Short Summary[]
Kojima steps in front of Tokuchi’s final pitch, earning Tokuchi a beanball and leading to his loss. Kojima asks Tokuchi to join the Lycaons.
Long Summary[]
Tokuchi throws his third pitch and Kojima instantly realises he has no chance of hitting it.
Kojima suddenly has a flash back to three of his ex-teammates who retired without having won the championship. The stands are booing at the Lycaons during the retirees’ final game. Kojima feels like he let them down and tells the retirees he will make sure they have front row tickets when the Lycaons get to the championship.
Kojima suddenly steps in front of Tokuchi’s ball, getting hit in the arm by it, and falls to the ground. Kojima says he’s won, but Big Mama steps in and tells him that the ball was still in the strike-zone, and the onlookers agree. But Tokuchi agrees with Kojima and says he’s lost. The first time he played Kojima, Kojima established that the strike zone was the white square on the wall (see chapter 4), and since the ball didn’t land there it can’t be a strike.
Tokuchi holds his arm out to Kojima and tells him he can use a bat to break it. But Kojima grasps his arm and says he told Tokuchi he would ‘take’ his arm, not break it. He wants to prevent Tokuchi from gambling in One Outs by having him come to the pros and playing for the Lycaons. He asks Tokuchi to use his abilities to lead the Lycaons to the championship.