"Who do you say he is?"
Superintendent Matsumoto's face suddenly froze, no longer smiling. The Best Catcher in Kanto, this title rarely appears, in his memory, he has also heard of it.
First of all, In the sport of baseball, the easiest to be famous are Pitchers and strong Batters.
This is the same reason that in football, it is easier to be famous as are striker.
The importance of other positions may not be inferior to theirs, and the strength may be better than theirs, but when it comes to fame, others can't compare with strong batters and strong pitchers.
For example, Kanto No. 1 Southpaw Pitcher Narumiya Mei.
This name appeared very early. There is no need to say more about Narumiya Mei's own strength, but the most important reason why he is famous is because he is a pitcher.
If he were moved to another position, even with the same wonderful performance, his fame would definitely not be as good as he is now.
In this case, if the catcher is not a strong batter, it is very difficult to get ahead.
Maybe you will also have some minor fame, and maybe you will also be favored by high school. But when it comes to the name of No. 1 in Kanto, it is difficult to stick in the memory of the public.
In the eyes of most people, the catcher is a job that does auxiliary work. Even if your team is doing well, most people will attribute the credit to the pitcher. Instead of putting too much attention on the catcher.
For a catcher to really become famous, he still needs to have professional scouts to investigate and professional data to be analyzed…
This is the value of a good catcher.
In middle school, he made a name for himself as a catcher. Even if it didn't cause a sensation, the raw talent was obviously very high.
This is also the reason for the doubts of Superintendent Matsumoto.
If Seidou High School really had such a catcher hidden in the snow, it would be impossible for him to remain silent for two consecutive years.
"I don't know the specific situation. After entering high school, I didn't hear much about him. I thought he stopped playing baseball after entering high school. I didn't expect him to join Seidou!"
The player who recognized Chris said hesitantly.
"How is his strength?"
Matsumoto continued to ask.
"Strong!"
"How strong?"
Hearing the question of Matsumoto, the player hesitated and said with a wry smile.
"In all our games against him, we never won. Not even once!"
This is the origin of his first Catcher in Kanto.
Chris was famous in his middle school's third year as the main catcher.
"Oh, come on!"
A Kohai in the second grade was stunned.
"So strong? Why haven't I heard of him?"
The third-year senior rolled his eyes at him: "At that time, you were still on the bench, and of course even if we told you, you wouldn't understand his Skills. Besides, Chris's junior club is also one of the strongest teams in Tokyo. After all, the catcher is not like the other positions, it is not a showy position. Therefore, when he disappeared, except for some of the main players in the same grade who have played against him, other people didn't remember him."
There is one most important thing in what the player said.
People forget, and after entering high school, Chris is rarely seen again. Chris was gradually forgotten.
Unexpectedly, in the last year of high school, he suddenly appeared again.
"In other words, is this player also a very powerful guy?"
A near-perfect Ace, Sawamura Eijun! A Blazing Fastball rookie with extraordinary potential, Furuya Satoru!
And the catcher Miyuki Kazuya who can completely lead the team! Now let's add, Chris, who was picked as the No. 1 in the Kanto Young Clubs?
How many years of luck did Coach Kataoka collect to have such a good fortune?
When Osaka Kiryuu High School was the Koshien runner-up last year, Coach Takahiro Matsumoto also believed that his students were all elite players.
Comparing it now, with this luxurious lineup of True Elites, they are simply a bunch of misfits.
"It's so envious!"
"STRIKE!"
When the players from Osaka Kiryuu were discussing Chris, the game on the field continued.
At this time, Sawamura had already taken the lead with two Strikes.
Both of his Pitches were very sweet, as sweet as honey, which made the batter's mouth water.
The speed and power of the ball have also dropped.
Because of the constant rushing forward, the physical strength is even more exhausted.
Overall, it felt like he was about to collapse.
"Almost!"
The batter eagerly glanced at his superintendent.
This is a request to attack.
"No, it's still early. The pitcher must be completely immobile. Isn't Coach Kataoka testing how his players can play when they are extremely tired? Then we'll do him well, and keep going!"
Two Strikes behind, the batter hits the ball to the pitcher mound.
Sawamura opened his Mitt to catch the ball and passed it to first base.
Three pitches! There are about 17 balls left.
The second batter, using almost the same routine, teased with a bunt before two strikes, and if Sawamura didn't run forward, they would bunt directly to the pitcher.
Sawamura ran forward but looked to be staggering on the ground, if the pitcher fell on the ground, the runner had a good chance of running to first base.
The exact same routine made Sawamura run twice.
The batter started hitting the ball towards Sawamura.
The batter didn't play well, though, and the baseball went to shortstop.
"Hyaa-ha-haa."
Kuramochi gave a laugh, picked up the ball, and sent it to first base.
"OUT!"
The two went Out with no one on base.
Sawamura threw more than six, plus the stamina consumed by running.
He is now barely able to get an accurate grasp of the ball control.
The game continues.
The third Batter, looking at the crumbling Sawamura, thought the time was ripe.
He kept begging for orders from the superintendent in the rest area with his eyes.
'Let me attack, let me fight!'
"Not yet, not yet!"
In the rest area, Takahiro Matsumoto's attitude was very firm.
At this time, even Osaka Kiryuu High School's own players couldn't understand what their Coach was thinking.
Finally, the third Batter faced Sawamura.
After Sawamura made one pitch, he missed the strike zone for the second pitch.
The number of balls is one Strike and one Ball.
The batter continued to swing the bat.
SNAP!
"STRIKE!"
Ping!
"OUT!!!"
Three outs, offense and defense exchange.
Chris glanced calmly at the rest area of Osaka Kiryuu High School.
In this inning alone, Sawamura's pitches consumed half of his 20 pitches.
The bait has been thrown, and the next step is to see if the fish will take the bait.
On the other side, the rest area of Osaka Kiryuu High School.
Superintendent Takahiro Matsumoto's expression returned to that kindness.
"The time has come!"
…
T/N: The Second Chapter!