In this chapter, the narrator talks about the ambition of the school's baseball team, which is about to play in the national final. The narrator notes that the team's lead batter, Hiroshikawa, is a "tricky batter" who wrecks the opposition's concentration with base-stealing. The other players on the team are "smart" and "shrewd" , and the third baseman, yoshizawa, is one of the best in the country. The coach of the team, Tomo, says that the players are under as much pressure as the batters themselves. He says that they're aiming for the "highest pinnacle" in baseball, and that the only way to do so is to get as many runs as possible. Tomo points out that the pitcher, Naumiya, might be praised as the best pitcher in the nation right now, but that he's not the ace he used to be. He adds that the other pitchers are also good, too, including Yuudal Iguchi, who's the third-best pitcher in all of Japan. Iguchi has been coaching at his alma mater, Inashiro Industrial, since the age of eight, and he has been there for 14 years.