Chapter 237: Here It Comes! Mastering Control

On October 9th, Seido played its second game of the Autumn Tournament against Ugumori High.

Once again, Ushijima Wakatoshi never stepped onto the mound.

Instead, Sawamura started the game.

This outing marked a major turning point for him.

He completely overcame his pitching yips, finally putting the mental block behind him and taking another step forward as a pitcher.

The game itself was one-sided.

Batting cleanup, Ushijima finished with five plate appearances, blasting two home runs and collecting three additional hits.

His season total climbed to 23 home runs.

Many cleanup hitters from powerhouse schools never reached twenty home runs over their entire three-year high school careers.

Yet Ushijima had already surpassed that mark as a first-year.

His talent was nothing short of astonishing.

Against Ugumori, Seido displayed overwhelming dominance.

By the end of the fifth inning, the scoreboard read:

Seido 29 — Ugumori 0

The mercy rule ended the game early.

Twenty-nine runs in just five innings.

Nearly six runs per inning.

The terrifying offensive explosion sent shockwaves through the rest of Tokyo.

“Seido’s batting lineup is as frightening as ever.”

“Twenty-nine runs against Ugumori… that’s unbelievable.”

“Did you notice?”

“Four of Seido’s first seven batters are first-years.”

“Kominato bats third.”

“Ushijima bats cleanup.”

“Toujou hits sixth.”

“And Kanemaru bats seventh.”

“They’re all first-years.”

“…Seriously?”

“If they’re already this good now…”

“What kind of monsters will they become as second-years?”

“Or even third-years?”

“If they keep developing like this, those four will probably become Seido’s core lineup.”

“They’re terrifying.”

“I heard Seido’s third and fourth batters both have batting averages above .500.”

“That’s right.”

“Kominato uses a wooden bat and has only four home runs, but he’s batting .510.”

“And Ushijima…”

“The monster pitcher.”

“The monster cleanup hitter.”

“His batting average is over .600.”

“That’s practically cheating.”

“And don’t forget…”

“He already has twenty-three home runs.”

“As a first-year.”

“Who does Seido play next?”

“The team that upset Inashiro.”

“Wait…”

“Inashiro actually lost?”

“Yeah.”

“No one expected it.”

Back at Seido’s baseball field…

After finishing his usual twenty-kilometer morning run, Ushijima finally sat down to rest.

Today was October 17th.

Exactly 200 consecutive days since activating his system.

He had intentionally saved every treasure chest he’d earned over the past two months.

His September Gold Chest remained unopened.

So did the three Silver Chests he had received in October.

“Let’s start with the Silver Chests.”

One after another, he opened them.

As expected…

They all contained U.S. dollars.

Not bad.

Then he looked at the Gold Chest.

“Open.”

Ding!

Treasure Chest Opened.

Congratulations!

You have obtained: Gold-Level Four-Seam Fastball Control.

“…What the hell?”

Ushijima couldn’t help blurting out.

He had waited so long for Gold-level Control…

Only to discover that it applied solely to his four-seam fastball.

Not every pitch.

Then why had Silver-level Control improved every pitch equally?

Wasn’t this system messing with him?

Before he could finish complaining—

Ding!

Treasure Chest Opened.

Congratulations!

You have obtained: Diamond-Level Forkball Control.

“…”

“…Seriously?”

Now he even had Diamond-level Control.

But again…

Only for a single pitch.

Ushijima was left speechless.

After thinking it over, however, he gradually accepted it.

There was only one Gold Chest every month.

And just three Diamond Chests each year.

If every Control upgrade automatically improved every pitch in his arsenal…

Then by the time he reached his third year, every ability he possessed would already be at the professional level.

That would make every game hopelessly one-sided.

There would be no suspense.

No excitement.

Once he stepped onto the mound…

It would simply become a massacre.

That wasn’t baseball.

Name: Ushijima Wakatoshi

Height: 188 cm

Weight: 160 lbs

Throws: Right

Secondary Hand: Left (Diamond)

Batting: Switch Hitter

Stamina: Diamond

Speed: Gold

Overall Control: Silver (Right-Handed)

Batting Skills

Gold Infield Hitting (Metal Bat)

Gold Gap Hitting (Metal Bat)

Gold Home Run Power (Wooden Bat)

Pitch Arsenal

Curveball — Silver

Changeup — Silver

Knuckleball — Silver

Sinker — Gold

Screwball — Gold

Two-Seam Fastball — Gold

Cutter — Gold

High-Speed Jet Ball — Gold

Slider — Diamond

Four-Seam Fastball — Diamond (+ Gold Control)

Forkball — Diamond (+ Diamond Control)

After nearly two months of practice, Ushijima had fully adapted to switch-hitting.

His right hand remained his natural dominant hand.

His left hand, thanks to the Diamond Ambidexterity ability, now functioned almost as naturally.

Even so…

Years of muscle memory couldn’t simply disappear.

Without considering control…

His maximum four-seam velocity from the right side reached 168 km/h.

From the left…

It topped out at 158 km/h.

A full ten-kilometer-per-hour difference.

He had already tested every other pitch in his arsenal.

Without exception, his right-handed pitches were consistently faster.

His left-handed pitches, however, had sharper movement and more deceptive angles.

That alone made them extremely troublesome for hitters.

After all…

Left-handed pitchers naturally created difficult release angles.

With his current Silver-level Control, his limits looked like this:

Right Hand

Below 145 km/h — Precise nine-zone command.

145–149 km/h — Could still throw strikes, but command became noticeably less precise.

150 km/h and above — Control deteriorated to the point where consistently hitting the strike zone became impossible.

Left Hand

Below 140 km/h — Reliable nine-zone control.

140–145 km/h — Accuracy began to decline.

In other words…

His left hand still lagged five to ten kilometers per hour behind his right in terms of controllable velocity.

But now…

Everything had changed.

He finally possessed Gold-level Control for his four-seam fastball.

And Diamond-level Control for his forkball.

The only thing left to do…

Was test their limits.

Without asking Miyuki to catch for him, Ushijima set up a pitching net by himself.

There was no need for a catcher yet.

First, he wanted to understand exactly what these new abilities had changed.

Once he gathered enough data…

He could discuss the results with Miyuki and incorporate them into Seido’s game plan.