Summary
The chapter opens with Maezono hitting to the outfield. The teams shouts for him to run and he dives (unnecessarily) for the second base. Toujou is up next. The scene flashes back to dugout where they discuss their strategy. Shirasu comments that the pitcher’s straight fastball is pretty powerful, and Kuramochi adds that the slider isn’t as sharp so with some adjustments, they can probably hit it. Kataoka comments that if they think too much, that’s just playing into the opposition’s hands. He advises them to avoid hitting the difficult pitches and to hit the ones they know they can without any hesitation. He ends by saying that they just have to hit as they have always done.
Back at the box, Toujou comments to himself that the pitcher will now be more cautious with his next pitch after having his first two straights being hit. The next pitch is a slider which Toujou hits along the right line. Maezono heads home from the second base and Toujou gets on second base.
Everyone starts cheering in the dugout and Sawamura walks over to Miyuki for a fist bump. He comments that with a single swing, Miyuki was able to turn the flow around and that it was a nice home run. Miyuki returns the gesture and reponds that “it is not the ace alone who bears the team on his shoulders.”
Next up is Masashi. He strikes out (as always). Kanemaru follows up and lands the ball just right behind the pitcher. The shortstop, Ichikura, just barely misses catching the ball and Kanemaru and Toujou makes it to their next bases safely.
Finally, Kawakami is up, batting ninth. The audience surmised that Seidou will probably go for a squeeze. However, if they fail to execute it successfully, that would not be a good thing after they’ve managed to stop the momentum on Yurakou’s side. Sasaki comments that if that they play too cautiously and increase the count, it would just give the other side more options. So he signals to his team to ignore the runner on first base and to watch the third base runner.
The first pitch is an inside straight fastball, which Kawakami fouls on. On the sideline, the reporters discuss how Seidou is attempting a hit-and-run play. The Hachouji players also comments that Seidou probably plans to keep the first base runner moving in order to prevent a double play, and for their third runner to run on a grounder. Just as the pitcher was getting ready to throw the second pitch, Kawakami adopts the bunt stance causing Yurakou to pitch a ball. The audience notes that Yurakou is being swayed by Seidou’s actions. Sakaki signals to team to just let Seidou do what they want and to keep pitching in the strike zone.
As the pitcher pitches, Kanemaru on first starts to run. Kawakami hits a grounder to the right and Toujou makes it home making the third run for Seidou in this inning. Seidou successfully executes an agressive play.
On the sidelines, the Hachiouji players wonders what type of regular practice does Seidou do for them to be able to execute such a play. It looks to them that this match will end soon and leaves to get warmed up for their match.
Originally serialized in Shuukan Shounen Magazine Issue #11, 2019.
All images are copyrighted by Terajima Yuuji / Kodansha.
Scoreboard
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 計 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 由良 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | |||||
| 青道 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 4 |
Thoughts
It goes without saying that once Miyuki hits the home run, things began to pick up on Seidou’s side. The fan community seems to be complaining that the Seidou batters need to stop relying on certain people (in this case, Sawamura & Miyuki) to help them perform as they should. I am certainly swayed by the discussion, but it is also a shounen sports manga, people – moments like this is what the genre is all about!
But I did get a sense that Sawamura may be overthinking things especially now that he is no longer mindlessly pitching at Miyuki’s mitt. Individually, all the Seidou players are very good players so it was a relief to see them play to their usual strengths. Personally, I think the author has yet to expound on the lackluster performance on Sawamura’s side so I’m looking forward to the post-match review meeting.
As I was reading the scene where Miyuki is encouraging Sawamura… I did wonder if he said it as the team’s fourth batter? Or as the captain? Or his battery mate? Obviously, according to the flow of the match, it would be as the fourth batter revitalizing his team, but I did wish there was a little more to latch on in his somewhat short and succint words.
I also have renewed respect for Kawakami as it was his batting that made that last play possible. It also seems to me that Seidou will be playing Hachiouji in the next match, considering how often they have been appearing since this match began.
It’s quite possible that this match may reach its conclusion in the next chapter. With one out and Kanemaru in a position to score, we’ll be back to the top of Seidou’s lineup in the next chapter. There’ll probably be a chapter or two in the interim between now and the next match but I’m already looking forward to Furuya’s performance in the upcoming match. I have a feeling he might just do really well.