"Manaka, when you faced Zhang Han, you seed particularly wary. You even called a tiout. Can you tell why?"
Coach Tahara's question made Manaka feel a bit ashad, but he explained the situation in detail.
"That kid's hitting is strange. Even though his swing isn't very powerful, he always manages to make contact. In my first year of junior high, I could easily defeat him. By the second year, it was a back-and-forth battle. In our last two gas, he got four hits off ."
This incident had severely impacted Manaka Kana's confidence. It even made him doubt if he was truly suited to be a pitcher.
"You haven't overco that psychological shadow since entering high school?"
"I thought I had. This ti, I wanted to defeat him fair and square, so I discussed it with the catcher and decided to use the Changeup I'd been refining. I didn't expect that guy to not give us a chance at all; he swung at the very first exploratory pitch."
Manaka felt particularly wronged. He had prepared for a long battle, but the opponent disregarded conventions entirely. It was supposed to be a duel, but the opponent pulled out a handgun directly. How could he play like that?
Not just Manaka, but Omae, another core first-year player, said sothing similar.
"That guy is really strange!"
Both core players used the sa word. Coach Tahara couldn't help but be suspicious, so he had his Assistant Coach collect Zhang Han's information.
"The Autumn Tournant is in full swing right now. Do we have the energy for this?"
The Assistant Coach suggested tactfully. In his opinion, Zhang Han was already effectively a mber of Ichidai San. They could study him after he joined. At this stage, the Autumn Tournant was the priority.
"No! That's not how it is. Given Zhang Han's achievents, as long as his coach recomnds him, there isn't a single team he can't get into. He's a practical player; any coach would want him. Even if the team doesn't need him imdiately, he can perform well as a rotational player."
Coach Tahara spoke with certainty.
"He ca to our tryouts for a reason. We must prepare in advance."
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"You are right, Coach!"
The Assistant Coach carried out the order. Fortunately, they were well-prepared; all players who participated in the draft had their information collected, including reports from their coaches.
Zhang Han's information was quickly compiled, including videos of his national tournant gas. Coach Tahara spent over half an hour reviewing the data and two hours watching ga highlights.
By this point, he had a conjecture.
"How many pitchers and machines did we use during the test?"
"Two pitchers, two pitching machines."
"Compile the data for Zhang Han's tests. Distinguish between pitches from humans and pitches from machines."
The Assistant Coach was confused but complied. The results were retrieved quickly: Zhang Han had 12 hitting attempts. Six against a person, six against a machine.
He hit the ball out 9 tis total.
5 tis were off a live pitcher.
4 tis were off a machine.
In terms of hitting performance, he ranked first among the middle schoolers. Sasaki, who ranked second, only managed 7 hits. His breakdown was the opposite of Zhang Han's: he only hit a live pitcher 3 tis, while the remaining 4 hits ca from the machine.
The results were clear.
Excitent glead in Coach Tahara's eyes. If his guess was correct, this player would shine brightly. Ichidai Third High School was about to usher in a trendous opportunity.
At the sa ti, in another prestigious high school in Tokyo.
A stylish lady wearing gold-rimd glasses pushed open the door to the baseball coach's office.
"Coach Kataoka, please take a look at this."
She handed a portable hard drive to the man in front of her. The man didn't waste words; he plugged it into the computer and started playback.
A close-up shot recorded a ga nearing its end, with both sides tied.
Just as the ga was about to conclude, the situation changed. A player who had reached third base suddenly attempted to steal ho.
The opponent's reaction was quick; they imdiately threw to the catcher. The catcher caught the ball and had enough ti to turn and block the plate. Under these circumstances, the reckless runner was almost certainly out.
However, a miraculous scene occurred.
The runner sohow successfully dodged the catcher's mitt, slipped past, and scored the run.
"What ga is this?"
"A junior high national youth baseball tournant. The Matsukata semi-final. The runner is nad Zhang Han."
Another chubby departnt head in the room, Ota, asked with doubt.
"His speed looks average! If we're recruiting a runner, he doesn't seem to be the best candidate."
"It's not about speed, but about the action."
The Coach nad Kataoka frowned, lost in thought. It was a full three or four minutes before he spoke.
"It seems like... anticipation!"
The lady with the glasses, Rei Takashima, nodded affirmatively.
"I think so too. This player should have very strong predictive ability."
Back in Ichidai Third High School's Coach's office.
"Action anticipation!"
Coach Tahara said with certainty.
Compared to the rigidity of a pitching machine, hitting a real person's pitch is undoubtedly more difficult. But even under these circumstances, Zhang Han perford better when facing a person.
The data doesn't lie.
Zhang Han possesses top-tier action anticipation. He can predict his opponent's next move based on their physical chanics.
This is why Manaka's pitches were always getting hit.
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