August 22.

Hanshin Koshien Stadium.

There were huge crowds of people at various entrances, long lines stretched out, and the mixed heat made the big characters on the event boards shine brightly.

[The 101st National Conference on the Rights of College Wildball Players]

【Decisive Battle】

【Hakusan(Mie)VS Seiryo(Ishikawa)】

After the pre-match interviews, players from both teams entered the court to warm up.

In the open space in front of the dugout on the first base side, Zhang Zhe was warming up with his teammates while watching the stands fill up little by little with the audience.

Especially in the support areas on both sides, the crowds were dressed in the colors of the home team.

The first base side is completely green, and the third base side is a large area of ​​yellow.

The players of the two teams who are warming up on the court are burdened with many invisible expectations.

Baishan University has won the first place in the history of the school, and it has won the first place in Mie County for 64 years.

Xing Lingmu refers to the winner at the beginning of the school's history, the Ishikawa Prefecture and the Hokuriku region at the beginning of the century.

As the live broadcast camera overlooked Koshien, the commentator's voice sounded loud and clear.

""Good afternoon, high school basketball fans!""

""This is summer in Japan! The 101st summer! The last day has finally arrived!!"

""The first king of Reiwa is about to be decided!""

""Which team will raise the crimson winning flag of the new era? Today we will witness it together with the 45,000 spectators!!!"

In the pre-match preparations, as usual, players from both teams formed formations to boost morale.

This side of Baishan.

Zhang Zhe led everyone to form a circle with their palms facing each other.

Everyone held each other's teammates' hands, closed their eyes, and silently perceived the things around them.

There were noisy sounds from the stands around him, the smell of soil being turned over after being soaked in water, his own nervous heartbeat, and his slow breathing.

"Huh...huh..."

When we held each other's hands tightly, we felt the solid touch from the rough palms of our teammates, and our uneasiness gradually subsided.

The reason why we are here is because of the accumulation bit by bit.

The dark face and arms, the old and new hand calluses, the broken fingertips, and the blistered soles of the feet. The hard training day and night mixed with sweat and tears have left marks on the body.

Now that the summit is right in front of us, we have to take the last step together!

After opening his eyes, Zhang Zhe led everyone to hold hands and shoulder to shoulder, and started with the slogan of captain.

"White Mountain——!"

"Must win!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

"let's go--!"

"Oh oh oh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

After roaring a few times together, the morale of all members of Baishan reached its peak, and everyone was full of fighting spirit for the game that was about to begin.

The same goes for Seiryo High School on the other side. The players were very excited after forming a formation and couldn't wait to give everything they had to win the first Xia League championship in the team's history.

During the pre-game salute, players from both teams rushed onto the court like tigers out of the cage, roaring and looking at their opponents, expressing their desire for the championship with their eyes.

The starting bowler for this final was Mitsuo Takawa, a veteran of Hiroshima Sho High School.

Mitsuo Takawa once served as a catcher in the 55th Hajia and led the team to victory. He also had an active professional baseball career and was a star of both high school baseball and Nippon Professional Baseball.

Since Hakusan High School had the first pitch, Komada Ryusei, who was the first at bat, swung the bat in a pitching style.

Usually at the beginning of the pitch, no matter how the pitcher pitches, the batter will symbolically swing the bat.

The gray-haired Mitsuo Takawa still had some of the skills of the famous catcher of the time, and he directly threw the ball into the glove of Seiryo catcher Shinnosuke Yamase.

"Pap tap tap!!!" The audience applauded.

Zhang Zhe, who was applauding on the sidelines, prayed secretly, hoping that he could be like this senior catcher today.

The air raid siren sounded and the game officially began.

Baishan High School takes the lead.

Seiryo High School's starting pitcher is junior Kyoshin Okawa.

Okugawa Kyōnobu had an ERA of 0 and struck out 45 times in this conference, and he had never been hit or given up consecutive hits.

Such a pitcher, who was hailed by the media as a "super high school level" pitcher, was caught with a hit on the third pitch just after he came on the plate.

"Qiang!"

As soon as he heard this voice, Zhang Zhe immediately followed the ball to the right field and blurted out.

"Hit!"

I saw the baseball being lifted over the head of the infield, then landed on the lawn within the sideline, and rolled towards the corner of the lawn.

This is hard on the starry right fielder.

The action of chasing the ball is like chasing a scurrying mouse. It feels strenuous to watch and inevitably delays for a few seconds.

In the infield, Komada Ryusei walks like flying.

"start running!"

"Run quickly! Run quickly!!"

Amid shouts in the Hakusan dugout, Komada Ryusei reached third base in one breath.

The three-base hit in the opening game was unexpected.

The conference's leading pitcher, Kyoshin Okukawa, who had no at-bats before the finals, unexpectedly scored against the Hakusan batter early.

"One more!!"

"Konda!!!"

"Fight it out!!"

Off the court, the White Mountain players were furious and yelled at their teammates to continue playing long games and to attack the opponent's defense in one go.

While the players were excited, the coaches remained calm.

Higashi Takuji and Toyama Ekikei decided to be more prudent.

The opponent in the final is different from the past. It is very difficult to continuously break through the defense. Instead of blindly adding points, it is better to choose tactics to increase the probability of scoring.

This moment is another moment, and the final is worth adapting to.

Supervisor Higashi Takuji touched his hat and patted his shoulder, giving a secret signal to Shogo Konda who came on to attack.

【Sacrifice to get points】

Whether it's a bunt hit, a run or a fly ball, regardless of whether Shogo Konda can get on base safely, he has to find a way to send Ryusei Komada back to third base.

Baishan's intention to score first is obvious.

Xing Leng responded immediately, shrinking the defensive line and moving the infield defense forward. If the ball fell in the infield, he would first catch the third base runner, which reduced Baishan's tactical options.

The fly ball has a relatively high failure rate among the sacrifice-earning tactics. If the batter is not careful during execution, he will be struck out, and even if the ball is hit, he may not be able to hit the ball far enough.

Hakusan's response was for Konda Shogo to pretend to strike with his horizontal stick.

It doesn't mean that everything will be fine if the infield defense moves forward. If Baishan is determined to sacrifice strikes and force points, the chance of successfully surviving home plate is not low.

The shooting confrontation between the players on the court was lively, and the supervision of the two teams off the court was also lively.

Virtual and real, you come and I go.

After counting the balls.

"Qiang!"

The baseball headed for home plate was hit, then flew over the pitcher's mound, slowly climbing toward center field.

Upon seeing this, the Xingling players immediately changed their formation to ensure a position to receive the kill. They knew that unless the Baishan players made mistakes themselves, the result of this confrontation on the bench would be determined.

In the infield, Komada Ryusei, who was stepping on the third-base bag, watched the center fielder's movements in the distance, and after confirming that the ball fell into his glove, he ran back to home plate.

There's plenty of time.

In a good mood, Komada Ryusei deliberately adjusted his steps and switched to his usual right foot to step on home plate.

clatter!
Chapter completed!