Rookies Episode 8 Summary (Japanese Drama)

In this episode, the battle between the Futagotamagawa and Megurogawa Senior High School continues. The Megurogawa has scored a point against Futagotamagawa but this doesn’t weaken Kawato’s team. Instead, they become more determined to win this game… determined to beat their former selves and bid farewell to the ghosts of their past. All their hard work can’t be put to waste, especially Aniya’s. All this time, he is preparing himself to battle against Enatsu on the field. He practices every night, in addition to the practice that he goes through with his teammates so that he could prove Enatsu wrong. And he has indeed proven him wrong. Aniya has surprised everyone when he has suddenly thrown a curve ball, striking out the Megurogawa batter. He doesn’t know how to do it before but now knows how to do it. And it makes everyone wonder when he has started learning that.

Aniya recalls all the bad things that Enatsu has put them through. When it’s already Enatsu’s turn to bat the ball, Aniya tries to strike him out by throwing fast balls only and he has already fouled twice. This worries Kawato-sensei so he calls for a time out. Aniya’s teammates gather around him and throw their baseball caps on him for ignoring the situation. Shinjo then reminds Aniya not to do things only by himself. Realizing this, Aniya does a better job this time. He is able to strike out Enatsu and the rest of the Megurogawa team. Now, it’s time for Nikogaku to score some points.

Kawato-sensei is very proud of his students. Their hardwork has overcome their weaknesses. They have improved a lot and have really become better players. Meanwhile, the Megurogawa team loses its fighting spirit. They become lazy playing with Nikogaku except for Enatsu. Seeing this, Kawato-sensei becomes mad. He reprimands the Megurogawa team that if they would just give a feeble effort in this game, they should just quit playing baseball and stop making a mockery out of the sports. Realizing their mistakes, Megurogawa starts to show off how strong their team really is and when the game resumes, they immediately strike out three Nikogaku players in just one play. Kawato-sensei cheers the Megurogawa for that good play and calls his team to form a circle so they could have a plan to defeat their opponent.

Right now, the only thing that hinders Megurogawa team from scoring is the curveball of Aniya. They have to overcome it or else they won’t score any point. Meanwhile, the speed of Enatsu’s fastballs is falling. The game continues with no team scoring since the 5th inning. However, on one of the pitches of Aniya, a member of the Megurogawa team figures out the weakness of his curveball and they start to score points and lead by seven points on the last inning. The Nikogaku team starts to lose hope but Shinjo shows his teammates that it’s not yet time to give up. With a burning desire to win, the Nikogaku team is able to score some points, cut the lead by four and have three more people ready to run to the home base. It is now up to Hiyama to make a good bat so that the Nikogaku team can make a come back. However, Hiyama is not good at it. He is not able to hit even a single ball in the game. So, Kawato-sensei calls for a time out and have Hiratsuka, who has a higher chance of hitting the ball, replace Hiyama. Everyone disagrees with Kawato except Okada who understands Kawato-sensei’s decision. They have no choice. It’s for the win. After all, that’s what teamwork is all about.

Now Hiratsuka prepares himself to hit the ball. The first pitch is a strike and so is the second one. His teammates are a little bit doubtful that Hiratsuka can make it because he can only hit balls that are going to his face. However, let’s not also forget that Enatsu, the Megurogawa pitcher, has already reached his limit. He is already very tired. His pitches are not that good anymore that in his third pitch for Hiratsuka, he makes one big mistake. The ball goes right through to Hiratsuka’s face and because of his good reflexes, Hiratsuka is able to hit a homerun.

And now the score is 11-9, in favor of Nikogaku.

However, the game isn’t finished yet. Megurogawa has still one more inning left and Enatsu is going to bat next.

As the game continues, Aniya recalls the old bad memories that keeps on hunting the Nikogaku team. He wants to make a revenge by beating Enatsu on the field and show him that he can’t take away their dreams. With all his heart, Aniya throws three good pitches, striking out Enatsu. And the game finishes.

The Nikogaku team rejoices on their win while Enatsu and the Megurogawa feel the pain of losing. The Megurogawa coach tells Enatsu that he wants to start again from the beginning… where Enatsu can once again feel the happiness of playing baseball with his friends.

Aniya then faces Enatsu and tells him that he is happy that he left their school because now he can play more baseball against him.