Episode 44: A Careless Pitch?

Azuma tells Aoba that to understand her popularity, she needs to recognize her good points outside of her baseball skills. When she asks Ko what those are, he tells her that one can to be too close things to see them clearly, and as she watches fans cheer him during the game against Sena, she admits he might be right. After Miki bats for the first time against Ko, Miki admits to Akaishi he may have transferred from Seishu too early. Seishu gets on base each of the first seven innings but fails to score, while not allowing Sena any hits. When Ko complains about how well Miki knows Seishu's abilities, Azuma says Miki has not accounted for Aoba's influence on the younger Seishu players and in the bottom of the eighth, one of them hits a three-run homer. At the end of the ninth, Miki hits a home run, preventing Ko from pitching a no-hitter. Seishu wins 3 to 1.