Here comes another!
Okay!
Another!
Okay!
Last one!
Okay!
Talk about a huge whiff.
I'm so anxious, I can't help it!
Tell me about it. Waiting for the drawing results is nerve-racking.
It'd be nice if we fell into Group D.
I hope we face a good team!
Wha?! I don't wanna play a powerhouse right off the bat!
Hmm... Doesn't it feel like our captain has bad luck though?
You're right.
Good point.
Yeah...
There's so many baseball players!
You can practically feel all the talent in the air!
Captain, let's hurry and go inside!
R-Right...
"Pitch 7: Night Sky After Rain"
Look who's here! It's Furukawa from Soujin High School!
That's the C-seed girls' school, Tsubakimine!
And the prefecture's fastest pitcher, Kubota!
Omiya U High there leads in sports and academics!
But in that corner is last year's champs, Sakura High School!
It's the prefecture's top shortstop, Yui Tanabe!
And the prefecture's fastest runner, Ryou Ozeki!
Those guys were in the spring tourney!
Misono Academy's 2nd-year catcher, Ayana Fukuzawa,
and Moe Sonokawa, the 2nd-year ace who only gave up 3 runs in 21 innings!
There's the champs from the year before last!
It's Ryoyukan's .600 hitter, Shugetsu You!
And their ace with over 50 home runs, Nao Nakata!
All of Saitama's finest are before my very eyes!
I wanna probe everyone!
What the?
It feels like my every move is being dissected...
Nao, did you spot a good player or something?
No. It's okay. I'm sure it's nothing.
Watch your step.
Okay!
"National High School Baseball Championship" "Saitama Tournament Drawing"
Please line up if your school is a seed.
Oh! It's Oono!
She's their captain? I thought for sure it was Asai.
Iwatsuki Central. Number 35.
It's finally our turn! Good luck, Captain!
Here's ours.
"National High School Baseball Championship" "Saitama Tournament Drawing"
Shin Koshigaya High School.
"National High School Baseball Championship" "Saitama Tournament Drawing" Huh? Shin Koshigaya?
Oh, the scandal school!
Their club's back?
But they're all like 1st-years.
Really? Hope we play 'em!
Shh! They'll bean you on purpose!
Dang, that's scary!
I see... Our captain knew that this would happen.
That's why she didn't invite the others.
Argh, just shut up!
It's a new team now, so what's everyone's problem?
Besides, they even scored three runs on me, our ace!
You're in for a rude awakening if you play 'em.
Isn't that girl with Yana U?
If she's their ace, it's Asakura.
Shove it!
Oono... Thank you.
Here goes...!
I'm sorry!
Captain, don't tell me...!
Did we draw into good teams?
Here's the tournament bracket. We're Group C.
Let's see. Our first game is...
Kagemori High School? I've never heard of 'em before.
Yeah.
So, if we manage to win that...
"Ryoyukan, Saitama Soujin, Shin Koshigaya, Kagemori, Okegawa Rokkaku, Kumagaya, Komagawa" So, if we manage to win that...
"Ryoyukan"
Ryoyukan?!
It's over...
Are they good?
They were the champs two years ago!
What?!
Huh?
Nice job, Cap!
Do you know any of the players on Ryoyukan?
I know some of their teammates, but no one in their core.
I see. How about you, Tamaki?
Their second pitcher, Kazumi Yoshikawa.
Her and I used to be a battery.
Two years ago, she made them prefecture champs.
I see!
In the spring tournament, their ace Nakata and her took turns pitching.
Ryoyu's first match is against Soujin.
They're not a seed, but they've made it to nationals before.
Since it'll be a tough match, I'm sure they'll have their ace Nakata pitch.
In other words, it's likely we'll play against Yoshikawa.
Still, you've played with some wicked sick people, Tamaki!
Anyways, I don't know how any of it matters unless we win our first game.
Sorry, but about this Kagemori High School we're playing...
What kind of team are they?
Hmm... The thing is, I don't have much data on Kagemori at all.
But for now, who wants to watch clips of Ryoyukan and Soujin?
Me! Me!
Soujin's pitcher, Furukawa.
"Top 6th" "Aoki" "Saitama Soujin" She mainly throws fastballs and changeups.
Ryoyukan's ace Nakata is basically the same, but...
Where she shines is at bat!
Three RBIs!
Whoa!
A cleanup/ace pitcher! How cool!
As for Ryoyukan's second pitcher, Yoshikawa...
She'll strike you out with her fastball and slider.
She lacked control two years ago,
"Top 5th" "Kumagaya" "Ryoyukan" but I can see she's improved.
That slider!
It reminds me of Yomi's one pitch!
I-It's not even close! Not only does Yomi have way more control--
It's weird for me to say this, but it does resemble mine.
Therefore...!
For fastballs, practice hitting the fastest setting!
And for the slider, we'll have people batting while Yomi practices pitching!
She'll throw her special pitch at least once to every batter!
Going up against Yomi...
I've been waiting so long for this!
Since it's practice, shouldn't we let her hit it?
Then again, let's try to strike her out.
This is practice for us too.
Let's suppose she's Ryoyukan's You...
I just know she'll be hungry for "that" pitch.
Thing is, we're not gonna dish it out so easily.
Strike!
A two-seam... Seriously?
Next is...
This is it! Wait for the fall and...! Huh?!
A fastball?
Still couldn't make her whiff, huh?
I wonder if Tama regrets it at all?
She was acting funny when we talked about Yoshikawa.
Is she regretting not playing on a better team?
I bet that's exactly what she's thinking.
That's why I don't wanna bring up the past.
We said we'd throw "that" pitch once.
Of course she's waiting for it.
Free your mind.
Don't think about anything but curving that ball!
Right!
When it comes to me, if I can just pitch without regrets, that's all that matters!
It's mine!
Yeah!
Out.
I won this time.
I'll get it next time.
Wait... Nozomi never strikes out...
Yeah. That was a first.
That pitch...
We're getting better too!
We can win, no matter who we play!
Yeah!
"Seibu-Chichibu Station"
"Seibu-Chichibu Shopping Arcade"
We play Kagemori first, but we know so little about them.
"Seibu-Chichibu Shopping Arcade" Having said that, we can always go see 'em in person!
I guess you and I are the recon squad, huh?
Yeah. As far as I know, they haven't made it further than game three.
Although they lost official games against Yana U and Tsubakimine,
they were all low-scoring games.
From way up here, we can watch without sneaking around! It's perfect!
They're not the greatest, but they're doing things right.
Their defense is solid!
Oh! That's their ace pitcher, Nakayama!
Ibuki, check out her pitch!
Whoa! A submarine throw!
Do you think they saw us?
We're so far away that I doubt it, but...
What was that feeling just now?
Something wrong?
I think there's a pest around.
This was supposed to be our space.
"Steamed Buns"
Doesn't it seem kinda weird?
They didn't seem that great, and Nakayama was nothing special either.
Maybe they have some sort of secret strategy?
Something just doesn't add up.
Anyways, what was the point of me coming along?
Oh, about that!
We checked 'em out yesterday, but I think Kagemori is defense-focused.
Their ace is a submariner.
A submariner?!
Yup! Ibuki's gonna show you her pitch!
So much for that.
Right center!
Good one!
You've got down the form now!
Yup! I'm drilling it into my mind, so I won't forget!
"Risa - Fastball 90%" "Ibuki - Control, Curve, Two-Seam"
Dammit! Will this dumb rain ever end?!
Everyone is training, and we're stuck working out!
If Kagemori's so good at defense, we should be practicing too!
Hey, you hit my foot!
Quit whining and scoot your butt over.
Ryo, Sumire. There's a video I want you to see.
Huh?
I put together a video of Ryoyukan's fielding.
Second base?
They make it look effortless.
Now it's the shortstop?
Sh-She beat the runner?! What an arm!
What's the point of showing us this?
Now, I want you to watch this.
A typical fly ball...
An easy grounder...
Even we can handle that.
Piece of cake.
That's right. In a normal game, only three or four balls will come your way.
And more often than not, they'll be easy outs for you guys.
Of course, over 100 or so games, you'll see the difference in talent, but...
If it's just one game...
We're not so far apart, huh?
That's right! If you play like usual and don't make errors,
we'll win more and more games before you know it!
In other words, work on our fielding?
She's saying not to stress out.
Gather up!
Okay!
It's a little early, but seeing how our bench isn't changing...
Let's pass out our official game uniforms!
Finally!
Come get your uniform when we call your name.
One, Yomi!
O-Okay!
Here.
Th-Thank you.
Two, Tamaki!
Right!
Number one...
Three, Nozomi!
--Whoa. My number's sewn on the back. --Here!
--Whoa. My number's sewn on the back. --Four, Sumire!
Yup!
--We're counting on you, ace! --Five, Risa!
R-Right!
Seven, Ibuki!
Thanks!
Eight is mine.
Nine, Shiragiku!
Yes! Thank you very much!
And lastly... Ten, Yoshino.
Huh?
What?! Are you serious?!
Of course! We can have up to 20 on the bench!
You can come to the opening ceremony!
You won't play in the games, but we'd love to have you as a coach.
Here.
This texture... I'm sure of it!
It's the same as back then!
Without a doubt, it's Shin Koshigaya's official game uniform!
Isn't it great?! Now we all match!
Yeah! Look closely! It's mesh fabric!
The practice ones are different!
The rain stops once it's dark. Go figure.
I'm just glad we can have a normal practice tomorrow.
We're gonna head out!
Bye now!
Yeah! Good work!
Yoshino? We should probably get going.
Huh? Jeez, you'll get it dirty!
I'm just so happy! I'm in Shin Koshigaya's uniform!
When we get home, I'm gonna check who wore my number!
Hmm? Oh, Yoshino! You already put the uniform on!
It's so cute! It looks good on you!
Thanks!
You know what? I think I'll change into mine!
You're putting it on?
Put yours on too!
No thanks. I'm heading home.
C'mon, I wanna see it!
You will when we play.
I'll be too busy during the game to say it's cute!
Besides, I won't see it under your catcher's gear!
Okay, fine.
Check it out!
You guys look great! Like pros!
I know, Yoshino! Wanna play catch together?
With you, Shin Koshigaya's ace?!
Yup!
I'd love to!
It's a bit wet, but I think we'll be fine.
Great! Here it comes!
Okay!
That had some spin on it!
Nice one! You can throw pretty good!
Just enough to play catch with Ibuki.
It's been three months, huh?
It feels like the entrance ceremony was just yesterday.
At first, I thought it'd be fun just to play catch with you guys in a club.
That is, until I threw "that" to Tama.
Catch club, huh?
If you think about it, it would've been just like go-home club.
After school, horsing around and getting some exercise...
Chatting and eating sweets until it's time to go home...
That would've been fun in its own way.
I never thought we'd actually get enough players to enter a tournament.
But I'm glad that we did!
I'm more excited to play than ever before!
It's been three months of hard work!
Shiragiku and Ibuki are like star amateurs now!
With the data I've got, I think we can actually put up a fight in the tourney!
I hope we win.
I hear you picked this school because you loved it so much?
Word sure gets around!
I've been a fan since forever.
Our house is so close, you know?
Lots of girls on the team lived in our neighborhood too.
They played with us as little kids,
and everyone was so nice and polite that I loved the whole team.
We always went to the field and cheered 'em on!
Yup! I want my favorite team to win,
and the players I love to achieve their best.
I just wanna contribute to making that happen!
So...
Let me support you till your last season!
Sure! I'm counting on you!
By the way, Yoshino?
Hmm?
Can I throw "that"?
Not to me. Only Tamaki gets that special privilege, right?
Huh? I never said that...
But...
Mind if I join you guys for catch?
Me too!
Tamaki catches...
...and Yomi throws.
This summer, they're gonna take the Saitama tournament by storm!
You guys might become famous.
No...
It's you that might, Ibuki.
Everyone loves a budding rookie!
Oh, please! I'm nothing more than a backup for Yomi and Risa!
Kagemori High School... I wish I had more info than their win record.
I don't have any friends in that area, so I only know what we saw...
Huh?
"2-1 Toou 3rd (40--" "1-0 Komagawa (45 minutes)" "0-1 Yana U Kawagoe (1 hour--" Huh?
"2-1 Toou 3rd (40--" "1-0 Komagawa (45 minutes)" "0-1 Yana U Kawagoe (1 hour--"
That's...
--Ibuki, got a minute? --Eek!
Sh-Shut up! I just wanted to try it on!
I didn't say anything though.
But I'm glad to see you're finally in the spirit!
So? What is it?
In the Kagemori game, I want you to pitch for us!
Huh?
Hello? Yoshino?
"Kazumi Data"
I've got the pitching data you asked for about Yoshikawa from middle school.
Thanks a bunch! And one more thing about the Kagemori game...
Hmm?
"Yoshino Kawaguchi"
Risa and Ibuki, huh?
They've improved a lot, that's for sure.
Considering our packed schedule after Ryoyukan,
this might be a good test for them!
We're aiming for nationals, after all!
"Next Episode: From Zero"