H2
	 Volume 16
	  Chapter 3 (152)
	   Huh?

 - Page 41 -

(Ch. 3) Huh?

 - Page 42 -

Yanagi: It was a fat pitch...
	Otherwise I couldn't have hit it into the stands.

Hiro: I guess even Hirota can screw up on one or two pitches out of a hundred.

Noda: But you can't ignore the fact that he saw that 1/100 blooper and took advantage of it.

 - Page 43 -

Player: Ah.

 - Page 44 -

Noda: Two out of a hundred?

Hiro: Three.
	There's also Hironaga-san's dead ball.

Player: Which means,
	Hirota's not on his game today?

Hiro: Yeah.
	I mean, he's only had eleven strikeouts through two out in the fourth.

Players: Two outs in the fourth is...
	...exactly eleven.
	Huh?

 - Page 45 -

 - Page 46 -

Announcers: Strikeout!
	My god!  That makes twelve!
	You can't get any more strikeouts than that in four innings, folks!
	Amazing!
	Astounding!
	Astonishing!  That's Hirota in a nutshell!

 - Page 47 -

Announcer: However,
	you never know, with baseball!
	Remember the leadoff batter Yanagi's unthinkable homerun!

Scoreboard: S
	E

Announcer: Semifinal for the North Tokyo preliminaries-
	Spring champions Eikyo Academy vs. newcomers Senkawa High.
	And it was the newcomers who scored first!

 - Page 48 -

Hikari: Twelve...  strikeouts.

Hideo: Don't worry about it.
	No number of strikeouts can erase a run.

Players: Yeah, and they're all keeping their eyes on the ball and swinging straight.
	They were all strikeouts that could have been hits.
	It's not as easy as it looks.
	Not even Hirota can keep up this pace until the end.
	I bet next inning, he'll start letting them hit the ball for outs.
	Yeah,
	he has no reason not to trust his fielders.

 - Page 49 -

Players: So all you need for a hit-and-field strategy is good fielders BEHIND you,
	Ichinose?
	Oh, why,
	here's my favorite catcher, Tachikawa-san.

Miho: OOOH!
	Hey, Senpai!
	They're rebroadcasting "To*ch" on another channel.
	Look!

 - Page 50 -

Shiroyama: You only let up those blasts when you're pitching well.
	That's one place where you're no different from an average pitcher.
	Any excuses?

Hirota: None.

 - Page 51 -

PA: Batting first, the secondbaseman, Shiga-kun.

Shiroyama: Second time through the order...

 - Page 52 -

Ump: Safe!

Announcer: He beats out the throw for an infield hit!

Hiro: Nice hit.

Shiroyama: How many runs can you hold us to here,
	Kunimi-kun?

 - Page 53 -

Koga: Okay,
	they're learning how to spill forward now.

Announcers: The runner goes!
	A hit-and-run on a 1-0 count?
	They saw it coming!

 - Page 54 -

Announcer: Ogasawara's lunge goes foul!
	Third pitch!
	He pulls it hard!

 - Page 55 -

Announcer: Secondbaseman grabs the ball.
	Yanagi's quick on his feet!
	Sagawa covers second base!

 - Page 56 -

Ogura: LOOK OUT!

Announcer: A double play!

 - Page 57 -

Shiroyama: Don't shout like that, Ogura.
	Shiga.
	Switch with Fukamachi.

Ogura: Coach!

Shiroyama: I just told you not to shout.

 - Page 58 -

Shiroyama: I remember a boy just like you, years ago.
	A talented but worthless goody-goody.
	That's it,
	I believe his name was Koga...

Koga: Two out!  Two out!

 - Chapter 3 End -