The Old Baseball Player System

PAH

"Ball!"

"Tch!" - Shun observed as the first Aoba batter stayed motionless. He was sure that was a good pitch, but it didn\'t matter much since the batter didn\'t seem like he planned to swing.

Shun kept pitching.

PAH

"Ball!"

PAH

"Strike!"

PAH

"Ball!"

"Tch! Is this guy not going to swing?" - Shun muttered irritably. None of his pitches had been bad, but since they didn\'t land in the zone, it was useless, as the batter seemed unwilling to swing at anything.

"If you\'re not going to swing, don\'t blame me for this!" - Shun said angrily as he lifted his right leg and propelled his body forward. His arm whipped toward home plate.

"Hehe! Finally!" - The first batter looked at the pitch Shun had thrown and smiled. Perhaps due to Shun\'s frustration or irritation from the batter not swinging, Shun\'s pitch was mediocre, it was obvious what kind of pitch it was.

"Damn!" - Daigo exclaimed in concern as he watched the pitch, but before he could think further, a bat entered his field of vision.

WOOSH

DOONG

The first batter sprinted toward the base as soon as he felt the ball connect with his bat. He watched the ball soar toward left field, stopping only at the stadium\'s fence.

"Ahhh, almost!" - The batter stopped at second base, disappointed. Just a bit more power and it would have been a home run.

"Damn!" - Shun kicked the dirt on the mound in frustration. He had been irritated by the batter not swinging at any of his pitches, and not wanting to give up a walk, he threw the only pitch he could reliably control in the zone, his hanging slider.

But this time, Shun overdid the pitch. Normally, the spin on his hanging slider was very similar to his regular slider, confusing batters into thinking they were facing a pitch with heavy movement, only for it to barely break.

However, this last hanging slider was the complete opposite. Shun had clearly let his frustration get the better of him, and fearing the walk, combined with his irritation at the batter\'s passivity, he ended up throwing a completely predictable meatball right down the middle.

In fact, Shun was probably lucky that the ball stopped at the fence and didn\'t become a home run.

Shun then glared at the second batter stepping into the batter\'s box, determined to make up for his mistake by striking this guy out.

PAH

"Ball!"

PAH

"Ball!"

PAH

"Ball!"

PAH

"Ball Four!" - The umpire announced as the second batter walked to first base.

"Damn!" - Shun cursed angrily. He was clearly being rattled by Aoba\'s batters refusing to swing. But what the boy didn\'t realize was that his pitches in this last duel were much worse than those in the previous one. .net

"What should I do?" - Daigo asked himself, confused. He could sense Shun\'s frustration and knew it was affecting his pitches, but he didn\'t know how to fix it. After all, it was usually Shun who gave the advice, not the other way around.

Since Daigo was younger and respected Shun a lot, he didn\'t know how to reprimand his senpai. After all, he was afraid that a wrong comment might make the situation even worse. Pitchers are very complex, and when a pitcher is struggling, it\'s a very difficult task to fix it in the middle of a game.

Daigo glanced toward Coach Yamada in the dugout, hoping for instructions, but the man simply stood there watching, offering no signals to Daigo or Shun.

"Calm down, you idiot!" - Shun shouted to himself inside his head. He knew very well that his emotions were interfering with his pitching, but understanding it was one thing, controlling his emotions was another.

The third batter stepped into the batter\'s box. Shun did his best to take deep breaths and calm himself, but unfortunately for him, emotional control wasn\'t something he could learn in a short time.

PAH

"Ball!"

PAH

"Ball!"

PAH

"Ball!"

PAH

"Ball Four!" - The umpire announced as the third batter walked to first base, pushing the other runners ahead one base as well.

"Fuck!" - Shun kicked the dirt on the mound in frustration. He had just loaded the bases without getting anyone out, and the next batter was the best hitter on the opposing team.

But before Shun could do anything else, he saw Coach Yamada climbing the dugout steps and walking toward him. At that moment, memories began flooding Shun\'s mind.

He remembered a very similar scene, he couldn\'t get the batters out, and then his coach came to the mound and replaced him. Back then, his coach was someone else, and his team was Tokyo Nakano Junior, but he remembered very clearly that after that day, he never pitched again for Tokyo Nakano.

Fear began to take hold of Shun, self-doubt, low self-esteem, questions about his abilities. All the emotions Shun thought he had overcome began to resurface, as the fear of being replaced took control.

Shun wasn\'t afraid of being taken out of the game, he was afraid of what would happen afterward. Just like with Tokyo Nakano, someone better than him would take his place, his number, his friends, his crush…

Daigo, Ren, Kenta, and the other infielders also gathered at the mound, surrounding Shun to prevent any information from leaking to the opponent.

"Are you injured, Shun?" - Coach Yamada asked calmly as he looked directly into Shun\'s big blue eyes.

"Huh? N-No, sir!" - Shun replied, a bit nervous, still dominated by his fears.

"Are you tired?" - Coach Yamada noticed Shun\'s expression but calmly asked another question.

"N-No, sir!" - Shun responded, confused. He didn\'t understand why the coach was asking so many questions before replacing him.

"Oh, I see. So you can still pitch?" - Coach Yamada asked without hesitation, closely watching Shun\'s expression.

"I-I..."