Source
https://kakuyomu.jp/works/16818093087122434729/episodes/16818622177751612685
The white ball stretched out and flew straight. The batter hesitated for a moment, overwhelmed by the power of the ball, but swung his bat with all his might.
Surprisingly, his timing was perfect. It must have been a wild guess, but he managed to swing his bat at the first pitch.
However.
“Guh!?”
The ball barely grazed the top of the bat and flew high above me and the batter.
It was a catcher’s fly.
“Okay, that’s one out. Let’s keep going, Itakura.”
“Yeah, nice catch.”
I threw the ball in my mitt back to Itakura and returned to my position.
“Alright, next is number two.”
Top of the first inning.
In baseball, the bottom half of the inning is said to be advantageous, so it was decided by rock-paper-scissors.
Next, the second batter struck out. The third batter hit a fly ball to third base.
The bottom half of the inning began. The first batter was Itakura.
“Here we go!”
A powerful full swing that sounded like a thud. It’s a powerful swing, like a slugger.
But sadly…
“Hey! Go further forward! It’s not flying at all with that swing!”
“…Your voice is impressive, though.”
The ball floated up like a luxurious omelet and barely cleared the infielders’ heads.
No, if the defense was in position, that would definitely be an out.
“Yes!”
Itazuka, who stepped on first base, let out a roar as if he had hit a home run.
“His batting is a bit off, but his determination… well, it’s impressive.” “No doubt about it. He’ll be a great player.”
Setting aside the two baseball-loving old men (the vice principal and the third-year class advisor) who started explaining from behind the bench, it felt awkward to step into the batter’s box after him.
“──Senpai. Good luck.”
A voice like that came from somewhere. But with so many people surrounding the field, I couldn’t spot the source at a glance.
“…Yeah. I’ll give it my best shot.”
Even if she couldn’t hear me, she understood. I whispered to myself and raised my right arm.
“Hmm, what do you think of the next batter, vice principal?” “Hmm, he’s a skilled second batter. He doesn’t have much power, but he’s good at singles, bunts, and handling the ball in the outfield.”
Wow. The vice principal, who is known as a tough, silent guy, is talking a lot… He must love baseball.
“Next batter. Get to the plate quickly.”
“Oh, sorry…”
At least I now know how others see me as a player.
Then… I’ll do the opposite.
“Okay. I’m ready.”
I took a few practice swings and stepped into the batter’s box.
According to Itakura, the opposing pitcher was a left-handed pitcher from the baseball team.
I think his signature pitch was…
“Huh!?”
A screwball. A breaking ball that curves while sinking toward the batter’s dominant side.
I didn’t expect him to throw it on the first pitch.
“Hey, Hayami. Do something about this.”
“Shut up, poten hit.”
To be honest, I don’t feel like I can hit it.
In the first place, I don’t have the technique to hit a slow ball far, and the opponent, from what I can see, is a relief pitcher. A closer.
A guardian type who defends the lead with all his might.
“Yeah. Let’s give up.”
I’ll give up on the screwball. Completely.
Second pitch.
The pitch type is another screwball. The location is the same as before, outside the strike zone. But this time…
“Ball.”
It was slightly outside the strike zone. It was a close call.
“Time, please.”
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing, just my pants got stuck in my butt.”
“…Fix it quickly.”
“Okay.”
I stepped out of the batter’s box. Of course, what I told the umpire was a lie. My real purpose was to ask,
“Itakura, how fast can you run 50 meters?”
“Um, I think it was 6.79 seconds or something like that?”
Huh, that’s pretty fast. Then.
“So you can run, right, Itakura?”
“Huh? What? Steal a base?”
“Oh, you get it.”
While saying that to Itakura, I glanced at the mound.
“…Damn, he’s underestimating me.”
Well, it was the reaction I expected. After all, declaring a stolen base is like picking a fight with the pitcher and catcher.
“Sorry, I’m fine now.”
I returned to the batter’s box. Now, it’s all up to luck and my bat.
＊＊＊
“Hayamin-senpai playing baseball… I don’t really have that image of him.”
Next to me, Mihoshi, who had finished her competition, was standing there. She was looking at Hayami Ren, who was standing in the batter’s box, with a somewhat anxious expression.
“I’ve been practicing with him a few times since two weeks ago, but I’ve never seen him do batting practice.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. He’s been catching the whole time.”
“I see.”
I knew that he went straight to practice as soon as he got home from school. I didn’t know the details, but still.
It was at that moment.
“Wait, no way…”
It was undeniably the sound of the bat’s sweet spot hitting the center of the white ball.
“…Impressive, senpai.”
The ball flew in a wide arc, easily clearing the heads of the infielders and outfielders, and then…
—Home run. With one swing, he scored two runs.
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