Ep. 10: Ko struggles with control while Azuma dominates with home runs in a tense scrimmage.

10

During the fourth inning, Ko hits a triple but fails to score, allowing Azuma to hit a two-run homer that gives the varsity team the lead. Third-year prefab players insist that winning is secondary to securing promotion. Daimon reprimands center fielder Miki for disobeying orders by bunting strategically. By the sixth inning, a fatigued Ko admits to catcher Akaishi that he cannot maintain both speed and control, prompting Akaishi to prioritize speed. After Azuma hits another home run, Akaishi notes the pitch was weak because it is Ko's first real game. When third-year player Makihara is thrown out running home, Senda explains that Daimon refuses to promote anyone to avoid admitting error. In the bottom of the seventh, Miki realizes that intentionally walking Azuma would have resulted in a 1 to 3 loss instead of the current 5 to 3 deficit.