

Big Windup!
Ren Mihashi was the ace of his middle school's baseball team, but due to his poor pitching, they could never win. Constant losses eventually lead to his teammates bullying him and reached the point where his teammates no longer tried to win, causing Mihashi to graduate with little self-esteem. As a result, Mihashi decides to go to a high school in a different prefecture where he has no intention of playing baseball. Unfortunately, upon his arrival at Nishiura High, he is dragged into joining their new team as the starting pitcher.
Cast

Yuichi Nakamura
Takaya Abe

Tsubasa Yonaga
Ren Mihashi

Atsushi Kisaichi
Yoshirou Hamada

Chihiro Suzuki
Yuuto Sakaeguchi

Hiro Shimono
Yuuichirou Tajima

Jun Fukuyama
Kousuke Izumi

Kenichiro Sumi
Fumiki Mizutani

Kisho Taniyama
Azusa Hanai

Makoto Yasumura
Shouji Suyama

Masaya Matsukaze
Motoki Haruna

Risa Hayamizu
Maria Momoe

Ryohei Kimura
Shintarou Nishihiro

Takashi Hikida
Keisuke Umehara

Daisuke Kishio
Aoi Suzuki

Daisuke Kishio
Ryou Suzuki
Seasons

E1True Ace
Apr 13, 2007
Mihashi a freshman in high-school, and has just transferred to Nishiura High, a school not known for its baseball. But after he gets forced into playing by its new female coach, he befriends the the catcher Abe, who becomes his main supporter in the future.

E2A Catcher’s Role
Apr 20, 2007
The baseball team at Nishiura High heads out to a training camp. As everyone is preparing for their first practice match against Mihashi's old school, Abe realizes that the catcher's role is not just on the field but is also to encourage and to protected the pitcher and his well-being.

E3Practice Match
Apr 27, 2007
The practice game between Nishiura High and Mihoshi, Mihashi's old school, is about to start. However before the game starts Mihashi loses his confidence and runs behind the club building, Hatake, the catcher from Mihoshi, followed him and begins to harassing him to the point of threatening to break his arm for the lost games in middle-school.

E4Play
May 4, 2007
Mihashi is pitching nicely, outing all of Mihoshi’s batters so far. At the top of the 2nd inning, Tajima easily hits Kanou’s forkball. Kanai tries to compete with Tajima and do the same, but strikes out instead.

E5Don't Ease Up!
May 11, 2007
With nice team work, Nishiura is able to score two consecutive runs easily. Meanwhile, tension is rising between Kanou and the rest of his team.

E6The Requirements to be a Pitcher
May 18, 2007
Going into the bottom of the 7th inning, Kanou finally goes into detail about how great Mihashi’s control really is, and Mihoshi’s substitute coach comes up with a plan.

E7I Want to Play Baseball!
May 25, 2007
Through good teamwork, Nishiura was able to rally and gain back the lead. After winning the game, Mihashi’s old teammates finally acknowledge their mistakes and ask for his forgiveness and to come back.

E8Amazing Pitcher?
Jun 1, 2007
On the way to practice, Mihashi meets Sakaeguchi and learns about how in the Senior League, Abe was teamed up with an “amazing pitcher.”

E9Past
Jun 8, 2007
Abe’s past relationship with Haruna is revealed, showing the circumstances that led Abe to consider Haruna to be the worst pitcher instead of one of the best.

E10Steadily
Jun 15, 2007
In order to be able to play two practice games, everyone on the team must be able to play at least two different positions.

E11Summer Is Starting
Jun 22, 2007
The Summer National Senior High School Baseball Championship Saitama Tournament is about to start. All in all, 170 schools in the area gathered together in order to draw lots to determine who they would be playing against.

E12Cheering Party
Jun 29, 2007
During practice, the team, with the addition of Hamada, continue to meditate, but this time start to actively train their relaxing reflex to trigger with the presence of a third base runner.

E13Summer Game Beginning
Jul 6, 2007
The team has been working hard to prepare for the game against Tosei, to the point that even Shinooka-chan collapses from exhaustion because she had pulled an all-nighter writing a detailed report on Tosei’s battery and batters.

E14Challenge!
Jul 13, 2007
The first game of the summer tournament begins. Everyone is present, including the big crowd that Hamada got to come to the game.

E15First Point
Jul 20, 2007
The Tosei batters are getting perplexed by Mihashi’s pitching since the balls appear to be easy, but are hard to connect.

E16Do Not Underestimate
Jul 27, 2007
Tosei still does not know what to make of Mihashi’s pitches, and Nishiura is still hanging on. Nishiura had a chance to get another run in, but the Tosei battery once again made Tajima strike out.

E17Third Runner
Aug 3, 2007
Tosei comes back with a counter attack plan, playing to the basics and hitting grounders. Though Nishiura is still hanging onto their lead, they are playing really hard defense.

E18Additional Point
Aug 10, 2007
After getting on base because of a dead ball caused by the rain, Mihashi and the rest of his team work hard in order to get one more run before the inning ends.

E19Tosei's Abilities
Aug 17, 2007
Tosei continue their attack plan, concentrating on hitting Mihashi’s curveball, and manage to get in one run. Nishiura gets into a little mishap, because Mihashi gets a nose bleed, making Abe worry about Mihashi’s condition and whether or not he can pitch.

E20Reversal
Aug 24, 2007
Though Nishiura is playing a good defense, the lucky breaks that Tosei keep on having make the members of Nishiura seem clumsy.

E21One More Point
Aug 31, 2007
Tajima once again strikes out, but is able to help his teammates successfully steal bases once he enters the coaching box again.

E22Defend!
Sep 7, 2007
Tosei takes several gamble plays and is able to get one more run in to take the lead once again.

E23Strictly
Sep 14, 2007
Nishiura is desperate now to get their batters onto the plates in order to have a chance at winning.

E24Conclusion
Sep 21, 2007
Now that they have the lead, Nishiura must make sure that they don’t allow any more runs.

E25One Victory
Sep 28, 2007
After the game against Tosei ends, Mihashi is taken home to rest since he has a fever.

E1What's Next?
Apr 2, 2010
Hot off the heels of their first win, the players of Nishiura High School are fired up for the rest of the summer tournament!

E2Sakitama
Apr 9, 2010
Before the next match, the Nishiura Nine go to watch the game of their next opponent. There they discover Sakitama High's cleanup hitter, Daichi Sakura.

E3Third Match
Apr 16, 2010
Nishiura High's next opponent, Sakitama High, has an incredibly strong batter. If Nishiura wants any chance of winning, Nishiura will need a quick shutout win!

E4Baseball Is Tough
Apr 22, 2010
Hanai is the cleanup batter for Nishiura in the third match, and is struggling to get out from behind Tajima's shadow. Hanai questions whether or not he's a dependable player.

E5I Want To Play Ball
Apr 29, 2010
Abe's strategy to walk Sakitama's cleanup hitter is working. While Sakitama can't score a run, their third-year Oyama dwells on the end of his baseball career.

E6Important
May 6, 2010
After one of many misunderstandings, Mihashi comes to realize that he's an important baseball player of Nishiura High.

E7A Gradual Change
May 13, 2010
Nishiura's third game against Kounan begins. Bijyou High's coaches observe the game, and conclude that Abe, the catcher is deciding all of Mihashi's pitches.

E8Fifth Match
May 20, 2010
The game against Bijyou Dai Sayama High has begun, and Mihashi questions why Bijyou's batters only seem to swing on pitches that are the opposite of what they like to hit.

E9We're Being Scouted
May 27, 2010
It's 4-0, and Nishiura hasn't gotten a single run. After discovering that the courses were wrong and that Bijyou had scouted them, Abe is able to lead Mihashi to pitch two no-hit innings.

E10Bottom of the Fifth, 2-5
Jun 3, 2010
After scoring two runs, Bijyou High turns up the heat and sends out its reserve pitcher, Kashima. Kashima throws intense fast balls, but he's just warming up! Can Nishiura land a hit?

E11Because I'm the Ace
Jun 11, 2010
The unthinkable has happened! Abe is injured and can no longer participate in the match. Mihashi must step up to the pitcher's mound and discover some self-confidence.

E12Ninth Inning
Jun 18, 2010
It's the final inning and Nishiura is still behind in runs. Coming to terms with Abe's injury, Mihashi realizes that he was shoving all of his responsibilities onto Abe.

E13We Begin Again
Jun 25, 2010
Accepting their defeat against Bijyou Dai Sayama High, Mihashi and the Nishiura Nine work to come up with a team goal. Mihashi receives an ambiguous text from Abe.
Storyline
Ren Mihashi was the ace of his middle school's baseball team, but due to his poor pitching, they could never win. Constant losses eventually lead to his teammates bullying him and reached the point where his teammates no longer tried to win, causing Mihashi to graduate with little self-esteem. As a result, Mihashi decides to go to a high school in a different prefecture where he has no intention of playing baseball. Unfortunately, upon his arrival at Nishiura High, he is dragged into joining their new team as the starting pitcher.
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