All right!
Strike!
I'd forgotten...
that the batter's box could be this exciting!
Ko Kitamura, eh?
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
Shin'nosuke Wada (TV TOKYO) Naohiko Furuichi
Producers
Osamu Sekita
Director
Shogakukan Shueisha Production
Production Studio
SUBTITLED BY ANBU
And the pitcher snags the line drive!
Kitamura's got it!
First base!
Safe!
That was close.
My bad.
Don't lower your guard just because you put Mishima down.
You're pitching against a Ryuou fifth batter, a team that's out to win the championship.
Strike!
Strike two!
Strike three!
And a strikeout!
Ryuou ends the bottom of the 9th with zero runs scored.
Ow...
Why don't we take a shot at it, too?
At winning the national championship, I mean.
With the game tied at one, we now go to extra innings!
Although Ryuou Academy was undoubtedly the favorite on paper prior to this game,
they have yet to clinch the game after nine innings.
The teams are completely even;
there's no telling where this game will take us!
This is where it all begins!
It's finally the top of the tenth.
At the top of the tenth inning,
Seishu's will be led by sixth batter and pitcher, Kitamura.
He struck you out in your at-bat, didn't he Akaishi?
What kind of a pitcher is he?
He throws you different pitches while maintaining the same form and arm position.
I'd have expected nothing less, Akaishi.
You sure figured out a lot from looking at just three pitches.
Are you trying to compliment me or are you just being sarcastic?
A little bit of both.
Looks like I'll need to keep my guard up while he's batting, as well.
Ball!
Thank god.
I wouldn't know what to do if he actually managed to keep a pitch like that in the zone.
Strike!
Geez.
What is he doing?
He was right on the spot with the swing, though.
Sorry about that.
He was the record holder for home runs at our batting center before Azuma came, after all.
And he tries to bunt his way on!
Safe!
Yeah, I really can't lower my guard with this guy.
Are you all right?
Why do you ask?
It's the top of the tenth inning,
and Seishu could not have had a better start with a runner on first and no outs.
Will Seishu run away with the win?
And that's his third failed bunt attempt.
Seishu now has a runner on first with one out.
He seems to be able to retain his control and sharpness even when throwing faster pitches.
If only he didn't have a knack for stealing bases...
Safe!
He's good at picking off base runners too.
That's three outs, change sides!
And Seishu's sole runner is stranded at first.
Ryuou's right-handed ace, 11th grader Takuro Oikawa
has successfully held down this inning.
He's quite a troublesome pitcher, isn't he?
We don't have the time to sit and stay troubled by him.
It won't fare well for Ko if the game keeps dragging on like this, huh?
Not at all.
Their side's been revitalized ever since that reliever entered in the ninth inning, though.
Don't worry.
He's got more in the tank than you think.
He'll keep pitching, the tenth inning or even the twentieth if he has to!
I'd say twenty innings is a bit too much...
He can do it!
I know he can.
What?
I just thought you sounded like Wakaba just now.
As if!
O-Oh, it's nothing.
Strike three!
That's three strikes and one out!
He's quite a troublesome pitcher, isn't he?
My bad.
He could have got that if he jumped, right?
Seventh batter and shortstop, Ozawa.
He's still throwing hard this far into the game.
All right.
What do you mean "all right"?
All's right with that, right, Mishima?
Punk!
Are you trying to get back at him for the last inning?
That's dangerous, damn it! Watch where you're swinging!
It wasn't on purpose.
His hand went numb from the foul in his last at-bat.
I see.
His hand went numb?
The ball is completely covered!
Second baseman!
Right fielder!
Center fielder!
... but the ball drops right in-between the three of them!
All right, I'll take anything!
It's all on you now, Oikawa!
He lays down a sacrifice bunt!
And the runner advances to second.
Ryuou now has two outs with the go-ahead run in scoring position.
This is Ryuou's chance at ending this game with a walk-off win!
Ninth batter and pitcher, Oikawa.
His face is saying that he's quite confident at batting.
He doesn't have many at-bats,
but what little data we have tells us that he has a .500 batting average.
I'll pretend I didn't hear that.
I wouldn't mind a walk, either.
Strike!
I see.
In that case,
I'll make this a walk-off win!
He's been pitching in the same set position, hasn't he?
Yeah.
He did give up runners in both the ninth and tenth innings, after all.
He did it to the first batter of this inning, too.
Did he really?
Oh yeah.
We have two on and two outs, huh.
I don't have to hit a long ball, then!
Foul!
Oh wow.
I swung late again?
You've gotta be kidding me.
Are you all right?
That actually gave me the shock of my life,
but the numbness is mostly gone and I'm almost back to normal.
One more rest on the bench should put me back in top shape.
All right, I got him!
One more rest should put me back in top shape.
Safe!
I guess we can't afford to lose anymore.
Everyone will be angry if we couldn't make it to the Koshien after beating this pitcher.
Y-Yeah.
You're right.
Nice game.
Aoba,
I'm going to go on ahead since I have to go open the store.
Okay.
See you.
Hey, Ichiyo,
And then she fell down, apparently.
what kind of high schooler do you think Waka would have been if she was still alive?
Really?
Why don't you go cry like you're wanting to,
and then take a look in the mirror after washing your face.
You should be able to see a 10th grader Wakaba staring back at you.
Be sure to let Ko see a smile on your face, okay?
See, Azuma?
I can stretch my arm up this high just fine.
Look.
Fine, fine.
Just get on the bus already.
Damn you.
My hand's not even a little bit numb, I tell you.
I'm so sorry.
This is your last summer as 12th graders—
Kitamura!
You 10th graders hurry up and get on as well.
Yes, sir!
I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm so—
Hey, girls.
Do you think someone could climb that street light without any equipment?
I can.
I see.
What the hell was that about?
No clue.
Huh?
Where's our bus?
No clue.
Damn it!
Wait for me!
Don't leave me behind!
Damn it, they're so noisy so early in the morning!
How am I supposed to sleep with all this?
And just when does your morning end?
The moment the hour mark goes from one digit to two.
And there goes your morning.
Do you want some lunch?
Morning.
Good afternoon.
Fly ball to center... Oh, no! He can't get to it!
That's two runners back at home plate.
And that's cleanup hitter Mishima's second double of the day.
Ryuou was playing today?
Yeah.
I didn't know.
Until you told me yesterday, that is.
Oh yeah, so that's why I set my alarm to 8:30.
With three more runs this inning,
the North Tokyo representative, Ryuou Academy, now leads 9-1.
Their 11th grade pitcher, Takuro Oikawa, steps up to the mound proudly wearing the number "10" on his shirt.
I guess he's been playing as the ace ever since the regional tournament.
Yeah.
Both their ace and cleanup are 11th graders.
Doesn't seem like they'll be any easier to play against next year.
Both their ace and cleanup are in 11th grade.
The ace is in 11th grade,
and so is the cleanup hitter.
And there it goes!
The first home run at Koshien this year is hit to the middle of the left field stands,
slugged out by Keitaro Mishima, Ryuou Academy's 11th grade cleanup hitter.
Oh yeah, I still haven't apologized to you yet, huh?
About what?
Losing at the regional tournament.
There was nothing sorry about your pitching that day.
But you were so hell-bent on getting to the Koshien.
I'm going to go hit the town with Ichiyo now.
You chumps jealous?
See ya!
Yeah, I was.
Until a little while ago, anyway.
Don't worry about me.
You already have enough on your plate with trying to make your dead girlfriend's dream come true,
and dealing with all the frustration that she's having as she practices harder than us every day,
while knowing she can't play in any official games.
Tsukishima's the first one here again, huh?
I'm sorry about this, Mizuki.
I was just about to ask Aoba if she could skip practice since we have an emergency,
but she left the house already.
It's all right.
Ichiyo at least taught me how to serve coffee.
I'm used to cooking with all the camping I've done, so there's no need to worry.
Here you go.
One Napolitan, fresh off the pan.
You're actually pretty useful.
Right?
I can't throw a 160km/h fastball, though.
Geez, peace at last.
How long do I have to stand all that noise?
So what are they building over there?
No clue.
It's going to be a soba restaurant.
Do you two live nearby?
Please come visit us once we open.
Wakaba.
I've never once forgotten...
I'll be back by evening two days from now, okay?
We're going to go to the summer festival the day after that, okay?
...about that summer when I was in fifth grade.
Next time, on Cross Game Episode Thirty:
Wakaba.
It's not hard at all.