VOLUME 9, CHAPTER 18

Shiga rejects Hamada’s request to make the cheer squad an official club because then he could get a lot of excused absesnces and could get the baseball club in trouble. The cheer girls plan to make uniforms and wear them during the game when school is out. At the practice field, back from the Sakitama match they watched, Tajima takes off his clothes and almost his boxers. He gets yelled at by Hanai.

Abe sees that Mihasi is exhausted even though he denies it. Abe notes that Mihashi's time for the 1.5M run is after Tajima's, and gets mad because Mihashi was trying too hard.

Shinooka makes banana protein shakes from Abe’s and Hanai’s bananas, but Abe orders Mihashi to go change his undershirt first. Abe thinks maybe it’s not the tone of his voice but something more basic that’s not getting through.

Hanai leads the team meeting: Not only the fifth hitter but the first to fourth also got on base a lot. The only left handed hitter bats ninth (pitcher) so the left field people, Izumi, Suyama, Mizutani should be aware. Sakitama is not good at calling steals so they shoul perfect their pickoff timing. Tajima will bat first so Hanai has to bring them in, teases Mizutani. The pitcher is a lefty so the runner on first should be careful. Izumi is more scared of the catcher who trapped two runners. When there were runners on first and third, they throw back a lot. Abe wants to make it a called game.

Momoe joins the meeting says Sakitama scores a lot of runs but also give up a lot. Abe says they’ll walk the #5 hitter (the catcher), but may sit for his second at bat. Suyama asks if that’s also to demoralize their opponents. Momoe is impressed with Abe's strategy. Abe asks Momoe to throw a screwball. Hanai realizes as cleanup a lot rides on him.

The team starta practice with catchball. Mihashi looks around for a partner. Momoe goes to practice the break on her screwball with Shinooka. Sakaeguchi comes up to Mihashi to ask if he wanted to say something before when Abe interrupted and did a bad impersonation of Mihashi saying "I can pitch anyway." Mihashi is still dwelling on the Tosei game when Abe told him to switch out. Sakaeguchi knew it was a lie to motivate him. Abe, tired of Mihashi's ramblings, goes into Zen mode. Mihashi regrets he didn’t listen, but Sakaeguchi laughs it off. Mihashi says he might do that again, where he’s asked to get off the mound but refuses. If that happens, he doesn’t want Abe to catch his pitches so he’ll realize what he’s doing. Sakaeguchi explains that if Mihashi collapses, chances are they’ll lose since Hanai and Oki are not up to pitching in a real game.

Sakaeguchi goes to practice catching with Hanai. Mihashi tells Abe next time he won’t say anything. Abe gets mad because he wants him to speak up more, and grinds his fists against Mihashi's head.

Sakaeguchi thinks how Mihashi wasn’t obviously bullied at Mihoshi, just ignored, but on the mound the games doesn’t start until the pitcher pitches and he knows for certain that he exists there. But now Mihashi is finally willing to give up the mound. Sakaeguchi is glad Mihashi has somewhere to belong when he gets off the mound.

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National High School Baseball Championship Saitama tournament third round.

The two captains play Rock, Paper, Scissors to determine who will take the field first. Hanai's rock is defeated by Tai-san paper, but Sakitama wants to bat first which is what Nishiura wanted. Momoe notes that they chose to bat first even after two games with extra innings, showing they’re not prioritizing right. Their coach is a baseball novice. The chance of things going according to plan is strong. She talks to Hanai and says after seeing their coach and captain, she thinks they can do it - the called game. She tells him “Today you’ll become a hero.”

Ren’s mom texts Hamada. Hanai's mom jokes "isn’t he young to be your text buddy." Since there’s school, the stands are mostly empty.

First inning:
1st batter hits to shortstop for an out.
2nd hits liner to second for out - Sakaeguchi leaps in air to catch it.
3rd hits to first (?) for the last out.
Meanwhile, Hanai obsesses about hitting.

Bottom of first:
Tajima aims for the gap between third, first and home. He gets a safety bunt, making Hanai jealous.
Sakaeguchi is up and Momoe signals for him to wait for the first strike.
Tajima notes the pitcher's form isn’t developed and has no obvious habits and he hasn’t been a pitcher for very long. The catcher suddenly throws to first, safe. Tajima wasn’t that far from first and for the catcher to throw risks an error. Abe thinks there’s no point in checking the runner in that situation. Tajima uses his feet to confuse the opponent and has a big lead. Daichi, the catcher, tries to pickoff at second, but Tajima went back to first.

Sakaeguchi gets a sac bunt, so now there's one out, man on second.
Momoe signals for Izumi to try hitting it, and predicts the next pitch will be inside the strike zone. Izumi, batting third, feels relaxed batting between Tajima and Hanai.

The pitcher shakes his head all the time and calls the shot with his preferences. The pitch is outside, not inside the strike zone. The pitcher, Ic-chan, is tired of shaking his head. Izumi gets a hit, Nishihiro waves him over. Tajima scores and Izumi gets a triple! The parents cheer together, but out of sync. They laugh and Izumi wonders what they’re laughing about.

The pitcher thinks how Hanai and Daichi act like first years. Hanai gets a squeeze bunt and Izumi scores. 2-0 Nishiura!
Tajima tells Hanai not to feel satisfied by that. Hanai gets confused and thinks how Momoe wouldn’t ask Tajima to squeeze bunt.
Suyama appears to strikeout next.

Abe talks to Mihashi about the fifith batter and tells him to throw a little outside than where his mitt is - make sure the batter can’t reach it. He warns him that the old guy in the stands might be a heckler, but Mihashi says he’s fine with it. Abe says he ‘s counting on him. Mihashi thinks they’re going to walk the batter because he’s not a good enough pitcher. He thinks if he could challenge him they wouldn’t have to walk him to be safe. They can’t fight him, so they’re running away. People might be angry, but if he can get out of it by running away, he's fine with being heckled. As the ace, he can’t let them get a hit.

Top of 2nd inning:
4th batter for Sakitama is the shortstop and captain Tai-san. He thinks the pitcher's got no power. The first three batters said he seemed easy to hit so maybe the ball is so slow, they couldn’t get any power behind it and the infield got them out. The fastball gets popped up.
5th batter, catcher Sakura is intentionally walked. The heckler yells, "Pitcher, come out and fight!"
Sakitama guys complain, "that’s playing dirty." They realized Nishiura has marked him. Heckler yells, "Play catch somewhere else!"
6th batter, centerfielder Uemura is up next.
Sakura is at first. Tajima asks him where he played in middle school. Sakura played soccer, but there was no soccer club at Sakitama, and there was no baseball club in middle school. He played little league in elementary school. Tajima says he doesn’t have to be so formal and that he, Tajima, is a first year, too. The umpire tells them no private conversations on the field.

Meanwhilem Uemura, Ryo (lots of guiys name Rio/Ryo, Ryuu in this series!) grounds out to the shortstop who throws to second who throws to first for a doubleplay. The ball came down the middle then curved for a shoot.

Abe is quite pleased with himself. He says the heckling will get worse and tells Mihashi to keep smirking.

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OMAKE: Shinooka usually goes home earlier than the players, after making the onigiri. One day she stays late to talk to Momoe and runs late so she leaves with everyione else. Most days all the players stop by the convenience store on the way home and buy under 100 yen food to have energy for the ride home. Stuff like cup noodles. They divide into two groups depending on where they live: lower road and higher road groups.

Tajima goes home with Mihashi everyday to eat.
The guys shower and eat before going to bed. Homework is done after morning practice.

NOTES:
Lower road (big CD rental store on the way): Sakaeguchi, Nishihiro, Shinooka, Mizutani, Suyama (some only go part of the way)
Upper Road: Abe, Hanai, Izumi, Mihashi, Tajima, Oki

Moms and Abe's dad.