Chapter 149: Chapter 43: Protagonist and Supporting Cast (A 4,800-Word Chapter)
"This child is not just a rare left-handed pitcher. Can he really have such an exceptional sense of baseball? He’s already started mastering the tunneling effect at such a young age."
"Initially, we only said we’d do our best, but seeing this now, it doesn’t matter the cost—we must take this child to our Waseda Jitsugyo!"
The so-called tunneling effect refers to a pitcher’s ability to make two different types of pitches look very similar, with the ball path having nearly no perceivable difference, causing the batter to misidentify the pitch type.
For instance, take Yu Darvish, currently the top pitcher in Nippon Professional Baseball: his cutter and slider have very similar release actions, and the trajectories after release are also very similar, even the point at which they drop into the strike zone is nearly identical—
When these two pitches are thrown in succession, the batter cannot determine what type of pitch Darvish has thrown, naturally making it hard to swing decisively;
Even elite batters who react in time will struggle with the pitches’ deviation after entering the strike zone: the cutter flies directly into the strike zone, while the slider drops toward the low outside corner for a right-handed batter, with nearly a 20 cm gap between the two pitches, making it nearly unstoppable.
Nakamura Keiji, returning from the players’ side, saw Izumi Minoru’s eyes full of admiration, following his gaze to find him staring intently at their own pitcher, like a wolf who had been hungry for days spotting a lost lamb.
To this, Nakamura Keiji flashed a "I understand" smile—after all, it’s not the first time high school coaches have come to watch their games, and their outstanding ace pitcher is naturally a hot commodity that everyone wants.
"Hahaha—So, Izumi, have you taken a liking to our Matsui?" Nakamura Keiji was the first to break the silence, slowly walking over to Izumi Minoru, joking with a smile.
Upon hearing his senior’s words, Izumi Minoru smiled back, responding to his senior, "That child, is he called Matsui?"
"Let me introduce him to you officially—Matsui Yuuki, the kid on the pitcher’s mound, our Aoba Green East Little League Team’s ace starter, and the most talented kid I’ve taught in recent years—no, even in nearly a decade!"
Like a proud parent boasting about their outstanding child, the mention of Matsui Yuuki made Nakamura Keiji from Aoba Green East Team a chatterbox, tirelessly sharing stories about him.
Izumi Minoru gladly accepted this valuable information—already determined to recruit this child at any cost, he wished the other party could share more about Matsui Yuuki, which might offer crucial help later when communicating with the player and his parents.
"Let me tell you, Izumi, at first, when he just joined, to be honest, I didn’t really see his talent."
"When he first joined the team, the most talented pitcher wasn’t him—although I remember his control and curveball were good at the time, there was another kid who was better than him, with a stronger defensive awareness and more mature skills..."
"I’ve heard from other kids who know Matsui say that when he was in the sixth grade playing for the Yokohama BayStars Junior Team, even the first pitcher position on the team was held by a girl, and he was usually the second pitcher."
"But then, in the fall of his second year of middle school, this kid suddenly exploded—you know, Izumi, on that practice game, I was shocked, the quality of his pitches didn’t seem like something a second-year middle schooler could throw."
"Ever since that day, Matsui has secured his position as our club’s ace, and no one could shake it."
"Ah, perhaps I’ve grown old—but no wonder our Kotani Masakatsu coach, before leaving for the Lotte Team as a pitching coach, kept reminding me to nurture him well."
"Oh, right, Izumi, if you’re planning to take our Matsui to Tokyo, I’d suggest you speed up—Urawa Real’s Coach Mori has been following him for two years now; and recently, the coaches from the Tong Guang and Tongying teams are also said to have communicated with him."
"As an old OB of Waseda University, this is all I can tell you—after all, this kid is someone I’ve watched grow step by step."
"A diamond like him should shine brightly on the grounds of Koshien."
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Looking at the young man across from him, Izumi Minoru cleared his throat and, in his gentlest tone, slowly began to speak:
"Matsui-kun, have you considered going to Tokyo for high school?"
The teenager, just easing out of the excitement and thrill from a freshly concluded match, heard Izumi Minoru’s words; after a moment to digest the implications within, Matsui Yuuki replied as politely as he could:
"Hmm... thank you for your kind attention, Mr. Izumi—but in the short term, I might not plan on leaving my hometown for school. My parents also hope I can study and play ball locally in Kanagawa."
Although he had considered various scenarios beforehand, Izumi Minoru was truly surprised by how straightforwardly he was rejected; feeling a little unsettled, Izumi Minoru bit his lip and spoke again:
"Are you really not going to reconsider, Matsui-kun? If you come to our Waseda Jitsugyo, our benefits..."