The original intention of the diamond ace

Back to the day at batting practice...

office.

Ochiai stroked his beard, "I recommend Yuki and Oda."

Kataoka's expression was serious, "Oda can't, let's go with Yuki and Yui."

"It is very important to train the next catcher, but I still recommend Oda. His strike can become an immediate combat power. Let him enter the first army earlier, and he can adapt to the atmosphere of the competition earlier. In summer, he may be able to Surprise us."

"But in his current state, I will not let him join the first army." Kataoka was not moved at all.

"He never played baseball before, did he?"

"I asked him. Although I have roughly studied, I have no experience in playing official games."

"He has been in the United States and has not played an official game. It is difficult for him to understand that 'there is no second time in high school baseball.', but high school baseball is very cruel. I cannot entrust him with the future of the team. I can't afford it."

"Compared with strength, he still has more important things to learn. It is too early for him to enter the first army."

Ochiai stroked his beard, trembling slightly.

'Although he looks serious and his words are tough, Director Kataoka is indeed the person who cares most about the future of the players. '

In the evening, indoor driving range.

"The first-year Shoji Yuki and Kaoru Yui, who are also in the first-year, joined the First Army."

"Sure enough, they are all in the first grade?"

"The hitting practice in the morning is really an inspection of them."

Yujing Xun looked back at Oda Kazu who was standing behind with a calm face.

'Isn't it him? He has a calm face. Did he know it a long time ago?No matter, the supervisor must have his reasons for choosing me, all I have to do is seize this opportunity! '

Director Kataoka looked at me with a calm face, and a light flashed through his sunglasses.

Although I, who "know it a long time ago", have a calm expression, I still have some regrets in my heart.

Oops, didn't you get selected?I don't know if there will be such a good opportunity next time.

But after seeing other people's strikes, I'm still far away. I need to practice my strike skills quickly. If I'm banned for the same reason next time, I'll be so mad at myself.

Back to the present.

I still live the life of the track and field club. Although Yui and Yuki were selected into the first army, they still do physical training with us most of the time.

After learning from the pain, I increased the time to practice batting in the daily practice of pitching and batting once every two days.

***

Fifth game

In the quarterfinals, Qingdao played against Kasugaichi High School.

I sat on the chair a little lazily, ah~ just watching the game is so boring!

It would be fine if you let me eat melon seeds, and chewing gum is also fine. Japan is too rigid about this.

Sure enough, Sawamura-senpai is the starter, and yes, Furutani's problem is still quite big, if it is not resolved quickly, it will be difficult for him to be the starter.

Oh, and he can still change up the ball, but the speed difference is a bit small, huh?Was it a turn inside at the end, wasn't it a changeup?

This is the changeup, huh!That track is, sinking? !I straightened my back and looked at the mound in surprise.

The next ball, I squinted my eyes, and the ball floated up!

"Three strikes!" My expression became a little serious.When I saw Sawamura-senpai come down from the mound, I smiled a little, it's interesting!Why didn't you vote before?

ah!Isn't it necessary?What arrogance, this pair of shooters.

"Offensive and defensive exchange!" I slumped back on the chair again, ahhh~ Just watching the game is really boring, I looked up at the sky, and suddenly I really wanted to play~

Kasuga's pitcher, um, how should I put it, is average compared to the pitches of Sawamura and Furutani-senpai, the people below probably will find a way to target him soon.Compared to this, I want to see the trajectory of that changeup ball again.

"The bases are full!" Look~

"Third point!" Don't you want to switch shots? Kasugaichi's supervision is really stubborn.

"Fourth point!" Look.Um, still not changing, don't they have any other pitchers?

Alas, Japanese high school games are really hard to play, and there are too few pitchers available. What if he is not in a good state today, what if he is blown up in the last inning and all the pitchers are used over and over again?Who will vote in the next game? Let the starters shoot two games in a row?

Looking at it this way, Qingdao really took advantage of it.

Fifth game.

"Four bad!"

"Touch!" Huh?This, is it...

really!It's not unnecessary not to vote before, but it's because I didn't practice well at all!It is still very unstable now!

This is true for shooting and catching. The catcher dares to ask for it, and the pitcher also dares to shoot. They are so messy to supervise and ignore it?Is it because I'm old? Why do everyone think it's okay to take risks like this?

Sixth game

Why did he switch pitches so quickly? This is only the sixth inning.Although it is still possible for the seven innings to end early, it is still too early to come up, and it is still in such a poor state before.

Well, it's okay, the state has recovered, but it's still so hard.You have to throw so hard and you still need to throw so many shots. Whether the effect is good or not is another matter. My friend, do you still need your arm? Let me know about TJ surgery?

Wow, I was wrong, he can use even more force, he has already restrained himself before.

Alas, no, they obviously can't hit it, so it's completely unnecessary.

Senior Miyuki didn't ask him to vote this way, so he probably wouldn't do such unnecessary things.

"Pong!" That's great. As expected of someone who is going to the major leagues, he hit a home run in his first appearance. I, who is sitting in the stands, are really jealous.

"The game is over!" Okay, I stood up, and while the first army was going to stay to watch the game, I had to start practicing as soon as I got back, or I was really pulled away.

When I got out of the car, I stopped Okumura, "You are a catcher, can you catch a few balls for me?" I said to him with a smile.

"Okay." Okumura Koshu replied blankly.

'This man is indeed a pitcher. What is his ball like? When I saw him throwing the ball to the net, the speed of the ball seemed to be quite fast. '

indoor driving range

Okumura and I slowly passed the ball to each other to warm up, I turned my shoulders, "It's fine."

"What's your ball type?"

"Second seam and changeup. I want to work on the second seam first."

He didn't answer, just squatted down and put his gloves on.

Shoot slowly first, try to make the ball as accurate as possible, and see how he catches the ball first.

I lowered my head, looked at my right hand, and rubbed my three fingers together, um, the fingers are in good condition.

I raised my glove, stepped forward and waved.

Okumura looked at the ball calmly, "The speed of the ball is about 140." '

"Crack!" Okumura's eyes lit up after catching the ball, he stood up and passed the ball back, "Good shot."

'The ball is very good, the ball power is very good, and the ball control is OK.He pitches so well, why didn't he talk about being a pitcher before? '

I caught the ball, oh, as expected of someone who became famous in junior high school.The way of catching the ball is very ingenious, just now the ball was caught easily, it seems that he can speed up a little bit.

"Snapped!"

"Strike." Okumura caught it and passed back, "The speed seems to be a little faster." '

"Snapped!"

Okumura stood up, 'It's fast again. 'Passed the ball back, "Come here directly, don't worry about me, didn't you call me for practice."

I raised my eyebrows, "Then I'll come directly, but I'm throwing hard, and I can't control it right now, so be careful."

His answer was to squat down and put on the gloves.

That's cool, okay, then I'll come right here.

"call out!"

'Wait, wasn't that the fastest one just now! Okumura froze for a moment, the ball hit the glove and then the mask.

I was taken aback, and ran over quickly, "Are you okay, sorry, the ball missed just now, and the ball didn't fall."

"What's your fastest ball speed?" Okumura raised his head and looked at me with wide eyes.

"About 150. Are you really okay?"

"It's alright, let's continue."

I looked at his calm face, as if nothing happened, so let's continue.

After about 40 shots.

'His ball handling was a little better than he said, and while he did miss the glove, he didn't miss a lot of shots, but even so, I missed a few shots. ' Okumura frowned.

"It's going to be changed, and the changeup is next."

He nodded.

'The speed difference is about [-] kilometers, and the ball control is not bad. It's really hard to hit this ball in the fastball. ' Okumura passed it back.

After practicing more than a dozen balls, I touched my shoulder and said, "That's all for today."

"Shouldn't you practice after just over 60 goals?"

"I have to practice once every two days, and the focus is on speedball, so it's still a bit of a burden on my shoulders." I looked at him not far away and smiled, "You can help me pick up the ball when you are free in the future." The ball, your catching skills are pretty good."

"can."

"Thank you for today."