Year 1: From the Starting Point
The weather is perfect today.
From my shortstop position, I glance up at the sky.
The sky is clear and blue, not a cloud in sight, and the stands are nearly full, especially the infield seats.
Today isn't even the final game.
It's just the fourth round.
But since it's a Sunday and Yamazaki is pitching today, it seems a lot of people have come to watch.
Gunjo University High School, where I attend, is a private school renowned for its strong baseball program. We've made it to Koshien nine times in the summer and six times in the spring, but this year, we're especially in the spotlight.
The reason is Yamazaki, our left-handed ace, who is on the mound today. He's considered the best high school pitcher in the prefecture and a top prospect for the professional baseball draft this year.
It looks like many people came just to see Yamazaki.
Apparently, professional baseball scouts from every team are here too.
But it's not just Yamazaki that makes our team strong. Our first baseman, Hirai, is also a standout. He's a rare slugger, standing over 180 cm tall, and by the spring of his third year, he's hit over 60 home runs, including two in the Spring Koshien Tournament. He may not be a first-round pick, but he's definitely a high draft candidate.
And although it might sound like I'm bragging, I'm also being considered as a draft candidate. Unlike Yamazaki and Hirai, I'm a potential later-round pick. But I really want to go pro.
I come from a single-parent household, and our family has about 2 million yen in debt so I can continue playing baseball. Next year, my younger sister will start high school. My mother tried to hide the debt from us, but I found out. If I make it into professional baseball, even as a low draft pick, I'll earn enough to pay off the debt and support my sister's education.
Fortunately, the scouts come to watch Yamazaki and Hirai, so I have plenty of opportunities to showcase my skills. My strengths are speed, solid defense (I can play anywhere in the infield and even outfield), a strong arm, and some power, having hit 10 home runs. However, nothing about me stands out exceptionally, so it all depends on how the scouts perceive my potential.
If I'm not drafted, I'll consider joining the corporate league or an independent league.
I look at Yamazaki, who is warming up on the mound. He seems to be in excellent shape. With such a fine day and a large crowd, Yamazaki, who loves the spotlight, is naturally in a good mood.
The game is about to start. Today's opponent is Yatsuhashi High School, a leading academic school in the prefecture. It's their first time in decades reaching the fourth round, and their ace pitcher is apparently quite good.
"Number one, pitcher Goka," is announced.
So this is their ace, Goka? I'll keep that in mind.
As the first pitch comes, Goka, batting from the right side, connects with Yamazaki's powerful fastball. The ball shoots up at a sharp angle and lands in the left-field stands.
It was lightning fast.
Yamazaki is stunned, staring at the left field stands.
Oh no, Yamazaki is going to be in trouble later. He was aiming to get through the Koshien qualifiers without giving up any runs. Our high school, as the top seed, started from the third round and won by a shutout in the fifth inning, with Yamazaki not allowing a single runner to reach base.
So, for him, not only getting hit but also giving up a run, especially a perfect home run, must be an unbearable humiliation.
I glance at the mound. Yamazaki is red-faced and shaking.
Oh well.
I exchange a look with first baseman Hirai.
"It's getting hot."
"I guess we'll have to leave it alone."
In his sophomore year, Yamazaki gave up a timely hit to a dark horse team and missed out on a shutout, but he struck out each of the next batters on three pitches. Yamazaki is the type to turn his anger into strength. He's very proud and strong-willed, which might suit him well in professional baseball.
After giving up the home run, Yamazaki struck out the second, third, and fourth batters with three pitches each. Even after returning to the bench, Yamazaki was in a foul mood, so no one dared to speak to him. From my perspective, it was just a lucky hit, but for someone who wanted to go to Koshien without giving up any runs, it must have been a blow to his pride.
Well, I'll make up for it in my own way.
I'm the leadoff hitter, so I step up to bat.
Goka, the opposing pitcher, has a good fastball, along with a sharply curving slider, a changeup, and a two-seam fastball. It's rare to find a pitcher like him, especially at the high school level.
I held out until the count was full, then hit a slider to center field.
No matter how good a pitcher is, we always hit against Yamazaki's pitches in practice. Even during practice, Yamazaki never lets the batters hit easily, so our lower-order batters and reserve players struggle to get any hits.
I see the bench sign from first base. The sign for stealing is given. No average catcher can stop me.
I take off running from the first pitch to the second batter and easily steal second base.
Kasai, the second baseman, and I have a good chemistry, both as batting partners and infield defenders. He doesn't aspire to become a professional baseball player; his goal is to continue playing in one of the six university leagues. He's a skilled hitter and rarely strikes out.
However, facing Goka, he was down to two balls and two strikes, and after fouling off three pitches, he struck out on a falling ball.
Does he use a forkball too?
This might be a tough game even for our lineup.
I managed to steal third base during Kasai's strikeout.
The next batter is Yamazaki. Despite his bad personality, he's a decent hitter with some power, though not as much as Hirai. However, Yamazaki's desire for revenge was probably too strong. He struck out on three pitches.
Ahh, the next episode is going to be even more intense. I discussed this with third base coach Nishikido.
The fourth batter is Hirai. Goka pitched him carefully, avoiding the inside and middle of the plate. With three balls and one strike, the fifth pitch bounced low and outside, resulting in a walk.
This kind of situation has happened often before. And the person who often delivers in such situations is our fifth batter, Yanagida. He's strong in low areas.
Hirai, the runner on first base, took off on the first pitch. Hirai isn't particularly fast, but he's not slow either. The catcher couldn't make the throw, and Hirai safely reached second.
Well, if he throws it, I'll run home. There are two outs, but with runners on second and third, a hit here would be ideal.
However, Yanagida swung at a low, outside pitch on the fourth pitch after a one-two count and struck out. This might be tougher than expected, I thought, as I returned to the bench.
In the next inning, Yamazaki's pitching was incredible. He didn't throw a single ball, all strikes. Even if an average high school batter knew it was a straight ball, they couldn't hit it.
The opposing team's fifth, sixth, and seventh batters were helpless, striking out on three pitches each.
Our turn to bat started with our sixth batter, but he struck out, grounded out to the pitcher, and struck out again, ending the inning.
Well, the next inning starts with our ninth batter, the speedy Nitta. Then it's my turn to bat. The next round will be the deciding factor.
In the top of the third inning, Yamazaki easily struck out the eighth and ninth batters and then faced Goka, the pitcher who had earlier hit the home run against him. Yamazaki seemed to have regained his composure considerably.
The first pitch was a low and outside ball. It's close control. Even if it hits the bat, it will probably be a foul. The opposing batter let it go.
Yamazaki was probably being cautious since he had just been hit for a home run on the very first pitch. The second pitch was a shot to the inside. Goka made a slight evasive gesture as he let it go, but it went from the ball zone to a strike, Yamazaki's specialty pitch.
Goka seemed surprised when the strike was called. Yamazaki also seemed to feel a little relieved. The next pitch was a straight ball on the outside and high. Goka hit it, but it was a foul. If he let it go, it might have been a ball. Yamazaki's control was impressive.
His finishing pitch was a high-speed slider that could be thrown from the ball zone into the strike zone. Just when it seemed like a perfect strikeout pitch, another satisfying sound rang out.
No way.
I turned around and the ball had hit the center back screen. It was the best pitch possible, and Goka connected perfectly.
Yamazaki stood there in a daze, staring at the back screen.
It seemed he still hadn't recovered from the shock.
Even as we gathered at the mound, he was still in a daze.
The first pitch to the next batter was a dead ball.
He also couldn't throw a strike to the next batter, so he walked him on a straight pitch.
The manager could no longer bear it and came out, suddenly announcing that the pitcher would be changed.
Yamazaki staggered back to the bench and slammed his glove on the floor.
That's something you shouldn't do as a baseball player.
I heard the manager yelling.
It was a sunny Sunday for Yamazaki, with a large crowd in attendance.
In what was supposed to be a grand stage for Yamazaki to show his best performance in front of professional scouts, he ended up suffering the greatest humiliation.
But I thought this was fine.
Surely Yamazaki will never forget this humiliation for the rest of his life.
And that will likely take him to even greater heights as a baseball player.
It would be even better if he had a good personality too.
Aikawa, our second pitcher and reserve, who is also attracting attention from professional teams, was the one who turned the game around.
Even in a pinch with two outs and runners on first and second, he got out of it by easily striking out the opposing cleanup batter.
Then in the next inning, the ninth batter, Nitta, successfully rolled a safety bunt to third base and reached base, and I hit the fourth pitch after a two-and-one count into right field.
With no outs and runners on first and third, I stole second base on the first pitch from Kasai, putting runners on second and third with no outs.
Kasai has good bat control.
In his second turn at bat, he could see the ball's trajectory and hit it back.
Although it was a grounder to short, the runner on third base, Nitta, made it home, and I also advanced to third base.
Aikawa, who took the mound in place of Yamazaki, was batting third, but he also hit a fly ball to right field on the first pitch, and I easily made it home.
This tied the score.
As for the game, the opposing pitcher Goka pitched well, but due to some errors by his teammates, in the end we won 7-2.
However, against us, the top contenders to win the championship, we avoided a shutout loss, and Goka limited us to six hits, completing the game, so it can be said he pitched well.
If we had a defensive line-up like we had, we probably would have only conceded two runs.
In that sense, although they lost the game, we could say that the battle was evenly matched between us.
In fact, we avoided facing him after his third at-bat.
After that, our Gunjo University High School, as expected, advanced through the prefectural preliminaries and defeated the strong Jujo Commercial team 11-1 in the finals, securing a place at Koshien.
This point was also due to an error, and Yamazaki ended up not allowing any runs other than a home run hit by Goka of Yatsuhashi High School.
We won at Koshien, then won the National Athletic Meet, and soon the professional baseball draft came around in autumn.