Big Windup!

(Nishiura-5 vs. Tosei-4: bottom of the 9th inning) Now that they have the lead, Nishiura must make sure that they don’t allow any more runs. Abe wants Mihashi to keep pitching his fastball, but Mihashi feels insecure, and is practically out of gas. Even still, Mihashi does not want to get off the mount and sticks in there till the very end, only to fall to sleep immediately after the game.

(Nishiura-3 vs. Tosei-4[Kawai]: bottom of the 8th inning) Tosei takes several gamble plays and is able to get one more run in to take the lead once again. On the second attempt at a run, Mihashi paused briefly before throwing the ball back home, for he was afraid Abe would get injured. Abe got angry with Mihashi but assured him that he would keep his promise not to get injured.

(Nishiura-2 vs. Tosei-3[Yamanoi]: bottom of the 6th – bottom of the 7th inning) Though Nishiura is playing a good defense, the lucky breaks that Tosei keep on having make the members of Nishiura seem clumsy. The mound becomes slipper as the rain pours down harder, causing Mihashi to lose his footing and throw a wild pitch, giving Tosei the opportunity to steal another run. To make maters worse, Mihashi’s fever is rising, but after Ruri tells him that Kanou and Mihoshi won their game, “Ren-Ren” has renewed strength and will to pitch the rest of the game.

(Nishiura-2[Mihashi] vs. Tosei-0: top of the 5th inning) After getting on base because of a dead ball caused by the rain, Mihashi and the rest of his team work hard in order to get one more run before the inning ends.

(Nishiura-1 vs. Tosei-0: bottom of the 2nd – bottom of the 3rd inning) Tosei still does not know what to make of Mihashi’s pitches, and Nishiura is still hanging on. Nishiura had a chance to get another run in, but the Tosei battery once again made Tajima strike out. During the bottom of the 3rd, Mihashi’s female cousin, Ruri, arrived at the stadium to cheer for Mihashi.

(Nishiura-0 vs. Tosei-0: top of the 1st inning) The first game of the summer tournament begins. Everyone is present, including the big crowd that Hamada got to come to the game. Mihashi and the team are starting off well; unfortunately, Tajima could not connect with any of the break balls thrown at him and gets struck out.

During practice, the team, with the addition of Hamada, continue to meditate, but this time start to actively train their relaxing reflex to trigger with the presence of a third base runner. Momoe-san and Shiga-sensei stress to Hamada the importance of the cheer squad, because the mood of the audience can make a break the team’s moral and ability to play.

In order to be able to play two practice games, everyone on the team must be able to play at least two different positions. At first, Mihashi is against the idea, but after being reassured that he is the ace of the team and that Abe will always be his catcher, Mihashi accepts the circumstances. Thus Hanai and Oki have the role of substitute pitchers, while the substitute catcher is Tajima. At the end of practice, the team unanimously voted for Hanai to become captain, and Abe and Sakaeguchi become vice-captains. With finals coming up, the team decides to study altogether to make sure that everyone passes. Taking this opportunity in the guise of studying, Mihashi invites everyone to come to his house on his birthday. The team ends up celebrating not only Mihashi’s birthday, but also the birthdays of Hanai and Suyama, whose birthdays had already passed. After eating, Abe shows the rest of the team how truly amazing Mihashi’s control truly is by having Mihashi pitch at his target.

(Urasou-2 vs. Musashino-1: top of the 1st – bottom of the 2nd inning) On the way to practice, Mihashi meets Sakaeguchi and learns about how in the Senior League, Abe was teamed up with an “amazing pitcher”. During practice, Shiga-sensei teaches all of the players how to meditate, saying that it will help them build a relaxing reflex that they can use when they are in a pinch. Thus the team starts to perform a 5 minute daily routine of meditating before practice. After a bit of practice, Momoe-san takes the team to go see a spring prefecture (Kantou) tournament game, Urawa Composite (Urawa Sougou, aka Urasou) vs. Musashino First. There it turns out that the “amazing pitcher”, Haruna, pitches for Musashino.

(Nishiura-2 vs. Mihoshi-3[Yoshi, Oda & Hatake]: bottom of the 4th – bottom of the 7th inning) Going into the bottom of the 7th inning, Kanou finally goes into detail about how great Mihashi’s control really is, and Mihoshi’s substitute coach comes up with a plan. Abe tried to aim for a perfect game (not letting any opposing players to get onto base), but because Mizutani missed the ball, the perfect game was lost. Abe then was determined to have a no hit and no run game, but since Oda followed the coach’s plan, Oda was able to assist his teammate to run home. To make matters worse, Hatake was able to rally by hitting a home run, placing Mihoshi in the lead. However, despite the devastation, Mihashi still has the will to keep on pitching.

(Nishiura-0 vs. Mihoshi-0: bottom of the 1st – bottom of the 2nd inning) Mihashi is pitching nicely, outing all of Mihoshi’s batters so far. At the top of the 2nd inning, Tajima easily hits Kanou’s forkball. Kanai tries to compete with Tajima and do the same, but strikes out instead. Momoe-san then stresses the importance of the team to work together, because Tajima needs the help of his teammates in order to score runs since he is too small to hit home runs on his own. During the bottom of the 2nd, Kanou explains to Oda the secret behind Mihashi’s fastball, saying that it is “faster than a slow fastball”, which is why it is hard to hit.

The baseball team at Nishiura High heads out to a training camp. As everyone is preparing for their first practice match against Mihashi's old school, Abe realizes that the catcher's role is not just on the field but is also to encourage and to protected the pitcher and his well-being.