Seidou’s down early against a too good pitcher in Umemiya. Miyuki’s up to bat with runners in scoring position against the fabled curveball…
What They Say:
“Persistent and Diligent”
I want to pitch to that mitt again… A meeting with catcher Kazuya Miyuki changed the 15-year-old Eijun Sawamura’s life. He said goodbye to all his friends and knocked upon the door of Seidou, a prestigious baseball school, intent on testing his own strength. There, he met many proud baseball players who were betting everything on the sport! A classic tale, yet new and fresh. All the emotion and excitement of the popular baseball manga is at last coming to television in the form of an anime!
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
If there’s anyone on the current Seidou team that you want up to bat right now, it’s Miyuki. He may not be the most consistent batter, but he’s almost always good with runners in scoring position. He’s never had to face this “power curveball” or Narumiya’s changeup in this kind of situation.
Miyuki manages a hit just past the pitcher’s mitt and second base to bring Kuramochi home. Truly, he is the captain of this team and, with Maezono on bat, this could be Seidou’s chance to come back. The downside here is that Miyuki is a left-handed batter. Given that Umemiya’s best pitch is a curve, it’s likely a lot scarier from the right side of the plate than the left. Maezono, being who he is, gets a double and brings Miyuki home. Furuya grounds out to end the inning. It’s exactly what this team is right now. Furuya’s reeling from his shaky start, but there are reliable veterans behind them. Even the usual consistent Haruichi didn’t manage a hit, but guess who did: Kuramochi, Miyuki, and Maezono. The captain and vice-captains.
The game speeds up with the second inning scoreless and skipped and its straight to the top of the third and the second matchup between Furuya and Umemiya. A swing and a miss for the strikeout. Whatever plagued Furuya at the beginning of the game (cough hubris cough) is gone now with the mound visit from Miyuki. More than anything else, Furuya doesn’t want to lose his place on the mound. And that’s exactly what Miyuki was threatening.
The bottom of the third brings a two run home run for Miyuki and that’s three RBIs for Miyuki now on 2B and HR. This Seidou team can’t be stopped at this pace, and stopped they are not with the runs racking up and Umemiya losing his composure on the mound. Up 6-3 in the bottom of the fifth, Furuya has a chance to put the game away and loses yet again. He hits into a double play to end the inning. His pitching has calmed, but his batting has been affected. And the huge first inning brought his pitch count higher than it should have been at that time and it wouldn’t be surprising, just given Furuya’s stamina, if he gets taken out after five.
In truth, Furuya’s pitching is probably average right now at best. He’s certainly not at the top of his game, but the defense has really stepped up after the huge offensive first inning. They’re making every play they can, save for Tojo not stealing the home run from Umemiya. That helps a lot in a game. Anyone can pitch a dominant game but, no matter how dominant you are, hits are almost always going to creep through. That’s when the defense steps up.
Now the top of the seventh, Ugumori’s on the attack. Their leadoff got a base hit and then stole second. It’s likely all because of Furuya’s fatigue. A faster Furuya would have gotten the ball to Miyuki a second earlier and the ball would have gotten to Kuramochi faster. He wakes up after the steal and pitches more for control than power, according to the journalists. This is a much better way to pitch in general because it means you can throw complete games in upwards of 100+ pitches. It’s something Furuya’s not too great at and it truly is amazing to see him grow in that aspect. He’s not going to last as a starter if he can only go four or five innings per start.
In Summary:
It’s a little worrying to see Furuya possibly go for his first full start. That’s absolutely paramount in this level of baseball, but it’s mitigated through Seidou’s rotation. Their bullpen, save for the team who beat Inashiro in the finals, is probably the strongest in the tournament. But having an ace that can come out in every game is just as important, even at the major league level. Look at the last World Series and how dominant Madison Bumgarner was. That’s who you want on the mound in the critical situation.
Grade: A-
Streamed By: Crunchyroll
Equipment: PS3, LG 47LB5800 47” 1080p LED TV, LG NB3530A Sound Bar
