Shun pitched to all his teammates, and although he called it a hitting practice, his teammates certainly wouldn't describe it that way. No one managed even a single hit off Shun's pitches.
Shun wasn't fully satisfied with his teammates' performance, but he understood that he couldn't expect much from them, as they rarely faced left-handed pitchers. The only positive was that the more Shun pitched to them, the more his teammates would get used to left-handed pitchers.
After Shun finished pitching to the entire team, he gave up his spot on the mound for the pitching machine as batting practice continued. Shun then joined Daigo and Jiro in the bullpen, watching as Jiro went through a light pitching session.
"Your pitches are looking good, Jiro. As long as you pitch like this against Tenshi, you won't have any problems." - Shun said calmly as he observed Jiro's pitches. He knew that if Jiro was having a good day, not only Tenshi Junior High but any middle school team would struggle with his pitches, especially his knuckleball.
"Yes, senpai!" - Jiro replied enthusiastically as he received the ball from Daigo and quickly resumed pitching. Although he was excited, Jiro was also feeling the pressure, after all, Shoto was getting closer to their main goal, the Kanto tournament, and with each game they qualified for, the stakes grew higher.
---
Meanwhile, Ryosuke was walking through the streets near the school, lost in thought. He remembered Sho's words, how Jiro had ignored him, the disappointed expressions of his teammates when he left the dugout, and the way Shun had aggressively thrown him to the ground before he was expelled from the team. Part of him wanted to go back and apologize, but his pride still held him back.
"Hmph! I don't need them!" - Ryosuke murmured to himself, trying to convince himself. But deep down, he knew there was something more. He missed the field, the practices, and the feeling of being part of the team. And now, watching Shoto advance in the tournament without him, the frustration only grew.
Suddenly, he stopped and looked up at the sky, remembering his dream of becoming one of the best baseball players in the world and playing professionally with his brother.
"Maybe... maybe it's time to swallow my pride and apologize..." - He whispered, uncertain. But that thought quickly faded as the immaturity of a first-year middle school boy took over.
"Hmph! Never!" - Ryosuke muttered, irritated with himself for even thinking about apologizing. He resumed his walk, trying to stop thinking about anything related to Shoto Junior High and baseball.
---
Two days later, Wednesday, at the stadium where the fifth round of the Tokyo tournament would take place...
The Shoto Junior High team arrived in the dugout, prepared for the game. Over the past two days, they had ample time to get ready, especially the hitters, who had the chance to bat against Shun a lot of times in the last two days.
Kenta left the dugout and walked to the umpire while observing Tenshi's captain doing the same. Kenta's first impression was that Tenshi's captain looked anything but a middle school player. He wasn't very tall, but he had a broad frame and a mature face.
Watching from a distance, Shun nearly protested to the umpire when he saw the facial hair on Tenshi's captain, but he knew it wouldn't do much good, as the Tenshi captain was probably one of those kids who hit puberty a bit too early.
In fact, most of the Tenshi players looked a few years older than they were, and combined with their strong builds, Shun began to wonder what kind of food these guys were eating at the Tenshi baseball club.
"Shoto, the choice is yours!" - While Shun was lost in thought, the umpire had already tossed the coin to decide who would start.
"Wow!" - Daigo muttered, impressed as he stood up and tossed the ball back to Jiro. This time, the knuckleball dove toward the ground before reaching the plate, and Daigo had to work hard just to track and catch the ball, so he didn't find it surprising at all that the batter had missed.
"Let's switch it up a bit..." - Daigo thought as he signaled for a fastball on the high, inside corner.
WOOSH
DING
"Foul!"
"He managed to defend the zone even with his swing delayed. Impressive..." - Daigo thought from behind the plate, unable to deny the quality of this first batter. Even after seeing two extremely slow pitches, he'd managed to make contact with Jiro's fastball and stay in the game.
"Let's finish this now!" - Daigo thought as he positioned his glove low in the zone and signaled for the one pitch Jiro hadn't thrown yet in this game, the splitter.
Jiro nodded at the signal, and without hesitation, he threw the requested pitch.
"Fastball, in the zone!" - The first batter watched the pitch traveling quickly toward him, and when he saw it touching the lower part of the zone, he felt compelled to swing to avoid striking out.
WOOSH
POFT
"StrikeOut!" - The umpire announced as the first batter swung and missed while Jiro's splitter hit the ground hard.
"Damn!" - The first batter cursed in frustration, starting to walk back to the dugout with his head down, but a loud voice rang in his ears.
"Run!" - Tenshi's coach shouted urgently from the dugout, making the batter look toward home plate where Daigo should be. But when he saw the Shoto catcher running backward, he realized what was happening and sprinted with all his might to first base.
"Safe!" - The umpire announced as the first batter reached first base.
Meanwhile, Daigo had finally reached the ball he had let slip past him. He held the ball in his hand, keeping a close eye on the runner to prevent him from advancing to second. The young catcher then returned to his spot behind the plate, throwing the ball back to Jiro on the mound with an apologetic look.
Jiro received the ball on the mound calmly, nodding at Daigo to signal it was all right. Although he was a bit frustrated to have struck out a batter in vain, he understood that he needed to keep his composure and focus to pitch well.
In baseball, even if the batter swings and misses with two strikes, if the ball hits the ground, the tag on first base is required to secure the out. And since Daigo allowed Jiro's splitter to slip past him, the first batter managed to reach first base safely despite being struck out.
"Don't let this shake you, Jiro..." - Shun thought as he watched Jiro on the mound from center field. Positioned right behind Jiro, he could see how insane the young nerd's pitches were breaking, and because of that, he hoped Jiro wouldn't get rattled by the passed ball.