Life As Sawamura Eijun Chapter 572: Coordination and Compatibility

Chapter 572: Coordination and Compatibility

The score difference had already stretched to four runs.

A third of the game had gone by.

If they allowed themselves to be completely suppressed by the seniors here, the battles in the latter half would only become harder.

Especially now, with Tanba-senpai’s pitching momentum steadily rising and his form growing sharper by the inning.

If they couldn’t stop him here, then trying to break through later would be even more difficult.

Compared to just offensive rhythm, a pitcher’s rhythm on the mound was just as important.

Once a pitcher fully settled in and locked into his tempo, taking him down became far more troublesome.

So—they had to stop Tanba’s momentum right here.

Kuramochi rose from the on-deck circle, a flash of sharpness flickering between his brows. Exhaling a deep breath, he strode determinedly toward the batter’s box.

Get on base. No matter how—get on base.

“Haah!”

Standing in the box, Kuramochi gave his bat a light wave and let out a short growl, eyes locked fiercely on Tanba atop the mound.

Chris-senpai’s peripheral vision caught the scene. Kuramochi was standing in the middle of the box, gripping the bat normally, not crowding the plate. A faint gleam shone in Chris’s eyes.

His fingers flicked subtly below.

“Tanba, don’t keep the pitch too low. Raise it slightly here.”

Different from earlier pitch calls, this time Chris called for a high pitch over the middle.

For a brief moment, Tanba blinked in surprise, but the next instant his lips curled into a faint smile of understanding.

“Play ball!”

With Kataoka’s booming call, Tanba moved quickly—raising his right arm, his motion clean and fluid, no wasted effort. His entire body’s strength poured into his arm, unleashing a pitch that carried a ferocious gale.

“Fwoosh!”

A flash of cold light streaked forth, followed by the roar of air splitting apart. The explosive soundwave made Kuramochi’s expression tighten.

He quickly adjusted, pulling his arms in and focusing every ounce of coordination into his swing. He knew full well: while he wasn’t weak in raw strength, he wasn’t exactly a power hitter either.

There was no chance of overpowering Tanba’s improved velocity and heavy fastball.

Extra-base hit?

That had never been his goal.

The only goal—get on base.

To get on base, he had to play to his own strength!

As the pitch neared, Kuramochi abruptly dropped into a bunt stance. That was his blade against the seniors—win with speed. A proven weapon, and his highest-percentage option.

But—he didn’t notice.

The moment Kuramochi squared to bunt, Chris’s lips curled into the faintest grin.

“Fwoosh!”

The ball streaked in.

“Thwack!!”

The ball collided sharply against the angled bat—

—and Kuramochi’s face twisted.

The angle’s wrong!

The pitch was high!

For most hitters, a high ball was easier to drive. But for a bunt, it was the worst-case scenario.

The entire purpose of bunting was to deaden the ball’s force, redirect it downward into a grounder. You needed a downward rebound. But a high pitch? That was the hardest to control.

The result—

“Whoosh!”

The ball shot upward instead, weakly lofted into the air.

Kuramochi instantly knew his intent had been read like a book.

“Damn it!”

Still, he threw down the bat and sprinted desperately toward first base.

But it was pointless.

“Pop!”

A perfect infield fly. Shortstop senpai snared it easily.

“Out! Three outs! Change sides!!”

A routine catch.

The bottom of the third ended with the underclassmen still unable to open the offense, Tanba and Chris shutting them down in a clean 1-2-3 inning.

No chances allowed.

In the dugout, Eijun could only shake his head helplessly as he turned to gear up.

On offense, they had been crushed.

On defense, they had been locked down.

This was entirely the seniors’ game.

Especially Tanba—though it had been said many times already, Eijun couldn’t help but feel it again: in this red-and-white game, Tanba-senpai was just too strong.

“Could it be not just his form… but also his compatibility with Chris-senpai?”

Eijun tilted his head as he watched the two seniors walk back side by side toward the bench.

And really—sometimes, that was all it took.

Pitchers really are affected by their catcher’s calls and compatibility—it’s not as simple as saying, “This catcher is strong, so everything will work out.”

Or rather, put it this way:

A skilled catcher can certainly draw out a pitcher’s ability.

The two can form a good battery.

But only at the level of “good.”

Take Seidou High’s previous ace and official catcher pairing for example—the chemistry between Miyuki and Tanba was always an issue.

Or to be more precise, their personalities were completely mismatched.

Even in the original story, this was made very clear.

As the ace, Tanba wasn’t particularly fond of Miyuki’s personality. At times, he even found it hard to trust him.

Of course, that was partly Tanba’s own immaturity—despite being the ace and a senior, he still carried those flaws.

But it was also because Miyuki himself is a strong-willed catcher, the type who acts with pride and occasionally a touch of arrogance.

That’s why catcher–pitcher compatibility is so important.

Only when the two truly align—when their compatibility is perfect—can they bring out 100% of their potential.

Generally speaking, it’s the catcher who needs to adjust to the pitcher.

After all, pitchers are stubborn creatures.

Most of the time they’re like mule-headed beasts—if you don’t go along with them, all kinds of problems start cropping up.

In the original work, nearly every ace-level pitcher had this kind of personality:

Narumiya Mei, Hongou Masamune, Mukai Taiyo, Amahisa—none of them were exceptions.

Even Eijun and Furuya themselves fell into that category.

Both were as mule-headed as they come.

The difference is—Miyuki managed to completely rein both of them in.

On top of that, both Eijun and Furuya came to Seidou because of Miyuki.

This point was explicitly mentioned in the original story.

And with Miyuki as the senior, and Eijun and Furuya as juniors, that dynamic worked in his favor—
unlike his relationship with Tanba.

Naturally, even if Miyuki didn’t play to their egos, he could still firmly keep those two “little donkeys” under control.