The Old Baseball Player System

Shun calmly walked to the batter's box, keeping his eyes on Aoba's pitcher on the mound. Even though he had watched his pitches from the stands during the last game, Shun had never seen a sinker or a forkball from the batter's box in his life.

"This guy is pretty annoying at the plate... let's end this quickly!" - A young boy with glasses was crouched behind home plate, thinking to himself. He was the catcher and captain of Aoba Junior High. The boy quickly signaled to his pitcher.

Shun watched as the opposing pitcher started his windup and quickly threw the ball toward home plate.

"Fastball, in the zone!" - Shun watched the ball speeding toward the plate. Thanks to his Hunter Eyes skill, he could clearly see the sinker's trajectory, and realizing it would land in the zone, he swung the bat without hesitation.

WOOSH

DONG

PAH

"Out!"

"Fuck!" - Shun cursed in frustration. Even though he made contact, it was really difficult to hit the sweet spot of the bat on the first try against a pitch he had never seen before.

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Because of this, he ended up hitting a line drive straight into the glove of the third baseman, who seemed to be waiting for a hit from Shun in his direction.

Shun walked back to the dugout frustrated. This was the first time in the tournament he had been retired. It wasn't like he believed he would be able to keep his hitting streak going until the end of the tournament, but he didn't like the feeling of being retired at all.

Unfortunately for Shoto Junior High, Shun's out wasn't the only first in the tournament.

WOOSH

DING

PAH

"Out!"

"Damn!" - The young samurai Ren was retired on a ground out to the shortstop. But the real surprise of the inning came in the next at-bat.

WOOSH

DING

"Foul!"

WOOSH

DING

"Foul!"

After just two sinkers in the zone that Kenta fouled off, Shoto Junior High's captain was cornered. It was on the third pitch of the duel that Aoba's ace threw his breaking ball for the first time.

WOOSH

PAH

"Strikeout! 3 outs, changeover!" - The umpire announced as Kenta walked back to the dugout with his head down.

"Damn!" - Shun said, worried. This was the first time in the tournament he had seen Kenta struck out.

Shun wasn't the only one concerned, in fact, he was almost less worried compared to the other players. After two crushing victories, seeing their upperclassmen at the top of the order all get retired, with their captain even striking out, definitely affected the morale of the younger and less experienced players.

Shun noticed this shift in the team's morale, but instead of saying anything, he climbed the dugout steps and started running toward the mound.

There was no point in him thinking about a motivational speech when he could just take the mound and boost the team's morale with his pitching.

"Well, it's time for me to return the favor." - Shun looked at the boy with glasses stepping into the left-handed batter's box and smiled. This was Aoba Junior High's catcher and captain. There was no better player to strike out if he wanted to lift his team's spirits.

Shun lifted his right leg and propelled his body forward. He stepped down forcefully, twisting his entire body and whipping his arm toward home plate, delivering the first pitch of the second inning.

WOOSH

PAH

"Strike!"

Aoba's captain chased Shun's horizontal slider, which broke outside the zone. Since he was a left-handed batter, it was more difficult for him to face Shun's pitches, as they broke away from him.

Shun understood this advantage against left-handed batters very well, as he himself was a left-handed batter. Facing left-handed pitchers was simply a nightmare for him, a good example being Hokuto's left-handed ace, Kohei Sasaki, and how he made Shun struggle to hit, even with the help of the system.

And of course, Aoba's captain didn't have any system to help him, and although Shun wasn't at Kohei's level overall as a pitcher, his slider was simply ridiculous, making it a real nightmare for Aoba's captain.

Without delay, Shun delivered the next pitch of the duel.

WOOSH

PAH

"Strike!" - The umpire called as Aoba's captain chased Shun's horizontal slider once again without success.

Shun smiled, satisfied after seeing the boy with glasses chase his slider again. He then looked at Daigo behind the plate and saw the signal he was making with his hand.

"Hehe." - Shun chuckled lightly and nodded. Even though his Kohai might seem a bit shy and not very confident, Shun really liked how Daigo transformed during games and made some bold calls.

Without hesitation, Shun lifted his right leg and stepped down firmly, whipping his arm toward home plate.

"Damn, again!" - Aoba's captain saw the pitch on the same trajectory as the previous ones. He could hardly believe Shun had thrown the same pitch three times in a row, but with little choice, the boy with glasses swung his bat, trying at least to make contact with the slider.

WOOSH

PAH

"Strikeout!"

Unfortunately for him, and luckily for Shun, this slider broke even more than the previous two, nearly ending up in the right-handed batter's box.

"Yeeeahhh!" - Shun roared as he watched Aoba's captain get struck out chasing his pitch. It didn't take long for him to hear what he had been waiting for.

"Yeeeahhh! Nice pitch, Senpai!"

"Hahaha, great pitch, Shun!"

"1 out, Senpai!"

Shun heard his teammates shouting excitedly and smiled. He couldn't deny that he loved this feeling. Riding the momentum, Shun quickly faced Aoba's fifth and sixth batters.

WOOSH

PAH

"Strikeout!"

WOOSH

PAH

"Strikeout! 3 outs, changeover!" - The umpire called as Shoto's players returned to the dugout, full of excitement.

"Nice pitch, Shun!" - Kenta said with a smile, raising his glove in the air toward Shun.

"Hehe, let's finish them off!" - Shun replied with a grin as he bumped his glove against his friend's.

Meanwhile, in Aoba's dugout, the coach was clearly watching the scene of Shun celebrating with excitement.

"Very well..." - The coach smiled before continuing:

"Let's see how long you last in this game..." - He said with a strange smile, clearly planning something to take Shun off the mound.