Seido loses the game to Ichidai Third High. The team has to rebuild for summer. Who is at fault for losing the game?

It is a frustrating game for Seido as the pitchers play their best to control the flow of the game. Seido’s Furuya has a breakdown mid game, and it forces Sawamura to be called in as a relief pitcher. Throw with all his might and holding down the Ichidai batters he is able to stop the bleeding but is unable to win the game. If Seido had won they would have gone to the Kanto spring tournament. Seido watches from the sidelines as  Inashiro, led by pitcher Narumiya Mei takes down his opponents in short fashion. Inashiro advances to the next round and by default to the Kanto tournament. While Inashiro enjoys the fruits of victory this time around, Seido is forced to go home and rethink how they will take their team to the next level.

This isn’t the lowest point we have seen Seido, there have been many bitter sweet moments since Sawamura first joined the team. Seido’s Ace Furuya was unable to deliver the promised victory for his team and is in a slump. He  isn’t the same pitcher as from Koshien. He is chasing the shadow of another player. He wants to be the best but has been overshadowed by the best pitcher in Japan. In terms of  overall strength Seido should be much better. Their overall batting needs work and Furuya can’t do everything alone. Seido is resilient as ever and  will work towards going back to Koshien with everything they have. Seido is forced to accept their loss.

Coach Katoaka let Furuya play even though letting Furuya play meant that his team lost this game. Its frustrating for the coach to have lost the game that would have let his team go to the Kanto tournament. But Tokyo high school baseball isn’t a forgiving place. We discover a possible reason Katoaka let Furuya play when we read Furuya’s baseball journal. He wants to chase being the best in Japan, only when he is the best pitcher in Japan can he lead the team to victory. Of course Furuya is being narrow minded when it comes to the team effort. The reasoning behind what Furuya wants makes sense, but even if Furuya was to become the best pitcher in Japan it doesn’t actually mean that his team would win Koshien or even go anywhere. Does the coach let Furuya play to let him learn a more important lesson? Does the coach purposefully let Furuya become his own demise?

It’s hard to say where the team will go from here. Sawamura proved himself a capable pitcher who has developed into a true weapon for Seido. Will Furuya get back into form? Will Seido be able to claw their way back to Koshien? Let’s just trust the coach and trust the team for now. Seido has a lot of talent and they won’t let a small loss stop them. This loss was only a speed bump and a reminder of how much further we have to go to get back to Koshien.