Keiko appeals her case to the board directly so that they may let the girls play but is refused again. An older man - the same man that Ryo helped earlier and the grandfather of Hiroki - walks in and suggests some form of compromise. They agree to let the girls play only if they can prove that they are good enough to compete with boys. They agree that a win against Rinkai High, a Koshien regular, will do. Coach Kido walks into the Oden bar to tell Hidehiko's shrine about their win and Ryo learns that the coach once knew her father and also about an "incident" that neither he nor her mother are willing to talk about. The team begins practice harder than ever to prepare for the big game. Izumi begins to learn how to field the ball and Yoko still doesn't care. Mao cannot catch Ryo's fastest pitches yet either.