Nice throws!
Thanks!
Huh? Where's Ms. Fujii?
She's got some catching up to do and can't come today.
I bet she's busy, being new to it and all.
Come on! Drop your waist more!
I am!
--Good! One, two, three, four, five...!
--Ibuki sure is getting lots of attention from Rei. --Good! One, two, three, four, five...!
--Six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve...!
--Rei seems to be taking Ibuki under her wing. --Six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve...!
--I don't think I've ever seen her having this much fun. --Six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve...!
Quit slacking off!
Ibuki's form isn't half bad.
It might be from all the games she's watched.
She's really good at imitating baseball players!
Sis! Do it! Do it!
Whoosh!
Perfect!
Before I knew it, Yoshino was basically treating me like some toy.
I see. That explains your batting and running form.
All right, 60 more seconds!
Oy!
The baseball club...
There's about seven of 'em?
They'll be lucky to play, let alone in the nationals.
I shoulda picked a better school. What a bummer.
I'll hit at the cages and go home.
Excuse me!
Did you come to see the baseball club?
Oh, I'm Shiragiku! Shall we go take a look together?
No thanks. 'Cos I'm not joining.
Goodbye.
Would you like to play baseball?!
You'll feel at home in our club!
Even beginners are welcome! You can be a regular member!
We're letting first-years play!
Come and check us out!
Okay!
No, I...
You'll get along with everyone!
Sounds exciting!
"Pitch 3: Take Me With You"
Guys! We've got possible players!
Ooh!
Really?!
And two of them at that!
Woohoo! That makes nine!
Welcome, guys!
Captain. Please don't scare 'em away.
I'm trying!
Ahem! I'm the captain, Rei Okada.
Could you introduce yourself and tell us your position?
I-I'm Shiragiku Oomura. I was in kendo through middle school,
so I'm a beginner at baseball and don't have a position.
Kendo, huh? What made you switch to baseball?
Well, I really wanted to try a team sport.
Huh? Haven't I met you somewhere?
No? Eep!
Kendo, huh? Nice! That's where you got all this meat!
Okay. How about you?
Right... I'm Nozomi Nakamura.
I played first and outfield, but I don't intend to join the--
Are you by chance left-handed?
Huh? Yeah.
Can I see your hands?!
Um...
Woohoo! We don't have any lefties!
Fresh blisters! You must've batted over the spring!
--It's begun. --You have such nice hands!
Would you like to join our practice today and hit with the machine?
Can we?!
Do you have clothes?
Yes!
Okay. I'll give you the key, so go change.
All right!
I was headed to the batting cages anyways, so this works for me.
Saves me money.
They do have good equipment here, it's just, they're not motivated.
Whoa!
That's awesome!
The nationals?
Too bad they were only good in the past.
Let's start with Nozomi since she's played before!
Good luck!
I'm ready.
Okay! Let's see what you've got!
I set the speed to match our prefecture's fastest pitcher, Kubota!
Even if she's played, there's no way she hits this!
Eek!
Th-That was incredible, Nozomi!
--Whoa! --Yay!
Not really. I'm used to machines.
B-But, who ever hits the first one?!
Here comes more!
Eek! Not again!
Who is she?!
She's nailing the sweet spot.
They're all going right back at the pitcher! She's aiming for it!
Why don't I have info on such a good player?! I'm such a failure!
Nozomi! Who did you play for in middle school?
Hakozaki Shouyou. In Fukuoka.
Fukuoka! Baseball country!
No wonder I haven't heard about you!
Did you ever play overseas?
--N-No!
--What a surprise. --N-No!
Didn't think anyone would move here to play.
I didn't! My family had to move to Saitama for work.
Life would be just peachy if this team was going places, but...
...I shoulda done better research before I enrolled, 'cos now...
Hakata dialect?
I promised my team in middle school that we'd meet again in nationals.
Nationals...
She's out of her mind to have picked here.
Nationals, huh? Since your team made it, what do you think?
Huh? I'm not the best person to ask.
Huh? She went to nationals?
Why don't we ask Yoshino?
You mean, like how good are we?
Hmm. Let's see...
There's amazing players even in a place like this?
Assuming these two joined...
Maybe around top four?
Huh? That high?!
Oh, please!
You think way too highly of us.
No, I don't. And it's not good to sell yourself short like that.
O-Okay.
But, that's assuming three months of hard practice and a bit of good luck!
I don't know why, but I feel like I can trust what she says.
Th-Then, how about next year?
I can't see that far in the future!
Could we win it all?!
Things change, so it's hard to tell.
You said you were a beginner, right?
Can you swing a bat?
Yes! More or less!
I'm ready!
Here it comes!
Whoa!
I actually hit it! What an incredible feeling!
No way!
You did way more than hit it!
How did a beginner...?! I've never hit that far in my life!
I need to remember how that felt!
Next one, please!
What the?! I can't hit a thing!
Aww, man! Was it just a fluke?
Seems so...
I remember now! Shiragiku Oomura!
The dojo daughter! She's the national kendo champion I saw on TV!
National champion?!
That's awesome!
You want to quit even though you're that good?
Yeah. I've always wanted to play baseball.
It's always been so fascinating to me!
And I love baseball manga!
But, my family made playing it difficult.
Can I play baseball?!
Only once you're the best in kendo.
So I gave it everything I had through last year.
But now that I'm in high school, it's time for baseball!
You're gonna join?!
Yes!
Yippee!
--Glad to have you! --Welcome! --Leave her alone!
--Shiragiku! Nozomi! --Leave her alone!
I'm our pitcher!
What was that?!
"Shin Koshigaya" "Strong" "Normal" "Weak"
We could use your slugging skills to back me up!
So?! What about you?! Will you join us?! Hmm?!
Okay.
Woohoo!
But, for me to join the team, I want us to have a goal.
Nationals.
Also, I'm not gonna lose to Shiragiku!
Huh?!
We've got enough players!
And a goal for our team too!
All right! Let's aim for nationals!
Yeah!
Huh? What's the matter, Tama? Come and join us!
R-Right.
Peachy! Nationals, it is!
Huh? Are you making fun of me?!
Peachy! Peachy!
You're not even using it right!
I got the balls!
Thanks! Get in the infield!
--Okay! --Sure.
I'm gonna help with fielding practice, so do some laps.
Is Tama being cold to me or am I imagining things?
Here we go, Ibuki!
Ready!
Nice catch! Next, Shiragiku!
Okay!
I went in too far!
All right! This'll be the last three!
I can actually catch now.
This is pretty easy!
Make that last five!
O-Okay...!
She heard me!
My legs refuse to move!
I'm dead.
You two can reach the ball a lot quicker now. Good job.
So, let's keep it up! After some water, we'll play pepper!
Second! Double play!
Okay!
Throw in the towel if you're pooped.
I'm holding up just fine.
Sumire, that was too slow! Ryo, control your throws!
Okay!
Yomi!
Huh?
You gonna run forever?
You're the one who told me to! So cruel!
In that case, take my turn hitting to make up for it.
Woohoo!
--Um, instead of using your arms, use your lower body-- --You want to wait for the ball to come to you and remember to make contact--
Wanna train some more?
Huh? Yeah, kinda.
Ibuki and I are doing some on our own later. Wanna join us?
Really? Sure!
Just swinging and running though.
Count me in!
Today was so much fun!
Hmm? What are you drinking, Nozomi?
Protein. Want some?
Sure!
It's so powdery.
C-Could I try it too?!
Anyone but you!
Huh?!
I'm doomed If she gets any stronger...
Um, fine then...
Really?!
Just a sip, though.
What an elegant sip!
Y-You'll get brawny if you drink any more!
--Later! --Goodbye!
--Bye bye! --See you tomorrow!
Yomi, there's something I want to talk about. Are you free?
Huh? Yeah...
I wonder what this is about?
Speaking of which, Tama acted kinda cold to me for most of practice...
I'm scared to know why.
It's so romantic here!
Don't tell me, Tama is...?!
As we stand here, the good teams are still practicing hard.
With talented players too.
You said we'll aim for nationals, right?
Huh? Yeah.
How serious are you about that?
You want me to be honest?
Y-Yeah.
I'm quite serious, actually.
"Says the girl who lost the first round," right?
I wasn't thinking that.
It's true, I didn't make it far.
But baseball is more fun to me than anything else.
Because I'm with you and the others.
I wanna go out and do my best with the people I love.
If we're gonna play anyways,
I figure it'll be more fun if we try to win as much as we can, I guess.
Right?
"Minami" "Sugamori"
"R"
Play to win or don't play at all!
Right!
Are you not all right with that, Tama?
Huh? Is that Yomi and Tamaki?
It's not that.
It's not that, but...
But?
I actually was planning to stop playing in high school.
Huh?
When I played for Minami Girls', winning was my only goal...
...and I practiced hard for it.
I guess you could say it was more frantic than fun.
The day of the entrance ceremony, when we played catch together,
it was so much fun that it reminded me how much I love baseball.
So, rather than caring about winning or losing, I just thought I'd enjoy it.
Even if we never assembled a team, I was okay with just playing catch.
Push too hard, and all the fun of baseball goes out the window.
And sometimes those who try hardest lose in the first round.
Referring to me?
I thought I put all that behind me in middle school.
But since the moment we had nine players and actually practiced for real,
and after hearing we should aim for nationals,
I'm not sure why, but I don't wanna play around now.
Before I knew it, I got all serious.
That's because you know the taste.
The taste of winning as a team!
You're right. I want to win with this team.
'Cuz I love 'em too!
Anyways, we'll have to practice a lot more now.
It's a matter of whether you can keep up or not.
Were you worried about me?
Thank you! But...!
Right now, I wish we could practice so much that we never go home!
And if we win on top of that, it'll be so much fun!
So...
Take me with you! To nationals!
I'll push through whatever it takes!
Sure. All right.
Let's go together.
Yeah!
It's so wonderful! Let me in!
But can the team keep up?
You've got a lot to learn. Like slide steps and defense.
Yes, sir!
And we'll increase your workouts too. Like double.
Huh?!
We need you and Ibuki to get in better shape.
Her legs need lots of help too.
I can hear you...
--Yoshino and I can work on a training--
--You called?! --Yoshino and I can work on a training--
You guys! Why are you here?
We were out for a run!
Yeah?
Did you hear anything?
H-Hear what? We just got here!
More importantly, let's talk practice!
Yeah!
Everyone, gather up!
Here's our new practice schedule!
Tell me if you've got complaints!
Oh my...
It's pretty tough.
Sweet! More field practice!
Practice is one thing, but she's even made us a special diet.
I can make the food if you want!
That's not the problem.
Such devotion...
Sorry! I wish I could stop by more!
Ms. Fujii! Did you finish all your work?
Yes!
Now then, I hear we're aiming for nationals this year.
Therefore...!
"Shin Koshigaya"
Uniforms!
Ooh!
Yoshino went ahead and ordered these!
That's right! But these are for practice games!
"Shin Koshigaya" That's right! But these are for practice games!
"Shin Koshigaya" The design is the same as before, but I gave it new life...
"Shin Koshigaya" ...by making the "Shin" a little bigger!
Yeah?
And in one week, you'll wear them for your very first practice game!
A game? Woohoo!
Let's see how far you guys can go!
We better not screw this up.
Our first game!
Yeah! Let's win it!
Who's our opponent?
Last fall's top eight:
Yanagawa University Kawagoe High School.
--What?! --They're a powerhouse!
"Next Episode: Pitch of Promise"