Ren Mihashi was the ace of his middle school's baseball team, but due to his poor pitching, they could never win. Constant losses eventually lead to his teammates bullying him and reached the point where his teammates no longer tried to win, causing Mihashi to graduate with little self-esteem. As a result, Mihashi decides to go to a high school in a different prefecture where he has no intention of playing baseball. Unfortunately, upon his arrival at Nishiura High, he is dragged into joining their new team as the starting pitcher. Although unwilling at first, Mihashi realizes that this is a place where he will be accepted for who he is; with help from the catcher Takaya Abe, he starts to have more confidence in his own abilities. Abe, seeing the potential in Mihashi, makes it a goal to help him become a pitcher worthy of being called an ace.
Accepting their defeat against Bijyou Dai Sayama High, Mihashi and the Nishiura Nine work to come up with a team goal. Mihashi receives an ambiguous text from Abe.
It's the final inning and Nishiura is still behind in runs. Coming to terms with Abe's injury, Mihashi realizes that he was shoving all of his responsibilities onto Abe.
The unthinkable has happened! Abe is injured and can no longer participate in the match. Mihashi must step up to the pitcher's mound and discover some self-confidence.
After scoring two runs, Bijyou High turns up the heat and sends out its reserve pitcher, Kashima. Kashima throws intense fast balls, but he's just warming up! Can Nishiura land a hit?
It's 4-0, and Nishiura hasn't gotten a single run. After discovering that the courses were wrong and that Bijyou had scouted them, Abe is able to lead Mihashi to pitch two no-hit innings.
The game against Bijyou Dai Sayama High has begun, and Mihashi questions why Bijyou's batters only seem to swing on pitches that are the opposite of what they like to hit.
Nishiura's third game against Kounan begins. Bijyou High's coaches observe the game, and conclude that Abe, the catcher is deciding all of Mihashi's pitches.
After one of many misunderstandings, Mihashi comes to realize that he's an important baseball player of Nishiura High.
Abe's strategy to walk Sakitama's cleanup hitter is working. While Sakitama can't score a run, their third-year Oyama dwells on the end of his baseball career.
Hanai is the cleanup batter for Nishiura in the third match, and is struggling to get out from behind Tajima's shadow. Hanai questions whether or not he's a dependable player.
Nishiura High's next opponent, Sakitama High, has an incredibly strong batter. If Nishiura wants any chance of winning, Nishiura will need a quick shutout win!
Before the next match, the Nishiura Nine go to watch the game of their next opponent. There they discover Sakitama High's cleanup hitter, Daichi Sakura.
Hot off the heels of their first win, the players of Nishiura High School are fired up for the rest of the summer tournament! Their next opponent, Sakitama High, has an incredibly strong batter. If Nishiura wants any chance of winning, Nishiura will need a quick shutout win! This should be doable for Mihashi and Abe since they continue to make a great battery, but at the same time, could Mihashi's reliance on Abe's signaling spell trouble in the games to come? Hits and sprints, pains and sprains... Mihashi and team have quite a struggle ahead of them if they want to play on the legendary field of Koshien Stadium!
Ren Mihashi was the ace of his middle school's baseball team, but due to his poor pitching, they could never win. Constant losses eventually lead to his teammates bullying him and reached the point where his teammates no longer tried to win, causing Mihashi to graduate with little self-esteem. As a result, Mihashi decides to go to a high school in a different prefecture where he has no intention of playing baseball. Unfortunately, upon his arrival at Nishiura High, he is dragged into joining their new team as the starting pitcher. Although unwilling at first, Mihashi realizes that this is a place where he will be accepted for who he is; with help from the catcher Takaya Abe, he starts to have more confidence in his own abilities. Abe, seeing the potential in Mihashi, makes it a goal to help him become a pitcher worthy of being called an ace.
Yuichi Nakamura , Tsubasa Yonaga , Atsushi Kisaichi
Yukihiro Shibutani
A-1 Pictures ,
as Takaya Abe
as Ren Mihashi
