At 11:46 noon on July 24, Aomichi's school bus drove players from the Aomichi Baseball Club into the parking lot of the Hachioji Citizen Stadium.
As the captain, Dong Qingguo first went to the staff to complete registration and sign-in, then came to the stands to gather everyone in the army, and walked to the entrance of the players. Director Kataoka and Director Ohta, who were also there, met up and walked in.
At 12:05 noon, it is one of the hottest times of the day. The thermometer hanging on the wall of the rest area shows that the real-time temperature has reached 33 degrees Celsius, and the surface temperature will only be higher.
The staff of the stadium leveled the ground, repainted the sidelines and sprayed water. As the water droplets fell to the ground, the steaming heat could even distort the vision.
"It's hot today, remember to replenish water, save energy, and avoid heatstroke." Supervisor Kataoka seriously warned everyone at Qingdao, "Those who are not starting to play must support their teammates. The next game requires everyone's concerted efforts.
Only then can we win.”
"yes!"
At 12:25, the referee signaled to both sides that the game was about to begin.
After the players from Seido and Kugayama of Kogakuin lined up to salute, the players from Seido withdrew from the competition, leaving only the players from Kugayama of Kokugakuin to make final preparations.
Taro Fukuda, Aido's first bat, ran to the home plate area with his bat and stood outside the batting area waving the bat in his hand for the final warm-up.
After the pitcher from Kouga Gakuin Kugayama simply threw a few practice balls, the referee looked at the time and found that it was already 12:27, so he signaled the game to officially start; at the same time, an air raid siren sounded on the court.
"Buzz——"
As the air raid siren sounded, the pitcher from Kouga Gakuin Kugayama swung his arm and threw the first pitch of the game.
"call out!"
"Whoa!"
"Bang!"
“strike.“
Although Taro Fukuda swung the bat vigorously as a bat, he failed to hit the baseball that flew from the pitcher's mound.
"Futian, look for it and then hit!"
"Don't be nervous, just relax."
"Senior, come on!"
The Aido players who were not on the field were all cheering for Taro Fukuda on the field.
Taro Fukuda waved the bat in his hand, stood in the batter's box, and then assumed a posture waiting for a hit.
"call out!"
The second pitch thrown by Kouga Gakuin's pitcher came quickly.
It was a high-ball ball that flew toward Taro Fukuda's chest, forcing him to take a big step back.
“ball.“
On the pitcher's mound, the pitcher Kugayama Kokugakuin took off his ball cap and nodded to Taro Fukuda at home plate. After that, he put his ball cap back on and caught the baseball passed back to him by the catcher Kugayama Kokugakuin.
After seeing the signal given by the catcher, the pitcher from Kouga Gakuin Kugayama stepped forward, leaned forward, swung his arm, and threw the baseball in his hand again.
"call out!"
Taro Fukuda observed the path of the baseball as it flew towards him. It would be a straight ball with a low outside corner, which could be hit...
"Whoa!"
Taro Fukuda directly waved the bat in his hand and swung it hard at the speeding baseball.
"Ping!"
The bat Taro Fukuda swung hit the flying baseball, but unfortunately did not hit the center of the ball. The baseball was hit and flew backwards toward first base quickly.
Should it be a foul ball? Taro Fukuda didn't pay too much attention to it and was ready to wait for the next ball to come.
The problem was that he didn't expect that the first baseman from Kouga Gakuin Kugayama would rush out immediately, chase the baseball where it landed, and successfully catch the flying baseball with his sleeve before it hit the ground.
“out.“
Taro Fukuda was unable to react for a moment. Even the supporting music and cheering sounds in the stands on the Qingdao side stopped.
The information Chris collected was correct. Kouga Gakuin Kugayama is indeed a team that prefers defense and does a very good job in this regard.
…
In the first half of the first inning, Aomichi had no choice but to return without success after a baseball hit by Tetsuya Yuuki was caught by Kugayama's defender at Kogakuin Academy.
In the second half of the first game, everyone in Qingdao put on their protective gear, picked up their ball covers and ran onto the field.
Chris ran to the pitcher's mound with Yagami Yagami. Yagami Ya first said: "In today's game, we really have to try not to let the opponent get a hit and then get on base."
"I will match the ball based on this premise." Chris, as one of the people who has gone to scout the enemy's situation, naturally knows how difficult it is for a team like Kougayama, which is good at defense, to deal with.
After Chris squatted behind home plate, he asked Yagami for a four-seam fast ball to the outside corner.
Iori Yagami nodded, turned the baseball in his hand with his left hand behind his back, raised his arm high, stepped forward with his right leg, twisted his waist and abdomen, tilted his body's center of gravity forward, and waved his left hand.
"call out!"
The white baseball was like a white light that flew 18.44 meters in the blink of an eye and accurately penetrated into the ball cover set by Green Road catcher Chris.
"Bang!"
After the roar, the tail force was so strong that the baseball continued to fly around after it flew into the ball cover.
148km/h, the ball speed bar below the scoreboard shows the ball speed of the ball thrown by Yagami Yagami.
Chris stood up, took out the baseball from his holster, and threw it back towards Yagami Yagami on the pitcher's mound.
“nice pitch.“
Yagami and the others shot a few more balls like this before the referee signaled the game to continue: "Play ball."
Behind home plate, Chris moved his fingers lightly and drew a series of secret signals.
He was asked to pitch to such a position on the first pitch. When did Chris's attitude become so strong?
Iori Yagami raised his right leg, swung his arm, stepped forward, leaned his body's center of gravity forward, and waved his left hand down.
"call out!"
The baseball shot straight towards the home plate like a white light. Ichigoyama Kuagayama of the National Academy of Sciences clenched the bat in his hand and stared at the direction in which the baseball was flying.
The baseball seemed to be rushing toward his thigh at extremely fast speeds.
Will he be hit by a flying baseball? Driven by instinct, Kugayama's bat from the Kogakuin Academy involuntarily took a step back.
"Bang!"
The baseball flying from the pitcher's mound passed through the home plate area and went into the sleeve of Green Road catcher Chris in the low inside corner.
“strike.“
After careful observation, the referee raised his arm to indicate that the ball thrown by Yagami Yagami was a good ball. This chapter has been completed!