Lotte's Tokito Kawamura ended the season with a positive feeling.
"I got beaten last time, so I want to get revenge, and I'll do my best to throw the ball well and do what I can.It's been a while since I last pitched, so I wasn't able to do that, so first of all I want to pitch way I want to."
On August 14, 22, which was his first appearance in the first team since the Hiroshima game on May 26, 8 (Nippon-Ham ES CON FIELD), he left the mound with 5 runs in the middle of the 4th inning. It's been one month since that frustrating mound. On September 22, he was mound the starting for the Nippon-Ham game in the ES CON FIELD.
Kawamura said, "I think I was able to control all of my pitches well," throwing a full range of pitches from the start, including fastball, slider, cutter, curveballs, and fork, and closer The Fighters batting line hitless until there were two outs in the fifth inning with the score at 2-0. On this day in particular, he said, "I think my curveball went almost exactly where I wanted it to, so that was one of the reasons why I pitched so well," and his curveball, which was count ball, was hitting with ease.
It seemed like he was throwing cutter a little more than usual, but Kawamura said, "I've been throwing them quite a bit since I was promoted to the first team," and revealed, "I was in good shape, so I think that's why I was able to throw the ball fast."
The Fighters He had no runs to closer hits through six innings, but was brought in center fielder in front Yuya Gunji in the top of the seventh inning to make it 2-0. He gave up runner no outs for the first time that day, but was calm. He missed the next Kotaro Kiyomiya with a 147 km fastball out of the fifth pitch from 2 balls 2 strike to struck out. In the previous at bat, while Kiyomiya took 3 struck out pitches with a curve, fork, fork and breaking ball offense, struck out with a pitch distributed behind the opponent's back was brilliant.
"I think he had breaking ball in mind, and from the way he had been closing in on him before, I thought he probably had fork in mind, so I stole it with a straight ball."
With one out and a runner on first base, he pressured Yuki Nomura with mostly fastball pitch, and after two balls and two strike, struck out with fastball on the outside corner.
In the early innings, he often chose breaking ball as his finishing pitch, and while Kiyomiya and Nomura had breaking ball in mind, it was amazing that he struck struck out out with fastball.
Kawamura said, "While we were playing against each other, I felt like I was being marked for breaking ball. (Sato) Toshiya thought the same thing, so as a battery we decided to go fastball." He analyzed that the tacit understanding between him and his battery partner, classmate Toshiya Sato, led to the two struck out.
With two outs and a runner on first, Kazunari Ishii was easily cornered with slider on the first pitch and fastball on the second. After Ishii let a low fork go unattended on the third pitch, the count was three balls and two strike. For the final deciding pitch, the battery chose a low, dropping 134 km/h fork. "He's a batter who's good at putting fork in a tight spot and then hitting a forkball, so I was wary of that, but it was three balls and two strike. I figured he was expecting a straight fastball, so I thought if I dropped fork firmly, he'd swing," he said, unafraid of fork that was let unattended on the third pitch, striking Ishii out struck out.
Kawamura pitched his longest game since turning pro, seven innings, throwing 108 pitches, hit two hits, strike out, and giving up no runs, earning his second win. Is working with Sato as a battery partner bringing out the best in him?
"There are quite a few. I'm the type of person who tends to win with my pitching, so I think (Sato) Toshiya is leading me well."
This was Kawamura's final appearance of the season, and although he was the lose pitcher in his first appearance against Nippon-Ham, he pitched five or more inning in each of the three games after that, pitching 21 innings in four games, finishing with two wins and one loss and ERA of 2.57.
Kawamura said, "fastball really worked, so it gave me a lot of confidence, and I was able to pitch with a calm mind on mound, so I really hope this will carry over to next year," suggesting that he has an image of what will carry over into next season.
"My pitching style is similar to last time, but if I can add a bit more strength and speed to fastball, I think I'll be able to get through inning more easily." While stating his challenges, he has also established a certain level of his own pitch style. He will turn this confidence into certainty for next season.
Interview and text by Yuta Iwashita
