Short Summary[]
Johnson bats again in the fourteenth inning, and Tokuchi has all the fielders crowd the batter’s box to combat Johnson’s bunt.
Long Summary[]
Mihara has disobeyed Saikawa and allowed Tokuchi to stay on the mound. Tokuchi warns the Bugaboos he won’t be switched off anymore and will pitch the rest of the game. He shuts out all three batters in the twelfth inning, and again in the thirteenth. The Secretary tells Saikawa Johnson will be batting first in the next one. Saikawa perks up, and calls Tokuchi a fool; he was so obsessed with speeding through the game, he’ll now have to face Johnson with no outs or runners on base.
Johnson goes to bat and says Tokuchi can’t be such a great gambler after all, letting Johnson lead the inning; he should have walked the last batter in the previous inning so he could face him with runners on base. Tokuchi laughs and thanks Johnson for his concern, but reveals he did this on purpose; it’s about time he finally expose how ‘utterly useless’ Johnson is in front of the crowd - Johnson must think he’s guaranteed to reach first base if he bunts, but Tokuchi will teach him baseball isn’t that easy.
Johnson retorts Tokuchi won’t shake his nerves, then suddenly all the infielders crowd round the batter’s box. They’ll catch his bunted ball quicker than he can make it to first. Johnson says this drawn-in defence is useless if he hits to the outfield, but Tokuchi replies he’s sure Johnson isn’t capable of anything other than bunting. He revealed his terrible batting abilities in the bottom of the ninth. Tokuchi reveals he tested Johnson by throwing three easy balls with the same path. He would have been better off hiding his weakness by letting them go by.
Tokuchi pitches, and at the last second Johnson pulls his bat down for a bunt. He takes off running, but the infielders easily get it and put him out. Following this, the Bugaboos play badly and get struck out. At the top of the sixteenth, a fielder makes an error and the Lycaons score a run. On the Bugaboos turn to attack, Tokuchi strikes the first two batters out, then Johnson comes on again. On Tokuchi’s first pitch, Johnson is hit by a dead ball. He walks to first, convinced Tokuchi did it on purpose. He asks Tokuchi why and Tokuchi replies he already said he’d have to settle the score before the game was over. He needs to show everyone why Johnson’s running ability is as useless as his batting.
Characters[]
- Tokuchi Toua
- Johnson
- Saikawa: Owner of the Lycaons
- Oikawa
- The Secretary