girls be five or six meters tall, which is considered to coax them to have fun.

Shimoda Jio This is to reduce the difficulty for Kitahara Shuji, so as not to slip away in discouragement as soon as Kitahara Shuji throws, and Kitahara Shuji is a very cautious person, after all, he has never played, and asked in surprise: "Can I go to the front and cast?"

Eighteen meters is not too far, can it be further?

"It's okay to practice. Shimoda was going to give Kitahara a close-up experience of pitcher-fighter matchups, and by the way, boost his confidence — it was too cruel to hit a home run on his first pitch, and maybe he would say goodbye to the sport for the rest of his life.

Kitahara Shuji was still very humble when he didn't understand, and he followed Jio Shimoda down the pitcher's hill, walked forward for five or six meters, and reached a place of eleven or twelve meters, and then asked with some uncertainty: "Do you want to cast here?"

He thought something was wrong, could this be too close? It's a child's distance, right?

Jio Shimoda said "yes" with kindness, and then took a few steps back, while Noki Suzuki stood on the side of home plate and looked at it without any reaction - Kitahara Shuji is a novice She knows that the first ball finding feeling is understandable, and she likes Kitahara Shuji's ability to control the ball, and even hit the snow in the high move jump.

According to what she saw last time, if she replaced tennis with baseball, Kitahara Shuji's ball speed was also mid-to-high, and if she had very good ball control, there would be more balls, and it could also be a killer feature.

Strength, she can coax Kitahara Shuji to practice more in the future, that's no problem.

The people from the private Daifuku Gakuen baseball club also stood aside and watched, after all, Kitahara Shuji was really famous in school, but as soon as they saw Kitahara Shuji being brought to the pitcher's mound, they immediately knew - this is a pure novice, the kind that has never been played, it is really rare.

And when Kitahara Shuji was about to pitch, his posture surprised them even more. Kitahara Shuji's body was stretched like a bow, his long arms were raised high, stretched to the maximum length, and seemed to be ready to pull the baseball out - this group was stunned, you pitched the ball like this, the ball has been in the eyes of the hitter, and the reaction to the other party is too long, right?

A few people couldn't help laughing, feeling that Kitahara Shuji might be a strong player in the kendo circle, but when it came to the baseball field, it was a pure low-level rookie.

They suddenly had the consciousness of their predecessors, and felt that they could educate Kitahara Shuji well in the future - they could brag about being Kitahara's "teacher" in the future, and they were a little excited to think about it!

But after Kitahara Shuji's body slowly stretched to the maximum distance, he suddenly leaned forward and waved his hand, and his arm seemed to disappear in an instant, and the naked eye could not catch any traces, and the baseball was gone, and the hitter in the strike zone stood still and did not react, and Uchida Yuma screamed and fell directly on his back.

Baseballs are round, cortical balls that don't make violent wind sounds, but everyone in the baseball club heard a crunch — not the sound of the ball, but the sound of the mandible rubbing into their ears when they suddenly opened their mouths.

What kind of beginner is this?

What kind of plane is Shimoda doing? How can such a person allow him to pitch under the pitcher's mound?