"The Catcher’s Role" (キャッチャーの役割 Kyāchā no Yakuwari) is the second episode of season one.
Sypnosis[]
The baseball team at Nishiura High School heads out to a training camp. As everyone is preparing for their first practice match against Mihashi's old school, Mihoshi High School, Abe realizes that the catcher's role is not just on the field but is also to encourage and to protect the pitcher and his well being.
Summary[]
The episode begins with Coach Momoe cleaning a window as part of her part-time job. She realizes that she has saved enough money for the baseball club and is happy that they will be going to training camp the next day. A flashback is also shown where Shino'oka asks if she can be the equipment manager.
Abe giving Mihashi medicine
The episode cuts to the next day where the team is on the way to training camp on a bus. Tajima suddenly shouts out that he forgot to drain the monster (Masturbate) causing some of his teammates to pin him down to the chair and yell at him to be quiet since there is a woman (Shino'oka) on the bus.
Abe and Hanai talked about the 3-at-bat challenge. Hanai felt inferior to Tajima and disappointed in himself. Mr. Shiga asks Abe to give medicine to Mihashi, who looks up to Abe. Abe then told Mihashi he should have taken motion sickness medicine before they left, which Mihashi thanked him for. Mihashi revealed that he had trouble sleeping lately because of Coach Momoe's comment about his personality. Abe thought it would be hard for Mihashi to change his personality, but he still wanted him as a pitcher.
At the training camp, Coach Momoe had the team clean the house and gather wild plants for dinner. Everyone worked except Mihashi, who did not know what to do. Later, Coach Momoe asked Mihashi and Abe to do something else. She asked Mihashi his max speed, which was 100-101 km/h. Coach Momoe laughed, but Abe believed Mihashi's control made up for his lack of speed.
Mihashi on the woodblock
Coach Momoe asks Mihashi to do his windup on-top of a block of wood. Mihashi tries to but falls down which makes Coach Momoe laugh at him again. Coach Momoe instructs Abe to put on a helmet and hands Mihashi a speed gun. Coach Momoe pitches and it measures a 122 km/h. Coach Momoe told him that he could probably throw the same speed as they were almost the same height.
Coach Momoe gives Mihashi a dumbbell and tells him to hold it and throw a ball. Coach Momoe tells Abe that they cannot go that far with just decent control and some breaking balls. Abe says they can go as far as they want. Coach Momoe tells him that he doesn't know the catcher's role and flicks him in the head.
Mihashi struggles to pitch due to the weight of the dumbbell, missing Abe's mitt. Abe wants a pitcher with good control and is not pleased with Mihashi's wild pitches. Coach Momoe advises Mihashi to practice his windup on the woodblock instead of throwing any pitches to save his energy for the upcoming game. Mihashi insists on practicing to throw faster, which upsets Abe.
The episode cuts to night time and back at the training camp. The team is cooking some food while Tajima is enjoying the smell of the food. Tajima tries to take some of the food but Shiga grabs Mihashi's hand with chopsticks. Shiga starts talking about the hormones of the brain as Abe and Mihashi return from training.
After Shiga's long lecture the team sits at the dining table eagerly awaiting their dinner. Shiga tells everyone to look at their meals and to shout it looks great. Coach Momoe then says thanks for the food and everyone follows. Afterwards everyone digs into the food.
Hanai and the rest of the team discuss how Shiga knows all these things about the brain despite the fact that he's a math teacher. Sakaeguchi says that Shiga has been to many schools and seminars, but not all of them were for math.
Hanai asks Sakaeguchi how he knows about all of that, to which he replies that he practiced over Spring Break and heard some things. He also heard that Shiga asked Coach Momoe to start the team. He also says that Coach Momoe works some part-time jobs for the team with Tajima replying that Coach Momoe is a nice person. Hanai then asks if Coach Momoe and Shiga are dating.
Everyone, except for Tajima suddenly feel sick after thinking about that. Shiga suddenly bursts in and gets in one of the futons. He tells them all to go to sleep but they say that there is not enough space for their futons. Shiga tells them that they may be a little young, but people only truly understand each other when they share the same bed. He tells them that every night he wants everyone to share a bed with a different teammate.
Hanai throws a pillow at Shiga which causes a pillow fight. Mihashi is sitting on the side however, just watching. Shiga notices this and asks Mihashi if there was anything wrong. Mihashi lied and told him that he was fine. Mihashi however is hit on the face by a pillow and falls over.
The scene cuts to Abe sitting outside cleaning his catcher's mitt. He once again comments on how bad are all the pitchers. Coach Momoe appears and asks Abe how Mihashi did. Coach Momoe says that whenever a team is made, 2-3 players always stands out, but those 2 or 3 players cannot win a game. She said that the 3 outstanding players of the current team are Tajima, Hanai and him, Abe.
Abe says that Coach Momoe said he doesn't understand the role of the catcher. Coach Momoe told him that he will understand as the time will pass. Abe gets angry and asks her to make him understand as he raises his fist. She grabs Abe's hand with both of hers causing him to blush. She tightens her grip as she tells him he will understand. Abe asks him what she wants him to do. She tells Abe to do the same thing to Mihashi and that he will see a whole new side of Mihashi.
Afterwards the team is seen sleeping peacefully together. All except for Mihashi who is struggling to sleep.
Trivia[]
- Momoe's window washer squeegee weighs over twenty pounds.