Here goes my "Let's Draw Nomo" Song!
Two balls came flying in.
Small balls came flying in, too.
But hold on, here's one more.
Just barely scrape the surface for a fine play.
Cross one, two, and three mountains.
The sign for "victory" is V! V! V!
Then we have ourselves another V! V! V!
And surprise! We're done!
That's game, set, and Nomo's done!
You're still only halfway there.
It's got to break about a ball's length more.
Still no good.
That one just now broke in.
But it didn't have enough speed.
Hey, Tsukishima!
Teach our ace how to throw a slider, will you?
Yes, sir!
Make sure he learns it before the tournament starts, okay?
You can be as rough on him as you want.
Just leave it to me!
Let's get started, Kitamura-senpai.
Damn you.
You're opening up your body too much.
You're bending your arm too much.
You're holding on to the ball for too long.
You're way too stupid to be pitching.
What did you just say?
Nothing at all, Kitamura-senpai.
Quit emphasizing the "senpai," will you?
Are you sure letting her teach him was a good idea?
Oh, I'm so sorry, Kitamura-senpai.
Ko knows it best himself.
He knows that there's no better coach for him than Tsukishima.
Mitsuru Adachi
（Serialized in Shogakukan's 「Weekly Shonen Sunday」）
Created by
Toshihiro Nakazawa
Nobumasa Sawabe
Planning
Masato Hayashi
Rei Anami (TV TOKYO)
Shin'ichirou Tsuzuki
Planning Assistance
Toshisato Okuno Shin Omura Takenori Ichihara
Tetsuya Takeda
Supervisors
Original Planning Assistance
Michihiro Tsuchiya
Series Composition
Yuji Kondo
Main Character Design
Maho Takahashi
Tomoyuki Matsumoto
Koichi Imano
Art Design
Subcharacter Design
Prop Design
Kayoko Ono
Miki Tsubouchi
Hiromi Komine
Yutaka Kuramoto
Art Director
Color Design
Photography Director
Editing
Nobuhide Tanaka Toshiyuki Kuroiwa
Kotaro Nakagawa
Takeshi Takadera
HALF H・P STUDIO
Music Producer
Music
Sound Director
Sound Production
「Summer Rain」
Lyrics／Composition: Kentaro Kobuchi
Arrangement: Kobukuro
Kobukuro
（Warner Music Japan）
Opening Theme
Shogakukan Music & Digital Entertainment
TV-TOKYO Music
Warner Music Japan
Music Assistance
Ryosuke Sakurai
Animation Producer
Animation Production
Fukashi Higashi (TV TOKYO) Naohiko Furuichi
Producers
Osamu Sekita
Director
Shogakukan Shueisha Production
Production Studio
SUBTITLED BY ANBU
Sorry I'm late, Ichiyo.
Practice ran late, so—
You have a guest, Aoba.
Long time no see.
Owwie.
My elbow just suddenly...
I'm not here to ask you to play me again.
Have you heard of the Ouka University Girls Baseball Team?
No.
They won the national collegiate league last year.
Their coach, Takei, also happens to be the coach for the Womens National Team,
and a few of their players even made the National Team.
We're going to be playing a scrimmage match against Ouka at the end of the month.
We've got a fairly strong team for a high school girls team,
but to be honest, we don't stand a chance against them the way we are now.
It's at least going to end by the mercy rule;
and I really don't want to let this chance escape without at least putting up a fight.
So...
So?
If we had a good pitcher playing for us, who knows who'll come out ahead in the game!
I don't care if it's just for one day, so please!
It's just a scrimmage match anyway, so we should be able to get away with it if you put on our uniform.
I'm sure even you would like to pitch against members of the National Team!
Don't tell me you plan to be content with
not playing a single game during your three years of high school!
You should step up on the mound and test your strength,
especially since you've got so much talent!
No, you need to do it!
What do you say, Tsukishima?
S-Sorry.
I play for Seishu.
Tsukishima!
Sorry.
Why did you turn her down?
This was your chance to play in a game.
Are you satisfied with the way things are now, Aoba?
You'd be allowed to pitch if you played girls baseball, you know.
You're right.
Then why don't you—
But I've never really thought about it. About girls baseball, that is.
I don't think it's too late to start now.
Did you do your English homework yet?
Y-Yeah.
All right. It's not too late to start now;
I'm going to get my homework done.
They sure are sending those balls flying.
One look in the wrong direction, and they'll be taking over our positions as starters.
Aoba's throwing it to where it's easy for them to hit it, though, isn't she?
No.
She's been squeezing in some hard pitches.
They would have been packed like sardines if she pitched like that to them two months ago.
They're improving too.
All thanks to Tsukishima, of course.
I'm going to go take some swings.
Don't you think Tsukishima's pitches have been getting harder to hit lately?
You think so?
I thought you've been hitting them pretty well.
That's not what I'm talking about.
I mean, what if I land a hit and then the ball hits her?
Oh yeah, I get that too!
I wouldn't know what to do if it hit her in the face.
For real, man.
I know she's good and all, but she's still a girl.
And it makes you be a little more careful about it.
Yeah.
That was awesome!
You looked totally cool, Aoba!
You can cut that out now, Waka.
If you keep playing like this against the boys,
If it weren't for that one at-bat...
I'm sure you'll make it big in the future...
Remember what dad always says when he's drunk?
"Koshien's a special place and miracles happen there all the time."
He says unexpected heroes are born there all the time, remember?
For the last time, girls can't play in official games!
But I'm sure you can, Aoba.
Yeah, yeah.
What do you want to do when you grow up, Waka?
I want to get married.
To who?
How's that?
It's breaking now, isn't it?
Yeah.
I guess that was okay.
All right!
Come on!
How many times do I have to tell you that I'm not complimenting you when I say that!
All right.
It really is just "okay," you got that?
Tsukishima.
I just received a scrimmage request from an unusual team.
An unusual team?
Yeah.
The Ouka Womens University Baseball Team.
We'd normally have them play our middle school team,
but our middle school team wouldn't even be a match for them,
or at least that's what the middle school team seems to think.
And you told them "yes"?
Oh no.
Our players have tests this week so I pointed them to another school.
Another school?
They're going to be playing Nandara High, the school we played a scrimmage against the other time,
so feel free to go watch them play.
I'll let them know ahead of time.
Y-Yes, sir.
Tsukishima?
I didn't expect to see you here.
Don't you have practice?
We have tests going on at the moment...
That right there's Ozaki, Ouka's clean-up hitter.
She can hit long balls as well as any guy.
She's especially good at hitting fastballs.
That's their ace, Sawaguchi.
You're out!
She shut out the Australian National Team when she represented Japan last year.
She's got perfect control,
and her most lethal weapon is her fast-breaking slider.
Game set!
Ouka wins the game 4-0.
What do you think?
That's a nice big playing field they have here.
You were underestimating it, weren't you?
Girls baseball, I mean.
N-No, not at all.
I was like that, too.
I loved baseball, so I used to play with the boys.
I was even confident to the point that I thought I was better than them,
so I thought girls baseball would be a pushover.
Until I found out that there were girls who were just as skilled and confident as I was.
I really wasn't underestimating it.
This is just like when you guys played.
A shutout win.
Didn't you guys play against Nandara, too?
Kei'ichiro told me.
They scored a run on us, actually.
Only after you stepped off the mound.
Tsukishima, we'd be able to square off even against Ouka's ace if you were pitching for us!
We'd welcome you any time!
Like I said, I play for—
You may play for Seishu, but you're still a baseball player, aren't you?
Well, whatever.
I'm looking forward to hearing a positive response from you.
Hey, Aoba?
Aoba?
Do you want to study for tomorrow's test together—
Huh?
I knew you'd come!
Are you sure it's okay for an outsider like me to play on the team?
Of course you can, you're more than welcome to!
Just leave it to me;
I'll convince them for sure!
Convince them?
How could you do this?
We couldn't possibly field a player from another school, Midori!
More than welcome, you said?
We can even square off against Ouka if Tsukishima were pitching for us.
We need to play to win for this to have any meaning!
I don't want to win if we have to sacrifice the teamwork that we have.
Besides, we already have Kojima as our ace.
We don't need any helpers.
It's fine, Yuki.
I don't think I could contain Ouka's lineup anyway.
That's not the problem here!
Exactly.
Kojima wouldn't stand a chance against a team that's won the national collegiate league.
Would you stop this already?
Now now,
there's no point in us debating this when we don't even know how good she is yet.
Why don't we pick this up after we see what she's got.
Coach!
I understand.
Tsukishima!
All right.
Show us what you've got.
That was fast.
How is it?
Do you have any change-ups?
I'll throw a curve, then.
How is it, Matsuyama?
How do you like her pitches?
We should be able to get away with fielding a player from another school
since it's only a practice match.
Coach!
I'm sure Ouka won't have a problem with it;
what will be a problem, however, is our teamwork.
I'll let you decide how to handle this since you're the captain, Matsuyama.
Minako Kojima is the only ace at Satomi Girls' High.
My opinion on that will not change.
But, Matsuyama-senpai!
Tsukishima's pitches are even better than some of the guys—
Don't you think I know that?
This is the first time I've caught a ball this fast.
But I want to cherish the team we have already;
I want to cherish the last year I have here,
with the teammates I've been through so much with.
I won't mind having you on our bench during the game.
But strictly as an observer, okay?
If you have a problem with that—
Matsuyama-senpai!
I leave myself in your care.
Tsukishima!
I'm sorry.
I thought they'd definitely change their minds if they saw you pitch.
No, she only did what she had to do as the captain.
But it'd be just like being in Seishu if you can't stand on the mound.
Not really.
At least I'm on the bench here.
What?
Am I still doing something wrong?
No, you're doing okay.
What is it, then?
Azuma-senpai.
How would you hit that slider if it were you?
I'd just let it spill to the left.
Oh yeah, no wonder!
That's it!
You'd go opposite field since you're left-handed!
Thank you so much!
Oh yeah, that's how to do it!
Satomi Girls' High?
I thought you knew already, Ko.
That little punk.
How could she do this when she plays for Seishu already?
Keep it a secret from the coach, okay?
They're playing next Sunday, she said.
You're going too, aren't you, Ko?
She probably didn't tell me because she doesn't want me to come.
All right!
Oh, no...
Let's have a good game!
Hey.
That's why I told you we shouldn't go.
You knew about this, didn't you?
D-Don't be ridiculous!
Why would I even come here on a Sunday if I knew they'd be closed?
Fine.
I'll do my voluntary training by myself then.
Strike three!
You're out!
That's a tough slider to hit.
Huh?
Where's Aoba?
Over there.
She's on the bench, but she doesn't know if they'll let her play yet.
Didn't she tell you?
Didn't you say you weren't coming today?
My schedule just happened to free up.
You're out!
They'll have to field Aoba sooner or later.
Especially against that lineup.
There she is.
The All-Japan clean-up hitter.
Minako.
Ball One!
They're going to walk her?
They still have a base open.
Ball Two!
Ball Three!
Ball Four!
We don't rely solely on our clean-up hitter, you know.
No wonder they won the national collegiate league.
Why won't they let Ao pitch?
They have their reasons, I'm sure.
But it'd sure be interesting.
To see how Aoba contains a lineup like this, that is.
Don't worry about it.
We have two outs, let's take this easy.
Thanks, I'll be fine.
Time out!
She won't be able to continue with this.
I'm sorry.
It's fine, just hurry on to the hospital.
Now then.
Tenth graders!
One of you get in center field.
N-No way!
We've never even played in a game before.
We can't just start off against the strongest team...
You girls are the only subs we have.
And the game's only just begun, too.
We'll have to forfeit the game at this rate.
But...
Excuse me.
I've actually played center field before.
They're taking a long time.
Yeah.
Looks like they're starting back up.
Look, it's Ao!
Ao's playing center field!
All right!
Let's shut them out!
Yeah!
Ball!
Two outs, two outs!
That one was slow!
You're out!
Who's that center fielder?
What's her name?
Oh, um...
Her name's Aoba Tsukishima; she's a tenth grader.
Aoba Tsukishima, eh...
Nice play!
That was awesome, Aoba!
You're so cool, Ao!
This is frustrating.
Don't worry about it.
Let's get through this and make a comeback!
Can we switch pitchers, then?
Aoba's only thinking about getting the game even.
That means they're going to go to extra innings!
She won't be able to settle the score with that clean-up hitter unless she does that.
Next time, on Cross Game Episode Twenty-Three:
We'll make a comeback, won't we?
We'll make a comeback for sure!