The morning sun of our boyhood

The semifinals are finally here.

In this battle, the opponent is the Baijing team.Whether the Cubs can get a seat in the championship and runner-up battle, today's game is crucial.

Tao Xi growled and asked, "Are you ready?"

Everyone shouted from their chests: "Ready!"

All personal grudges were put aside as players shook hands, hugged and high-fived each other at the stadium entrance.

Today, they are comrades-in-arms fighting for the same goal.The Baijing team, like the Cubs, is a dark polo team participating in the U18 league for the first time.

Their entire team is good at defense, and the game statistics show that they have not dropped a single point in all the games they participated in this year; and their weakness lies in the rookie pitchers.

After playing, Ban Xiaosong didn't swing his bat when the first ball thrown by the opponent's pitcher was a bad ball in order to startle his opponent first.

For the second ball, he grabbed the bat and swung it with one hand. The bat rotated 360 degrees horizontally, forming an impenetrable wall. It just hit the flying baseball, and the baseball flew far to the outfield. Ban Xiaosong Run with all your legs, first base, second base, third base, home plate, all-base-hit!

The Cubs took the lead in scoring a point, stunned the opponent, and at the same time added confidence to the players.

Everyone didn't expect that Ban Xiaosong had learned the coach's trick so quickly.

Qingcheng walked to Tao Xi's side, and said with a smile on his face: "Coach, I fully understand that your trick actually gave Xiaosong a kind of belief. Or to put it more clearly, it gave him a kind of superstition. He is completely This home run was possible out of trust and admiration for you."

Tao Xi also smiled and made a knowing expression to Qingcheng.

But then, after the Cubs had a brief advantage at the beginning of the game, they soon fell behind and were beaten out of breath by the tacit cooperation of the Baijing team.

In a blink of an eye, the Baijing team locked the score at 1:2 and won the first game.

The Cubs players who returned to the rest area were full of disappointment. Neither Tao Xi's deployment nor encouragement cheered them up.

Lu Tong lamented: "Their cooperation is too tacit! It seems that they all have three eyes!"

"Run with leggings." Although Feng Chengcheng said it nonsensically, everyone understood what he meant.

Tao Xi comforted them: "It's not your fault. The members of the Baijing team are mainly high school seniors. They have been training together for almost three years. The tacit understanding is certainly better than that of you who have been training together for less than a year."

The Cubs looked at the rest area of ​​the Baijing team. The Baijing team members looked very relaxed and were talking and laughing. This fact made them even more timid.

Qingcheng on the side realized the timidity of the Cubs and encouraged them: "Since this is the case, let go and give it a go. No matter what the result is, at least we all worked hard."

After the start of the second inning, the Cubs really let go of their hands and feet, and their offensive efficiency was very high, and the bases were quickly formed.

Lu Tong, the fourth batter, walked up to the batting area and saw Tao Xi in the rest area making a gesture for him: first lightly draw his neck, and then let go of his hand.Lu Tong knew that the coach asked him to play a sacrifice fly.He exchanged knowing glances with Wu Tong on the third base, and tried hard to hit the ball from the pitcher of the Baijing team to the outfield. As the glove of the Baijing team's outfielder touched the ball, Lu Tong was caught, and at the same time Wu Tong started to rush towards the home plate crazily and scored!

The morale of the Cubs was greatly boosted by Tausi's successful layout.After scoring, Wu Tong made a victory gesture to Lu Tong who was caught and killed. Lu Tong, who had to leave the field, did not feel disappointed. He remembered what the coach once said: "Baseball is also called the ball of sacrifice."

In the second half of the second inning, offense and defense were switched, and Wu Tong stepped onto the mound.Accompanied by the cheers welcoming Wu Tong from the auditorium and three loud bangs of "bang bang bang", the batters of the Baijing team had already been struck out before they could react.

The audience was stunned, and then boiled.

Wu Tong is Wu Tong, and the legendary best pitcher did not disappoint everyone.But the Baijing team obviously adjusted their tactics during the intermission, and still suppressed the Cubs in other aspects.

Tao Xi on the sidelines worriedly said to Qingcheng next to him: "They are playing a protracted game. If we can't take them down when we still have physical strength, we will gradually fall into a passive position in the next game, just like falling into a quagmire. Same." Qingcheng nodded knowingly.

As if to verify his words, Wu Tong's pitching speed has slowed down, and the ball rate is increasing.

Tao Xi asked Li Zi: "How many balls has he thrown?"

Li Zi did the math: "50."

Another foul.Yin Ke decisively signaled a timeout from the catcher's position, and ran towards Wu Tong.Almost at the same time as him, Tao Xi and Ban Xiaosong also came to Wu Tong's side, and the three asked in unison, "How are you?"

Wu Tong seemed to say calmly: "It's just a little tired, it's okay."

Tao Xi didn't believe it at all, and patted him on the shoulder, and Wu Tong screamed.

Ban Xiaosong asked excitedly: "Are you all right?"

Tao Xi asked seriously, "Did your hand hurt?"

Wu Tong was silent for a while, and finally nodded.

The doctor Tao Xi took to the field quickly checked Wu Tong and told them that if Wu Tong's hand was thrown down again, it might cause dislocation.

Tao Xi's face was full of clouds, and it seemed that he was about to explode: "He said it's okay!" His expression was angry and anxious, Ban Xiaosong and Yin Ke knew that this scene must have reminded him of something.

Ban Xiaosong became even more anxious: "Wu Tong, what did you do?"

Wu Tong said casually: "Let's talk after the game."

"No!" Tao Xi vetoed, "This is not a joke! Just for the full vote? It's not worth your arm!"

He knows very well that a pitcher is the blade of a team, and whether he is sharp or not directly determines the life and death of the team.But at the same time, the pitcher is also the team's Achilles heel.If the pitcher is injured, the fate of the team hangs in the balance.

"Coach!" Wu Tong looked directly at Tao Xi, "I'm not kidding! It's not for all shots! Take a look at the scoreboard, take a look at the scene, can you let me go down now? Once I leave, the morale of the Cubs Is there any hope? We rushed into the championship and runner-up battle, is there any hope?"

Tausi turned to see the Cubs at every defensive position nervously watching the mound.What Wu Tong said is the truth, what should I do?

Yin Ke pondered for a moment, then said to Tao Xi: "Coach, leave it to me."

Tao Xi's gaze turned to Yin Ke.The catcher, the "little coach" on the field, the brains of the team.The brain should be responsible for where the blade should be swung to cause the most effective damage.

Tao Xi looked at Yin Ke's calm eyes behind the protective gear, patted his shoulder, and said, "It's up to you!"

Then he said to Wu Tong solemnly and solemnly: "You must listen to Yin Ke for everything in the venue. Remember, you must come back safely to me."

"Yes, coach!"

The game continues.

Yin Ke knows that his goal now is to do everything possible to let Wu Tong's arm win the game with the least consumption.

Here, the key lies in the distribution of the ball.

This is the first ball after the timeout, how should it be matched?Yin Ke pondered for a moment, lowered his right hand, and made a "butterfly ball" gesture to Wu Tong.

Butterfly ball, also known as flick ball, is a more complicated kind of changing ball.Its trajectory will be erratic like a butterfly, which is a great challenge to the pitcher's strength and the catcher's catch.Especially for catchers, this is the most challenging ball.

Wu Tong on the mound frowned slightly. He didn't understand Yin Ke's intention. Such a difficult serve of a butterfly ball was not in line with the purpose of protecting his arm, but he did it anyway.

The baseball passed the bat swung by the opponent's batter in a weird way, and successfully landed in Yin Ke's catcher's mitt. "Butterfly ball! Wu Tong can also throw butterfly balls!"

The whole arena was a sensation.Usually, besides the straight ball, a pitcher is good at at most one or two kinds of changeup balls, but Wu Tong has already demonstrated three kinds of balls in the current U18 league: finger ball, slider ball, and butterfly ball!

Also shocking is Cubs catcher Yin Ke!Facing the most difficult butterfly ball, he was calm and confident, as if he had been waiting for the ball with his catcher's mitt.Such a tacit understanding is terrible!

The players in the Cubs rest area were elated and applauded one by one, even Qingcheng, who had always been the most calm in watching the game, also applauded.

The members of the Baijing team were frightened.Just now, the Cubs called a timeout, and the coach, captain, catcher, and doctor went to the mound to check on Wu Tong. They guessed whether Wu Tong was injured, and they were secretly delighted, but Wu Tong's butterfly ball completely broke the game. their fantasy.

This is exactly Yin Ke's intention.After calling a timeout, the court was full of suspicion, and he needed to start the rest of the game with a heavy punch.

Tao Xi, who was on the sidelines, smiled: "Okay, Yin Ke! By surprise, one goal will set the momentum! Next, we have to save Wu Tong."

The White Kings' next batter is in the box.Yin Ke's mind flashed the opponent's information that he had already known by heart: Ouli, the fourth batman of the Baijing team, the defensive first baseman, left-handed, strong arm, good flexibility, but easily impatient and unstable.

What ball should I match?

Yin Ke's eyes lit up, and he lowered his right hand to give a signal. "Straight ball? How could it be a straight ball?" Wu Tong held the ball in doubt, held the ball after thinking about it, then put it down, and shook his head at Yin Ke.

In baseball, the pitcher can refuse the catcher's dribbling according to his own situation, expressing by shaking his head.When the catcher sees it, he will switch to another ball until the pitcher accepts it.

But Yin Ke persisted and gave the "straight ball" signal again.Wu Tong thought: It's too risky!Throwing a straight ball is now equivalent to feeding the ball directly to the opposing batter.So he shook his head again.

The two were deadlocked.Even the referee became impatient and signaled Yin Ke to call a timeout and communicate clearly with the pitcher.Yin Ke shook his head, thought for a while, and made a movement towards Wu Tong: crossed his hands in front of his chest, raised his head, and fell backwards.

Wu Tong was stunned, what does this mean?He and Yin Ke had a series of cues between pitcher and catcher, but this move wasn't one of them.

Suddenly, Wu Tong's head flashed——Trust fell back.

Yin Ke is imitating the posture of trusting his back, and he is using this to tell himself: trust your partner.

Wu Tong struggled in his heart.Just now, Lu Tong exposed himself to the danger of being caught when he was not sure that his partner would be able to hit the base and score. This is a great trust in his partner.But for Wu Tong, it is very difficult for him to lose control and completely give himself over to others.But he thought it was time for him to try to learn to trust others.

Wu Tong stretched his arms, tiptoed, bent over, and after a series of dazzling preparations, the ball was shot.It wasn't until the ball was only 10 centimeters away from Ouli that he was sure: This is actually a straight ball!But it was too late.His bat hit the baseball at the angle of the prep slider, and the baseball flew obliquely to first base. Ban Xiaosong, who was waiting there, hit the ball with a high jump, and Ouli was directly caught and out.

At the moment when the straight ball was shot, a fantastic scene appeared in front of Wu Tong: the sky in his vision became wider and wider, and then he was caught by his partner behind him.A novel feeling welled up in my heart, and this feeling was probably trust.

Next, the batters of the Baijing team were repeatedly "molested" by Yin Ke and Wu Tong, and they became impetuous.For the last blow, Yin Ke changed his mind and signaled to Tao Xi in the rest area.Tausi understood and gave a signal to the Cubs on the field, and all the outfielders then leaned forward, forming a "forward defense" formation.

"Going forward?" the coach of the Baijing team yelled incredulously, "Is this a good idea of ​​our batting ability? The Cubs underestimated us! How could we use such a conservative style of play! To the batters Signal, tell him to hit the outfield, better hit me a home run, and knock them all down in one go!"

The batters of the Paekkyung team got the coach's instructions and prepared to catch the ball with all their strength.This was seen by Yin Ke again, he signaled Wu Tong to send a "sink ball", the ball rolled down to the pitching area after being hit, Wu Tong who had run over early passed the ball with a stick, and the Baijing team hit three bases Get out of the game by three kills!

This is a contest of players' strength and speed, and it is even more of a psychological contest.Even Tao Xi admired Yin Ke's strategy: "First catch the opponent by surprise, then use ingenuity to irritate the opponent; finally, use coordination to complete the triple kill! Yin Ke's matchmaking is really amazing!" Qingcheng laughed calmly. with.

Yin Ke on the field also quickly looked at Qingcheng off the field. Qingcheng gave him a thumbs up, and Yin Ke pursed his lips and smiled.

In the game that day, the Cubs finally won the Baijing team 5:0.After the game, the players entered the locker room, and Tao Xi took Wu Tong straight to the hospital.

The coach should not have reached menopause, why is he so verbose?This is a question that Wu Tong pondered over and over in the hospital.No, I have already come out of the orthopedic clinic, and Tao Xi is still nagging: "When I was young, just like you, as long as I stood on the court, my blood would boil!"

"When I was young, I would lose my life trying to defend the mound, but then I lost my right hand because of an injury! The doctor said I would never play a full game again in my life!"

Wu Tong, who was playing with his mobile phone with his left hand, finally raised his head when he heard this sentence.Tao Xi looked at him expectantly—he must have finally touched his soul, boy!

"coach!"

"Ok?"

"When you said 'when I was young', I already guessed what you were going to say. So please next time you can just say 'When I was young' Excuse me."

Tao Xi was about to raise his hand to slap Wu Tong on the head, when someone came over to greet him: "Hello, you are Coach Tao Xi, right?"

Tao Xi looked at the man in front of him suspiciously. He had called Wu Tong's father before he came, but the man in front of him seemed a little too young?

As if to answer his question, the other party introduced himself: "I am Xiao Wang, the secretary of Wu Tong's father. The chairman's meeting is not over yet, so I was sent to take care of him first."

Wu Tong's father arrived just as they were about to leave the hospital.The man who came over was tall and mighty, imposing, and had the same handsome outline as Wu Tong. Without introducing himself, Tao Xi already knew that he must be Wu Tong's father.

Tao Xi watched Wu Tong's father let him go home, but he coldly refused, Tao Xi quickly pushed Wu Tong: "Quickly agree. Look at your appearance, you can't even move your arms, why don't you Live independently!"

Then Wu Tong reluctantly said to his father: "Why don't you go to my place?"

After taking a shower, the team members couldn't wait to dial Tao Xi's phone.

Ban Xiaosong asked first: "Coach, coach, how is Wu Tong?"

"It's okay, the right shoulder ligament is strained, and it will be fine after a week of rest. It's just that I can't raise my arm temporarily, and I need someone to take care of it these days."

"Oh, so he's with you now?"

"No, he and his dad went home."

"What?" Yin Ke and Ban Xiaosong looked at each other, "Going home with his father? But he and his father had already fallen out."

"No wonder Wu Tong told his father to go to his place!" Tao Xi on the other end of the phone said in surprise, "Why are you like me..." Then Tao Xi's voice stopped.

Yin Ke said: "Wu Tong's father still cares about him very much, he should take good care of him, don't worry."

Ban Xiaosong said with emotion: "Yin Ke, on the field today, I saw you perform a trusting back throw to Wu Tong."

"Yes." Yin Ke said, "Wu Tong is a leader-type person, and he started to live independently very early. For him, letting go and trusting others may be a little more difficult than others. We can't change it. Just try to get to know him."

Qingcheng came over, handed them their baseball bags, and smiled: "Yin Ke, you've done a good job. Maybe what Wu Tong needs most, you know better than all of us."

Ban Xiaosong echoed with a smile: "Yes, yes, yes, I think so too. It is said that pitchers and catchers are the most harmonious people in the world. In my opinion, you two are almost the same parents."

The three of them laughed, and Yin Ke and Qing Cheng met their eyes again, and they smiled softly.

Ban Xiaosong looked at the two, always felt that the eyes of these two people looking at each other were wrong, there was a situation...