Chapter 132: Eijun's Analysis
Seidou High School, Seishin Dormitory
After Coach Kataoka announced the meeting's end and everyone had left, Eijun paused on his way back to the dorms.
Something seemed to come to mind, and he turned around, heading to the door of Chris-senpai's dorm room.
"You want to watch the Inashiro Industrial semifinal footage?" Chris asked, a bit surprised by Eijun's request.
"Yes, Chris-senpai. There's something about Narumiya's pitching that's been on my mind. I'd like to take a closer look, especially at his changeup," Eijun said, nodding with a serious expression.
"His changeup?"
Chris smiled slightly, a hint of understanding flashing in his eyes, and handed over the footage.
"Even though the final is the day after tomorrow, don't stay up too late watching," Chris reminded him gently.
"I understand, Chris-senpai," Eijun replied softly. He bowed slightly to Chris before heading back to the cafeteria with the tape.
Chris's guess was spot-on. Eijun had an unusual fascination with Narumiya's changeup, as both were left-handed pitchers with similar pitch types.
....
The following morning, at Seidou High School
As Seidou's players practiced batting, Miyuki looked at Eijun in the bullpen with a face of surprise.
"What did you say?"
"What I'm saying, Miyuki-senpai, is that Narumiya's changeup has a critical flaw," Eijun replied seriously.
From his video analysis and memories of a previous game, Eijun had observed a flaw in Narumiya's changeup.
He explained, "Narumiya doesn't fully control his changeup. When he throws it repeatedly, the pitch gradually rises. Although subtle, this upward drift is real. That's why he rarely uses his changeup and instead focuses on certain innings for it."
Eijun continued, "What's tricky, though, is that unlike my changeup—which veers slightly outward for right-handed batters and inward for left-handed batters—Narumiya's changeup is nearly straight and has a sharper drop, similar to a forkball."
While talking, Eijun mimicked the motion in the air.
However, Miyuki remained unconvinced. "Sawamura, you have to understand that's a bold statement to make," he said, frowning.
Chris, listening nearby, also shook his head. "Eijun, that's a bit of a reach. You don't have enough evidence to back this up."
Fueled by his knowledge from his past life, Eijun confidently held his belief.
In the original story, Seidou had overly focused on countering Narumiya's changeup—especially Miyuki, who was intent on intercepting Narumiya's decisive pitch.
This intense focus, however, led to an ineffective offense.
At one point, Narumiya and Harada switched tactics, throwing multiple changeups in a single inning, which threw Seidou off balance even more, ultimately forcing them to abandon their aggressive approach.
Eijun knew they needed to counter Narumiya's changeup strategically without allowing Inashiro or Narumiya to control the game's rhythm.
Naturally, Eijun thought of discussing his analysis with Chris and Miyuki first.
However, Eijun overlooked an important point: most of his conclusions were based on his past life's memories of the original storyline, which meant that he could be confident in them but had no definitive proof.
At first, Eijun hadn't realized this. But now, seeing Miyuki and Chris's serious expressions, he suddenly came to his senses.
Right… how could he tell them he knew this because, in his past life, he'd read the original story online? They'd think he was crazy…
Eijun opened his mouth but suddenly didn't know what to say.
Just as he was struggling to find a better way to explain himself, Chris gently patted him on the shoulder.
"However, Narumiya's changeup is indeed unusual. We'll share our observations with the coach and leave the final decision to him."
"Huh?" Eijun blinked in surprise.
Miyuki raised an eyebrow beside him.
"What do you mean, huh? Did you really think we'd just ignore your opinion?" Miyuki said, looking Eijun up and down. "This conclusion came from you re-watching the footage multiple times, right? Even if it's a long shot, it's worth considering any potential clues."
"Besides, while we can't be sure yet, we can at least confirm that his changeup doesn't deviate much and has a downward trajectory similar to a forkball. This is something we'll definitely bring up at tonight's meeting."
Miyuki's words made Eijun feel a sense of relief, as if a weight had lifted off his shoulders.
A happy smile appeared on Eijun's face—being taken seriously was all he'd hoped for.
"But, kid, I have to admit you really surprised me," Miyuki added, slipping back to his usual playful expression. "I never thought you'd pay this much attention to Narumiya's pitching. Could it be…?"
Eijun's face went blank, then annoyed.
Miyuki-senpai, can't you keep a serious mood for more than three minutes? You're really not helping your senior image here!
At this point, Eijun didn't even bother to respond.
Chris, meanwhile, just shook his head with a slight smile.
These two really were a pair of interesting underclassmen.
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