Momoe’s strategy, sinkers and forkballs, Mihashi’s big debut, Tajima against Junta, #1, the crowd and cheerers, and the beginning of the exciting first round match against Tosei and Nishiura in…

Ookiku Furikabutte 14 – Fight! 「挑め！」

Cloudy skies greet the first round game between Tosei and Nishiura. After announcing the batting order, the Nishiura team breaks from their hurdle. Abe touches Mihashi’s palm and finds that it is warm, signifying that Mihashi is not nervous.

As people starts to crowd the stadium, Hamada tries to round up all the Nishiura supporters. From the crowd, Hamada spots Mihashi’s mother. He immediately runs up to greet her.

In the Tosei dugout, Kazuki observes the opposing team, taking note of the female coach and the all-freshman team. Then, Shingo comes over, confidently telling Kazuki that the win is theirs to take. The other Tosei members turn their gazes his way, while Kazuki asks him to keep his voice down.

After warming up, Mihashi is surprised to see all the people who came to watch the game. He also takes notice of the people Hamada gathered to cheer for them. Fear starts to take over as he recalls what it was like in middle school. Initially, many people would flock to the stands to cheer. As the game progressed, cheers slowly turned into jeers and gradually the stands became empty. Eventually, stopped to go to their games completely and Mihashi blames himself for it.

Hamada’s voice awakens Mihashi from his trance. Mihashi quickly runs towards the stands to talk with his mom and Hamada. Mihashi’s mom remarks that the number on her son’s back seems to be crooked. Mihashi’s mom gently declines the help. She would like to do it on her own, to show how proud she is. She admits that she could not believe it at first and even thought that Mihashi was being bullied, after seeing the #1 was written on his jersey with a marker. Now, however, she knows that it is not a mistake and is very proud of Mihashi. Mihashi blushes, happy to hear his mother say those words and for believing in him as the team’s ace.

Seeing Tosei do warm-ups fills Momoe with a feeling of excitement. She feels honored that Tosei is taking them seriously and wearing their best game face for them.

Finally, the game is underway. Izumi is first at bat and takes a bunting position against Tosei’s pitcher, Takase Junta. Izumi can hit 130kph balls from the pitching machine. However, he knows that it is not the same when facing an actual pitcher with the same speeds. Junta throws a ball for the first pitch. Kazuki is slightly worried over not having any data on the batters. After the second pitch, the count goes 0-2. Knowing that Tosei would want to get a strike, they anticipate that Junta would pitch a slider. Junta does allowing to Izumi to connect and get base.

Up next is Sakaeguchi. He too assumes the bunting position, which elicits a curious look from Kazuki. Sakaeguchi bunts on a straight and is thrown out, while Izumi safely advances to second.

Suyama takes up bat and is also instructed to bunt. Suyama wants to make good on his turn at bat and move Izumi to third base. Hoping that with Tajima up next, they will be able to score. Izumi takes his lead off and without warning, Junta attempts a pickoff. Suyama gets the feeling that the pitcher may be anxious. Meanwhile, Kazuki swears under his breath because some of his nervousness is rubbing off on Junta. Junta throws the pitch. Suyama bunts, runs to first but is tagged out.

Out on the stands, the mothers talk about Tajima’s baseball prowess. With two outs and a man on third, Tajima takes the plate. Momoe has set the table for Tajima. She signals Izumi to run home as soon as the ball is hit.

Kazuki figures that Tajima cannot possibly send the ball flying due to his small build. However, given that the play has been setup for him, Tajima must be an exceptional batter.

Junta throws a forkball for the first strike. Hanai recalls how Kazuki’s signs follow a pattern: the use of forkballs for right-hand hitters and sinkers for lefties. Tajima takes a swing at the next pitch, a sinker, but misses. The Nishiura team is stunned after Tajima strikes out, failing again in hitting the second sinker. With Tajima having trouble batting against the sinker, he leaves it to Hanai. Hanai will most likely be able to hit Junta’s forkballs.

Nishiura takes the defensive. Abe is relieved, as it seems that Mihashi is not nervous at all. Getting ready to pitch, Mihashi’s determination rises as he vows to do his best as Nishiura’s #1, the ace.

Thoughts

This episode features the start of the first round game. It is off to a great start with some intriguing developments. I was really stunned that our baseball golden boy, Tajima, struck out against Junta. Tajima asked Hanai to step up on the offensive, because he has trouble dealing with the sinker. So, I wonder how that is going to work out. I have no doubt that the game is going to be exciting and dramatic. We only got a foretaste here and I find myself wanting more.

One of the more enjoyable scenes in this episode was when the (stage) mothers were talking about Tajima and his family. They got a chuckle from me when the other mothers were amazed at how many siblings Tajima has. Japan has one of the lowest birth rates in the world. Thus, I figured that it must really be rare for someone to have five children, such as in the case of the Tajima’s family.

Oh, they also changed the opening and ending songs. The new opening is not bad. I like how it has somewhat of a country feel with the use of the harmonica.

I’ll try to produce the next episode summary as soon as I can. Comments and corrections are welcome as always.

BL moments

• Abe checking Mihashi’s palm to see if he is nervous or not

Episode 15 – First Run 「先取点」

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