The Old Baseball Player System

"I'm sorry, Shun." - Ren said with a guilty look at his friend. This was the third time Shun had managed to get into scoring position, and as the batter right after him, Ren knew it was his responsibility to drive Shun in. Unfortunately, he hadn't been able to do that so far in this game.

"Huh? Why on earth are you apologizing? Just get it right next time..." - Shun said, a bit irritated by his friend's downcast state. He understood very well how good Imai was, and seeing that Ren had tried his best to hit Kasuga's ace, Shun would never complain. However, seeing Ren with his head down and apologizing was not something Shun wanted to see in this game.

"Alright..." - Ren muttered as he watched Shun enter the dugout. Deep down, Ren wanted Shun to scold him for not getting a single hit so far, but Shun's response made Ren clench his fists tightly.

"I'll help you!" - Ren whispered softly so that no one else could hear, but his determined gaze revealed the resolve of the young samurai.

---

The Shoto Junior High players took the field for the bottom of the fifth inning, while Shun stepped onto the mound again to face Kasuga's fourth batter for the second time in the game.

"Ka- Su- Ga! Ka- Su- Ga! Ka- Su- Ga!"

"Ka- Su- Ga! Ka- Su- Ga! Ka- Su- Ga!"

The crowd's noise hadn't diminished at all, and the sun continued to beat down intensely on the mound. Shun calmly watched as Kasuga's fourth batter stepped into the box, he couldn't deny that with each passing inning, it felt like the temperature around the mound was rising.

Now, with Imai taking the mound for Kasuga, Shun felt even more pressure not to allow a single run. Additionally, every time he got on base and returned to the dugout without scoring, his frustration grew, though he did his best not to show it.

Fortunately, after the last inning, Daigo seemed fully back in the game, easing some of the pressure on Shun, who could trust in pitching to the young catcher's glove. On the first pitch call of the duel, Daigo showed he planned to stay aggressive, signaling for a horizontal slider that would break inside the strike zone.

WOOSH

DING

PAH

"Out!"

Kasuga's fourth batter didn't hesitate to swing when he saw the pitch in the zone, but he failed to make good contact. The ball popped up from his bat and turned into an easy fly ball that ended up in Kenta's glove.

"Let's go, Imai! Let's go, Imai! Let's go, Imai!" - Even after the first out, Kasuga's crowd didn't lose heart, especially when they saw their ace, Shota Imai, walking up to the batter's box.

Shun calmly looked at Imai in the box. The boy had taken Takumi's spot as the fifth batter, which was not great news for Shun, considering facing the left-handed Takumi had given him a slight advantage. But of course, Shun didn't care about that at the moment, he just looked at Daigo's glove as he prepared to pitch.

"HA!" - Shun shouted as he threw his vertical slider to the outer part of the strike zone.

'Good—' - Daigo thought as he watched the trajectory of Shun's pitch, but he was surprised when a bat suddenly appeared in his line of sight, with Imai swinging forcefully.

WOOSH

DOONG

"Damn!" - Daigo stood up in shock as he saw the ball hit hard, flying in a line toward right field. However, instead of watching the ball drop into right field, what he saw was even more surprising.

He saw a young player sprinting rapidly and diving toward the ball, his cap flying off due to his quick movement.

PAH

"Out!"

The young samurai Ren fell to the ground after catching the ball mid-air. After a few moments, he stood up, holding the ball tightly in his glove, proudly displaying his splendid samurai bun for the entire stadium to see.

"Two outs!" - Ren shouted with a proud smile as he tossed the ball back to Shun on the mound.

PAH

"That's how you should be, hehe!" - Shun muttered with a slight smile. This play by Ren meant more to him than any apology the boy could offer for not hitting well today.

Ren quickly grabbed his cap from the ground and put it back on, positioning himself again between first and second base. After all, even after that great play, they still needed one more out to end the inning.

Kasuga's sixth batter stepped into the box as the crowd continued to cheer, though there was no denying they had quieted a bit after the young samurai's big play.

Daigo watched Kasuga's sixth batter closely. He was relieved that Ren had made that great play to retire Imai, but Daigo couldn't deny that Imai had made excellent contact with Shun's pitch.

Daigo glanced worriedly at Shun on the mound. Luckily, the last two outs had been made with only two pitches, but even so, Daigo could tell that Shun's pitches were losing a bit of their velocity.

'He usually pitches much more than this in practice... But in this game, he's probably giving everything he has on every pitch.' - Daigo thought to himself as he looked at Shun.

It wasn't hard for Daigo to conclude that Shun was starting to tire. Even though the boy didn't show it, the heat in the stadium, the pressure from Kasuga's batters and fans, and having to pitch full-force on every pitch to prevent Kasuga from scoring the first run of the game were clearly wearing on Shun.

Not to mention, Shun had also batted and run the bases three times, tiring him out even more. With all of this, Daigo was worried about how long his senpai would last in this game.

'What am I thinking? The coach surely understands this better than I do. I just need to do my best to support Shun-senpai while he's on the mound!' - Daigo shook his head, resolved, as he looked determinedly at Shun. The young catcher then positioned his glove on the outside edge of the strike zone, calling for Shun's backdoor slider.

"HA!" - Shun shouted as he whipped his arm like a lash and threw everything he had into the pitch toward Daigo's glove.

But Shun and Daigo weren't the only ones determined on the field. Kasuga's sixth batter planted his foot firmly and swung his bat.

WOOSH

DOONG