Big Windup! (おおきく振りかぶって)

--Nice batting! --Pitcher's a belly itcher!

Mihashi.

Ah!

Ah, boy meets girl or boy meets dream

The closed door starts to open up

See, right now

The summer is starting!

Dramatic-matic, don't think we can stop it

And I don't want to stop it!

Dazzling flashbacks full of smiling faces

I'm searching for them, I'm summering

It looks like it'll last forever

But it's one summer, over in a flash

Ah, I want to be as passionate as I can be

Time ticks by, don't think we can stop it

And I can't stop my tears

It feels like we can meet again

But this drama happens only once

Come on, we should get as passionate as we can!

"Nishiura Prefectural High School"

Are you interested in playing basketball?

Play volleyball with us!

-Don't you want to reinvent yourself in the drama club?

-The manager of the soccer team's cute, you know!

Did you hear that? Mihashi won't go to our high school.

Seriously? Great! Then I'll keep playing baseball in the high school division.

So we can finally break off from those lousy pitches?

Do you think he's going to play after he leaves?

He wouldn't leave if he wanted to do that.

This is the only place he can play as a regular.

I know that.

Even if I join the high school baseball team, nobody'll let me play as a pitcher.

"The baseball field is here."

If I can't be a pitcher, there's no point in joining the team...

So I'm just watching, just watching, just watching...

Ah, er, no! Um... Er...

I found another one!

Your name?

Mi-Mihashi.

Your position?

Pi-Pitcher.

Oh! We've got a pitcher.

Huh?

We only have freshmen here.

This is the first year the team's been baseball instead of softball.

I graduated from this school during the softball years...

I'm the coach, Maria Momoe.

I'm not a teacher, though.

So, this is our faculty supervisor, Mr. Shiga, and my dog, who's on a walk.

Oh.

Now, we've got the pitcher we've longed for.

Let's start by going through the positions!

After the pitcher, Mihashi, comes the catcher... Abe, right?

Yes.

Then, Sakaeguchi in the infield.

Yep!

These two started coming to practice during spring break.

They are both from the Little League Seniors,

so they can teach us how to play with hardballs.

Nice to meet you.

I'm Sakaeguchi!

Well, the other fielders are...

It's me! I'm Tajima. I was the third baseman and cleanup hitter!

"Tajima"?

The third-baseman and cleanup? Wow!

I was the cleanup, too... but I'm not joining this team after all.

What?! Your name's Hanai, right? Why are you quitting?

Because the manager's a girl.

A girl manager! It's just impossible, and I don't care about baseball so much anyway.

What's this?

I wanna try that!

Here! Catch this!

Straight up?

Wow, that's high!

Nice catch!

-Aha, ha, ha! I've never seen something like that

-I've never seen such a clean catcher's fly!

-I guess our middle school coach sucked...

-...but none of our opponents' coaches could hit such a pop up...

-If I did that, I could never pop so high!

--Oh, yeah! --Huh?

I almost forgot we have some juice.

Why don't you drink some before you go?

Huh? Drink?

Wait for a sec, will ya?

Here, go ahead.

He took that... he's drinking...

--Ohhhhhh... --Ohhhhhh...

Do you guys want some, too?

--No! No, no need to squeeze it! --I'll just eat the orange!

The high school managers are...

Scary!

Mihashi?

Could you show me your pitch?

H-Hey, that's right... There's no other pitcher here.

I can pitch! I can be the pitcher here!

I... I...

...I quit, too.

I'm such an idiot, getting carried away and saying I was a pitcher.

I really do, but I know I'll just end up being humiliated.

They'll never in a million years accept me...

Did I say something to make him cry?

No.

No, even if I throw... it's useless.

Why?

My balls are too slow.

Well, we don't have such high expectations, anyway. Were you a substitute pitcher?

No.

Hum... So, you were the starter. Which middle school?

Mi-Mihoshi.

Mihoshi? Never heard of it. Have you?

Nope.

Is that... Mihoshi Academy of Gunma Prefecture?

--Ohhhh! --Ohhhh!

So are you from Gunma Prefecture?

He's outside his school zone! So we're like a Foreign Legion now! Cool!

-Idiot! Our school doesn't recruit baseball players from other prefectures.

-Huh?

But then, why did you come to Saitama?

--Dad's new job? --Ah..eh..

--I can understand if he came for a private school, but this is a public school-- --Ah... eh...

Gee! Shut the hell up!

You were the ace, weren't ya? You were the best on the team, huh?

Enough with the roundabout bragging already!

No! You're mistaken.

No, I'm not!

Ah... I just became an ace there... because of favoritism.

Favoritism?

How nice! I wanna be an ace, even if it is just out of favoritism!

What do you mean, favoritism?

My... My grandpa's the owner of the school.

--Ohhhhh... --Ohhhhh...

They made you the ace cuz your granddad runs the school?

What a lame place.

It's not the coach's fault.

I... I could've given up the mound or quit the team... I knew I had to, I knew... but I didn't.

I didn't give up the pitcher's mound for all three years...

My teammates couldn't have any fun playing because of me.

We lost all the time because of me.

They started to hate baseball because... of me.

You are really annoying!

Not wanting to give up the mound is a good thing in a pitcher!

A... good thing?

Well, it's true you're a jerk.

But as a pitcher, I like you.

--You... like me? I'm sorry. --Huh?

I'll try throwing a pitch.

'K!

But I apologize beforehand because I'll let you down.

I know all pitchers have their quirks, but this one's a real oddball.

We worked on the field over the spring break. Look!

--Here it comes! --We were out of time so we haven't gotten to the outfield.

We piled the dirt on the pitcher's mound,

wondering what kind of pitcher we'd get.

What do ya think of the mound I made?

Ah, very nice, yes.

You haven't thrown for a while, have you? Don't overdo it.

I've been throwing a lot.

Oh, have you? Training by yourself, huh? Great!

Oops! Did I put pressure on him? He's so hard to handle.

-I-I can't throw like you expect.

--Ah, I don't expect anything. Just throw however you like.

It must be true his pitches are slow, and if he's this insecure about his ability...

If they see my pitching... they'll see how awful I am...

...but I prepared myself for that when I decided to leave Mihoshi...

...I'll just throw it and get it over with.

Low ball.

Whoa, that's slow!

Mihashi!

Not done yet?

Mihashi, what kind of pitches do you have?

Huh?

No breaking balls, huh?

I have some!

What kind?

Like, ah, I have this one like a curveball,

and a screwball, maybe...

and a slider, probably, and one goes like this.

Four different kinds of breaking balls?!

What the hell's with the "maybe" and "probably" stuff?

Has anyone ever actually taught you pitching?

I see, is that what the deal is?

Mihashi, let's work on our signs.

Huh?!

And you, Hanai.

What?

Can you stand in the batter's box for a sec?

Nah. Sorry, but I'm not joining the team.

You were a cleanup, right? Let's have a three-at-bat challenge.

A challenge?

Uh!

Me too! I wanna do it! I was cleanup, too!