At 11:00 a.m. on October 29, the members of Qingdao First Army got on the school bus and headed to the second stadium of Mingye Shrine. At around 12:40 noon, the semi-finals between Qingdao and Daocheng Industrial will officially begin.
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Compared with the previous games, the number of spectators who came to watch today was larger. In addition, even though the Autumn Tokyo Conference does not receive as much attention as the Hajia qualifiers, there are no shortage of magazines, newspapers, and TV stations that should come.
When Yijun stepped off the school bus in Qingdao, the fans waiting on the side began to cheer for their favorite team members.
"Dong! I'm going to hit a home run today too!"
"Jinguji, come on!"
"Chris, match a few more hard-to-hit balls!"
Under the leadership of Supervisor Kataoka, the Qingdao people quickly passed through the surrounding crowd and entered the second arena of the shrine.
On the field, a sweet female radio voice was announcing the content of today's game and related precautions.
In the stands on the first base side, Qingdao's support group occupied every support seat, leaving some empty seats occupied by Qingdao fans or family members of the players.
When everyone in Qingdao was warming up, they could hear someone calling their name to cheer them on.
"Senior, nice pitch."
In the bullpen next to the dugout, Chris stood up and passed the baseball in his hand back to Senior Sakai, "My condition today is great!"
Yu Sakai took the baseball passed to him by Chris, raised his legs again, waved his arms, and threw the baseball away.
The time soon came to 12:38, and the staff began to notify the players from Qingdao and Daocheng Industrial that the competition was about to begin.
After everyone from Qingdao lined up at the edge of the arena, they swarmed forward as Dong Qingguo shouted: "Let's go!"
After everyone rushed into the field, they ran to stand next to the home plate. The players on both sides bowed to each other. Afterwards, the players from Daocheng Industry exited the field, and the Qingdao fielding players ran to their respective positions.
Yu Sakai stood on the pitcher's mound, tossed the magnesium powder packet in his hand, dropped it to his feet, blew the powder on his fingertips, bent down to pick up the baseball placed beside the pitcher's plate, and looked down at the man in front of him.
He turned the baseball in his hand on the ground that no one had stepped on before, and carried it behind his back.
Chris crouched behind home plate, made a few gestures with his fingers, opened and positioned the ball sleeve.
"play ball."
At 12:41, as the air defense siren sounded, Yu Sakai swung his arm and threw the first ball of the game.
"call out!"
"Bang!"
“strike.“
It was as if the slider was flying straight towards the batter's knee, causing Inagi's first hit and Keisuke Kawanishi to take a step back driven by instinct.
Chris stood up, took the baseball out of his holster, and passed it back with a smile.
After Yu Sakai lifted the ball cover to catch the baseball passed by Chris, he took the baseball out of the ball cover, and then put his right hand behind his back again.
Chris squatted down again and gave the signal, adjusting the position of the ball sleeve.
"call out!"
"Bang!"
“strike.“
140km/h!
The second ball was a fast straight ball that was faster and more powerful. It was a ball that flew directly towards Keisuke Kawanishi's body. It was more intimidating than the previous ball, and he couldn't help but step back again.
step.
"call out!"
The white baseball flew off the pitcher's mound and headed straight for home plate.
Standing in front of home plate, Keisuke Kawanishi looked at the high pitch and swung the bat in his hand with all his strength.
"Whoosh!"
However, when the baseball approached the home plate, it suddenly dropped sharply, crossed with the swinging bat, and fell into Chris's extended ball sleeve.
"Bang!"
“strike out.“
The referee raised his right hand to indicate that Daocheng Industrial's Keisuke Kawanishi was out.
"Buzz!"
Daocheng Industrial second batsman Ryuji Koyanagi actively swung the bat as soon as he came on the field, but the angle of his swing was too high and missed the white baseball flying from the pitcher's mound.
“strike.“
Koyanagi Ryuu had already swung the bat and resumed his posture waiting for a hit.
Chris, who was squatting behind the pitching plate at home plate, glanced at the batter Ryuumi Koyanagi in front of him, gave a signal to Sakai-senpai, moved slightly toward the outside corner, and then positioned the ball sleeve. Standing on the pitcher's mound
Yu Sakai nodded, raised his hands, stepped forward, twisted his waist and abdomen, and swung his arms forward.
"call out!"
Ryuumi Koyanagi was closely watching the movements of Seido pitcher Yu Sakai, watching the baseball speeding from the pitcher's mound, and vigorously swung the metal bat in his hand.
"Ping!"
The crisp sound of the baseball hitting the metal bat, and the impact from the bat in the palm of his hand, made Ryuumi Koyanagi hold the bat with both hands and sweep it out with all his strength.
"call out!"
"Boom!"
The baseball was hit, ricocheted toward first base, and then landed outside the sideline.
"The outside world!"
Koyanagi Ryuumi flexed his wrist, took a deep breath, and swung the bat. Because the junior student in front, Keisuke Kawanishi, was quickly struck out by Sakai, as a senior, he had the obligation to shoulder the responsibility of his junior student.
Do your duty and test out the depth of Aido pitcher Sakai, and you must polish a few more balls.
Chris glanced at Daocheng Industrial's hitter Koyanagi Ryuumi again, then placed the ball sleeve close to his thigh and gave his secret signal to Sakai-senpai.
After seeing the signal given by Chris, Yu Sakai nodded, took a step forward, waved his arm, and threw the baseball in his hand towards the position where Chris's ball sleeve was.
"call out!"
Looking at the path of the baseball flying towards him, Ryuu Koyanagi took a step back to avoid Yu Sakai's somewhat crooked curve ball. Two were good balls and one was a bad ball.
After Ryuu Koyanagi regained his stance in the batter's box, he began to wait for a hit.
"call out!"
This time Yu Sakai's pitch seemed to be a curve ball, and Ryuu Koyanagi stepped forward and aimed at the flying baseball and swung the metal bat in his hand.
"Ping!"
"The outside world!"
"call out!"
"Ping!"
“ball.“
"call out!"
"Ping!"
"The outside world!"
"call out!"
"Ping!"
“ball.“
Two good balls and three bad balls.
Koyanagi Ryuumi clenched the bat in his hand and stood up again, continuing to assume a posture waiting for a hit.
It was only the second at bat, and Ryuumi Koyanagi, the hitter of Inagi Industries, got caught in eight pitches. As expected of Inagi Industries, one of the Tokyo baseball giants who also has a strong hitting line.
Chris gave a signal to Sakai-senpai and placed the ball sleeve in the outside corner near the edge of the strike zone. Be sure to throw it here! Sakai-senpai.
Yu Sakai stood on the pitcher's mound, pinched the powder bag at his feet, raised his hand to straighten the brim of his hat, and threw a slider as Chris asked.
Ryu Koyanagi was already looking at the baseball flying from the pitcher's mound. It seemed to be a little far away from the strike zone. Is it a bad ball? No!
Koyanagi Ryuumi hurriedly swung the bat in his hand, but unfortunately it was a step too late. The baseball flying from the pitcher's mound smoothly penetrated into the ball sleeve that Chris had opened and set.
"Bang?".
“strike out.“
Ryuu Koyanagi took a look at the position where he was stuck on the boundary of the strike zone, and it was possible to judge whether it was good or bad. He could only leave the field unwillingly and walked to the dugout. This chapter has been completed!