Shin took out a few tickets and led them towards the stadium passage. Kazuya held Yoko's hand to prevent her from accidentally missing. Now that he had brought someone out, he couldn't let anything happen to her even if something happened to himself.
Yoko is the kind of child who is a bit precocious but has never seen much of the world. Her life was super simple, just staying at home and being ignored, and then going to school to be ignored. She just knew everything possible not to cause trouble to others.
If it weren't for Kazuya, she would never have dared to run so far with others. She also held Kazuya's hand tightly, preparing to watch a real baseball game in a real stadium for the first time in her life, with her Onisan!
The baseball playing field is a fan shape, starting from home base, plus first base, second base, and third base to form a diamond, called the infield. The other inbound areas are called the outfield. The distance between any bases is all 90 feet, and the place in the middle near home plate is the pitcher's mound, a place made of dirt for pitchers to throw, with a white pitcher's plate on it.
The field is surrounded by the audience seats, which is blocked by a layer of barbed wire to prevent baseballs from flying out and injuring the audience. However, the barbed wire is not too high and cannot stop high-altitude balls. They thinks high-altitude balls won't hurt anyone but can be considered as a gift.
The regional competition only competes for qualifying spots. There are strong and weak teams. The strong ones are of course at the level of Koshien, and the weak ones may not be as good as the strong junior high school teams. In addition, it was a first match, so there were not many spectators. Those sitting in the stadium were sparse and probably friends and relatives of competition team, or simply spies from other schools sent to study the opponents in advance.
Shin led Kazuya and the others to find a front row seat with a better view and sat down. Kazuya looked at the scoreboard: the two teams had now competed in the sixth turn, with a score of 9:1, among which Kanagawa Industrial took the lead by a large margin, but the Nishibishi Affiliated High School didn't give up and tried their best to defend.
Kazuya asked Shin: "When will it be Yuma's team's turn?"
"After this game." Shin looked at team names and replied.
They could just wait, and Yoko also looked at the stadium facilities curiously. After looking around for a whole circle, she turned her attention to the field. Full of freshness, she pinched the corner of Kazuya's clothes with one hand, for fear of him running away. However, she didn't pay attention to sports and understand much. But she was too embarrassed to ask, so she just watched there shyly.
Haruna noticed her and asked cheerfully: "Yoko, don't you usually play baseball? What about softball? You should have played softball, right?"
Yoko shook her head: "I don't play, Haruna Sister."
"You should play such a fun game. Let me teach you! It's very simple, baseball is just hitting the ball with a stick. If it flies, you win, if it doesn't, you lose." Haruna thought she was also a good teacher.
Yoko was confused. That's all? Is baseball such a simple game?
Kazuya interrupted: "Don't listen to her, ask your Shimazaki brother if you don't understand."
Haruna said slightly dissatisfied: "I often play baseball, and this is the way I play. Pitching is boring, but hitting is interesting. If you hit the ball so hard that no one can't see it, you will definitely win! I often play with Nobi and others. They all call me Strong Hitting Big Sister and say I have talent in professional baseball !"
Is that a home run you're talking about? Even Kazuya didn't quite understand what Haruna said.
Shin wasvery gentle, more like a brother than Kazuya. He pointed to the field and patiently explained to Yoko. Kazuya also listened with open ears.
Baseball games are generally divided into nine innings. If the score is tied, extra games will be played until the winner is determined. However, if the Koshien game is extended to fifteen turns and the winner is still not decided, it will be played again tomorrow. After all, it is just a high school level game, and they cannot tire players' body and cause any health problems.
A game consist of two teams, each team has nine players, and the two teams take turns attacking and defending.
Play starts with a member of the batting team, the batter, standing in either of the two batter's boxes next to home plate, holding a bat. The batter waits for the pitcher to throw a pitch toward home plate, and attempts to hit the ball with the bat. The catcher catches pitches that the batter does not hit as a result of either electing not to swing or failing to connect and returns them to the pitcher.
A batter who hits the ball into the field of play must drop the bat and begin running toward first base, at which point the player is referred to as a runner. A batter-runner who reaches first base without being put out is said to be safe and is on base. A batter-runner may choose to remain at first base or attempt to advance to second base or even beyond—however far the player believes can be reached safely. A player who reaches base despite proper play by the fielders has recorded a hit. A player who reaches first base safely on a hit is credited with a single.
If a player makes it to second base safely as a direct result of a hit, it is a double; third base, a triple. If the ball is hit in the air within the foul lines over the entire outfield, or if the batter-runner otherwise safely circles all the bases, it is a home run: the batter and any runners on base may all freely circle the bases, each scoring a run. This is the most desirable result for the batter.
The ultimate and most desirable result possible for a batter would be to hit a home run while all three bases are occupied, thus scoring four runs on a single hit. This is called a grand slam. A player who reaches base due to a fielding mistake is not credited with a hit. Instead, the responsible fielder is charged with an error.
Any runners already on base may attempt to advance on batted balls that land, or contact the ground, in fair territory, before or after the ball lands. A runner on first base must attempt to advance if a ball lands in play, as only one runner may occupy a base at any given time. If a ball hit into play rolls foul before passing through the infield, it becomes dead and any runners must return to the base they occupied when the play began.
If the ball is hit in the air and caught before it lands, the batter has flied out and any runners on base may attempt to advance only if they tag up. Runners may also attempt to advance to the next base while the pitcher is in the process of delivering the ball to home plate. A successful effort is a stolen base.
A pitch that is not hit into the field of play is called either a strike or a ball. A batter against whom three strikes are recorded strikes out. A batter against whom four balls are recorded is awarded a base on balls or walk, a free advance to first base.
Any pitch which does not pass through the strike zone is called a ball, unless the batter either swings and misses at the pitch, or hits the pitch into foul territory; an exception generally occurs if the ball is hit into foul territory when the batter already has two strikes, in which case neither a ball nor a strike is called.