The Old Baseball Player System

The second inning began with a pitching change for Hokuto. The first-year pitcher was replaced by a tall second-year boy, but this change was not enough to hold back the top of the Shoto Junior High order. Exclusive tales from m v lem|p-yr

Shun started the inning again, easily hitting a double. The pitcher then allowed a single to Ren, leaving runners on the corners, and then walked Kenta, loading the bases.

Daigo then hit a sacrifice fly to center field, allowing Shun to score. However, the inning ended quickly with an incredible play by shortstop Isamu, resulting in a double play on Sora's hit.

In this way, Hokuto managed to keep the score at "only" six runs in the second inning.

"Nice play, Isamu!" – Kohei congratulated his friend for the great play when he returned to the dugout, but the boy didn't seem happy at all.

"Hm." – Isamu simply nodded, clearly dissatisfied with his team's current performance. In fact, none of the Hokuto players expected this. If someone had told them yesterday that they would be trailing 6-0 in the second inning against Shoto Junior High, they probably would have laughed in their face.

Sugawara entered and left the dugout without saying a word. The young man grabbed his bat and helmet, walking to the batter's box with an excited smile. The white-haired maniac didn't care about the current result of the game, after all, this was just a practice match. For now, Sugawara's only concern was destroying the tall, blue-eyed boy on the mound.

Shun stared at Sugawara and smiled. This guy was losing 6-0 but still wore a smile on his face, he really was a maniac... Shun wasted no time. He wanted to challenge the catcher chosen to represent Japan's Under-15 team. The first pitch came.

WOOSH

PAH

"Strike!"

Sugawara looked back in surprise. When he swung, he was sure he would at least make contact, but the ridiculous break of the pitch made him miss by more than a foot. The boy then looked at Shun and grinned. He really didn't expect to face someone so interesting today, which made him want to destroy Shun even more.

Shun received the ball from Daigo and quickly positioned himself on the mound again. Without wasting time, he continued the duel and threw another pitch.

WOOSH

DING

This time, Sugawara managed to make contact with the ball, but due to the completely different break of the slider, he ended up making weak contact, popping the ball up.

Daigo quickly stood up and threw his mask on the ground while looking up. After just a few steps, he stopped and positioned his glove overhead.

PAH

"Out!"

"Tch! Let's see if you'll have that luck next time." – Sugawara grumbled as he walked back to the dugout, irritated. He wasn't happy at all about losing his first duel against Shun.

"Haha, who would have thought you'd be taken out too, Suga!" – Kohei laughed as he smiled at his friend, though he was actually quite surprised. As a pitcher, he knew it wasn't easy to take out the white-haired maniac with just two pitches. Kohei couldn't help but look at Shun on the mound with interest. It seemed things would be fun this summer.

WOOSH

PAH

"Strike!"

WOOSH

PAH

"Strike!"

WOOSH

PAH

"Strikeout!"

Shun quickly struck out the fifth batter. Aside from Sugawara, he was confident that no one on Hokuto's team could touch his pitches in their first at-bats.

"Well, I guess I'll start warming up." – Kohei said as he started walking towards the bullpen.

"Huh? You're not pitching today." – Sugawara said in surprise. For the first time, he took his eyes off the game and looked at his friend.

"Haha, the game is so interesting; there's no way I can't play!" – Kohei ignored his friend's words and continued on his way to the bullpen.

"You..." – Sugawara was irritated by being ignored by Kohei, but the loud sound of Shun's pitch hitting Daigo's glove brought his attention back to the field.

WOOSH

PAH

"Strike!"

WOOSH

PAH

"Strike!"

WOOSH

PAH

"Strikeout! 3 outs, changeover!"

First-year prodigy Ryosuke reached base again at the beginning of the third inning. But after the seventh batter was struck out, Ryosuke was thrown out on a reckless attempt to steal second base, courtesy of a throw from Sugawara.

Shun watched Ryosuke's reckless play and sighed. When the boy returned to the dugout, Coach Yamada called him over, and then Kenta, as the captain, had a small talk with him. Because of this, Shun didn't find it necessary to speak to him as well.

The top of the third inning ended after the eighth batter hit directly to the third baseman's glove. In this way, Shun returned to the mound with the mission to keep the score at 6-0. And that's exactly what he did.

WOOSH

PAH

"Strike!"

WOOSH

PAH

"Strike!"

WOOSH

PAH

"Strikeout!"

WOOSH

PAH

"Strike!"

WOOSH

PAH

"Strike!"

WOOSH

PAH

"Strikeout!"

WOOSH

PAH

"Strike!"

WOOSH

PAH

"Strike!"

WOOSH

PAH

"Strikeout! 3 outs, changeover!"

The bottom of Hokuto's order was quickly struck out, with Shun pitching yet another immaculate inning. Before returning to the dugout, Shun looked toward the opponent's bullpen and smiled.

"Finally, you're coming out!" – Shun said excitedly as he saw Hokuto's left-hander warming up his shoulder in the bullpen.

Shun quickly entered and left the dugout, heading to the on-deck circle with his bat and helmet. He started swinging into the air while waiting for the ninth batter's at-bat to end.

WOOSH

PAH

"Out!"

Shun watched as the ninth batter was taken out on a fly ball to the first baseman. He began walking towards the batter's box while looking at the opponent's dugout.

"Pitcher change!" – Hokuto's coach left the dugout and announced exactly what Shun wanted to hear. Shun looked at the brown-haired boy running toward the mound and smiled. Finally, this game was going to start for real!

It made no sense to play this game if it wasn't to face this guy, the left-handed ace of Hokuto, the only middle school pitcher who doesn't play in the senior league chosen for the national U-15 team, Kohei Sasaki.