Chapter 9

Ichidai's defeat was a shock for all the baseball teams. Yakushi was truly the dark horse of the tournament. I couldn't wait to pitch against them, especially Todoroki Raichi.

It was going to be my first true challenge and I was shaking with excitement as we had our dinner. I had to work up a sweat and take a bath for me to sleep.

The next day, I woke up bright and early and started my morning runs with a truck tire tied to my waist. It was very tough to pull it, but, I was able to jog with it.

On the other side, Tanba had requested Tetsu and group to help him get his form back. Seeing his friend Manaka lose to Yakushi had a lit a fire in his heart.

Everyone trained their hearts out to prepare for the match.

Later, it was time for the briefing. As all of us sat and watched Yakushi bulldoze through their opponent, Chris was telling us about everything he had observed.

Sanada Shunpei, undoubtedly the ace of Yakushi seemed to be a reliable pitcher. His pitching was strong and was focused on in-courses, aimed at the chest of right-handed batters.

Yakushi's coach seemed to be a lazy bum at the first glance, but, he was quite devious in his tactics. Swithing around his pitchers and his batting order, he messed with the rhythm of the opponent's game. Along with that, Todoroki Raichi's monstrous batting and Sanada's reliability in the later half of the games, Yakushi was a tough opponent to beat.

"Their three clean-up hitters had 7 clean hits and scored 8 points. They might be freshmen, but, we can't let our guards down against them."

"They stole a base seven times, eh.."

"Yes, their aggressive running made up for their lack of bunting."

Kataoka then said, "While we have to pay attention to their aggressive runners, we also need to watch out for their strong batting line-up. The fact that they don't bunt will actually put more pressure on the pitchers!! They might be harder to beat than we think."

It was at that time that I raised my hand and said, "Coach, I would like to share my thoughts."

Kataoka and everyone else looked at me. It was strange to suddenly be the center of attention, but, I didn't waver under their gaze. Kataoka grunted and nodded, prompting me to continue.

"Their starts with pitching are weak. It's the later half of the game when their ace, Sanada, takes his game up a gear. I think we should try to capitalize their lax in gameplay in the starting innings and hit big. Getting points in the start will help us deal with the pressure of their batters. Also, even if they haven't bunted in the games, we shouldn't assume that they can't bunt at all."

Kataoka nodded and said, "Sawamura is right in saying that their starts are weak. It will be a hitting game against Yakushi, so, the batters need to be at their A-game on the field. Do not let them set their rhythm and sttike when the iron is hot."

After the discussion was over, we went back to the grounds to train.

On the day before the match, I asked Kanemaru to stand as a batter for me to practice my curve ball. Miyuki was teaching Furuya a faster throwing stance to prevent base stealing. It was a good stance, but, it reduced Furuya's speed by a little while increasing his control. So, I had Chris catch for me while Ono acted as the catcher for Kawakami.

'In-course, right in the middle of batter's chest.'

The ball went wide and up before it took a sharp diagonal drop.

*Bang*

"Strike. That was good. Again."

"Yes!"

*Bang*

"Throw slower. Let the ball break properly. That was a ball."

"Yes!"

*Bang*

"Hm. Maintain that speed. If you want to work the corners with your curveball, you need to make sure that the pitch breaks properly. A faster pitch doesn't have the required amount of time and you will either throw a ball or not at the desired point."

"Got it!"

I threw around twenty more curve balls to get the feeling down.

At night time, Furuya, Kawakami and I were called to the gym. Kataoka, Rei, Miyuki, Chris and Ota, the club president, were already there.

As out of habit, Kataoka was squatting with a piece of twig in his hand and doodling on the ground. As we stood in front of him, he said, "Our starting pitcher tomorrow, will be Furuya. But, fonsiderjng his stamina, we'll switch him out earlier tomorrow. Starting from the fourth inning, It'll be Sawamura. And from seventh inning, it'll be Kawakami. This might change depending on how the game goes, so always be prepared."

Ota then asked, "What about Tanba, coach? You haven't even called him here."

"I can't let him get on the mound in his current condition."

"B-But, he was always aiming for the quater-finals..."

"So what? Tanba won't pitch in tomorrow's game. The three of you should do your job with that in mind!"

Unable to control my inner loudmouth, I blurted out, "Yes, boss! I'll totally live up to your expectations!! I'll go even beyond them!!"

"Stop calling me boss..."

"Yes, boss!!!"

(PLAYBALL)

27th July.

The day of the quater-finals.

Our bus arrived at the stadium and I was excited for the match to begin.

"Okay, let's roll!!"

"So energectic.."

"Oi! Don't get off the bus before me, Sawamura!"

"Huh? Did you say something?"

"You!!!!"

We marched to the bullpen with our gear and could already hear the crowd. The stadium was pretty full. As I had expected, Yakushi had changed their batting order yet again. With Raichi as number 1, it was clear that Yakushi wanted him to get more chances of being at bat.

[The quater-finals match Seidou vs Yakushi will now begin.]

With the announcement, Kataoka addressed us for one final time before the game.

"Every throw, every step and every swing are a reflection of your true selves. So, no need to waver! Believe in your own style!!"

"Yeah!!!"

We stood facing the team of Yakushi in the middle of the ground, looking at the faces of our opponents. It was finally time.

"Bow!!"

"Hah..!"

"Good game!!"