"Well voted!" The third-graders in the lounge were cheering on their pitchers.

The third-grade seniors faced Takashi Fujii, the three-stick man behind them, after striking Taro Fukuda and Yuki Tanaka three times in a row.

"I've played a lot of pitching in practice before, but this is the first time I've played against an opponent like this." Standing on the batting area, Takashi Fujii waved the metal bat in his hand and chatted with Kiryu senior.

Takashi Fujii, a third-year catcher, didn't pay much attention to Takashi Fujii, and compared the code to pitcher Yuto Fukuda, and laid out the open ball cover.

"Whew!"

"Huh!"

Takashi Fujii let go of the first ball that flew low in the outside corner and swung his metal bat at the second ball that was scurrying back from the pitcher's mound.

"Ping!"

The flying baseball flew upside down in a collision with the sweeping bat, smashed into the infield, and then bounced quickly a few times, bouncing from the infield area to the left outfield area.

Takashi Fujii took advantage of this hit and managed to run to first base.

As soon as the four-stick beater, Dong Qingguo, came on the field, the players on the side of the first army shouted.

"Captain, come and get a big shot!"

"Senior Dong, blast the ball out."

Facing the 'monster beater' Higashi Kiyokuni, Kiryu Hiroshi mostly spent a moment thinking before comparing his code to Yuto Fukuda on the pitcher's hill.

Yuto Fukuda nodded, glanced at Takashi Fujii at first base, and after preventing runners from stealing bases, he waved his arm and threw the baseball out of his hand.

"Whew!"

"Huh!"

"Ping!"

Dong Qingguo vigorously waved the metal bat in his hand, and the collision between the stick body and the ball made a crisp sound, but unfortunately it did not hit the center of the ball, and the baseball flying from the pitcher's mound flew high into the sky after being hit by Dong Qingguo.

Third-year catcher Kiryu Hiroshi immediately stood up, took off his mask, ran a few steps after the baseball in mid-air, and raised his hand to catch the infield high flying ball.

“out.“

Superintendent Kataoka motioned for the beater, Higashi Kiyokuni, to be out.

"Three outs, offense and defense exchange."

……

"Whew!"

"Huh!"

"Ping!"

Kenichi Tangami, a third-grader named after a third-year student who was born in 2005, hits a baseball thrown by Jingujiyi.

"Shortstop!" Chris stood up and shouted.

"Look at me!" Yuki Tanaka took a few steps back, kicked hard and jumped on the spot, and the outstretched ball sleeve caught the baseball flying upside down from home plate, so that Kenichi Tanakami, who was running the base, had no choice but to stop and return to the third-grade rest area with the runner at second base.

"Three outs, offense and defense exchange."

Superintendent Kataoka looked at the scoreboard, and the sixth game had just begun, and the current score between the two sides was 2:2

"Yagami, get ready, you'll pitch in the seventh inning." Superintendent Kataoka, who was supposed to be the chief referee and shouldn't interfere too much with the arrangement of personnel, suddenly said to Yagami Yagami.

"Huh? Oh okay, overseer. Yagami Night, who was watching the game outside the station with the second and third armies, was stunned for a moment after being suddenly named by Superintendent Kataoka, before he came out of the crowd and responded.

"I'll warm you up." Kentaro Matsuda walked out and went to get the catcher's protective gear.

……

The game soon came to the bottom half of the seventh game, and the score between the two sides was still 2:2.

Yagami took the pitcher's ball sleeve and talked to Chris about the tactical arrangements behind the pitcher as he walked up to the pitcher's mound.

"That's pretty much it, got it?"

"Clearly, I remember all the characteristics of the third-year seniors, as long as they don't let them hit the hit." After Yagami finished speaking, he felt that he should continue to get closer to the catcher, and then added: "Takikawa, I believe in your matching. ”

Without saying anything more, Chris walked straight back to the back of home plate, crouched down again, and opened his sleeve with a code.

After Yagami threw a few practice balls, the game resumed. Looking at the third-year seniors standing in the batting area, Yagami Ye waved his arm and pushed the baseball out of his hand with his fingertips.

"Whew!"

"Bang!"

The baseball shot straight out of the pitcher's mound and flew over the home plate and into Chris's open ball sleeve.

"Hey, what's the ball speed?"

"I don't know, I didn't have a speedometer."

"The ball is very heavy, and it's very difficult to play."

“Nice pitch.“

Chris got up and took the baseball out of the sleeve and threw it back.

"Huh"

Yagami raised his hand to catch the baseball that Chris passed back to him, and looked at Chris after he squatted again, and compared the code, throwing that kind of four-seam fast ball that is not very straight?

Yagami is a person who studied and grew up in the American baseball world, and his four-seam ball is similar to most American pitchers, and he doesn't like to shoot the kind of ball with a straight path! If he hadn't returned to Japan from the United States last year and found that Takano of Japan liked straight balls with straight balls, and then spent time practicing his four-seam balls, he wouldn't have been able to shoot such straight four-seam fast straight balls! I didn't expect Chris to let him throw the kind of four-seam fast straight ball that wasn't very straight before?

"Whew!"

Since it was the catcher's request, Yagami Ye would not have anything to object, after all, he liked this kind of fast ball with a certain amount of displacement.

"Huh!"

"Bang!"

At the same time that the third-grader swung the bat missed, the baseball flying from the pitcher's mound passed through the good-ball zone and fell into Chris's open sleeve.

“Strike.“

Yagami raised his hand to take the baseball that Chris passed back to him again, and he could still feel the different sense of the ball from before, his eyes looked at Chris more and more angrily, and then raised his arm and reported to Superintendent Kataoka: "Overseer, I suspect that Chris's right shoulder is injured!" ”

Chris's behavior has touched the bottom line of Yagami Yagami's respect for the individual and the value of the person itself, even if he can't deteriorate his relationship with the catcher as a pitcher, he can't bear these fools who choose to damage their bodies and give up a bright future for the sake of temporary satisfaction in football or baseball.

"What?!" Superintendent Kataoka was surprised.

Superintendent Kataoka, who came back to his senses, quickly suspended the game despite Chris's objections, and led Chris to the hospital for a check-up with Miss Takashima.

The rest of the audience asked Yagami why he suspected that Chris's right hand was injured??

Yagami told them about his suspicions, and he had found out that Chris was wrong in the semi-finals and finals of the Tokyo Metropolitan Games in the fall, of course, at that time, he just thought that Chris was caused by high-intensity competition and poor condition; It was only at the Meiji Jingu Conference that I began to wonder if there was a problem with Chris's shoulder, but because I couldn't be sure, I didn't say it, and I didn't say it until today's retirement......

In fact, Yagami Yagami felt that Superintendent Kataoka was not suitable to be a prisoner many times, and although Superintendent Kataoka cared for the members, he did not conduct regular medical examinations for the members, so that Chris was able to train and compete with injuries for a long time, but no one found out except him; The blow only looks at the most ordinary training volume, and when the Jinguji senior was unbalanced in his mentality on the field, he didn't make a substitution earlier; I often turn a blind eye to the psychological problems of the players, and I just want to cultivate an ace who can take the lead alone, but I forget that the Seido Baseball Club has neither such a player nor the ability to cultivate such an ace.