" Chris, how are you? Aren't you excited? Thrilled?"
"As a fellow Catcher, you should be able to feel it, right? Ushijima's pitch."
Miyuki, in the dugout, grinned as he watched Chris on the court.
Even from this distance, he could see Chris's excitement.
In the lounge, Miyauchi, also a Catcher, naturally understood as well.
"This ball, its power is like the aura of a ferocious beast, inspiring fear."
Miyauchi's speech attracted everyone's attention.
Especially the four pitchers.
" It's different from the power of Furuya's 150 km/h Four-seam fastball."
" Furuya's ball power is oppressive. The ball comes at high speed, as if it is infinitely magnified, making the batter look at it as a giant ball."
Miyauchi also accepted Furuya's pitch, so it's understandable.
"But Ushijima's Four Seams are a roaring beast charging at you."
"That beast-like oppressive aura also revealed the resolute determination of a king's leader."
"Like the alpha wolf in a pack, he possesses the strength and determination of a leader."
"Wolves value teamwork and rarely fight alone."
Even if the wolf king has absolute strength, it will still act as a team.
" Ushijima's Four Seams have a speed of 155. As a pitcher, anyone would stubbornly insist on hitting at that speed, making all the hitters admire him."
"But he knew that no matter how fast his ball was, it was all for nothing if he couldn't control it."
"If you don't control the ball and just pursue speed and pitch, such selfishness will drag the team down."
"It will only put the team in trouble and put them in a passive position."
"And his selfishness and willfulness will have to be paid for by the whole team."
"So he understood this, and thus chose to seal off and sacrifice his ball speed in exchange for ball control."
"Sacrificing some ball speed in exchange for stable ball control, coupled with the defense of teammates, allows for teamwork to fight against the opponent; just like the Wolf King, despite his strong individual strength, teamwork is still the safest and most effective way."
Only then did everyone truly understand how much Ushijima had sacrificed for this team.
Yes, no one can exert 100% of their strength.
Therefore, they choose to sacrifice some of their own strength in exchange for being able to cooperate with their teammates.
Such sacrifices and concessions require a great deal of determination.
"From the beginning, Ushijima said he didn't like being a pitcher, and I understood that."
As his partner, Miyuki naturally knew this as well.
"He said he wanted to be a power hitter, not a pitcher, and he just knew it."
"Knowing that I only have ball speed but no ball control, I'd rather be a hitter than show off my ball speed. That way, I can focus on training my hitting skills and improve my ball control before becoming a pitcher."
"However, he didn't expect that we would still see it."
"He was unwilling at first because he knew that once it was shown, it would be too late."
"He can't shoot at his full speed; he has to sacrifice speed for ball control."
"If he doesn't do that, and keeps using his ball speed, it will only drag our team down."
"That's why he was reluctant to show his pitching skills at first."
"On the one hand, they don't want to make concessions and sacrifice their ball speed."
"On the other hand, I also don't want the team to lose because of my pitching ability."
"Finally, it was because of the coach's high regard for him, and also because of our expectations for him."
"He still chose to make a sacrifice, suppressing the ball's speed in exchange for ball control."
"That's why Ushijima said before that he had more than just these cards up his sleeve."
"There are some slow ball types that he can play, but he just doesn't like them."
"He's a fastball player, he only likes fast shots, even if he can hit slow shots."
"He also knows that sometimes, if he throws too many fastballs, a slowball coming in suddenly can disrupt his rhythm, so he doesn't want to throw it, because he prefers to throw fastballs."
"And someone who likes to shoot fastballs sacrificed his own speed for the team."
"Just to make my ball control more stable and to give the team more peace of mind."
"Can you understand how cruel this is to him?"
Miyauchi and Miyuki's words made it clear to everyone on the team.
It turns out to be that guy who always performed consistently and was always someone his teammates could trust.
They actually sacrificed so much for the team without realizing it?
Coach Kataoka kept his arms crossed and didn't say anything.
As a fellow pitcher, how could he not see the concessions made by Ushijima Wakatoshi?
He just didn't say it because he wanted to see how Ushijima Wakatoshi would perform.
To his surprise, Ushijima Wakatoshi was unexpectedly mature and sensible, which put his mind at ease.
Of course, this means that Ushijima Wakatoshi didn't hear it.
He would definitely feel embarrassed if he heard those words.
While it's true that he made some sacrifices, it wasn't actually that serious.
The main thing is, buddy, you're practically cheating now, with so many different ball types, so making some sacrifices is only fair.
Otherwise, if I suddenly appear too extreme, I'm afraid you'll be shocked and won't be able to accept it.
...
"Good shot!" Chris stood up and passed the ball to Ushijima Wakatoshi.
Ushijima Wakatoshi, standing on the pitchers mound, lazily raised his left hand and caught the baseball.
Chris crouched down and glanced at the players in the batter's box.
He wanted to see how the attacker was feeling.
"Wow, what a terrifying ball power, it's like a wild beast."
"The ball is moving really fast, it must be at least 150 km/h, right?"
In a panic, the attacker turned to look at the coach in the locker room.
Mishima's coach was also taken aback; he hadn't expected his opponent's ball power to be so terrifying.
When he saw his players asking him for help, as a coach, he certainly didn't hesitate.
"With such a fast ball speed, it must be a red ball, so swing faster."
"If we're lucky, we might be able to knock it out!"
The coach gave a coded signal that made Mishima's batter nod secretly.
Chris, observing, had a smile playing on his lips.
He looked at Ushijima Wakatoshi on the pitchers mound and then gave a coded signal.
Upon seeing the code, Ushijima Wakatoshi thought to himself, "Great minds think alike!"
Ushijima Wakatoshi raised his hands, twisted his body, swung his arm, and threw the second ball.
call out!!!!
After leaving the hand, the baseball is launched at a speed of about 155 kilometers per hour towards the Home Plate.
"Wow, that's fast! Even faster than before!"
The batter was shocked, but he quickly swung his bat.
But his swing was still too slow.
The baseball plunged headfirst into the glove, before the bat had even swung halfway.
"Bang!!" Chris raised his hand to brace himself against the rising ball.
Chris caught the ball and excitedly looked at Ushijima Wakatoshi on the pitchers mound.
"Strike!!!" The referee waved excitedly again, awarding the ball a Strike.