Coach Kataoka, who had been watching from the sidelines the entire time, naturally noticed it as well.
Ushijima Wakatoshi's control over his three fastball variations had improved dramatically.
Four-seam.
Two-seam.
Cutter.
With just these three pitches alone, he was already capable of overwhelming most hitters.
"How many pitches has he thrown?" Coach Kataoka asked the recorder beside him.
The recorder quickly checked the sheet.
"168 pitches."
"Once he reaches 180, stop him immediately. Ice his shoulder. Don't risk injury."
After giving the order, Coach Kataoka left first.
Right now—
Ushijima Wakatoshi was Seido's treasure.
They absolutely could not afford to let him get hurt.
Of course, Ushijima himself was well aware of his own physical condition.
His body was absurdly strong.
For members of the so-called "time-travel club," exceptional physical fitness was practically standard.
Not only stamina—
Even recovery speed was abnormal.
After two months of training, he had already roughly quantified his condition.
If converted into numbers:
Yuki Tetsuya — 85 stamina
Isashiki — 84
Kominato — 80
Most third-years were above 80.
Ushijima Wakatoshi?
Stamina: 99
But the real monster stat was recovery.
While others averaged around 50—
His recovery ability was a perfect 99.
If others needed several hours to recover…
He only needed about one.
Simply ridiculous.
"Alright, that's it for today!" the assistant coach called out.
The batters collapsed onto the benches, drenched in sweat.
"Damn it!" Isashiki panted. "Only three outfield hits and five infield hits out of thirty!"
"That's not even a thirty percent batting average!"
"Yeah…" Kominato gasped beside him. "And that's after thirty consecutive pitches."
"We only managed to hit because we got used to his speed and movement."
"In a real game, who even gets thirty straight chances?"
"Throughout the whole match, a batter might not even see thirty pitches total."
Everyone fell silent.
They all knew he was right.
This practice was already stacked in their favor.
Yet they still struggled this badly.
"Yuki," Isashiki asked, "what about you?"
Everyone turned toward their captain.
Yuki calmly wiped the sweat from his chin.
"Six outfield hits. Seven infield."
"Six swings and misses. Eleven fouls."
"…Huh?"
The group gasped.
That meant—
13 clean contacts out of 30.
A .433 batting average.
Even so…
He still missed six times.
Which only made Ushijima's pitching look even scarier.
"This guy's control keeps getting better," Kuramochi muttered.
"I remember when he first started pitching. Once he increased velocity, he'd immediately lose control."
"But now?"
"After just a month and a half…"
"140+ km/h speed…"
"And we still have to guess whether it's Four-seam, Two-seam, or Cutter."
"Even after guessing the pitch type, we still have to guess the trajectory."
"And after that, we still need perfect timing."
He clicked his tongue.
"…He's ridiculously strong. It's infuriating."
"What about you?" Shirasu suddenly asked him.
Kuramochi froze.
"…."
He didn't answer.
That silence said everything.
As Seido's lead-off batter, he was supposed to be one of the team's best hitters.
Yet against Ushijima—
His results were miserable.
Out of 30 pitches:
15 swings and misses.
10 fouls.
5 weak infield hits.
0 outfield hits.
Not even a single solid contact.
Batting average: .167
For a leadoff batter—
It was downright embarrassing.
Meanwhile, the recorder handed the complete data sheet to Coach Kataoka and Takashima Rei.
Even they couldn't hide their surprise.
Training Results — 30 pitches each
1st – Kuramochi
15 misses | 10 fouls | 5 infield | 0 outfield
AVG: .167
2nd – Kominato
7 misses | 15 fouls | 6 infield | 2 outfield
AVG: .267
3rd – Isashiki
8 misses | 14 fouls | 5 infield | 3 outfield
AVG: .267
4th – Yuki (Captain)
6 misses | 11 fouls | 7 infield | 6 outfield
AVG: .433
5th – Masuko
15 misses | 9 fouls | 2 infield | 4 outfield
AVG: .200
6th – Miyuki
2 misses | 12 fouls | 12 infield | 4 outfield
AVG: .533
7th – Shirasu
14 misses | 8 fouls | 6 infield | 2 outfield
AVG: .267
Looking at the sheet—
Even the coaching staff felt a chill.
These were Seido's starting lineup.
The strongest hitters in the region.
And yet—
Against Ushijima Wakatoshi alone…
Most of them couldn't even reach .300.
That kind of suppression rate…
Was something you'd only expect from professional pitchers.
And he was still just a first-year.
"Out of the seven starters, only two batters are above .400."
"Four are between .200 and .400…"
"And Miyuki, batting sixth, is actually above .500?"
Rei Takashima couldn't hide her shock as she stared at the data sheet.
Coach Kataoka answered calmly,
"That's because Miyuki is the catcher."
"He's caught thousands of Ushijima's pitches."
"No one understands Ushijima's pitching better than he does — the speed, the movement, the timing, even the subtle habits."
"So a .500 average against him isn't surprising."
He paused.
Then added bluntly—
"In fact… it's low."
"…Low?" Rei froze.
"As the person most familiar with Ushijima, this is all he can manage?" Kataoka said flatly. "That only shows how difficult Ushijima really is."
Cold sweat ran down Rei's back.
She suddenly realized something terrifying.
Miyuki had the most information.
The most experience.
The most preparation.
Yet even he barely maintained .500.
Then what about the others?
Even Yuki Tetsuya one of the strongest cleanup hitters in the country — had only reached .430 after thirty straight practice pitches.
And that was with repeated attempts.
In an actual game…
How many chances would a cleanup batter even get?
Three? Four at most?
If that were the case—
What would their batting average look like then?
Rei didn't even dare to imagine it.
But Coach Kataoka's expression remained stern.
"This is different," he said.
"Right now, it's practice."
"There's no pressure. No runners on base. No game situation to worry about."
"Ushijima can focus purely on pitching."
"That's why his pitches are sharper than ever."
"In a real game, once runners get on base, pressure appears. And when pressure appears, mentality wavers."
"And the moment a pitcher starts hesitating…"
"His control will suffer."
Rei nodded slowly.
It made sense.
But still—
Even considering that—
These numbers were terrifying.
After two months of facing Ushijima every single day…
Especially in May, after his Cutter and Two-seam improved dramatically…
The batters' averages had actually gone down instead of up.
Which meant only one thing.
Ushijima Wakatoshi…
Was improving faster than everyone else.
Much faster.
Coach Kataoka looked back toward the field.
At the lone figure still icing his shoulder.
His eyes sharpened slightly.
Seido hadn't just found a good pitcher.
They had found—
A true ace.