◆Exhibition game: Softbank Hawks 5-7 Hiroshima (March 21, Mizuho PayPay Dome)

The familiar sound of the bat echoed through the stadium. Softbank Hawks 's Kondo made his first appearance since the WBC as the "number 3 hitter and right fielder." In his first at-bat in the first inning with two outs, he hit a doble that hit the right wall, and in the third inning with no outs and runners on first and third, he drove RBI an RBI with sacrifice fly to center field. "It was good that I was able to swing properly," he nodded.

He was left out of the starting lineup for the WBC quarterfinals, where his starting line-up was eliminated. He adopted a new batting form, keeping his upper body high to better hit high fastballs, but struggled, going hit in 13 At Bat. Nevertheless, upon rejoining the team on the 19th, he lifted his head, saying, "I felt like I still have a chance," and adjusted by swinging the bat. On this day, he performed the same stretching exercises as last season, but with a form that didn't keep his upper body too low.

Although he flied out to right field as the leadoff batter in the fifth inning, Kondo swung hard at the first pitch in all three at-bats, saying, "You can't know what's off, what's good, or what's bad unless you swing." Manager Kokubo's confidence in Kondo remains unchanged, saying, "I'm not worried at all, not in a word," as Kondo continues to experiment and make adjustments. Even with a career record of 1,379 hit and a batting average of .307, his desire to improve never stops. He continues to pursue results as he aims to participate in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. (Tosei Moriguchi)