Chapter 21

Short Summary
In their first game against the Mariners, Tokuchi pitches well until the ninth inning, until Takami comes up with a plan against his low-spinning fastball.

Long Summary
At the top of the third inning, Ideguchi says to Tokuchi he thinks the other team have spotted the trick to his fastball, but assumes this won’t be enough to help them get hits.

The following batter, Yamakawa, observes that Tokuchi isn’t wasting any pitches, and realises he must be trying to conserve his energy for the two following games. Assuming the next pitch will be Tokuchi’s deciding one, he aims for the low-spinning fastball. His wrong assumption gets him struck out.

The next batter, Nozoe, notices Tokuchi always starts with a regular fastball and prepares to aim for it, but Tokuchi throws the low-spinning ball on his first pitch. He hits a grounder that gets caught and gets put out. The players are all unnerved to see how well Tokuchi can read them.

Tokuchi continues to allow no one to get onto base through to the ninth inning. At the Mariners’ dugout, Brooklyn has broken several bats in frustration. It’s revealed that Brooklyn brings 30 bats to every game for this very reason. Tomas picks one up and is surprised by it’s weight. The heavy bats inspire an idea in Takami.

The Lycaons are extremely happy they’ve held off the league’s strongest team, even though they haven’t scored any runs themselves. Takami comments to his team that they’ve become so reliant on their strength, they haven't needed to out-strategise anyone before. But he’s come up with a plan against Tokuchi. He tells his team-mates forget about Tokuchi's low-spinning fastball and only try for the regular ones. He also tells them not to take any practice swings.

Yamakawa, the next batter, follows Takami’s advice. He aims for a regular fastball, but Tokuchi throws a low-spinning one. Yamakawa swings and, to his surprise, hits it and gets to base. The next two batters get successful hits as well, and the bases are loaded.

Characters

 * Tokuchi Toua
 * Ideguchi
 * Yamakawa
 * Nozoe
 * Takami
 * Tomas
 * Brooklyn
 * Kojima