Hit by pitch, another run, Mihashi’s base-stealing, squeeze play, a concerned Abe, using the terrain to your advantage, massage: Tajima style, and learn to blink your way out of a sticky situation with Mihashi in…

Ookiku Furikabutte 18 – Another Run 「追加点」

Nishiura, with Mihashi’s quick thinking, denies Mashiba a run, maintaining their 1-0 lead against Tosei, last year’s champion. Before the windup, as the same with Mashiba, Mihashi shots Shimazaki, the third base runner, a hard look. After a foul ball, Kazuki pops one high. Tajima runs to catch it, making it three outs!

As Mihashi jogs back to the bench with Tajima, he loses his footing and slips. Kazuki grabs Mihashi’s back, preventing him from kissing the ground. Kazuki advises him to be more careful, eliciting praises from both Mihashi and Tajima.

Abe tries to talk Mihashi out of batting, but Mihashi blinks his way out of it. Abe gives in and allows Mihashi to do as he pleases. Meanwhile, Momoe along with the others watch Tajima explain how he is able to determine if Junta will do a pickoff or a pitch.

On the plate, Mihashi tries to figure out why Abe asked him to stop batting. Then, he recalls his bad fall earlier and realizes that Abe does not want him to risk injury again. However, he does not want to waste the hours he had put in at batting. Junta throws a wild forkball, hitting Mihashi. Junta takes his hat off to apologize while Abe charges to Mihashi’s side. Mihashi shots up and declares that he is not hurt at all. Though, Abe insists otherwise, causing quiet a scene. This makes Junta snicker, despite himself.

Abe is up. After the pitch, with Tajima’s help, Mihashi steals second. Momoe signals for a bunt. Abe acknowledges and presumes the bunt position. Kazuki signs for his fielders to be wary of the bunt. Abe goes from bunting to hitting position, before finally bunting the ball. The ball settles on the uneven terrain, allowing Mihashi and Abe to reach third and first with ease.

Junta strikes out Oki. Sakaeguchi comes to the plate with one out, first and third loaded. Nishihiro subtly reminds Mihashi of his situation as the third base runner. Feeling a bit tense, Sakaeguchi recalls the relaxing exercise they did before. He brings himself back to that time. Once he was satisfied, he gets himself ready to face Junta. After the count goes to 2-2, Momoe signals for a squeeze play. Just as Junta throws the pitch, Mihashi makes a run for home, surprising Tosei. The pitch is way outside, but Sakaeguchi dives for a hit, allowing Mihashi to score Nishiura’s second point!

Thoughts

The game has not even reached the halfway mark and yet we’ve been treated to some exciting and very entertaining plays! Mihashi and Sakaeguchi put up quite a show for us.

Hit by pitch

Mihashi was unintentionally hit by Junta’s pitch, awarding him a free walk to first base. I did a bit of reading and have learned that there are times that a pitcher will hit a batter intentionally. Why? Your guess is good as mine—intimidation. Another interesting tidbit, catchers will mostly just use the middle finger to tell the pitcher to hit the batter.

Squeeze play

A squeeze play is used when there is a man on third and with lesser than 2 outs. The batter is supposed to hit the ball as further away from the plate as possible, greatly increasing the runner’s chance of scoring. That’s why Sakaeguchi pursued the ball, even though it was way off the strike zone.

Mihashi, I love you

… BUT, you are so gay when you run. You’re still awesome, nonetheless.

BL moments

• Kazuki saving Mihashi from falling
• Abe surrendering to Mihashi’s cute blinking
• Abe getting concerned over Mihashi when he tried to stop him from batting and when he rushed over to Mihashi after getting hit by a pitch

Episode 19 – Tosei’s Power 「実力」

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