"It's okay. It's normal to miss a catch, Azhe." Nishino Kazuya was afraid of damaging his confidence.

"It was like this at first. When the catcher catches the ball, it's different from when he hits the ball," Hiroki said.

"You can't just put the catcher's glove in position and then wait for the ball to fly into the glove. You have to make an active forward movement." Hiroki once again set up the crouching action.

"Kazuya, continue."

"yes"

Kazuya Nishino nodded and threw the baseball with his left hand!

"Snapped!"

Hiroki moved his steps slightly, adjusted his posture, stretched his left hand forward, and steadily caught the white ball.

Throwing the ball back to Kazuya Nishino, Hiroki added: "You also need to learn to predict the path of the ball and be ready to adjust your posture at any time."

"When the ball enters the glove, you have to hold it down in time, otherwise the ball will jump out."

"Yeah, senior." Tetsu Nishino said he understood.

Prejudgment?

While thinking about it, Tetsu Nishino squatted down and tried to practice.

"Yamamoto-senpai, please vote a few more times." He said to Yamamoto Sakuya.

"OK."

Standing on the pitcher's mound, Yamamoto Sakuya turned slightly sideways, holding a baseball in his right hand. He flicked his arm and threw the baseball.

"coming!"

This time Tetsu Nishino still clearly captured the trajectory of the white ball, but it was not enough.

Tetsu Nishino tensed his calves, stood up slightly, and stretched his left hand forward.

"Snapped!"

The baseball was caught in the glove!

Success!

This was Tetsu Nishino's first successful catch from a pitcher as a catcher, and he couldn't help but cheer in his heart.

"That's it, take your time and try a few more times." Hiroki said encouragingly.

...

Then Yamamoto Sakuya threw about ten straight balls to Nishino Tetsu.

Tetsu Nishino was able to catch most of the balls steadily, and for several of them, Tetsu Nishino even caught the ball without moving his glove at all.

And this is the real weapon "ball control" that Sakuya Yamamoto, as the team's main pitcher, can suppress his opponents on the court.

"That's a great shot, Yamamoto-senpai!" Tetsu Nishino expressed his sincere gratitude to Yamamoto Sakuya.

If Yamamoto-senpai hadn't thrown such a high-quality straight ball to him, he wouldn't have found the feeling of catching the ball so quickly.

Yamamoto Sakuya also gave him a gentle smile.

"..."

"Hey! Do you want to practice my changing ball? Azhe!"

Nishino Kazuya couldn't help it and suggested from the side.

Hiroki also thought he could give it a try, "Yamamoto, you've worked hard. Take a rest first and let Kazuya vote."

"Okay." Yamamoto Sakuya walked to the bench next to him and sat down to rest.

Kazuya Nishino moved to Tetsu Nishino's side of the pitcher's mound and picked up the baseball.

"Azhe, I want to vote!"

"bring it on!"

"This is a curveball."

As he spoke, Kazuya Nishino raised his left hand to indicate that he wanted to see clearly where his index and middle fingers were holding the ball. Then he simulated the trajectory of the curveball with his hands.

"Brush!" Nishino Kazuya suddenly took action.

When the ball was thrown, the white ball drew an arc and fell towards Nishino Tetsu's right hand.

"Crack!"

The white ball bounced off the catcher's glove.

"Next is the slider."

Kazuya Nishino once again demonstrated the way his fingers hold the ball and the flight trajectory of the ball.

After the ball was pitched, it started to turn left in front of home plate. Tetsu Nishino managed to catch the ball with his reaction speed.

"And then there's the knuckleball."

Nishino Kazuya raised his left hand holding a baseball between his index and middle fingers and showed it to him.

"Be careful! This ball is not easy to catch." Hiroki quickly reminded Nishino Tetsu.

"Brush!" The baseball was thrown.

The white ball is coming in an instant!

Straight ball?!

no!

Suddenly, in front of home plate, the white ball began to drop sharply!

Tetsu Nishino was completely unable to react to this change, and it was too late to adjust the position of his gloves.

"despair!"

The white ball hit home plate directly, bounced and passed between Tetsu Nishino's legs.

"..."

How to answer this?! Tetsu Nishino said in surprise.

Looking at Tetsu Nishino's stunned expression, Hiroki explained: "This kind of ball is really difficult to catch. It changes so much that even the pitcher doesn't know how much it will drop after throwing it."

"Compared with straight balls, change balls are much more difficult to catch, and of course it is also more difficult for the batter to hit them."

"This is what the action of catching a cross-finger ball is like this. Zhe-kun, please watch carefully."

Behind home plate next to him, Hiroki squatted down, knees forward, and knelt in a splayed position.

The catcher's mitt is placed in a holding position in front of the gap between the legs.

After completing this posture, Hiroki concluded: "This requires the pitcher to accurately throw the fork ball into the glove."

"What if the shot is out of position?" Tetsu Nishino asked.

Hiroki smiled and patted the protective gear on his chest with his hand, "Block the ball with your body!"

"..." Tetsu Nishino.

"Well, a catcher must learn to be hit by the ball. Using his body to block the ball in front of home plate is also an important ability for a catcher. Work hard, Tetsu-kun." Hiroki patted Tetsu Nishino's shoulder and encouraged him.

...

Later, senior Sakuya Yamamoto and Kazuya Nishino took turns pitching to Tetsu Nishino, allowing him to slowly find the feeling of catching the ball.

Before each ball was thrown, they would explain the ball type and approximate path in advance. After Nishino Tetsu was prepared, he was gradually able to catch the ball steadily.

Hongshu was also there to provide specific guidance from time to time.

Although there are still many missed balls, Tetsu Nishino is improving very quickly.

Tetsu Nishino is really grateful to have a senior with rich experience like Hiroki to learn how to be a catcher.

...

"Ding ding ding" the reminder bell rang on campus.

"Is it after five o'clock?" Nishino Tetsuo realized that it was already time to end training.

the time passes so fast.

He had been immersed in practice and was completely unaware of the passage of time.

"I have been practicing for a long time. In total, you have caught almost a hundred balls." Hiroki saw that he didn't want to stop practicing yet and looked like he wanted to continue. "Let's stop here today and practice all at once."

Too much is not good either.”

"Okay, senior."

Nishino Tetsuya could only agree and began to take off the protective gear that was stained with sweat.

"You are responsible for maintaining the protective gear yourself, no problem, Tetsu-kun." Hiroki reminded him as he took off the protective gear.

Nishino Tetsu nodded in agreement.
To be continued...