In addition to the summer Koshien floor, there is also a baseball on the lower floor. Unlike the previous floor, a bat sits horizontally on the stand next to this baseball – a metal alloy bat.

A long string of Chinese characters written along the tip of the bat to the handle of the bat with a black rollerball pen reads: "Goodbye hitter in the 2017 spring Koshien final."

Yuki Takami stretched out his right hand and flicked the bat with his index finger, "Ding!" "The bat emits a crisp, airy, metallic vibration and a pleasant echo around the beam.

That spring was also like this, "Ding! With a bang, the metal bat hit the incoming ball.

Luck hit！ Yuki Takami's lucky blow! Passed through the middle line of second basemen and shortstops.

The first-base runner waved his arms desperately and shouted, "Run! Run！ Run！ The first-base runner, who was still watching the situation, followed the instructions and suddenly got wind under his feet and rushed to the second-base bag. The third-base running instructor was also desperately waving at this time, and he shouted, "Run!" Go to third base! "The runner kept running to third base.

At this time, Yuki Takami, who had already stepped on the first base bag, looked up and observed that the stalwart did not catch the ball, Yuki Takami quickly turned around and continued to run to second base, and repeatedly signaled to the first runner: "Rush to home plate!" Don't stop! Rush back to home plate! ”

The final frame freezes on the moment the runner steps on home plate, with the catcher spreading his hands on his back to the sky, indicating that there is nothing he can do - the stalwart chooses to pass the ball directly in order to stop the runner who ran back to home plate in a hurry, and the result is a violent pass.

Goodbye hits! Sayonara!

Spring Koshien Champion! Spring and summer succession!

Yuki Takami realized that he didn't know when he had held the Chunjia Victory Ball in his hand, and he put the ball back in its place and closed the display case. After remembering so many things, Yuki Takami was thinking about lying on the bed for a while, but halfway through the walk, he remembered something, came to a closet, and opened the sliding door.

Stacked in the closet were pairs of tattered spikes, smudged jerseys, and several pairs of torn baseball gloves. Yuki Takami reached out and dragged all the torn jerseys to the side along the clothes rail of the closet, and it turned out that the original position of the jerseys just covered the other scene:

Inside a glass-lidded box were several baseballs, similar to those seen in the display case, each stained with various colors of sand and even grass debris from the baseball field.

Each baseball is also marked with a mark, written with a rollerball, with a ballpoint pen, and seemingly written with a crayon...... Softball baseball?

This soft-ball baseball, written in crayons, is the first ball thrown by Yuki Takami standing on a pitcher's mound for the first time in his life. Yuki Takami remembers that the ball flew beautifully over home plate - from the top of the referee and the hitter's head. How old was you at that time? Yuki Takami frowned and looked at the words written on this soft baseball, such an important information was not recorded?

Belch? The hard ball next to the soft ball, is it a ...... The first hard ball you are using?

Yes! This is the "ball that hits the point"! A mischievous smile appeared on Yuki Takami's face. Tonight's game is the first meeting of the series (usually three games in a series), and winning the first game is important for either team, after all, getting off to a good start and getting a good start is a welcome pass in any country.

The two sides have been rivals for many years, so the game is very ...... from the beginning Passionate.

“Bang！” Suddenly, the little giant who attacked after the attack relied on three bats to hit a Yangchun home run in the first inning, and he scored the first point. Then, our old comrade of the Lions Army, the pitcher Yongi, stabilized his position in time with the support of his teammates and did not give the Giants a chance to expand the score in this inning.

In the second inning, the third batter of our Lions Army, with a full number of balls, tore through the Giants' guard and hit a second home run. However, then, the four-stick main gun and the five-stick secondary gun were knocked out by the opponent's pitcher three times in a row, and the good situation suddenly took a sharp turn. Fortunately, the six bats seized an opportunity and hit a hit just right to tie the score in the first half of the second inning.

A game that was decent at the beginning, but it turned into a fireworks show in the second half, but fortunately, both teams had their own brilliant scenes, otherwise they would not be scolded to death by the fans at the scene. The score of 15:16 has never been seen in my memory of Isamu Nishiki's professional baseball career so far.

However, this kind of "fireworks debriefing show" conducted by the two teams together, according to general speculation, will not use any relay pitchers. After all, there are only five pitcher candidates in the cowshed (pitcher preparation area), and if the places are burned out today, what will happen to the next day's game, and the rational supervisor will not burn out the cowshed in the long run. Because a pitcher who is on the board needs at least two days off before he can be on the board again, which is common knowledge in professional baseball circles. It's a series, game after game, day after day, it's not a life-or-death game, and you still have to keep it in mind.

In this way, the pitchers on standby in the cowshed, such as Isamu Nishiki, had a leisurely night.

Yes, I was still thinking this leisurely a minute ago, and the optimistic myself has further divergent thinking, extending to consider which izakaya to go to for supper after tonight's game...... Well, Lao Tzu didn't invite guests this time, and he was alone and chic.

With a bang, the protective door of the cowshed suddenly opened, and it was the pitching coach who rushed in, bringing sad news.

"Yongjing is not good, Nishiki, hurry up and prepare, and go to the field immediately!" The words of the pitcher coach were like a bolt from the blue.

“？？？” With a bewildered face, I was chopped after all.

I didn't have enough time to warm up, so I just hula and board......

And it's in a scene where both sides are red-eyed and their hands are hot...... Boarding the board.

This is a bottomless pit.

What's the horse? You say this is the overseer's trust in me Isamu Nishiki?

Baba baa!

There's no way, since it's the final decision that can't be changed anymore...... Therefore, at this time, I, I, Nishiki Yong, must not panic, and I have to make full use of the limited warm-up time. And that of course includes the number of balls I can try to throw on the pitcher's mound when I step on the pitcher's board and the referee hasn't raised his hand to signal that the game is going on.

It's just a few balls – and I'm going to make good use of that little window of time. There can be no waste in the slightest, because there is no capital to waste.

At this time, the only thing I can trust is the baseball in my hand!

I don't have time to explain! Drive!

"Bang!" The sound of a baseball smashing into a catcher's glove is the source of my confidence in Isamu Nishiki, although ...... It's just a trial pitch.