As Yusuke surprisingly got onto 2nd base, the crowd and Yokohama dugout cheered. He hadn’t been expecting to make contact so easily against the pitcher that even Hiroki struggled against.
However, he wasn’t complaining. They were in a good spot with him on base and only 1 out so far in the 2nd innings. As long as Naoki could continue the attack, they might even be able to extend the lead.
Meanwhile, he saw the opposing catcher walking up to the mound in a bad mood.
‘Ah… Are they gonna be okay?’ Yusuke thought nervously.
“What the hell was that?”
Daichi stepped up to Yatsuo on the mound, ignoring the large frame of the teen and getting up close and personal. Despite his head only reaching just above the chin, he pressed forward, not backing down.
“I should be asking you the same question.” Yatsuo replied, his face turned up in annoyance.
“What made you want to throw a slider to that guy?” Daichi said, pointing to Yusuke on 2nd base who was innocently minding his own business.
“Because it’s one of my best pitches.”
“And why didn’t you throw it to where my glove was?”
“Why does it matter? It was just a lucky hit anyway…” Yatsuo retorted, his face showing signs of annoyance.
It was clear that he was pissed off after giving up a home run to Ken in the previous at-bat. This was especially the case after he had told Makoto he wouldn’t let them get a single run.
At the end of the day, his ego was bruised.
“67%” Daichi said calmly.
Yatsuo turned his face up in confusion, not understanding what he was talking about.
“That’s the percentage of base hits Yusuke over there has when pitching to the exact position you threw.”
He continued, lowering his voice slightly. “The place where I originally called for only had a 12% on base percentage…”
Yatsuo was stunned. He had never pried into how Daichi chose his leads, only knowing that he would do some research before any games. Only now did he understand the depth that the guy in front of him would go to.
However, that didn’t mean all was forgiven.
“So what about your brother’s home run? Why would you call for a curveball?” He retorted.
Daichi shook his head, “Before that hit, Ken had less than 5% hit rate of balls below the strike zone. The fact that he picked the slower ball, and even the break was an anomaly in itself.”
Just before Yatsuo was going to respond, Daichi placed a ball into Yatsuo’s glove and stared into his eyes.
“Anything can happen in Baseball. But if you don’t trust my leads, tell me now and I’ll go and substitute myself out.” Daichi gazed at Yatsuo his eyes firm as as he waited for his decision.
“W-What?”
Yatsuo stared at the freshman in shock for a moment.
‘He is serious…’
“You two, please hurry up.” The umpire’s impatient voice came from behind Daichi, yet he didn’t budge. He was still waiting for an answer.
Yatsuo felt the determination burning from his catcher and couldn’t help but feel a little remorseful for his actions. Ignoring his leads was like telling the guy that he didn’t trust him at all.
If he were to continue being stubborn and force Daichi off the field, they would be losing a huge asset both as a catcher and a hitter. He could already hear the tongue lashing he would receive from Coach Narukami if he didn’t yield right now.
“Haaaah”
“Alright, my bad. I’ll continue to follow your leads.” Yatsuo said eventually, letting out a small sigh. It seemed that his head had cooled enough to make a rational decision in the end.
“Good.” Daichi smiled softly before returning back to his spot behind home plate. He sent the umpire an apologetic look before getting into position.
“Batting 7th, Short stop, Naoki”
Naoki finally arrived at the batters box, his fringe covering his eyes as usual. Despite this, one could sense the determination in his visible facial features.
Daichi’s mind raced as he thought about the research he’d done for this player. While he was a good fielder, he struggled to hit consistently, at least in the matches they’d played during nationals.
‘Let’s send a probing fastball on the inside.’ Daichi thought, sending the signal to his pitcher.
Thankfully, Yatsuo seemed to have calmed down and gave him a nod.
In the next moment a powerful pitch came rushing towards his outstretched glove.
WHOOOSH
PAH
Naoki mistimed the swing, his bat sailing past after the ball was already in Daichi’s possession. Out of habit, he looked up at the jumbo screen and saw the speed.
‘154km/h’
A wry smile appeared on his face in the next moment and he turned to the coach for instruction. Coach Hanada merely smiled, before making a few signals to him.
Naoki’s eyes widened, yet he nodded in return. He subconsciously looked at Yusuke who had a small lead from 2nd base, their gazes meeting briefly.
All of this was caught by Daichi who seemed to have a wild field of view, despite being in between the batter and umpire.
He called for the next pitch on the outside, just out of the strike zone.
Yatsuo was a little puzzled, but he now knew better than to second guess the young phenom.
The moment Yatsuo stepped forward, Yusuke dropped his head down and used his powerful legs to run towards 3rd base. Since he had fast legs even before his operation, they had only grown faster since he’d healed.
Naoki still sent a swing at the ball, only to miss tremendously.
“3rd Base!” Takuya yelled out, alerting everyone to the base being stolen.
Daichi’s position after receiving the pitch gave him the perfect angle to use his right arm and send it flying towards 3rd base.
“Satoshi!”
The one named Satoshi on 3rd base was ready for the ball, holding his glove out in preparation.
The Yokohama’s 3rd base coach looked panicked as he made the motion to slide towards the runner. Everything had happened too fast, even though he knew about the play beforehand.