Pons vs Doors

## Tournament Infomation

**Pons vs Doors** is a sandlot baseball game between the Pons and the Doors. It is first match played in the both the anime and manga.

## Pre-game

Kou Kitamura and Wakaba Tsukishima ride past the unnamed baseball field on their way to the Fukuda Swimming School. Daiki Nakanishi stops them and asks them if they are on a date, which Kou denies. Daiki then asks Kou if he wants to play. Kou says no because baseball is boring. Daiki tells Kou that he's (Kou) is the one who wanted to put a team together. Kou only wanted the business for his family store, Kitamura Sports. He then rides off, Daiki yelling after him. Kou and Wakaba then pass Osamu Akaishi, the strongest kid in their class. Kou tells Wakaba that Osamu likes her. After dropping Wakaba off, getting a kiss on the cheek and not actually committing to picking her up at 5pm, Kou then heads back home. He once again runs into Osamu, who is now joined by his friends, Hayashi and Nawata. Wanting to avoid a confrontation, Kou rides his bike (and crashes it) onto the baseball diamond, to join the game he previously rejected playing. He shows Daiki that he's wearing his Doors uniform shirt but Daiki isn't fooled, knowing Kou is just using the shirt as street clothes. Kou changes the subject and the game continues.

## Game

The game is picked up at the bottom of the 5th inning, with the score tied 5-5. The Doors are at bat. Daiki blames Kou for getting 4 errors that allowed the Pons to score two points at the top of the 5th. Kou says it can't be helped because he's never played catch before. It's Kou's turn at bat. Sure, he's never played catch before, but he's been swinging the bat since age 3 at the Tsukishima Batting Center. He gets struck out anyways. He yells at the pitcher, "What kind of pitch was that?!" Daiki tells him it was a fastball, right down the middle. The game is now in the bottom of the 6th, the score is now 7-6 Pons. Kou's 5th and 6th errors allowed the Pons to score 2 runs at the top of the 6th, The Doors are once again up to bat, with a runner on first and no outs. It's Daiki's turn to bat. He hits it straight down the middle to center field. The Pons center fielder gets the ball, and throws it to first but Daiki makes it in time to be safe. The next batter gets 4 balls, allowing a walk. The bases are now loaded with no outs. The Pons announce a pitcher change. Now pitching for the Pons is Osamu, who watched them playing and wanted to play as well. He easily strikes out the 7th batter. Kou is up to bat next and when he approaches the batter box, Hayashi, who is subbing as catcher, asks him, on behalf of Osamu, what his relationship with Wakaba is. Kou just says she's a neighbor. Wakaba shows up then and announces loud enough for everyone to hear, that she kissed Kou so he was supposed to pick her up. Osamu hears her and gets angry and throws a pitch well over 100kmph. Kou, who has never played a game of catch but has been swinging the bat since age 3 at the Tsukishima Batting Center, hits the next pitch and the ball is out of there. It's a grand slam. Doors win.

## Post game

Kou takes Wakaba home. The next day, after remembering that Kou said he's never played catch before, Daiki tells Kou that he's a good batter but he needs to be better at defense and they are going to practice playing catch.

## Named Players in Match

* Catcher: Hayashi
* Second Baseman: Nawata
* Catcher: Daiki Nakanishi
* Center Fielder: Tanaka