The morning sun of our boyhood

The author has something to say: Two updates, this chapter is mainly about the process of the competition, friends who don’t like to read this kind of thing can skip to the next chapter

For Ban Xiaosong, time seems to draw a circle.On that morning a few months ago, he walked into the stadium from the tunnel, heading towards the battle with the Silver Eagles; today, he stood in this tunnel again, waiting for another decisive battle with the Silver Eagles.What is the same as at that time is his love for baseball and his yearning for victory; what is different from that time is the faithful friends standing behind him now.His eyes turned from coach Tao Xi's face to Wu Tong, Yin Ke, Xue Tie, Tan Yaoyao, Lu Tong, Joule... There was no fear or hesitation on each face at this moment, but only faith.

Outside the passage, the crowd is noisy.The Cubs know that this is their last moment, once they step out of this passage, they no longer belong to them, but fighters.They patted each other on the shoulders, both as encouragement and as a farewell to themselves who had been left behind by their growth.

Finally, Tao Xi stood in front of them, making his final speech like a general before a decisive battle: "Maybe you didn't even realize that you have already accomplished an impossible task—as a team composed entirely of high school freshmen team, most of you have never even touched baseball before. But now, you have grown into a great baseball team!"

Yes, before the Cubs, no middle school has ever dared to allow all freshman teams to participate in the league. Too many people are not optimistic about them, but their performance all the way to the group finals is enough to shut down those who don’t believe in miracles Mouth.

Tao Xi raised his fist, his voice was sonorous and powerful: "There is one last game, as long as you win, you will be able to stand on the stage of the national competition!" He deliberately paused, looking around at the young faces lit up by his words , until he felt that the fire was coming, he waved his arm and pointed to the exit full of dazzling light, "Let's go!"

The arena is a sea of ​​youth and enthusiasm, and the cheerleaders of the two teams dance enthusiastically on the sidelines.As soon as the Cubs came on stage, the tide of cheers flooded towards them without hesitation.They stood in the center of the venue a little flattered, watching the crowds in the auditorium and the huge scoreboard that most touched people's hearts.

Yin Ke saw the father and mother in the front row of the auditorium at a glance. They were waving to their son vigorously, with pride written all over their faces. Yin Ke smiled happily; Ban Xiaosong knew that his parents could not do without the ramen restaurant right now. , but he must be watching the game closely through TV; Wu Tong is also wondering if his father will squeeze a little time out of his busy meeting schedule to watch this game that means a lot to him?

Tao Xi accidentally saw Tao Yu in the auditorium. The father and son looked at each other silently for a while. Tao Xi smiled, but Tao Yu walked to his VIP seat with a serious face, straightened his suit, and sat upright. Down.Tausi had to shrug his shoulders and lead his players to the stands after three bows to warm up.

The Cubs are in very good shape today, and there is no sense of slack after the big test.Yesterday, Tao Xi called all the team members one by one, called them out of bed or in front of the computer, and took them to the bus bound for the suburbs.

Tao Xi hummed a song and drove the bus towards the suburbs, this time without driving anyone off the bus.

The bus finally stopped, and the Cubs members stretched out one by one, looking around curiously: "Where is this? There is no baseball field!"

Tao Xi explained: "Tomorrow is the final. I hope everyone can show their best form, so today I will take you out for an outing to get some fresh air."

Oh yeah!Everyone cheers.Among them, Ban Xiaosong's cheers were the loudest.An outing, such a humane arrangement, is really not like the coach's usual style.

Wu Tong and Yin Ke kept silent vigilantly, because after driving them all out of the car on the way to Director An's hometown last time and letting them run for a full 25 kilometers, they had already developed feelings for this teacher who did not play cards according to common sense. Beware, is this really an outing?

Sure enough, the next thing they heard was what Tao Xi had carefully prepared for them: "Don't worry, I've prepared lunch." Till now, Ban Xiaosong hadn't noticed the imminent danger, so he looked around curiously: " Where is lunch?"

"At school." Tao Xi turned around and rushed onto the bus, started it instantly, and said through the closed door of the bus, "The school cafeteria opens at 12 o'clock. No waiting, first come, first served!"

"Again!" Only then did the Cubs understand, and Wu Tong and Yin Ke exchanged a knowing smile - they knew the coach was not so kind!Everyone quickly resigned to their fate, shouting the slogan "Lunch! Lunch!", and started running after the bus that was never far or near.The teenagers quickly found their status and ran in the sun to their heart's content.

The game started.

In the first half of the first inning, the Cubs defended and the Silver Eagles attacked.The Cubs lined up, Wu Tong stood on the mound, and the Silver Eagles first batter went to the hitting zone in front of Yin Ke.

Yin Ke issued a signal, and Wu Tong understood, got up, concentrated his strength on his arms and waist, and then threw it with all his strength.The baseball shot through the air at a speed of at least 130 km/h, approaching the face of the Silver Eagles batter, with its tail rising strangely.

Soon, three hitters for the Silver Eagles were out.The excited voice of the commentator resounded throughout the audience: "What we saw just now is the wonderful performance of Cubs pitcher Wu Tong! His ball speed is very fast! Originally, he was the ace pitcher of the China-Canada Silver Eagles, but he transferred to another school before the start of the season. Changjun!"

Offensive and defensive switches, the Silver Eagles set up.The Cubs were a little surprised to see that the man on the mound was catcher Jiang Di.How is this going?

Qingcheng in the cheerleading rest area frowned: "They made a big taboo in the game, underestimating the enemy."

Tao Xi understood at a glance: "They didn't take us seriously at all."

The Cubs were very angry, but Tao Xi was happy: "At the beginning of the game, they made a big taboo of underestimating the enemy. This is a good thing for us. They thought we were still the same as when we played a practice game a semester ago. We have to catch Seize this opportunity and try to get as many points as possible before they react! Yin Ke, your first bat, first test the level of Jiang Di, a guest pitcher; Ban Xiaosong second bat; Wu Tong third bat, hit the base steadily; Lu Tong Four, give 'em a home run."

"Good!" A dozen hands of the Cubs folded together.

According to Tao Xi's deployment, Yin Ke and Ban Xiaosong hit the base smoothly one after another, while Wu Tong was walked to the base with four balls by the timid Jiang Di, and it was Lu Tong's turn to be the fourth batter.

The bad start made Jiang Di of the Silver Eagles a little restless, and Ban Xiaosong's psychological warfare of stealing bases made him angry again. He vaguely felt that the Cubs in front of him were a little different from a semester ago.

Lu Tong missed the first ball.On the second ball, Jiang Di made a bad shot intentionally, but Lu Tong still swung with all his strength without thinking.

Now Jiang Di knew what was going on. It seemed that the hitter of the Cubs was a simple-minded guy.He threw a bad ball again, and sure enough, the one-sided Lu Tong still swung with all his strength.

Jiang Di waited to see the joke: "It's so far away, how could it be possible to hit?" Before he finished speaking, he watched Lu Tong's bat hit the baseball hard, and quickly turned around and shouted to the outfield angrily: "Left! Outfield!"

The left fielder of the Silver Eagles moved upon hearing the sound, quickly approached the stands, rushed to the wall and stepped on the wall to jump up, but the glove was a little short of the baseball, and the ball landed in the stands.

Cubs home run!

The audience was boiling, only Wu Tong continued to run along the base line, and calmly reminded everyone: "Why are you standing still? It doesn't count if you don't step on the base bag."

The first inning was over, the Cubs scored four runs, and the Silver Eagles called for a substitution.Their new pitcher trotted onto the field, unremarkable, but the number plate "4" on the back was very conspicuous.

Everyone knows what the word "1" means in a baseball team. It seems that they have used their strength to end the contempt of the Silver Eagles, and also ended the vacuum period of "taking the opportunity to score points" in Tao Xi's mouth. It's time for a live ammunition fight."

Qingcheng tried her best to see the new trump card of Zhongjia, and her eyes almost popped out.How could it be him?

The narrator explained excitedly on the radio: "According to the facts, Du Tang, the current No. 1 pitcher of the China-Canada Middle School Silver Eagles team, only transferred to China-Canada this semester. He has lived in the United States since he was a child, but he was born in a baseball family. "

"Du Tang, since it's you." Qingcheng whispered.

Li Zi wondered, "What?"

"It's nothing."

Strange to say, the speed of this Du Tang's ball is not fast, it looks almost light, but the strange thing is that no one can catch his ball.

Until Yin Ke also played against him and was defeated like his previous teammates, he immediately went to Tao Xi to report the situation: "Coach, all his balls are change balls! The first ball refers to cross balls, and the second ball It's a slider, the third, fourth, fifth are all carters, and the last one is a floater."

The team members panicked.Xue Tie asked: "Didn't shoot a straight ball? How many kinds of change shots does he know?"

Joule asked: "Then does he have any weaknesses? All the invincible bosses in the game have fatal weaknesses."

Yin Ke shook his head: "There is no weakness at all! Be especially careful with his carter ball."

"Carter ball?" the cheerleaders wondered

Qingcheng explained: "Generally, the change ball is to prevent the batter from touching the ball, so the change range is relatively large, but the carter ball will only turn slightly when it is close to the home plate, so that the bat can only hit the top of the ball. side or bottom."

Yin Ke explained: "If you hit the upper side of the ball, the ball will rush directly to the ground and become a ground ball. The pitcher can directly rush up to pick up the ball and throw it to first base, so that the batter has no chance to get on base; The underside of the ball, it will be hit as a soft high-fly ball, which is easy to catch directly."

The two explained to the Cubs and the cheerleaders at the same time: "So unlike the pursuit of strikeouts, Carter's ball can be said to be fatal with one ball."

After listening to his words, Wu Tong, who was about to play next, stood up ahead of time, gripped his bat tightly and went to the waiting area, staring closely at Ban Xiaosong who was on the field at the moment.

Ban Xiaosong had already conceded a ball, and before he realized what was going on, the ball had already entered the catcher's mitt.He remembered what Yin Ke said to him when he passed by Yin Ke just now, "It's nothing special, just play according to your rhythm". Yin Ke said it so calmly, and he hoped that this calmness could also be passed on to himself. , because this is the first time he has encountered such a terrifying opponent on the field.Even Wu Tong back then never gave him such a feeling.He tried hard to force himself to forget the noise in the auditorium, the scoreboard, and everything else. In his world, there was only the person opposite him and the baseball in his hand...

Du Tang, the ace of the Silver Eagles, didn't understand what the round-eyed hitter from the opposite Cubs was thinking in just a few seconds when he closed his eyes. When he opened his eyes again, his eyes seemed to be shining Xingxing, his performance is also like a godsend. Under the pressure of his bat, he has thrown three bad balls in total. This ball is the final duel between Du Tang and Ban Xiaosong.

Yin Dutang took a deep breath, leaned back, and shot with his shoulders up. The speed of the ball was still not fast, and the ball suddenly became erratic when it was approaching the home plate.

In the rest area of ​​the Cubs, several people exclaimed in unison: Carter ball!

At this moment, Ban Xiaosong suddenly did a strange thing: he lightly tossed the bat, took the bat with his left hand, swept half a circle, then turned around and turned his wrist.The movements are clean and neat, not like playing baseball, but more like practicing martial arts.

This is exactly the lore that Tao Xi taught Ban Xiaosong!

The shadow created by Ban Xiaosong's bat blocked the entire path of Carter's ball.Du Tang suddenly had an ominous premonition.Sure enough, when the erratic baseball finally sank, it happened to hit the bat that Ban Xiaosong was pressing down. The baseball, like a deflected shell, hit the Silver Eagles' second baseman at high speed. Outfield go.

Ban Xiaosong is on base!Incredible!

There was a moment of silence in the Cubs dugout, then elation.

Qingcheng from the sidelines punched him in the palm of his hand: "Ban Xiaosong actually hit it!" At the same time, he also had a new understanding of Tao Xi's words.

Tao Xi was also very happy, but he did not forget to direct Wu Tong, who came on the stage next. Wu Tong was surprised at the signal given by him at first, and then nodded knowingly.

On the field, Du Tang was about to throw the ball, when Ban Xiaosong on the first base took a few steps towards the outside of the bag, assuming he was about to steal a base.Faced with this situation, Du Tang snorted unhappily and threw a check ball, but Ban Xiaosong threw back to first base at a fast speed.

The baseball returned to Du Tang's hands. He looked at Ban Xiaosong, who was once again posing as a stealing base. After pondering for a moment, he threw the ball to the catcher of the Silver Eagles. When the baseball passed Wu Tong, Wu Tong suddenly changed his mind and swung with all his strength. With a stance, he hit a bat, and the ball rolled softly along the sideline to first base.

Jiang Di, catcher of the Silver Eagles, was taken aback: "A proud man like Wu Tong can hit a bat!" This unexpected situation forced him to get up and rush to the baseball, and the other players of the Silver Eagles had no time to react first base.

Wu Tong seized this opportunity, threw his bat and ran towards first base, and successfully slid a second before the Silver Eagles finished picking up and passing the ball!

It turned out that this was Wu Tong's secret signal given to him by Tao Xi before he went on the field - use the "on-base strike tactic"!The key to the success of this tactic is to be unexpected and hide the real motive until the last moment, and Ban Xiaosong's first base steal also provided a good cover for Wu Tong.

Tao Xi, who was off the field, was getting more and more adept at strategizing, and he told Lu Tong who was next on the field: "You can also strike, but you don't need to actually strike, just put on a strike to confuse the opponent... "

Jiang Di looked at Lu Tong's strike preparation and murmured, "It's another strike!" He gave a signal to the Silver Eagles pitcher, and the pitcher threw the ball. The ball suddenly turned and hit the ground halfway, and then bounced into Jiang Di's glove.

But Jiang Di found out that Lu Tong didn't make a move at all!His strike preparation just now was just a fake move, so what is the real purpose of this psychological warfare?Before he could think clearly about this question, he could see from the corner of his eye that Wu Tong, the first baseman of the Cubs, was crazily running towards the second base. In a hurry, he immediately passed the ball to the second baseman of the Silver Eagles.

But Wu Tong turned back and ran back to first base in an instant.He looked again, only to realize that Ban Xiaosong, who was on second base, had already approached third base at some point, and Jiang Di anxiously yelled at the second baseman: "Pass to third base!"

But it was too late. By the time the baseball was passed to the third baseman of the Silver Eagles, Ban Xiaosong had already easily reached third base.And before everyone could react, Wu Tong turned back to second base.The baseside umpires both signaled that Ban Xiaosong and Wu Tong had hit the base successfully.

Double - steal - base!This is Tao Xi's latest way of playing!

It wasn't until this time that the Silver Eagles could see clearly: the Cubs team in front of them was no longer the one they met at the beginning of this semester. This was a team with speed, strength and coordination that reached a professional level!

The face of Zhou Yu, the coach of the Silver Eagles, was twitching, angry with his players and himself.The Qi players did not perform at their usual level, and Qi himself underestimated the enemy when he was arranging troops.In the end, what he underestimated was not the Cubs players, but the coach Tao Xi. He felt that Tao Xi's heart was no longer in baseball, and he would not focus on leading these teenagers.But according to the current situation, I seem to be wrong.

You still have time!

He called the members of the Silver Eagles together for a lecture: "There is only one game left before we can enter the national competition and become the U18 champion for six consecutive times. How can you take it lightly at this time? Especially the third graders, this is your last time to hit the national team You have the heart to let these three years of hard work go to waste?"

Zhou Yu watched with satisfaction the murderous look in the players' eyes following his words, nodded and said, "Okay! That's the momentum! Every next ball, give me a full swing, and don't miss any hits. opportunity!" After all, the Silver Eagles are the Silver Eagles, and after the restart, they gradually turned the tide of the game by relying on Du Tang's changing ball and overall cooperation, drawing two consecutive games against the Cubs and winning the next game.

Tao Xi guided the rest of the Cubs players to look at the scoreboard: "What's written on it?"

Yin Ke replied: "We lead by 2 points."

Tao Xi: "What else?"

Everyone is puzzled.

Tao Xi explained: "We scored all 4 points in the first game, and it was entirely because the opponent underestimated the enemy that we had a chance. But when the opponent's ace came on the field, we didn't get 1 point, but they never worked hard. We fought hard and got 2 points, what does that mean?"

Tao Xi looked at the players, everyone obviously understood and lowered their heads, but he still had to tell the cruel reality: "Explain, according to the current real strength on the field, we have already lost!"

Looking at the Cubs who had been splashed with cold water by him and woke up from the joy of leading, Tao Xi encouraged: "If you want to beat them with dignity, then go to the court and swing with all your strength! Get another 3 points!"

"Okay!" The Cubs shouted the word.In the next game, it was Feng Chengcheng who played a winning role for the Cubs.Yes, that's right, it's Feng Chengcheng, the junior who always doesn't play cards according to the rules.It was him who discovered the relationship between the Silver Eagles' serving and formation.

In the rest area, Feng Chengcheng, who hadn't spoken since the beginning of the game, stared blankly at the Silver Eagles retreating to the outfield. He didn't know who he was asking: "Is the changeup easy to be hit as a high fly ball?" After Yin Ke answered affirmatively, he nodded slowly, "No wonder! I understand. Senior, you said that if the Carter ball is hit, it will be hit as a ground ball or a soft high-fly ball, which usually lands in the infield, so the Silver Eagles Their defense will move forward in advance; and if the changeup is hit, the ball will fly far away, and their defense will retreat." Before he finished speaking, Du Tang used a changeup to directly knock Ban Xiaosong out .

Yin Ke and Tao Xi looked at each other, and the other team members who heard Feng Chengcheng's words also looked at him in shock, but he still looked as if he was in a trance, as if he didn't realize how amazing the analysis he had just carried out. He couldn't stop hitting Feng Chengcheng on the head, and asked, "How did you find out?"

Feng Chengcheng pointed to his eyes seriously and replied: "Use your eyes."

Lu Tong froze for a moment, then looked around feebly: "I still can't communicate!" But having said that, his expression shows that he has already begun to worship this strange junior with a free EQ and a super high IQ.

Feng Chengcheng's amazing discovery allowed the Cubs to take the lead again.Afterwards, Wu Tong and Lu Tong, who came on the field, all guessed Du Tang's ball path and successfully hit the ball. The Cubs scored another 2 points.

Zhou Yu in the Silver Eagles lounge had a pale face: "They have seen through both the carter and the changeup. How is this possible?! It seems that these two types of balls can only be banned temporarily."

Two hours passed without knowing it. On the court, the bodies of the teenagers were already soaked in the heavy protective gear. Their physical strength was close to the limit, but they still seized every opportunity to sprint, run at variable speeds, and jump.

Ban Xiaosong's calf cramped in the ninth inning. After Tao Xi called a timeout, the team doctor gave emergency treatment. Now he is standing on the field alive and well.

Yin Ke felt that the catcher's protective gear on his body was getting heavier and heavier.And Wu Tong, he squinted his eyes and observed Du Tang, trying to see from the clues: whether the other party's arm started to hurt like his own.So far, they have thrown more than 50 balls.The only difference is that Du Tang of the Silver Eagles didn't play from the very beginning.

The voice of the commentator was still excited: "Friends in the audience! Today we had the honor to enjoy a wonderful baseball game! Now, the two sides have tied within the prescribed nine innings, and we will enter the overtime!"

Overtime - Tausi clenched his fists on the sidelines, and the Tigers lost their feathers in the overtime in the last game.The overtime is a great test for pitchers, and he looked at Wu Tong worriedly.

Wu Tong was about to serve, Yin Ke suddenly raised his hand to signal a timeout, then trotted up the mound, and whispered a word in Wu Tong's ear.

When Wu Tong officially served, the batter couldn't help but feel happy: "Tilt your head and smile, Wu Tong, your habits have not changed."

the ball is thrown...