77. Batting Practice

Rei walked back towards his class as he thought about what happened. He understood the 3 of them were basically good people but were like due to something happening in their lives. He could only wish they turn a new life in their life and be better.

He reached his class and went to his seat. Mizuki and Keiko were already done eating and were waiting for his arrival near his seat.

As Rei took a seat, Keiko asked, "We taught you won't be even coming. Why were you so late."

Rei opened his lunch box and explained to them as he ate his lunch. Mizuki and Keiko were surprised and angered at first but they slowly felt happy as they heard they are likely gonna change.

The next subject teacher came in as Rei completed his lunch and Mizuki and Keiko went back to their seat. Rei listened to the rest of the classes and took notes. He still had to maintain his good grade even though he started playing again.

The classes ended for the day and Rei stood up after he packed his bag. He exited out of the class together with Mizuki and Keiko, they later went their separate ways for their clubs. Rei walked towards the field and saw some of the members already there.

He silently went towards the last locker which was his and opened it. He quickly changed his clothes and wore his sports shoes. He felt a hand on his shoulder and saw Daichi beside him changed already."

"Hey there Rei, are you ready for today's practice?"

Rei nodded as he closed his locker and asked, "What kind of training might it be today?"

Daichi thought for some time as he walked beside Rei and replied, "I think it might be batting practice."

They got out and everyone formed two lines and Akhira along with Suzaku started leading them through their jogging and exercise. They continued to jog 15 rounds around the whole ground and some of them were exhausted as they reached the end.

Rei was comparatively better even after that and then Akhira called everyone and formed a small circle. He led them through various exercises and most of them fell down as they completed it. The more experienced players were only short of breath while Rei was fine showing his 2 years of daily jogging.

Daichi who was next to him, catching his breath was surprised seeing Rei not fazed after the warm-up and lightly said, "The warm-up is always like this here."

Rei nodded and they heard the coach calling everybody. They went towards the small crowd around Iwata as he waited for all the players to be there. After a while when he noticed everyone was there, Iwata spoke, "Today let's do batting practice. Everyone get your helmets and grab a bat. Pitchers Now this is good practice for you select a partner to pitch against and the rest batters will hit the pitching machines."

Everyone nodded and dispersed, Rei noticed there were 3 pitchers on the team including Suzaku. He had no hope he would get chosen for their practice and also had no confidence in himself when it came to batting.

The past one month he only practiced catching and nothing else. The only thing he remembered was what he was taught by Tensei 2 years back. He decided to start focusing on other things other than catching. He wore his helmet and took a bat from the stand in the locker rooms.

He slowly made his way towards where the others lined up to get their chance in the pitching machine. The lines were not big as the club only had 30 members including the newly joined first years. So the school provided them with 2 machines.

Rei noticed Daichi and Akhira with another guy helping out the pitchers. He understood they 3 were the best in the team in terms of batting. He felt a tap on his shoulder and turned towards the side and noticed Tanaka by his side.

"So Rei are you feeling excited?" asked Tanaka with the same stoic expression.

Rei nodded and both of them continued till it was Tanaka's turn. Rei was up next on another machine so he paid attention to Tanaka's batting. The speed was set to an average and the balls came quickly. It was only 20 balls each person until he had to back towards the end of the line.

The first pitch came and Tanaka hit it back with some force. If it was a real game that would have been a catch to the pitcher. Tanaka continued to hit the balls and missed quite some of them. Rei noticed Tanaka had quite an aim but had terrible timing.

He also noticed the softball used in Middle school games was a bit different from the hardball he regularly played with. The ball seemed to be bigger than an average hardball allowing it to have a more compact area.

Rei then saw it was his turn and went into the bullpen. Coach Iwata who was paying attention to the practice became curious at Rei's bathing. Rei took a deep breath as he got into position. He held the grip tight as he waited for the first pitch.

The machine then immediately released the first pitch and Rei saw the ball moving towards him slowly due to his special eyes. He was able to react to the speed and hit it back long. It might even go over the center field. Even though Rei looked lean he still packed a serious punch after all the exercise he did the past 2 years with weights on.

Coach Iwata was pleasantly surprised by Rei's reaction. It was almost a perfect hit. Iwata then immediately understood Rei was also a genius even when it came to batting. He wondered how many more surprises he would receive from him making him excited.

Rei got ready for the next pitch and it came out immediately. Rei saw the pitch again and then swung his bat again. But this time the ball hit the outer part and went behind him. Rei took a huge breath and continued to hit more balls.

Rei's turn was complete after his 20 balls and he fouled 12 out of 20 pitches. But the rest, he was able to connect properly and all of them had enough strength to go to the outfield.

Iwata understood Rei's situation after this practice. Rei was not able to connect the balls properly but had talent in it. Rei was also not able to completely use his body's strength to his advantage and only relied on his arms and shoulders. He immediately called for Rei when he saw him going back off the line.

Rei heard the coach calling for him and jogged towards him. He stood in front of him and asked, "Is there anything I can do for you coach?"

"No, I wanted to talk to you about your batting. How many years has it been since you practiced batting."

"I only practiced a while when I was small and did not practice after that."

The coach nodded and his expression didn't change as he continued to look over the other players who were practicing.

"Your form when you bat is too rigid and you are not at all using your body the optimum way. Most of your energy is dissipated before you even hit the ball. Middle school baseball has a smaller field comparative to the regular one, you might be able to hit a home run here with your strength if you use it correctly."

Rei nodded and remained quiet as Iwata continued, "I will teach you the correct form of batting and how to use your body's strength correctly after practice, for now, continue."

Rei nodded and jogged back and returned to his place in the line. Tanaka who stood in the line beside him asked as he noticed Rei entering his spot, "What did the coach want to talk to you about?"

"He talked about my batting and how my form is all over the place. If I could improve it I might have enough strength to hit home runs."

Tanaka nodded as he observed the same thing when he observed Rei's batting. Rei's form was all over the place but he was able to hit the ball and not let them pass by.

The practice continued till the time ran out and the sun was already slowly setting.

"Ok let's stop this for today all of you head back home and Rei, Akhira, and Suzaku remain. I need to talk to you three."

All of them dispersed and Rei separated from Tanaka and remained there. After everyone went and only the coach, his assistant, Akhira, Suzaku, and Rei were left, The coach nodded and spoke, "Ok I asked you three to remain as I wanted to talk about Rei's batting and Suzaku's pitching."

All of the three remained quiet and continued to listen.

"Rei's batting form is not up to the par and Suzaku's aim is all over the place too. We need to correct these two problems before the Inter-High starts."