WOOSH
STRIKEOUT
TAKAHASHI! TAKAHASHI! TAKAHASHI!
[Our ace, Kenshin Takahashi, closes the game against South Korea without allowing a single run, it's a shutout. Japan advances to the final of the World Baseball Classic and will face the USA.]
"Toji, did you see that? My dad is amazing!" - a six-year-old boy with black hair and big blue eyes jumped with excitement as he watched his father and hero close the game spectacularly.
"Takahashi! Takahashi! Shun!" - a short young boy kicked his friend who was sleeping on the terrace.
"Ouch! Kenta, what's your problem, man? That hurt." - young Shun Takahashi grumbled as he got up in pain. He had a handsome but childlike face, his big blue eyes and black hair didn't match the expression on his face at that moment.
"Shut up, Shun! The coach said if you keep missing practice, you'll be kicked off the team!" - the young boy was Kenta Kobayashi, he was 14 years old and in his second year of junior high school with Shun. He was short, just over 1.60 m, had a serious and symmetrical face, and an air of maturity around him.
"Huh? Who said I care about this team? Tell the coach he doesn't need to kick me out, I'll quit myself!" - Shun got irritated with Kenta's words, then walked past his friend and left.
Kenta was surprised by Shun's words. The two had met last year when they joined the Shoto Junior High School baseball team. At the time, the team didn't have older pitchers, so Shun quickly became a starter. He was very dedicated and never missed practice. They formed a strong friendship, and Kenta always admired Shun's passion and dedication to baseball. However, things changed at the beginning of this year. With the first years joining the team, two talented pitchers entered the team, and Shun quickly lost his starting position. After that, he became disheartened and started missing practices. Kenta thought that pushing Shun to return to the field would reignite his passion for the game, but it seemed to have had the opposite effect.
Meanwhile, Shun was walking angrily. He couldn't go home, as his mother would find out he was skipping practice, so he just stopped at a park on the way and sat down. Some kids were playing catch nearby, and it brought back some memories for Shun.
His father had been a great professional pitcher, and since he was little, Shun wanted to be like him. The boy loved baseball and played with his best friends. They all joined the Tokyo Nakano Little together and continued to the junior team, but it was in his second year of junior league that Shun first experienced his own lack of talent. In one game, he gave up 15 hits, 5 home runs, and 13 runs in just 4 innings before being replaced. That was Shun's last game with the team. After that, no matter how much he trained, he was unable to show satisfactory results to get playing time. The rise of an extremely talented pitcher on the team didn't help either, but even so, the boy continued to give his best. He spent his last year in the junior league without even being chosen for games, but he believed he would turn things around in the senior league. However, reality was different.
"You're tall, but to be honest, that's your only advantage as a pitcher. Your shoulder is weak, you can't learn breaking balls, and your fastball is useless. I'm sorry, kid, but you don't have the talent to be part of the Tokyo Nakano senior team. To be honest, you should give up pitching if you want to keep playing baseball." - These harsh words came from the Tokyo Nakano senior team coach and shattered Shun's hopes of playing baseball with his friends in the senior league. But even so, the young boy didn't give up. He joined the Shoto Junior High School baseball team and worked hard to improve, but in the end, it was all in vain. The ace was quickly surpassed by two first years.
While feeling sorry for himself due to his own lack of talent, Shun heard a noise inside his head.
[DING]
[THE OLD BASEBALL PLAYER SYSTEM IS READY]
[Starting user evaluation]
"Huh?"