"I don't know why the other party is playing a practice match with us?" Rei Takashima turned his head to look at the players on the field and said, "But they have a strong will to rise to the challenge from the beginning!" ”

"Hey, that pitcher..."As Nagumo Shiichi warmed up on the pitcher's mound, Yokohama's players looked at the opponent's new pitcher and expressed their dissatisfaction.

"Isn't that the guy who showed off his skills in pre-game practice?"

"Why do you send that kind of person to vote?"

"Even if we're behind, wouldn't it be rude to use this kind of pitcher against us?"

“... Are you kidding! ”

"They look down on people!!"

……

"I'm going to put the past... All the things that have accumulated..."

On the pitcher's board, Nagumo Shiyi, who was already ready, raised his leg and stepped forward, waving his arm to throw the baseball in his palm without being affected by the people around him.

"Infuse it all into this ball!"

"Whew!"

Mikoi also moved his glove inward a little and caught Nagumo's straight ball from the inside corner high (ball speed of 131km/h).

"Bang!"

"Good Ball ——!"

"The gloves have moved..."The students of the same level who knew something about Nanyun Shiyi were surprised when they found out that the catcher needed to move the gloves to catch the ball: "It's really rare that it wasn't thrown at the position indicated by the catcher..."

"The pitching stance of a variable speed ball is almost exactly the same as throwing a straight ball with a speed of more than 130 km/h..."

"From Miyuki's point of view, I would definitely think that throwing a variable speed ball with a very large speed difference would solve the problem of a round of hitters..."

"Huh!"

"Bang!"

"Strikeouts ——!"

The hitter swung the baton and missed, and Nanyun Shiyi used two straight balls and a speed ball to easily solve the first hitter.

"The batter is out!"

With a look of surprise on his face, Yokohama three batter Kenta Ogawa (1st grader) turned away from home plate with his bat in his hand and returned to their lounge area.

"Speed balls? Why was Ogawa completely led? ”

"He should be able to handle a straight ball at that speed......," the next batter, Yokohama Gokuji Yuki (a second-year student), wondered.

"Really..."Kenji Tsuchiya (a first-year student), Yokohama 4 Bat, who was standing on the right bat, leaned his bat on his right shoulder and said to himself, "You actually sent a waste pitcher..."

"Then let me beat him down! With a king-size ...

When he lifted the bat on his right shoulder forward, Shiichi Nagumo, who was standing on the pitcher's board, also had his own voice revealed: "This person... Gives me a nasty feeling. ”

"I definitely don't want to... Hit out by this guy. ”

Stepping forward with his left foot, Nagumo waved his right arm and threw a straight ball near the knee in the inside corner of home plate at a speed of 120km/h.

"Bang!"

Yukiichi didn't even need to move his gloves this time, and directly grabbed the straight ball thrown by Nagumo.

"Good shot!"

"Humph!" Kenji Tsuchiya, who chose to wait and see for the first goal, was disdainful of a straight ball with such a ball speed: "It's slow to die." ”

"I can't wait—"

“Nice pitch.“ Yukiichi also got up and raised his hand to pass the baseball he had just received to Nagumo, and he was very satisfied with his impeccable pitching: "I have fully brought out the results of more than two months of practice. ”

"Whew!"

After the hitter was re-ready, Shiichi Nagumo waved his arm and threw a high straight ball from the inside corner belt toward home plate.

"Ping!"

At a speed of 120 km/h, the baseball passes through the inside corner, hits the bat, and flies back in the direction of the pitcher's mound.

"Smack!"

Reaching forward with his hands and opening his gloves, Shiichi Mingumo catches the baseball that flies back upside down.

"Out!"

Yokohama four sticker Kenji Tsuchiya knocked out a flat fly ball in the direction of the pitcher's hill, and it was caught by Seichi Minamigumo, a pitcher from Seichi Minamimo.

"Whew..."

Turning in the direction of first base, Nangumo Shiichi waved his right arm to pass the ball to Yuuki senior at first base, and then reached out to take off his cap while exhaling, very satisfied with Yokohama's four-stick out.

"What's wrong? Pitching like that..."

"It's not just Ogawa, it's not even Tsuchiya that can't hit ......"

The Yokohama players in the rest area were puzzled by this.

"It's the ace's turn!"

"Hey! Rakuji! You get the idea! ”

"Yokohama's center line can't be three up and three down by such a pitcher!"

Yuki Rakuji turned a deaf ear to the shouts of his supporters and teammates, and while preparing in the batting area, he pondered the characteristics of the opponent's pitcher.

"Gao Qun's ball-handling skills..."

"It's the hardest thing for a pitcher to throw diagonally..."

"But this pitcher can shoot to all four corners of the good zone."

Yuki Rakuji, who was ready, leaned his bat on his shoulder and turned his head to look at the pitcher.

"But... The reason for Ogawa and Tsuchiya to be dealt with was not possession. ”

"The important thing to note is that none of those two people were on time."

……

"And the last person..."

Nodding, Nangumo followed the catcher's code, reached forward with his left foot, and swung it to the home plate to throw a high ball with the outside corner belt.

"Bang!"

As the hitter looked down, Mikoichi also reached forward and caught a baseball that was passing through the outside corner at a speed of 121 km/h.

“Strike.“

"I see... Not only is the ball quite good to hold, but even the straight ball that comes over is the kind of slow straight ball that gives the illusion that the ball will float..."

After Yuki Rakuji personally experienced the pitcher's pitching in the batting zone, he realized how difficult it was for Shiichi Nagumo to deal with.

(PS: Holding the ball well means standing in the batter's point of view, and although the pitcher's body is facing his or her body, the movement of his arms is not seen by the batter.) The batter's eyes can't keep up with the pitcher's release in time, so it's hard to spot the timing and it's hard to follow the ball. )

"Huh?"

Hitter Yuki Rakuji seemed to be frightened by the pitcher's second ball, and by the time he came to his senses, the catcher's outstretched glove had caught a straight ball near the knee in the inside corner (at a speed of 122km/h).

"Bang!"

“Strike.“ Raise your right hand over your shoulder with a fist, and the referee announces the number of good balls as "two."

"How I felt just now.." Yuki Rakuji re-prepared in the batting area while thinking about how he felt just now: "He seems to have stepped into my arms and stared at me throwing the ball..."

When the hitter thinks he will hold the ball for a long time, Nagumo Shiyi presses the hitter by throwing it at a fast pace; On the contrary, when the hitter is in a hurry to strike, he will deliberately slow down the release of the ball, leaving the hitter at a loss.

With each throw, Nagumo will observe the whole picture of the hitter and change the length of his ball.

"Ping!"

Convinced that he could not be struck out by the opponent with a straight ball, Yuki Rakuji swung the pitcher's inside belt high straight ball and flew out to the right.

"Out of bounds!" The batter hits a past baseball and lands in an off-field area outside the touchline deep in the right field.

"Well played! Caught-"

"One more! Kill him! Fall senior! ”