Centre Of The Diamond; Miyuki Kazuya

~⁜(4)⁜~

Chapter - 4
Pitcher Competition

"Oi! Furuya! Stop trying to outrun me!"

Matsu playfully watched the two first year pitchers compete in their running. She quietly trailed behind them with Tanba and Kawakami by her side.

Since she had arrived at Seidou, Kagami has befriended all of her teammates. Especially the other pitchers on the team. She also has become fairly popular in the school, since she is the only girl on the all boys baseball team. Not to mention her exceptional grades. It's been nearly two months since Matsu joined and she's adapted to all of the training necessary.

"First sting pitchers, please come to the dugout.." Rei's voice echoed through field A. Once the instructions entered each one of the pitchers ears they all glanced at each other before all of them made their way there together.

When the five pitchers arrived at the dugout in field A, coach Kataoka went to talk to them.

"A pitching competition?"

---

Sawamura, Furuya, Matsu, Kawakami, and Tanba stood side by side around the mound of field A.

Coach had suddenly thought of an idea for a 'Pitcher Competition.' The idea to this is to see how well Seidou's pitchers pitch, when they know they are being tested and playing against their teammates. The rest of the team has committed to help as well.

They would pitch in this order:

Tanba

Matsu

Sawamura

Kawakami

Furuya

"First test will be who can strike out a batter in less pitches."

Tanba got up on the mound with a baseball in hand. He tossed the rosin bag in his hand a few times before dropping it at the back of the mound.

The person who volunteered to bat when Tanba pitched stood in the batters box in ready position. Jun had his usual game face on as he swung his aluminum bat twice.

"Don't hold back, Tanba! You don't want to be overtaken by your underclassmen!" Jun yells from the batters box.

In this situation, the batters are able to hit. Tanba looked over to Miyuki who was crouched behind home plate. When they agreed on a pitch, he gripped the baseball and released it. Jun got ready and swung. The ball curved greatly before making contact with Miyuki's glove. Isashiki's bat just missed the ball but he was able to not make his swing go all the way. Unfortunately, Tanba missed the strike zone.

"Ball!" Coach Kataoka shouted.

After three pitches the count was 2-2. Jun assumed he would give him a quick fastball, but it turned out to be his signature curveball.

"Strike three! Batter out!"

Tanba: 5 pitches - batter, Isashiki.

Next, Matsu walked up onto the mound after her upperclassman. Yuuki had volunteered to bat at Kagami's pitches. He was the only one able to touch her pitches at that one practice. Kagami did the same as Tanba and released the baseball from her hand.

Yuuki watched the baseball approach him with little rotation. He had to admit, it threw him off. He swung at the ball and felt it make contact with his bat for a split second. The fence behind home plate jiggled. Tetsu had fouled yet another one of Kagami's knuckleballs.

"Huh!? What pitch is that?" Sawamura questions from the sidelines.

"It's a knuckleball, Sawamura. " Tanba clarifies beside him.

After a curveball and another knuckleball, Matsu had struct out Seidou's captain

Matsu: 3 pitches - batter, Tetsuya

Now it was Sawamura's turn. He energetically stood on the mound and Matsu walked off, handing him the baseball along the way.

The southpaw threw to Miyuki and his batter, Kuramochi, smirked.

"Kyahahahahaha!" He laughed as he hit the baseball. "You need to work on your pitches, Sawamura!" Sawamura just watched his roommate round the bases because he had just hit a homer off of him. He walked off the mound. That was the rule to this competition. If you gave up a hit, your out.

In the end Kagami managed to win the first round.

Tanba: 5 pitches - batter, Isashiki

Matsu: 3 pitches - batter, Tetsuya

Sawamura: disqualified, home run - batter, Kuramochi

Kawakami: 5 pitches - batter, Ryosuke

Furuya: 6 pitches - batter, Maezono

The next challenge was who could throw the fastest pitch with bases loaded, giving off pressure to the pitcher. Of course Furuya won that one.

Tanba: 138 km/h

Matsu: 138 km/h

Sawamura: 122km/h

Kawakami: 120 km/ h

Furuya: 154 km/h

During Matsu's turn, she got angry at herself that she threw a pitch that rose up to 156 km/h. Unfortunately, that pitch didn't count and she even managed to break one of the racks filled with baseballs, scattering them around the dugout. Kagami can be very competitive in competitions like this. From there, Kataoka disqualified Matsu from competing in the other tests.

"Don't you think that was a bit much?" Chris asked his coach.

He shakes his head. "This is the best thing for her to learn the punishments when she makes a mistake.."

Kagami, who had smoke just barely escaping her ears, decided to watch the competition from the dugout where she had destroyed the rack of baseballs.

~~

Word count: 919

Title meaning - Pitcher Competition

• Coach Kataoka decides to set up a 'pitcher competition.'

So, I just decided to write this chapter because I think that it will smoothly lead into the next chapter. Also, if you have been waiting for more MatYuki/ KazuGami interactions then you'll want to read the next chapter!

Sorry for any spelling or grammar mistakes..

Thx for reading 📖 👍