"I'd like to try to hit the pitch of the Yathemi senior." Kenta Maezono saw Yagami Yagama, who was the main battle pitcher, standing at the pitching position as a feeder, and while running, he also turned his head from time to time to take a look.

“…… There are very few balls that are hit by the beater. "is also a pitcher, Kawakami Kenshi is even more surprised that when the pitch of the Yagami senior is faced with Aomichi's own line, except for the seniors with Higashi as the core, he is rarely beaten out by others; Watching the seniors' game in the stands today, he has a very strong impression of Qingdao's playing line, and always feels that if he lets himself play, he will probably be beaten by the seniors in the first round.

As catchers, Yukichiya and Kuraza Naoya are thinking, if they squat and catch the ball, how many hitters can be knocked out?

It's rare for a pitcher who has his own ideas and has a good idea of matching the ball. Many pitchers either leave the catcher to play the ball entirely, or use the catcher as a catcher and pitch the ball to their liking.

Yukiichi also thought while running: In the game, when the opinions of the pitcher and the catcher conflict, I don't know what Senior Yagami will do? He was genuinely curious.

……

It's been two weeks since the first-year freshmen joined the club, and most of the second- and third-year students already know that there is a freshman named Miyuki Kazuya among the first-year freshmen who has offended most of the students in the same grade.

Unlike Miyukiya's terrible personality, he has very good strength as a catcher.

Just like the previous Takigawa Chris Yu, Yukiichi also showed a level far beyond other students of the same level from the beginning, and among the first-year freshmen, only Kuroza Naoya's strength was almost the same as him, which also made people jump to their feet while being angry by him, and had to admit that what he said was basically right.

"That guy and Kura will probably be promoted to the first army by the overseer soon." Jun Izaki said suddenly on the way back to the dormitory after finishing training.

The second-year students who went back to the dormitory with him all turned their heads to look at Jun Izagi.

"It's very upset with his terrible character, but his strength is really strong, and even Chris is praising his playing with character." Izaki said unhappily with his hands in his trouser pockets.

Although Jun Izaki didn't name it, everyone else knew who he was talking about. Intellectually, they both know that the other party is indeed very good, but emotionally, they still mind that there are juniors who enter the army before them.

"Anyway, is that news from before true?" Keisuke Miyauchi, who had just been delegated to the Second Army by Superintendent Kataoka, asked Koichiro Tanba beside him, "The Superintendent wants to have a competition between new and old students in the near future?" ”

It seems that the third-year seniors guessed after overhearing the minister and the supervisor say, "It's too early to start the competition between the old and new students", and it is not necessarily that the competition between the old and new students will start in the near future. Koichiro Tanba whispered that last year's competition between the old and new students made him remember it vividly, and that poor performance now feels ashamed when he thinks about it.

"It's still going to be compared, and it's estimated that it won't start until after the end of the Tokyo Metropolitan University Wild Ball Tournament in the spring." Fumiya Kusunoki said in an uncertain tone: "There are still three last games left in the spring Tokyo Metropolitan University Wild Ball Conference, and it should be early May at the latest, right?" ”

"Kono is not such an easy exercise, and I have to teach them a lesson when the time comes." Ryosuke Kominato said with a smile as always.

"I don't know how Chris is recovering from his injury, and he left first after school in the recent afternoon."

I don't know if Chris will play in the later confrontation between new and old students? Koichiro Tanba couldn't help but think about it.

"It should be almost ready, and when you have time recently, haven't you been helping Yagami practice new balls?" Keisuke Miyauchi crossed the fingers of his hands behind his head and said with some hesitation, "Do you think Chris can return to the army in the summer?" ”

The few people who walked together fell silent.

Although Chris was sent to the Second Army by Kataoka due to injury, he never played in the Second Army, and more often than not, he directly commanded the Second Army as a coach instead of the coach.

This also allows the second-year students who are also in the second army to feel the gap between them more clearly, and while trying to catch up, they also hope that Chris can recover as soon as possible and return to the first army.

"Let's go practice swinging again after dinner." Ichiro Sakai, who rarely spoke, spoke, "Yuki and Yagami are already ahead of us, and we can't always be left behind by them!" ”

The people who made the decision left the dormitory with their bats after dinner and showers.

When passing by the indoor training hall, Ichiro Sakai looked inside, and most of the members of the first army were practicing inside, some doing gravity training, and some kept swinging sticks. The third-year seniors Jinguji and Sakai were in the innermost throwing area, doing pitching practice.

Yagami wasn't in the training gym, so he probably went to the outdoor cowshed to practice his new ball breed again. I don't know when I'll be able to ask Yagami to feed them the ball again? I really want to play Yagami's pitch again.

By the time Ichiro Sakai walked to the open space behind the dormitory, it was no surprise that there were already many people practicing swinging sticks here. Seeing this, Ichiro Sakai hurriedly found a vacant lot, and after warming up, he also started his own practice of swinging his stick.

……

The tense atmosphere of the second and third grades naturally also affected the first-year freshmen, who looked at the second- and third-year seniors who would practice on their own after the daily fixed training, and many of them also began to learn from the second- and third-year seniors for additional training.

On April 22, the quarterfinals of the Spring Tokyo Metropolitan University Wild Ball Conference, the afternoon of the end of the Teto vs Qingdao battle.

"They're really working hard." Rei Takashima stood in the office on the second floor, looked at the gradually increasing number of students in the open space outside, pushed his glasses, and said with a smile.

Superintendent Kataoka crossed his hands on his chest, and was also looking at the students who were practicing on his own in the open space, not knowing what he was thinking, and did not respond to Takashima's words.

After Qingdao's 5-4 victory over Teidong today, there are still two last games left before the end of the spring Tokyo Metropolitan Wild Ball Conference, and Seido will face Inagi Industrial in the semi-finals on April 29, and if he wins, he will face the last old rival Ichimian in the final on April 30.

In the past few years, Qingdao has always lost more and won less against these three baseball powerhouses in Tokyo, especially in last year's summer trials, because of the encounter with the city university, which directly stopped Qingdao in the quarterfinals, causing more and more people to feel that Qingdao has declined.

If Seido hadn't won last year's Autumn Tokyo Metropolitan Games and then reached the semi-finals of Koshien in the spring, this year's enrollment situation would have been even worse, and it would have been impossible to usher in a bumper harvest.