On August 26, the U18 team held a press conference and a gathering ceremony in Tokyo.

Osaka Kirige Captain Nakagawa Takukawa was also named as the leader of this session by Supervisor Yuji Nagata.

The president of the Japanese Takano Company, Eiji Yada, served as the leader of this delegation, and further strengthened the atmosphere of the group ceremony with his speeches.

"I hope that starting from this group ceremony, the 18 players and staff will become a united team and work together towards the same goal of the Asian champion."

“Being able to challenge goals is the privilege of youth.”

"I hope you can live a journey that you will never regret as a closely connected team."

After the speech of the leader, 18 contestants explained their self-introduction and ambitions for the conference.

the next day.

The U18 team held a practice competition with Lijiao University, and the first time since the training camp was held.

Rikka University is a well-known Japanese private university located in Ikebukuro, Toshima District, Tokyo, Japan.

The school's baseball department belongs to the six Tokyo University Baseball League.

The Six Tokyo University Baseball League is a university baseball league composed of six universities located in Tokyo, Japan.

In Japan, such university leagues regularly carry out various baseball competitions and activities, and cultivate many players who later entered the professional baseball team, which is also an approach for high school baseball players.

Practice before the competition.

"Yosa Yosa!"

"Call over!"

"Hurry up!"

"Go!"

"Shimusang-! Is it okay?"

The players on the high school team were full of energy and shouted during practice. Especially Narama Daikiji of Toyoha Okikawa High School, shouted very loudly at the pitcher Kashiki Ren, but still kept roaring when he was about to finish the game.

"Hahaha! It's so full of energy!"

Media reporters and fans on the sidelines, as well as teammates in the rest seat, were all amused.

In this practice match with Lijiao University, Superintendent Yuji Nagata intends to examine the actual combat status of pitchers and line plays.

There are 8 pitchers in total, and Yoshida Hiroshi is still recovering, and the remaining 7 will take turns to pitch in the game.

In the online game, shortstop Xiaoyuan Haidou ranked first, and the center club changed due to the fact that Genwei Ang served as the pitcher.

Three sticks, third baseman, Nakagawa Takuya, and Osaka Kirie.

Four sticks, backbone, Fujiwara Kyoda, and Osaka Kiriyuki.

Five sticks, DH, Nishino Tetsuya, Baishan.

DH is the English abbreviation of Desiger, which means to designate a striker.

In general, in international and professional games, pitchers do not participate in the offense, but when it is the pitcher's turn to attack in the order of attack, the designated player will attack on the attack.

In line arrangement, the coach can place DH in any baton times, and the designated hitters do not need to participate in the on-court defense.

Simply put, the pitcher is only responsible for pitching, and the offense is replaced by the DH hitter.

In this game, Tetsuo Nishino served as DH, and he would only play when the strike order is five batons.

Most of the time, Nishino Tetsuki, as a substitute catcher, accompanied the pitchers to warm up in the pitching practice shed to find their state.

In other words, Takatsutsu Nishino received all the pitches from this group of top pitchers in third-year high school.

Osaka Tsuki ACE Ace Ace Lotus and Shortstop Neiyo.

Yokohama High School ACE Kaya Itawa.

Urawa Academy's actual ace Yutaro Watanabe.

Kikatsu Comprehensive High School ACE Nojiri Yukiki.

Yamada Ryushen, No. 1, Takaoka Business High School.

The 8 pitchers of the U18 high school team in 2018 can be said to be the strongest lineup with their own characteristics.

The most experienced one is Osaka Kirimi Ace, who has played in Kaziyuan for three consecutive seasons since the summer of 2nd grade. The fastest ball speed is 151 kilometers. He has the ability to start and finish the shot, and has the adaptability to relay suppression.

Urawa Academy's important figure in the quarterfinals of 8, Yutaro Watanabe was a right shot with a height of 190 cm. He lost 0 points against Osaka Kirige and lost all the shots.

Nojiri Yukiki, ACE of Kitakazu Comprehensive High School, has played in Kokoto for three consecutive years. He has excellent pitching and hitting, and can handle the crisis both starting and rescue.

Kaya Onagawa and Ryushen Yamada are left shots in the formation, and both have good offensive abilities to change the ball.

In the pitching shed.

After being eliminated from the first game, Takashi Nishino came back and continued to practice with the pitcher, and was squatting for Ichikawa Youta.

call out!

"Bang!"

"Nice pitched!" Tetsu Nishino caught the incoming ball, shouted and picked up the ball and passed it back.

Yuta Ichikawa of Myitaka is the only one out of 18 who did not participate in this summer's Kokoen competition.

This summer, he lost in the final against Kochi Shang, and Mingde Qijia missed the opportunity to play in Jiaziyuan for nine consecutive years.

At the Meiji Shrine Conference in November last year, Yuta Ichikawa led the Meitoku Fukuoka as an ace to win the second time after 36 years.

Although Ichikawa Yuta failed to enter the Islamic Kaziyuan with the team, many people still regard him as the strongest pitcher at the Myotoku Fukao in recent years.

"Xiaozhe, this time it's a straight ball, and the right shot is on the inside corner."

He raised his hand to show Nishino Tetsuya's grip, and Yuta Ichikawa shouted.

Generally speaking, when warming up the ball when the pitcher is warmed up, the catcher will naturally know what kind of ball it is, even if he doesn't say it out.

He has dark skin and thin body. Yuta Ichikawa looks like a not very active person, but in private he is very familiar with him.

The time between the U18 team and the team breaking up is very short. In order to gather the team, the coaching team hopes that the players can get familiar with each other as soon as possible.

The players themselves are all teenage boys. With the permission of the adults, they play with each other.

When it was night, the players slept everywhere in the dormitory, either playing games and watching TV or chatting and reading books, and their relationship quickly became close.

"OKOK!" Tetsu Nishino waved forward.

Yuta Ichikawa pitched.

He leaned forward and stepped on his left foot, and swung his right hand from behind to his body.

Little lifting the swinging right hand is almost parallel or slightly lower than the shoulder.

call out!

The baseball was shot in his right hand.

This is a straight ball with a sloping ball path.

As the ball path to the right hitter's inner corner, when it is shot, it comes to the center position, and finally moves to the left slightly when entering the base, and drills into the upper left corner.

This straight ball falls more violently and erratic, giving people the illusion that the ball rises first and then falls.

"Bang!"

He pressed and collected the gloves, and Tetsu Nishino caught the ball and stood up and shouted.

“Good pitch!”

"Haha, that's OK. Even if I'm a side shot, the straight ball is as tricky as it is!"

Yu Ichikawa grinned with satisfaction and showed off his little one.

"Yeah, senior Ichikawa is very awesome." Tetsu Nishino said affirmatively, receiving such a ball made him look very broad.

Side shot, also known as side shoulder throwing method, is one of the shooting points of a baseball pitcher. It refers to the pitching method in which the pitcher uses the action of his arms to swing his arms when he pitches.

The side pitcher's ball path has a large horizontal movement, so the hitter will feel erratic.

This type of pitcher usually plays a relay role, one of which is that it is difficult to increase the speed of the ball when side shots.

But Yuta Ichikawa was able to serve as an ace pitcher at the famous Akitoki Fukuo School and was regarded as the strongest pitcher in the team history, which was based on his talent.
Chapter completed!