Short Summary[]
Nishina apologises to Tokuchi. Tawanaka contacts a journalist and reveals Nishina and Wakamatsu conspired to ruin Tokuchi’s record. Wakamatsu bats again in the ninth inning and gets an uncaught third strike.
Long Summary[]
The S-League team are outraged by Tokuchi’s declaration. Enomoto tells him to bring it on, and Kojima laughs to himself, knowing Tokuchi’s challenges are designed to mess with people’s heads. Enomoto gets two strikes in a row. He panics, feeling like the ball is avoiding the bat. Tokuchi laughs at him again and tells him he’s nothing special. On third base, Takami is also amused. Getting heated up is the last thing you want to do against Tokuchi. On the third pitch, Enomoto sees it’s the same course as the other two. He gets angry, thinking Tokuchi is underestimating him, and swings; his third strike. Nishina is impressed. He’s never seen anyone pitch like this and thinks Tokuchi really is a genius. The next two batters are struck out as well. The commentators note if Tokuchi gets the remaining batters out, he’ll tie the record.
Nishina finds Tokuchi after the inning and falls on his knees begging forgiveness. He explains his deal with Takanawa. Tokuchi isn’t angry and says he knew straight away Nishina would attempt to interfere with his record. He followed his advice to figure out what he was up to, and noticed just before he released the ball that Wakamatsu was expecting his pitch, which is why it travelled off course. He’s glad to know Nishina won’t try to mess with him anymore. He tells Nishina to call Tawanaka up and tell him he’s fulfilled his end of the bargain.
Nishina does as Tokuchi says and Tawanaka promises to leave him alone. He hangs up and laughs at Nishina’s naiveté. Nishina asks Tokuchi what he meant about there being an ‘important meaning’ to piling up strike outs. Tokuchi laughs and says he’ll find out soon enough.
Tawanaka phones a journalist friend and tells him he has a good scoop; the batter and the catcher teamed up to prevent Tokuchi’s record in the All-Stars. Tokuchi goes back on to pitch and the commentators remind everyone Tokuchi still has a chance to tie the record. Tawanaka laughs thinking Tokuchi must have lost all motivation. He envisions tomorrow’s news making Nishina an enemy of baseball fans and looks forward to the the payout he’ll get from the magazine.
Tokuchi finishes the eighth inning with three consecutive strike-outs. Tawanaka is annoyed as his scoop won’t be as interesting if Tokuchi still manages to tie the record. The first batter in the ninth walks on, planning to single-handedly prevent Tokuchi’s tie. Tokuchi reveals he knows exactly what the batter is thinking and mocks him for it, pointing out the S-League are just two runs behind, yet have already given up on winning, focussed only on stopping his record. This is why they’re a low-level team.
Tokuchi strikes him out, and the next batter too, totalling eight strikeouts. The final batter is Wakamatsu, who got the hit off him earlier. He stands at bat and whispers to Nishina to tell him the next pitch. Nishina tells him to fight Tokuchi head on.
The first two pitches are strikes. On the third pitch, the ball dips unexpectedly low, sinking like a forkball. The commentators are shocked when Nishina fails to catch it, making it a passed ball. Wakamatsu thanks his luck, thinking he can now win with an uncaught third strike, and runs to first base. Just before he reaches it, he stops in his tracks. If he gets on base, another player will have a chance to bat. Enomoto screams at him to step on first base, furious that Wakamatsu could think he’ll get a three-swing strikeout from Tokuchi. He shouts that he’ll hit a home run off Tokuchi, ensuring he’ll go home a loser, never mind a record-breaker.
Nishina, who dropped the ball unintentionally, can’t believe Tokuchi expected a swing and run from the start. Enomoto walks on to bat, saying he’ll make Tokuchi regret being so arrogant.
Characters[]
- Tokuchi Toua
- Kojima
- Nishina
- Tawanaka
- Enomoto
- Wakanatsu