Manga Chapter 51

[based translation by narwhaltortellini]

SUMMARY:

It's the bottom of the eighth inning with Nishiura trailing by three points. As Hanai comes up to bat, the announcer points out that he made a two base hit on his second at bat and scored a point with a center field fly on his third (against the relief pitcher, Kashima). The announcer notes that while Kashima gave up runs in his first inning, he has not since and has lots of room left in his pitch count.

In the batter's box, Hanai notes he has a good feel for Kashima's pitches and he just needs to swing like before. Hanai expects a fastball strike and swings on his first pitch. He hits the ball in front of center field and makes it on base.

As Oki comes up to bat, Momokan gives him the sign to hit, as the last three batters in their lineup have little hope of making one. He waits on the first pitch, which is a ball, and wonders how Hanai was even able to hit it. He shows a bunt, though the Bijou catcher and pitcher doubt he actually plans to make one. Oki is pitched another ball, making the count 2 balls and no strikes. Takeshi signals for the next pitch to be a strike. Remembering his bad throw and Abe's injury from earlier in the game, Oki resolves to hit. He swings at the pitch and the ball flies near the pitcher. Takumi fails to catch it, and Oki makes it on base.

Nishihiro readies to bat. Telling him to bunt, Momokan thinks he should not have reason to be scared, as he has had the same training as the rest of the team. Meanwhile, Takeshi approaches Takumi to tell him he doesn't have to work too hard with the last three batters, as one is making his first at bat in the tournament and the others are the bottom of the lineup.

As Nishihiro stands in the batter's box, Takumi notes that the batter does indeed look scared. He quickly pitches two strikes which Nishihiro fails to attempt, and a ball which Nishihiro swings at and misses, making the first out. Momokan tells Mizutani and Mihashi that it is up to the two of them now. Mizutani, Mihashi, and Izumi all tell Nishihiro not to worry about his at bat, but Nishihiro is still upset that he was so useless.

Coming up to bat, Mizutani notes that saying it's up to he and Mihashi is as good as saying it's up to Mizutani himself. Mizutani thinks that he needs to both get on base and advance the two runners safely so that even with Mihashi after him, Izumi will still get a chance to bat and take care of scoring.

The first pitch is a strike, which he lets by without swinging, surprised. He notes that the ball does not seem to be coming as fast as before. He swings at the next pitch and hits, but the ball flies immediately downward, bouncing away. Takeshi calls for the ball to be thrown to second. As he runs, Mizutani worries it will cause a double play. However, the Bijou fielders do not make it to the ball in time to get an out on second and throw to first instead, catching Mizutani, but only getting one out. Mizutani is on the ground. Suyama talks to him and seems to think he did well as he advanced the two runners, but Mizutani is disappointed he made an out.

As Mihashi comes up to bat, Izumi pleads with him to get on base so that Izumi can have a chance to hit. Takumi notes that Mihashi is a right-handed pitcher but left-handed batter. The first pitch is a ball which Mihashi lets by, doing the same with the second. Takeshi is frustrated with Takumi, noting that all he has to do with a batter like Mihashi is send the ball high and down the middle. Takumi thinks to himself that he hates pitchers that bat with their dominant hand facing him, though he isn't sure why. He throws a strike, and Mihashi swings, reminding himself of Mizutani's advice to swing just as Takumi pitches. The hit is a foul, but Mihashi is happy to know he can make contact. Takumi tries to throw another strike, but the pitch hits the ground and hits Takeshi in the chest. With the count at 1-3, Mihashi resolves to hit the next pitch. Takeshi notes Mihashi is unlikely to get a good hit off Takumi's fastball, but still decides to use the breaking ball for the next pitch. Swinging as Takumi pitches like before, Mihashi realizes the pitch is different and attempts to stop his arms. The umpire calls a ball, which Takeshi objects to, but the umpires calls Mihashi safe. With four balls, Mihashi walks to first base. At two outs and bases loaded, Izumi enthusiastically comes up to bat, thinking he cannot waste Mizutani and Mihashi's hard work.

Takeshi runs up to Takumi to ask him if he thinks they should throw a strike. Takumi thinks they should use a slider, though he reminds Takeshi he doesn't have to come to the mound to ask this sort of thing since Takumi can just shake his head. He tells Takeshi that Naomasa would talk to him about things other than baseball on the mound and that would make him feel a lot better. Takeshi apologizes for not having more topics, but Takumi assures him it's ok.

Takeshi wonders if Takii means to finish out the game with Takumi. He notes that in games after this the opponents will be stronger, and Takumi may not get to pitch any more games. Takeshi hopes to keep things going well so that Takumi can continue pitching till the end.

In the batter's box, Izumi plans to swing at the first pitch. After four balls, he is sure the first pitch will be a fastball strike. He swings and widely misses, surprised he was given the breaking ball. Figuring the fastball will come next, he swings again, only to find he has been thrown another slider. Figuring three of the same pitch in a row is unlikely, Momokan tells Izumi to aim for the fastball again. Izumi agrees with her reasoning, trying not to let himself become unsure. The fastball comes and Izumi hits to the front of center, bringing Hanai home for the fifth point. Takii is frustrated Takeshi called for a fastball when Izumi was clearly swinging for one the entire time.

Sakaeguchi comes up to bat, and Takumi remembers how he had let himself get irritated before. He figures he knows how to deal with him now, as he knows Sakaeguchi isn't looking to hit from the start. He throws two strikes, both of which Sakaeguchi lets by, and then a ball which Sakaeguchi swings at and misses, making the third out.

In the dugout, Takii lectures Takeshi on not asking for certain pitches just because it's what the pitcher is good at and likes to throw. If the pitcher's best pitch is hit, he has nowhere to run. He tells Takeshi the five points Nishiura scored are his fault and he should think about that.

The ninth inning starts and the ninth batter, Takenouchi, comes up to bat. Tajima notes he's been given five fastballs already and may be getting used to it. Takenouchi gets the signal that Momokan is asking for a strike. He initially thinks they may throw him the deciding pitch, but decides to look for the curve ball, as he swung and missed one in a previous at bat. Mihashi throws the curve ball, and Takenouchi swings and hits.