Chapter 30: The New Lineup
Wrote 2 chapters again today
Enjoy ;)
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The next day Rei woke up feeling motivated to train. He freshened up and wore his Seido uniform. He grabbed his pitching equipment and opened the door to go to the field to train alone.
Before he could step out the door, he felt some kind of force on his back stopping him from going out the door.
"What the hell!", said Rei in frustration not being able to walk out. He looked back and saw Chris holding his arm tightly.
"W-what are you doing?", said Rei.
"You come with me to train", said Chris.
Chris dragged Rei to another practice field and Rei shut his mouth staying obedient.
In a Practice Field.
"I can't wait to receive master's guidance", said Sawamura excited to train.
Furuya nodded standing beside Sawamura.
"W-what is Master doing?", said Sawamura pointing toward Chris who was dragging Rei.
Furuya shrugged.
"He will be training with us", said Chris pointing at Rei.
"Hi", said Rei waving his hand enthusiastically at them.
"Why Master!", said Sawamura.
Chris ignored Sawamura and said, "I will give you 2 finger exercises to do while I am going to catch Rei's pitches".
"Master don't ignore me…. wait…WHAT? you're going to catch that shit's pitches. WHY NOT ME?", said Sawamura.
Furuya nodded and said, "I want to pitch too".
"You 2 are going to do your finger exercises which will be useful for your pitches as well because that's the best way to get the feeling on your fingertips down", said Chris.
"Haii, Master", said Sawamura obediently.
Furuya's aura changed ready to do these exercises because he has finger pressure problems.
Chris showed Sawamura and Furuya the exercises while Rei was warming up.
Rei doesn't have to warm up because he pitches using his skills, but he still does it for show sometimes.
After Chris was done with Sawamura and Furuya he grabbed his catching gear.
"How have you been doing with your Cutter lately?", asked Chris.
"My cutter has significantly improved, and I think it could be used in matches now", said Rei. His cutter had finally hit level 6 which gave him confidence.
"Ok, let's see then, if it is or not", said Chris seeing Rei's confidence. He took his catching position and signaled for Rei to pitch his cutter.
Rei took his pitching position, swung back his arm with force, and released the ball aiming toward the mitt.
The ball went 130 KM hitting the strike zone.
Chris was surprised at Rei's current Cutter because the speed increased, and it felt like somehow his grip and control over the pitch increased significantly over a few days.
"Not bad", said Chris.
Rei nodded smiling gleefully.
"Don't be so happy your Cutter could still use a lot of work", said Chris removing Rei's smile.
Rei and Chris continued practicing the Cutter.
At Furuya and Sawamura's side.
"Can we really be doing something so basic when we don't have time? Anyways this is so unfair why does Rei get to pitch? I'll go and complain to BOSS!", said Sawamura.
Furuya nodded while thinking, "I want to pitch more".
At Rei and Chris's side.
"I want to try a new pitch", said Rei.
Chris nodded and positioned his mitt in the middle.
Rei took his pitching position, swung back his arm with force, and released the ball aiming toward the mitt.
The ball went 150 KM hitting the strike zone.
Chris saw a fastball coming toward him, but it had a lot of movement.
Chris caught it regardless of the exceptional spin on it.
"It looks like you have been practicing your fastballs", said Chris.
Rei had thrown a 2-seam fastball which was pretty easy for him to learn since he already knew how to throw a 4-seam fastball. He had been practicing it lately since he wanted more pitches in his arsenal.
Chris gathered Rei, Sawamura, and Furuya after a while.
"Next, go join the meeting Coach is holding for all players.", said Chris.
"Okay!!", said Sawamura. Rei and Furuya nodded.
"Don't forget to study. Finals are coming up.", said Chris.
Furuya and Sawamura gasped as they had forgotten about the horrifying exams. Rei was smirking since he didn't have to worry about his grades.
Sawamura was pissed seeing Rei's condescending smirk. "What are you smirking for".
"Ahh, it just feels great to not worry about my scores", said Rei smirking while walking away from them.
"I forgot that arrogant prick has good grades", said Sawamura.
Furuya and Sawamura both sighed.
In class 1-C, Sawamura was studying now since he was worried about his scores. Thankfully Kanemaru was going to help him.
Meanwhile, in class 1-A, Rei was sleeping peacefully in his class not having a care in the world.
At the meeting, all 1st string players gathered.
All the players were feeling nervous not knowing what to expect from this meeting. Recently, the team's situation wasn't good, and the players weren't fired up for practice because of Tanba's situation.
"Silence!", said Kataoka.
Silence spread throughout the meeting room.
"Let me get straight to the point, you all know that I will be assigning a new lineup that could benefit the team. We will practice with it for now and see how it is. If there are any problems then I will change it ok!", said Kataoka.
All the players gulped nervously while nodding.
"Now I will announce the lineup:
1. Kuramochi (SS)
2. Ryosuke (2B)
3. Yuki (1B)
4. Miyuki (C)
5. Masuko (3B)
6. Jun (CF)
7. Rei (P)
8. Kadota (LF)
9. Shirasu (RF)
This is the current lineup", said Kataoka.
Kuramochi, Ryosuke, Masuko, Kadota, and Shirasu were relieved that their position was the same.
"YUKI, LET'S TALK, SHALL WE", said Jun holding in his anger. He was batting 3rd before but now he is batting 6th.
"Oh, I moved up", said Miyuki playfully.
The most surprised person was probably Rei because he didn't expect himself to be in the lineup. It seems the coach made some changes to the lineup because he didn't include himself in the lineup he wrote on the notepad.
"If you have any problems with the new lineup, come talk to me in my office later", said Kataoka.
Nobody seemed to have a problem with the lineup except Jun. Mostly because the coach only changed 4 positions.
In Kataoka's office.
Yuki and Kataoka were discussing the lineup.
"I didn't expect you to put Rei in the lineup", said Yuki.
"He improved his batting quickly. I have seen his batting, he has a great swing and power when batting", said Kataoka.
"Would he be all right on the lineup as a 1st year? Wouldn't he get nervous", said Yuki worried.
"I don't think so based on his personality. I haven't ever seen that kid nervous, but this lineup is the best for the team currently", said Kataoka.
Hearing his coach Yuki nodded agreeing with him.
***
Current Status:
[Status
Name: Rei Fujikawa
Position: Pitcher
Current level: 2
Coins: 39
Speed: 15.2 (Can only be increased through practice)
Strength: 35+
Balance: 35+
Flexibility: 35+
Grip: 15 (Can only be increased through practice)
(Skills)
Four-seam Fastball (level 8/10): when pitching this ball your chances of striking out the opponent increase by 80%.
Hitting (Level 6): Increases 60% your chance of touching the ball with a bat.
Cold- Heart (Level 7/10): Increases your focus and lets you make good decisions in matches by 70%.
Cutter Ball (Level 6/10): When pitching this ball, you have a 60% chance of breaking your opponent's bats.
Two-seam Fastball (level 8/10): when pitching this ball your chances of striking out the opponent increase by 80%.
Comment: A Novice Pitcher with variety of pitches in his arsenal.]
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