The Old Baseball Player System

"B-Ball!" - The umpire announced a bit hesitantly. The ball was well outside the zone for most of its trajectory, but once again, before it reached home plate, it broke in a seemingly impossible way, coming very close to the zone. The umpire called it a ball, but even he wasn\'t sure if it had touched the strike zone or not.

"Whew!" - The second batter sighed in relief. He had decided just to watch this pitch, but he was also surprised by the unusual movement the ball took before reaching home plate.

"Tch!" - Daigo was a bit irritated with the umpire\'s call. In his view, that pitch had touched the strike zone. But since there was nothing he could do about it, he simply signaled the next pitch to Jiro, a fastball on the lower outside corner of the zone.

Jiro pitched as requested.

WOOSH

DONG

The second batter made good contact with the ball, sending a strong line drive toward center field.

POFT

The ball bounced on the ground right after passing second base, but that didn\'t stop Shun from sprinting toward it with everything he had. He quickly reached the ball, and without a moment\'s hesitation, scooped it up and threw it hard to third base.

Shun\'s throw was accurate, which made the first batter hesitate and stop at second base. But even though he had prevented a runner from reaching third, there were now runners on first and second with no outs.

Shun looked worriedly at Jiro on the mound. That last pitch had been a good one, and the batter deserved credit, but with the first batter reaching base on a passed ball, it would be difficult for Jiro not to be rattled.

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After all, while the young nerd wasn\'t a complete rookie anymore, he also wasn\'t a very experienced pitcher. This was undoubtedly the most important game of Jiro\'s career so far, and Shoto Junior High\'s ace was far from having an ideal start.

The third batter stepped into the box as Jiro looked at him with a bit less calm than usual. A slight bead of sweat started to trickle down Jiro\'s face, a sign that he was feeling the pressure of the situation.

Unfortunately, Daigo didn\'t notice this, so he placed his glove in the middle of the strike zone and called for a knuckleball. Jiro also didn\'t seem to fully realize his own nervousness, so he simply nodded and began his wind-up.

He threw his knuckleball as usual, but perhaps due to nerves, or because he wanted to place the pitch in the strike zone, or both, the pitch that was supposed to have no spin ended up with a slight spin, enough to turn the unbeatable knuckleball into a perfect meatball for hitting, right in the middle of the strike zone.

WOOSH

DOOONG

And, of course, Tenshi\'s third batter wasn\'t going to miss an opportunity like that. He swung his bat with power, without hesitation, and sent the ball soaring into the left-field stands, a three-run home run to open the scoring in the top of the first inning.

"Yeeeahh!" - The Tenshi dugout erupted as the runners trotted around the bases, celebrating. Daigo stood behind home plate, watching the runners pass him as they scored the runs that opened the game. He looked at Jiro with concern, unsure of what to do at that moment.

Meanwhile, Jiro was staring blankly at the celebrating Tenshi runners. Memories of last year, when he gave up over 20 runs to Hokuto, flooded his mind, and negative feelings began to fill his thoughts.

Unconsciously, he looked toward Coach Yamada in the dugout, hoping the coach would pull him out of the game. After all, unlike last year, Shoto had other pitchers available who could replace him. But unfortunately for him, Coach Yamada didn\'t move a muscle, he simply looked directly at Jiro with a calm gaze as he stood still.

Jiro felt a mix of emotions, shame, sadness, anger. He really didn\'t want to go through what he did last year against Hokuto, he didn\'t want to be responsible for his team\'s defeat again.

Jiro then felt an urge to turn toward right field and ask Shun to take his place on the mound. But before he could, he felt ashamed of himself. He knew that if he turned now and asked someone else to take his spot, all the hard work he\'d put in over the last year would be in vain.

Jiro then looked at Daigo, determined. The young catcher was about to call a timeout, but Jiro signaled that it wasn\'t necessary, lifting his glove and asking for the ball. Daigo was surprised by Jiro\'s attitude but also a bit relieved to see his friend hadn\'t given up. He then threw the ball back to Jiro on the mound, crouching behind the plate as he began thinking about how to get the next batter out.

The fourth batter stepped into the box, Tenshi\'s captain, the one Shun suspected wasn\'t middle-school age. Daigo and Jiro knew this batter was the most dangerous in Tenshi\'s lineup, and one bad pitch could easily end up in the stands.

After seeing Jiro\'s last knuckleball, Daigo decided not to use that pitch and to focus on the ones Jiro had better control over, his fastball and splitter. Since Jiro had just given up a home run on a bad pitch, the batter would likely swing at the first pitch, and Daigo knew this, so he gave a signal to Jiro.

Jiro nodded, and although he hadn\'t fully recovered yet, he did his best to stay calm and pitch as directed. The first pitch of the duel came.

"Fastball!" - The fourth batter thought as he swung his bat hard without hesitation. He was clearly aiming for another home run to put Jiro down for good.

WOOSH

POFT

"Strike!" - The umpire announced as the batter swung and missed.

"Whew!" - Daigo breathed a sigh of relief, having to do his best not to let this ball slip behind him again. He didn\'t know why, but Jiro\'s pitches were moving much more than usual today, making his job behind the plate extremely challenging.

Daigo then signaled for another splitter, hoping to induce the batter to swing again. Jiro pitched as requested.

POFT

"Ball!" - This time, the fourth batter wasn\'t fooled and just watched as the splitter fell to the ground.

Daigo then called for a high inside fastball, just above the edge of the strike zone. Jiro nodded and threw the third pitch of the duel.

"Good!" - Daigo thought with satisfaction as he watched the high fastball on the inner edge. He didn\'t believe anyone could hit a pitch like that, so he was hoping the batter would try.

WOOSH

DOONG

Unfortunately for Daigo, the fourth batter did exactly what the young catcher wanted, but instead of fouling it off or swinging and missing, the fourth batter sent the ball flying toward center field.

"Holy shit!" - Shun, who was in center field, didn\'t expect the fourth batter to hit that high pitch so deep either, but fortunately, he had his legendary chase skill to assist him.

Shun felt time slow down as he clearly saw the trajectory of the hit ball. He noticed that if he did nothing, the ball would go over the fence, but only by a few feet. Seeing that it was possible, Shun didn\'t waste time and sprinted with his speed boost toward the ball\'s landing point.

He realized he was getting closer and closer to the wall, but after assessing the ball\'s trajectory, he continued without hesitation. Just before colliding with the wall, he jumped, using his right foot to push off the wall and propel himself even higher. He then twisted his body slightly, positioning himself to stretch his arm toward the ball.

As the ball finally came into his line of sight, he stretched out his glove hand, feeling gravity take effect as his body began to descend toward the ground.

POFT

Shun landed dangerously, leaving all the Shoto players worried that he might be injured. Meanwhile, the fourth batter was trotting around the bases, watching Shun to see if he had managed to rob his home run.

Shun quickly stood up with a smile on his face, still holding the ball firmly in his glove, and without hesitation, he showed it to the umpire.

"Out!" - The umpire announced, silencing Tenshi\'s dugout as the fourth batter returned, unable to believe it.

"Yeeeahhh!" - On the other hand, both the Shoto dugout and the players on the field cheered at Shun\'s incredible play. With just one catch, the gloomy atmosphere of defeat lifted as everyone\'s spirits rose, knowing that this game was far from over.