At 11:46 p.m. on July 24, the Qingdao school bus drove into the parking lot of Hachioji Civic Stadium with players from the Qingdao Baseball Club.

As the captain, Dong Kiyokuni first went to the staff to complete the registration and sign-in, and then came to the stands to gather the people of the first army, and walked towards the entrance of the players, and the Kataoka supervisor, who was also there, met with Minister Ota and walked in.

At 12:05 p.m., one of the hottest times of the day, the thermometer hanging on the wall of the lounge area showed that the real-time temperature had reached 33 degrees Celsius, and the surface temperature would only be higher.

The stadium staff leveled the ground, retouched the sidelines and sprayed water, and as the water droplets onto the ground, the steaming heat could even distort the vision.

"It's hot today, remember to hydrate, save energy, and avoid heat stroke." Superintendent Kataoka earnestly told the Seido people, "The players who didn't start the game should support their teammates well, and the next game will require everyone's concerted efforts to win." ”

"Yes!"

At 12:25, the referee signaled to both sides that the game was about to begin.

After the Seido and Kokugayama Kugayama team members lined up to salute, the Seido players withdrew from the field, leaving only the Kokugayama Kugayama team members of Kokugakuin to make their final preparations.

Taro Fukuda, a batter on Aomichi, ran to home plate with a bat and waved his bat outside the batting area for a final warm-up.

After the pitcher of Kuga Mountain of the National Academy simply threw a few practice balls, the referee looked at the time and found that it was already 12:27, so he signaled that the game officially began; At the same time, the sound of air defense sirens sounded on the pitch.

"Hum—"

Accompanied by the sound of air raid sirens, the pitcher of Kugayama of Kokugakuin flicked his arm and threw the first ball of the game.

"Whew!"

"Huh!"

"Bang!"

“Strike.“

Taro Fukuda swung aggressively as a baseball, but he didn't hit the baseball that flew from the pitcher's mound.

"Fukuda, fight again when you see it!"

"Don't be nervous, take it easy."

"Senior, come on!"

The Seido players who did not play were cheering for Taro Fukuda on the field.

Taro Fukuda waved the bat in his hand, and after standing in the hitting area, he took a position waiting for the blow.

"Whew!"

The second pitch thrown by the Kokugakuyama pitcher flew over quickly.

It was a bad ball with a high path that flew towards Taro Fukuda's chest, forcing him to take a big step back.

“ball.“

The Kugayama Kokugayama pitcher on the pitcher's mound took off his cap and nodded his apology to Taro Fukuda at home plate before putting his cap back on and catching the baseball that the Kugayama catcher of Kokugayama Academy passed back to him.

After seeing the code given by the catcher, the pitcher of Kugayama of the National Academy raised his legs, leaned forward, shook his arms, and threw the baseball in his hand again.

"Whew!"

Taro Fukuda observes the path of the baseball, which will be a straight ball in the low corner area that can be hit......

"Huh!"

Taro Fukuda directly waved the bat in his hand and swept it out with all his might.

"Ping!"

Taro Fukuda's swept bat touched the speeding baseball, but unfortunately it didn't hit the center of the ball, but the baseball was hit and flew out quickly in the direction of first base.

Should it be a throw-in? Taro Fukuda didn't pay much attention to this and was ready to wait for the next goal.

The problem is that he didn't expect the first baseman of Kuga Mountain of Kokugakuin to rush out at the first time, chase after the baseball landing, and successfully catch the flying baseball with his ball sleeve before the baseball hits the ground.

“out.“

Taro Fukuda couldn't react for a while, and even the stands on the Qingdao side, whether it was the music of support or the sound of cheering, stopped.

Chris is not wrong about the information he has gathered, and Kokugakugayama is indeed a team that is biased towards defense and has done a good job in this regard.

……

In the first half of the first game, with the baseball played by Tetsuya Yuki with three bats, it was picked up and killed by the guards of Kuga Mountain of the National Academy, and Aodo could only return in vain.

In the second half of the first game, everyone in Qingdao put on protective gear, picked up the ball cover and ran onto the field.

Chris ran to the pitcher's mound with Yagami Yagami, and Yagami first said, "In today's game, you really have to try not to let the opponent hit a hit, and then go to base." ”

"I'll use that as a premise for the ball." As one of the people who has been to scout the enemy, Chris naturally knows how difficult it is for a team like Kuga Mountain to be good at defense.

After crouching behind home plate, Chris asked Yagami for a quick straight ball with four seams in the outside corner.

Yagami nodded, turned the baseball in his left hand with his back behind him, raised his arm high, stepped forward with his right leg, twisted his waist and abdomen, tilted the center of gravity of his body forward, and waved his left hand out.

"Whew!"

The white baseball flew 18.44 meters in the blink of an eye, like a white light, and accurately drilled into the ball set set by Chris the blue catcher.

"Bang!"

After the roar, the overly strong tail force caused the baseball to continue scurrying after flying into the ball sleeve.

At 148 km/h, the speed bar at the bottom of the scoreboard shows the speed of the ball thrown by Yagami Yagama.

Chris got up and took the baseball out of his sleeve and threw it back at Yagami on the pitcher's mound.

“Nice pitch.“

Yagami Yagami threw a few more shots like this before the referee signaled for the game to continue: "Play ball."

Behind home plate, Chris's fingers moved slightly, gesturing a series of codes.

The first ball required him to shoot in such a position, when did Chris's attitude become so aggressive?

Yagami raised his right leg, flicked his arm, and stepped forward, leaning forward with the center of gravity of his body, and waving his left hand down.

"Whew!"

The baseball shot straight towards home plate like a white light, and the bat of Kugayama of Kokugakuin clenched the bat in his hand and stared at the direction where the baseball was flying.

The baseball seemed to be rushing towards his thigh at breakneck speed.

Will you be hit by a flying baseball? Driven by instinct, the stick of the National Academy Kuga Mountain involuntarily took a step back.

"Bang!"

The baseball flying from the pitcher's mound passed through the home plate and into the sleeve that Blue Catcher Chris posed in the low post area of the inside corner.

“Strike.“

After careful observation, the referee raised his arms and signaled that the ball thrown by Yagami was a good ball.